The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Module U1) [Paperback]

Dave J. Brown (Author), Don Turnbull (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: TSR Hobbies (November 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394521870
• ISBN-13: 978-0394521879
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,329,662 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unforgettable Greyhawk adventure, May 1, 2000

By 

Kent David Kelly "Author & Anthologist" (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Module U1) (Paperback)

Here's the impressive introduction to the most under-appreciated Greyhawk trilogy! It's a curious stigma - some DMs of the time were highly resistant to the "encroachment" of UK sensibilities within the game. But, they were missing one of the best-scripted, adventurous, dramatic and intelligent series in AD&D! Vile things are beginning to happen in Saltmarsh - the "haunted" house that everyone has talked up to keep unwanted attention away is actually now home to a sinister presence. The untested heroes (levels 1-3) dare to prove their mettle within the ruins, but what awaits them is one of the all-time classic plot twists of Greyhawk... the "mundane" (?) secret will turn them healthily paranoid for the duration of their careers. :)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great module from the golden years of D & D, October 6, 2009

By 

Joker (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Module U1) (Paperback)

This AD & D module is for character levels 1-3. The setting is the "haunted" house that sits high on a cliff overlooking the fishing town of Saltmarsh. Ghostly happenings and mysterious lights appearing from the house have kept people away from the house for many years. But the house really isn't "haunted" - instead, it is made to APPEAR that it's haunted by smugglers who are operating from the house and have tried to scare people away (sounds kinda like a Scooby Doo mystery). This module has a good story, illustrations, and above all a steady level of dread. It's not incredibly hard to figure out the "secret" of Saltmarsh. The second part of the module has to do with seizing the smugglers' vessel. Thinking and tactfulness are essential. This adventure is one of my personal favorites from the early '80s. I won't reveal too much, I'll just say that it's a great two-part adventure through a "haunted" house and its cellar with lots of twists and turns and surprises. I think you'll enjoy going through this module if you enjoy the old school Dungeons & Dragons of yesteryear. What I'm referring to is the way the game was in the '70s and early '80s - the golden age of Dungeons & Dragons. That period of time had the best modules and the game's popularity was at its peak. I highly recommend this module (if you can obtain a copy).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sinister Secret Of Saltmarsh, February 7, 2006

By 

Elias Genghy (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Module U1) (Paperback)

In the very early 1980s, contemporary D&D modules typically troubled themselves with story lines only long enough to get you underground; once you were in the dungeon, you slogged through hours of room-to-room combat and hidden pitfalls. The only thinking required was "How do I kill this thing?" Sure that was fun for a while, but this adventure illustrated that our gaming brethren in the UK were taking D&D to a more sophisticated level. This is definitely a thinking player's (and DM's) adventure with clues to be digested and a plot to be figured out; it gets high marks for innovation.

That said, the adventure is actually somewhat lacking in many ways. Yes, it lays out a plot with a twist or two, but the secret is not really very sinister, or even that well concealed. The "dungeon" portion of the adventure, including encounter descriptions, maps, and NPCs are uninspired and the designers really left far too much up to the DM. What you get are reminders that the DM will have to develop so-and-so NPCs and encounters or come up with this-or-that villain strategy just when you're hoping that they'll give you something meaty to dig your creativity into. It seems to be a lot to lay on a person who spent $6.50 of their hard-earned paper route money to play this adventure back in 1982; especially considering that at least 4 pages of this module were wasted on full page illustrations and useless visual aids. Still, if the DM is willing and able to flesh this thing out, it should lead to one of the better D&D experiences from that era.