Tasha's Cauldron and Freeport, Part 2: Everything Else

 For my past columns about using D&D Fifth Edition sourcebooks with Freeport: The City of Adventure, see the Freeport 5E Index.

Last time, I reviewed the new origin rules, the artificer class, 26 new subclasses, new feats, and other character options in Chapter 1 of Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. This column tackles the rest of the book.

Chapter 2: Group Patrons

Patrons give a way to build connections between PCs through their shared relationship with a powerful organization or influential NPC. Having a patron grants a number of perks, and they can be the source of quests. This chapter also gives rules for being your own patron, for characters more interested in running a new organization themselves. Freeport has examples of every type of patron presented here, and the patron rules would be an excellent way to enhance a campaign centered around one of the city's institutions, whether a temple, guild, or syndicate.

Chapter 3: Magical Miscellany

Spells: A few cantrips presented here (booming blade, green-flame blade, lightning lure, sword burst) are reprinted from Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. Most of the others first appeared in Unearthed Arcana.

Psionic casters, like the Aberrant Mind, gain a few new spells fitting that theme, including intellect fortress, mind sliver, and Tasha's mind whip. The book's purported author also has two other spells in this chapter (Tasha's caustic brew and Tasha's otherworldly guise).

Several new summoning spells presented here come with a special stat block to use with that spell. The spell's level determines the summoned spirit's AC, hit points, and number of attacks. The caster chooses one of two or three options that determine some of its other stats; for example, a bestial spirit can be an air, land, or sea creature, with appropriate movement types. These spells provide an interesting alternative to the handful of summoning spells in the Player's Handbook, where the player needs to be familiar with the relevant Monster Manual entries. Summoning spells are frighteningly commonplace in Freeport, so using these spells could save the GM some effort when running summoner NPCs.

This section ends with a brief section about personalizing spells, which encourages players to get creative about the cosmetic manifestations of their spells.

Magic Items: This section presents a new type of magic item--magical tattoos--which take up an amount of space on the body determined by its rarity (from a few inches for common tattoos, or half your body for legendary ones). The sample tattoos presented include a variety of effects, from enhancing attacks to storing a spell to changing your appearance. Magical tattoos are highly appropriate for Freeport, where mundane tattoos are common among sailors, exotic martial artists, and other groups.

The other new magic items here include several artifacts, including Tasha's own Demonomicon of Iggwilv, and her adoptive mother Baba Yaga's mortar and pestle. Most of these artifacts are tied to a specific campaign world (the Crook of Rao belongs to Greyhawk, for example) so will need some adapting for Freeport campaigns not set in those worlds. Some, however, beg to be used in a high-level campaign that explores parts of Freeport's past, such as forging links between the Mighty Servant of Leuk-O and the Ironjack.

Other notable categories of new items include:

• Magic books could be found in the libraries of the Wizard's Guild or Temple of the God of Knowledge, or could be sought by those organizations, or by other lore-seekers. The atlas of endless horizons seems thematically appropriate for Freeport's mystic navigators.  
• Magical instruments of various types can enhance a bard's class abilities.
• Magical shards contain the essence of another plane, and give sorcerers the ability to add extra effects when using their metamagic options. 

Chapter 4: Dungeon Master's Tools

Session Zero: "Session zero" refers to the practice of using the first session of a new campaign to establish expectations, outline the group's social contract, and share house rules. Sometimes this also includes creating characters together, so that players will choose options that will useful in the campaign. 

Sidekicks: This section provides rules for sidekicks--creatures befriended by the PCs, who accompany them on adventures, and who improve by gaining levels alongside their PC friends. The sidekick must be CR 1 or less, but gains levels in one of three sidekick classes (warrior, expert, or spellcaster). Most of the class abilities are borrowed from PC classes, but are simplified. A few seem very powerful, and hard for even a PC to qualify for (such as the warrior's Improved Critical), but in general they seem to be in line with characters of their level. 

These rules seem overly extensive for someone who is essentially a henchman or follower. But these rules could be very helpful in providing stats to a knight's retainers, or a more robust animal companion for a druid or ranger. They also seem perfect for small groups of players who want to round out a party with more heroes, but still want to keep the focus on each player's primary character.

(Nitpicky rules note, because I'm "the errata guy": Creatures of CR 1 or less already have a proficiency bonus of +2, so that bonus will not improve until they reach 5th level in their sidekick class. That might not be obvious from reading the rules, but it is critical for preserving 5E's bounded accuracy.)

The urban setting of Freeport: The City of Adventure makes acquiring townsfolk as sidekicks rather easy to justify. (In some cases, perhaps too much so, if a new friend embodies the label "follower" too literally!) These rules could also be useful at sea, to detail a friendly ship's captain who helps the heroes out from time to time, or important NPC officers if the PCs have their own ship.

