Chapter 3: Danger at Dunwater - Ghosts of Saltmarsh

Chapter 3: Danger at Dunwater. The discovery that a colony of lizardfolk lies near the small fishing town of Saltmarsh and is purchasing weaponry considered sophisticated by lizardfolk standards has alarmed the Saltmarsh Town Council. Greatly troubled and filled with apprehension, the councillors call an emergency meeting. This adventure is designed for a group of four to six 3rd-level characters. About the Original Dave J. Brown and Don Turnbull continued the Saltmarsh series in this classic. Doubling down on TSR UK's penchant for exploration and interaction in their work, this scenario challenges the characters to act as ambassadors to a colony of lizardfolk. While such roleplay-focused adventures are the norm today, at the time of its publication (in 1982) this adventure was the first to make interaction an absolute requirement for success, rather than one option among many. Background The characters are not required to have finished The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh before playing Danger at Dunwater. If they arrive in Saltmarsh after the events of the prior adventure, they learn the following information from the townsfolk: A smuggling ring operating out of an abandoned house has been disbanded. The smugglers were slain or jailed. The smugglers were supplying weapons to a tribe of lizardfolk that have established a colony near Saltmarsh. When the councillors discover that a seasoned group of adventurers has arrived in town, they send a message to the characters inviting them to a meeting. The council hopes to hire them to investigate the lizardfolk lair and learn why the creatures are arming themselves. The council's main priority in the context of this adventure is to keep the town safe from a possible lizardfolk attack. Judging from a crude map found aboard the smugglers' vessel and from information provided by the sea elf Oceanus, it seems likely that the lizardfolk are preparing for war. The council members hope that the townspeople are not the intended ta...