SALTMARSH ENCOUNTERS

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 Credits Overview
Lead Design: M.T. Black Saltmarsh Encounters presents sixty short encounters
to complement the Ghosts of Saltmarsh adventure
Design: Ashley Warren, James Haeck, James anthology. The supplement comprises the following
Introcaso, M.T. Black, Rich Lescouflair sections:
Editing: Noah Lloyd • Random Encounters. Sixty random encounters for
the town, coast, and sea, with dozens of encounter
Layout and Graphic Design: Rich Lescouflair variations. It also includes a random name generation
Cover and Interior Art: Provided by Wizards of the table and suggestions for scaling the encounters.
Coast and used with permission • Appendix 1. Monster & NPC Statistics. Statistics

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for creatures listed in Volo’s Guide to Monsters or
Special Thanks: Chris Lindsay, Wizards of the Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes.
Coast, and the DMs Guild Adepts • Appendix 2. New Magic Items. New magic items used
in the encounters.
Saltmarsh Encounters requires use of the D&D 5th

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Edition core rulebooks (Player’s Handbook, Dungeon
Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual). When a creature’s
name appears in bold type, that’s a reference to its stat
block, most of which can be found in the Monster Manual.
If the creature is listed in another source, its stat block is
reproduced with permission in appendix 1.

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Overview
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 Random Encounters
andom encounters can help the Dungeon
Master bring a location to life, creating the
Scaling the Encounters
impression that the adventure takes place The encounters presented here are aimed at tier-1
within a complex and dynamic ecosystem. parties. Characters of 1st level may find some of the
Random encounters also help with game combat encounters very dangerous, while 4th-level
pacing, making players feel like genuine characters will handle them more easily.
effort is involved when they move through By the time the characters reach tier 2, they can

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potentially dangerous areas. They also provide fun generally move around town and the nearby wilderness
opportunities for you to improvise and often blossom into without much trouble. However, if you want to scale up
ongoing campaign elements. any of the combat encounters to present tier-2 characters
You can roll for random encounters as often as you with a greater challenge, follow these simple guidelines:
wish, but it is recommended you do so no more than • Where a single monster is indicated, it becomes 1d4

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once per day. More frequently than that and the players monsters. For example, the cyclops in the Eye Hard
may become frustrated at their inability to move the encounter would be replaced with 1d4 cyclops).
main story forward. • Where a die is rolled to indicate the number of monsters,
increase the number of dice rolled by 2. For example,
Encounter Table the 1d8 + 1 giant lizards in the Off to See the Lizard
encounter would be replaced by 3d8 + 1 giant lizards.
The table below provides random encounters for the
town, coast, and sea.

Encounter Table
d20
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2
3
Town Encounters
A Ghastly Affair
Barrel Bite
Boss Dog
e Coastal Encounters
Big Game Hunters
Breaking Crab
Cap'n Jackie
Aquatic Encounters
Abandoned Ship
Anchors Aweigh
Dead Whale
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4 Corrupt Constable Drink Up! Driftwood
5 Flying Thief Eye Hard Gift from the Gods
6 Friend Finder Friendly Fishers Hairship
7 From the Deep Gatherers Hard to Port
8 Furry Friend Gone Fishing Jaws
9 Ghosts of Saltmarsh Hunter Trap Mellow Merrow
10 Grim Raven Landlocked Mephit Mayhem
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11 Heads Up! Message In a Bottle Mutiny on the Prosperous

12 Hot Goods Off to See the Lizard Mysterious Melody
13 In the Stocks Rule of Ghoul Need a Bigger Boat!
14 On Guard The Green Bile Seafloor Death March
15 Rat Albert Tiny Growler Set in Stone
16 Smuggler Vendor Treasure Hunters Silver Fish
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17 Specter Days Tribal Trouble Skeletal Beasts

18 Street Brawl Troll Bait Smoke on the Water
19 Street Performance What's in the Box? Whatever It Snakes
20 What the Shells Say Wolf and Fire You've Got Whale

Random Encounters
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3. This keelboat contains crates of stolen weapons that
could sell for a total of 1d10 x 100 gp on the black
market.
4. This covered rowboat hides four sahuagin. The
monsters wait for someone to approach then rip off

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the cover and attack!

