WARNING: Spoilers ahead!
The original 1e Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh begins a little differently from most published adventures. Primarily, this difference lies in the delivery of the adventure hook. The Dungeon Master is advised to not present the hook right from the start. Rather, allow time for the adventurers to explore the town, spend their money and slowly unearth the clues that the house might be an object of interest worth pursuing.
Honestly, I'm a bit befuddled by this, but I ran with it--sort of. Read on to see how it has gone so far.
The other thing the module suggests is for the DM to flesh out the town of Saltmarsh. The suggestion is to use real world 14th century coastal fishing villages with populations around 2,000 as an analogue. Don't you love 1e?! I do. So after a little research I chose Ipswich, UK as a model. Though it is thought Ipswich numbered around 4,000 souls in the 1500's I shrunk it a bit and began my work. I'll scan and post my maps and notes in a later episode, but suffice it to say that I got carried away. Naming all the adult inhabitants, complete with family stats, professions and places of residence I ended up with lots of material. And as it was in note form, not very usable. But I felt more or less prepared when the game started.
I had planned on having the group meet onboard a merchant ship returning from Greyhawk, carrying a few passengers to offset the return costs. The party consisted in a Rhenee Druid and Thief, a human quasi-cleric of Zodal and a Hill Dwarven Wizard from the Iron Hills. Their traveling companions were Lady Felicia, Sea Princess of the Holds, returning from the eastern realms, Master Willy and Lady Tilly Waters, retired potters from Saltmarsh itself, returning from visiting relatives in Greyhawk, and Samuel Alcock a cartographer from Greyhawk, hired by a sea captain in Saltmarsh.
The idea was to give the players access to Saltmarsh lore and history via the Waters' before they landed which worked fairly well. As they landed they headed to the Whale Bone, a small, but packed and rowdy fishing tavern. They had some fun there and learned a little more about Saltmarsh. I threw in the poacher, however, and that may have been a little premature. Through him and some taunting sailors they learned a bit about the ghosts of Saltmarsh. That was enough of a hint that, though they lost the poacher in the crowd, they started sniffing around for leads about ghosts.
The way I played it, was that most of the citizens didn't know much, but when pressed might mention something odd they've been hearing recently about the old house on the coast road. They poked around a bit more and uncovered that it was long ago inhabited by an alchemist and has been left abandoned since. They also were pointed towards Olaf Fingaurd the poacher and Ulna Gillam the town beachcomber who lives in a shack on the beach just below the house. These tow it is said have been telling tales recently about the house and might be able to tell the party more. Ulna has heard some strange sounds and seen some strange lights, but if pressed she talks more about the sea ghosts. Strange ghost ships she has seen once or twice at night on the waters out to sea. Ulna is more than a little touched in the head however, and drinks copiously. She also talks about voices in the sand, fish that grant wishes, seaweed that grant magical powers, and a giant sea dragon turtle that actually runs Saltmarsh. Olaf, however, is much more certain. He stayed in the house and was run out by horrible sounds, nightmarish lights and ghosts that chased him into the streets and down the road. Problem is noone believes him. Noone except Ulna that is, and that hasn't won him any friends in town.
The last part of that paragraph hasn't played out yet. The party has gotten directions to Ulna's shack and is headed that way, which is where we pick up next session.
