Image by Willem van de Velde II
Ghosts of Saltmarsh ─ coastal cabals and sinister secrets
Stoic fishermen in a oft-ignored seaside town make the perfect cover for underhand political sabotage ── were it not for you meddling heroes.
$25.00
/ Session
Details
Bi-weekly / Wednesday - 3:00 PM UTC
Session Duration / 2.5–3 hours
Campaign Length / Up to 24 Sessions
0 / 6 Seats Filled
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About the adventure
Stoic fishermen in a oft-ignored seaside town make the perfect cover for underhand political sabotage ── were it not for you meddling heroes. Ghosts of Saltmarsh Is the acclaimed campaign from Wizards of the Coast, collecting a greatest hits of nautical adventures from the entire history of Dungeons and Dragons. I love the opening chapter of Saltmarsh so much I've literally memorised it and I've lived in coastal towns most of my life, making me the perfect DM to inject the bitter sea air into this campaign.
Game style
Theater of the Mind
Rules as Written (RaW)
Combat Lite
Dungeon Crawl
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
4 years on StartPlaying
16 games hosted
Highly rated for: Storytelling, Knows the Rules, Teacher
About me
Hello friends and enemies── As no doubt you've seen, I'm Sean F. Smith. I'm an editor and a games designer, and today I'll be your games master. I got into TRPGs when I was in primary school ── my best friend Edd Watling brought in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain and we would read it around the picnic tables at break. Invariably we'd die to the vampire; since then I've learned that if you even meet the vampire, you've gone the wrong way... I've been in more formal TRPGs since 2000 and I've a wide range of experience in hundreds of systems. I'm a particular fan of horror games, noir, and the OSR, and have run those genres for the public at conventions internationally. I was employed as one of the house GMs at an immersive games café in London, running the home campaign, standalone games, and covering private hires. If I own it, I will run it for you!
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
LV1 characters will be built during the first session using the 5.5e PHB, using your choice of Rolled Stats or Standard Array. Players may create and keep characters using the software or note method they prefer (I'll be using pen and paper).
What to expect
Preparing for the session
You won't need to prepare anything for the game itself. For technology, you'll need a Discord account (for organisation and conversation between games).
What Sean F. Smith / he, him brings to the table
I run a straightforward game: the only screen you'll need is the videocall. I don't use ambient music for online games and I do lean into voices to distinguish between characters and to sell the tone. You're welcome to roll physical dice at home or we'll have a bot channel on Discord if you'd rather roll digitally. I run very close to Rules as Writen, but the game expects its rules to be pushed against when you come up with a good plan! You won't need to have taken a feat to fight on stairs. I am primarily a horror GM, so I tend to describe violence in a direct and graphic way, leaning more towards cinematic moments and visceral motifs than tactical positioning. For an example of how I run games, this video shows me running a MöRK BORG adventure called Kennels of Karnage on stream for Plus One Exp ── https://www.youtube.com/live/80zBn2Q9iEA?si=kJCU7YObI_IuoVq0&t=176 I'm the one who looks like me.
Homebrew rules
BRUTAL CRITS deal dice + dice-max + mods DEATH SAVE FAILS persist until you complete a long rest
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Sean F. Smith / he, him creates a safe table
We'll keep an accurate list of players' Lines and Veils: I'll share it directly with you for any necessary personal discussions. All of the content notices below can be taken from our game if needed (except the seaside part). I run tables with an open door ── you can always step away without explanation. All I ask is that you let us know if you're not going to come back.
Content warnings
Safety tools used