Anchors Aweigh
The characters come across a beam of splintered timber
floating in the water. One end of a heavy rope is tied to the
Encounter Descriptions beam, with the other end lost in the depths. The rope is
attached to an anchor of seafaring.
Following are the encounter descriptions in alphabetical
order. Barrel Bite
A Ghastly Affair There is a squat wooden barrel standing in a lonely alley

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A nauseating odor emerges from a dilapidated wooden
farmhouse. A few moments later, someone inside
begins screaming. If the characters enter, they find a
young man using an old chair to fend off a ghast that is
wearing a tattered, grimy dress. Roll a d4 to determine
with a gentle golden light coming from the open end.
Anyone looking inside sees a small pile of glowing gold
coins at the bottom of it. The barrel is a clever mimic that
has quietly hunted in this part of town for years. It attacks
anyone who attempts to retrieve the coins.
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the creature’s origin: Big Game Hunters
1. It is the young man’s wife, transformed by an ancient
family curse. The characters encounter a group of creatures hunting
a much larger monster. If the characters are friendly, the
2. It escaped from the secret laboratory of a
hunters ask them to come along. Roll a d4 to determine
necromancer, which is located a few miles out
the creatures encountered and the monster they hunt.
of town. The necromancer comes looking for
the creature and gives the characters a bottle of 1. A group of 1d4 + 2 veterans from Saltmarsh hunt a
tyrannosaurus rex for sport.
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moonlight if they subdued it.

3. It was accidentally conjured from the abyss by an 2. A group of 1d6 + 2 lizardfolk track a giant crocodile
incompetent hedge wizard. they hope to capture and train as a pet.
4. It was formerly a thief who owed money to a minor 3. A group of 2d4 berserkers seek revenge against a
crime lord with a short temper and a wand of hydra that killed their friend.
polymorph. 4. A group of 1d4 + 1 knights that worship Bahamut
seek the lair of an adult black dragon.
Abandoned Ship
Boss Dog
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The characters encounter a ship floating in the middle of

the ocean, seemingly abandoned. Roll a d4 to determine A mangy, starving pack of 2d4 mastiffs, led by a savage
the ship’s nature: gray dire wolf, confront the characters in a quiet part
1. This merchant sailing ship was attacked by pirates. of town. Roll a d4 to determine what treasure the pack
The deck is covered in corpses, but a deckhand might possess:
(commoner) hid in a barrel during the fight below 1. Nothing at all.
deck. The deckhand is still in the barrel. If the 2. The dire wolf has a collar with a silver name tag that
characters find her, she begs them to pursue the says “Sabre.” The tag is worth 10 gp.
pirates. 3. One of the mastiffs recently swallowed a moonstone
2. This longship is crewed by forty specters of worth 20 gp.
warriors who only appear in the light of a full moon. 4. The pack has a den made of rags and debris in
At all other times the ship appears abandoned. a nearby alley. Amongst the garbage is an orb of
When the specters appear, they attack other direction, which can be found with a successful DC
creatures on their ship. 12 Wisdom (Perception) check.

Random Encounters
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 Breaking Crab Driftwood
A cast of 1d6 + 4 giant crabs, with bloodred shells, are The characters notice a piece of driftwood floating in the
hulking over an enormous pile of dark green seaweed on ocean. Roll a d4 to determine what is interesting about
the beach. Roll a d4 to determine what lies beneath the the driftwood:
seaweed: 1. The driftwood is contaminated with sewer plague.
1. A suit of chitinous armor. A creature that touches the wood must succeed on
2. An unconscious middle-aged woman dressed in a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or contract the
damp rags. If any magical healing is applied to her, disease (see “Diseases” in chapter 8 of the Dungeon
she awakes and reverts to her true form, that of a Master’s Guide).
deva. She does not reveal what her mission is on the 2. The 2-foot length of driftwood is carved with the holy
material plane or how she ended up incapacitated. symbol of a chaotic evil deity of the DM’s choice and

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She does, however, offer to cast a commune spell in can be used as a club. When a creature holding the
order to assist the characters. driftwood utters a prayer to the deity as an action, the
3. A potion of resistance (radiant) in an onion-shaped creature gains a random form of short-term madness
bottle made of green glass and inscribed with an (see “Madness” in chapter 8 of the Dungeon Master’s
image of the sun. Guide). While the creature wielding it is mad, the

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4. The rotting remains of a drowned halfling. She is driftwood gains a +1 bonus to attack and damage
dressed in dark leathers and wears a silver symbol rolls and is a magical weapon.
about her neck denoting her allegiance to the 3. The driftwood is painted with a map that leads to a
Harpers. shipwreck containing a chest of 1d6 x 100 gp.
4. A giant crab clings to the underside of the driftwood
Cap’n Jackie and attacks any creature that disturbs it.
Near an old coastal road is a simple wooden palisade in
the shape of a ship, with a skull-and-crossbones flying Drink Up!
from a crude flagpole in the middle of it. Somewhere within the briny swamps beyond Saltmarsh is
A human bandit captain calling herself “Cap’n Jackie” a mysterious font of pure water, with a magnificent golden

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stands inside the palisade and is accompanied by 1d4 + 2
bandits. She demands that any passersby handover their
“booty” or they will be “feeding the sharks tonight.”

Corrupt Constable
chalice worth 100 gp submerged within it. A bloated
corpse lies next to the font. If a character examines the
corpse and succeeds on a DC 13 Wisdom (Medicine)
check, they learn that this person died of drowning.
A creature that drinks once from the font randomly
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A woman in a dirty, patched farmer’s smock approaches gains one of the following beneficial effects:
the characters and tells them she is the town constable,
and they are under arrest on suspicion of arson. She
insists they come with her to the lockup, but then hints
she could let them go for “suitable recompense.”
She is, in fact, the town constable, which is an office
assigned by lot every year. This particular person has
turned the office to profit by harassing strangers. Under
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town law, she can lock up anyone on suspicion of a crime

until the local magistrate can hear the case, which usually
takes about 2 days.

Dead Whale
A huge whale corpse floats in the sea. Roll a d4 to
determine what happens next:
1. A group of 2d6 reef sharks are in a feeding frenzy
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on the corpse. They attack any creature or vessel that

comes within 30 feet of the remains.
2. With a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check,
someone notices a stitched-up wound in the whale’s
belly. Within are smuggled goods worth a total of 1d4
x 100 gp.
3. The whale remains explode when a creature or vessel
gets within 30 feet of it. Each creature within 30 feet
of the explosion must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity
saving throw or take 5 (1d10) bludgeoning damage.
4. The whale is not dead, just resting. Any creature that
comes within 30 feet of the creature disturbs it, and
the whale attacks (use the killer whale statistics.)

Random Encounters
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 Minor Beneficial Effects Major Beneficial Effects
1d4 Effect 1d4 Effect
1 The water is pure and crystal clear. Any disease or 1 The water fills your body with warmth and vigor. For
poison affecting you is cured, and you are immune to the next 24 hours, you have resistance to cold and fire
disease and poison for the next 24 hours. damage.
2 The water has a twinge of salt, and you feel gills 2 The water sparkles with magic in your throat. The
sprout on your neck. For the next 24 hours, you can next time you cast a spell, you cast it at the highest
breathe both air and water. level you can cast it, and it doesn’t consume a spell
3 The water is as sweet as honey. You have a +10 bonus slot. (Warlocks and all others without the Spellcasting
on the next Charisma check you make. feature reroll this result.)
4 The water is cold and rousing. You have a +10 bonus 3 The water bubbles as if it were boiling. For the next 24

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on the next Wisdom (Perception) check or the next hours, you can cast enlarge/reduce at will, requiring
time you roll initiative. no material components.
4 The water tastes of victory. For the next hour, you are
A creature that drinks from the font a second time immune to being frightened and gain 5 temporary hit
randomly gains one of the following beneficial effects: points at the start of each of your turns.

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A creature that drinks from the font a third time randomly
gains one of the following detrimental effects. Casting
remove curse halts any ongoing effects.

Major Detrimental Effects

1d4 Effect
1 The cup adheres to your lips and begins gushing
water into your mouth uncontrollably. You begin
choking. You have a number of rounds equal to your

e Constitution modifier to find a way to start breathing.

Otherwise, you drop to 0 hit points and are dying.
You can tear the cup from your lips by making a
successful DC 15 Strength check as an action; you
take 7 (2d6) slashing damage on a successful check.
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2 The cup tastes vile. You must succeed on a DC
16 Constitution saving throw or take 3 (1d6) acid
damage every minute for the next 24 hours. You can
repeat this saving throw if you drink at least 1 gallon
of water or vomit.
3 The cup turns ice cold and blasts you with freezing
water that envelops your entire body in thick ice. You
are restrained for the next 24 hours, or until someone
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deals 50 fire or bludgeoning damage to the ice.

Whenever the ice takes damage, you also take half
that damage.
4 A tentacle emerges from the cup, then another, and
then another, until a giant octopus bursts from the
cup and attacks you.

Eye Hard
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The characters come across a 12-foot high cave in a rocky

escarpment near the beach. The cave is blocked by a large
boulder, from behind which come the sound of combat.
Rolling the boulder aside requires a successful DC 19
Strength check.
The cave beyond goes about 100 feet back into the
escarpment and terminates in a capacious and irregularly
shaped chamber. There, a cyclops is fighting 6 bandits
who crept into her cave while she was out. They intended
to steal her only item of value, a figurine of wondrous
power (silver raven).

Random Encounters
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