Parleying with Monsters: This section gives some ideas for adjudicating social encounters with monsters of various types. Of particular interest for long time players of other d20 System games is the Monster Research table, which lists suggested skills for learning more about monsters based on their creature type, with a DC based on CR. This kind of check is an integral part of the knowledge skill rules in D&D 3E and Pathfinder, but was conspicuously missing from the 5E core rulebooks.

Environmental Hazards: This section provides random tables of events that may happen in regions where the supernatural has a strong influence (such as haunted places, areas corrupted by the Far Realm, or a location with a powerful psychic aura). This is followed by rules for various kinds of magical phenomena, such as eldritch storms, enchanted springs, magic mushrooms, and even mimic colonies. A brief section on natural hazards introduces rules for a few new situations, plus a table suggesting spells to use to model other environmental effects or disasters.

Many of these hazards are well-suited to Freeport: the Far Realm and hauntings fit the setting's horror aspects particularly well, while travelers may have to weather eldritch storms or navigate unearthly roads, or simply survive falling into water on a not infrequent basis. 

Puzzles: Finally, the last section of the book presents some sample puzzles that can used as-is or as a template for your own puzzles. Suggestions are given for skill checks that will provide hints, which is a useful idea to remember when creating other puzzles. None of the examples strike me as being out of place in Freeport, but they will need some customizing to integrate them into the setting.

Tasha's Cauldron and Freeport, Part 1: Character Options

For my past columns about using D&D Fifth Edition sourcebooks with Freeport: The City of Adventure, see the Freeport 5E Index.

Tasha's Cauldron of  Everything introduces a slew of new character options, from subclasses to spells to feats, as well as a number of new magic items and several tools for the GM. Much like Xanathar's Book of Everything, a significant fraction of the content of this book appeared in playtest form in Unearthed Arcana, and thus I have commented on those earlier iterations in past installments of this blog. I'll be compiling and revisiting those comments here, as well as reviewing brand-new additions. And as with Xanathar's, I'll be splitting my review into two parts, with this first part devoted to just Chapter 1: Character Options.

As the book's introduction points out, everything in this book is optional. Use as much or as little of it as you see fit for your campaigns.

Customizing Your Origin 

These rules allow you to customize the ability score increases, languages, and proficiencies you receive from your race or subrace. This option allows for a greater diversity among the members of each race, and makes it easier to represent an upbringing that might be radically different from the stereotypical standard. A sidebar gives simple rules for playing a custom lineage instead of one of the game's races.  

The Freeport setting frequently plays up the typical racial stereotypes built into the game (dwarves are known for craftsmanship and warfare, elves for magic and stealth, half-orcs and orcs for rage and bloodlust). However, the City of Adventure is also home to many NPCs who very much play against expectations about their ancestry (such as a half-orc noble, a half-orc lawyer, and a goblin wizard) and is something of a melting pot as well, despite all its racial tensions. A party of adventurers could easily include PCs built with the standard race packages as well as PCs with customized origins.

(While strictly optional, the customized origin rules have become the default assumption for all new lineages presented in Unearthed Arcana.)

Artificer

Artificers are master crafters who use their tools to imbue objects with magical power. They may create magical elixirs, enchant armors or weapons, or build mechanical servants. Even their spells manifest as wondrous effects produced by their inventions, rather than traditional spellcasting.

This class has four kinds of specialists (subclasses): Alchemists create elixirs and enhance their spells using their alchemist's supplies. The Armorer creates a powerful bond with their armor, turning it into fully enclosed power armor. The Artillerist is accompanied by an eldritch cannon, and gain potent battle magic. The Battle Smith focuses on protective enchantments and crafts a defensive construct companion.

Artificers work very well with Freeport's unusual mix of eldritch magic and experimental technology. The Armorer seems especially appropriate for experimenters who blur the lines between man and machine, such as the Manikins (Hell in Freeport) or Ironjack (The Ironjack Legacy). 

Optional Class Features: Each of the next 12 sections begins with a selection of Optional Class Features for that class. Some replace a standard class feature, while others are available at the discretion of the GM. This might mean they're given for free, after a quest, or in place of a standard class feature, but no real guidance is given for determining that. The Unearthed Arcana article in which they originally appeared did provide more explicit instructions (typically, the character gave up a class feature of the listed level in order to gain the new feature), but much of that language was cut from the final print version. Players can be a greedy, pushy lot at times, so more explicit guidelines would have been welcome here.

Each spellcasting class is given an expanded spell list, which includes spells from the Player's Handbook as well as new spells from Chapter 3 of this book. Other options include:

• Replaced class features: The character trades away one class feature for a new one.
• Enhanced class features: The existing class feature is expanded to do a little more than before. (The following two items are specific kinds of enhancement.)
• Expanded options: Class features that require a choice from several options (fighting styles, metamagic, invocations, etc.) get new options.
• Retraining: The character can change one of their cantrips, maneuvers, or other class features more easily.

Barbarian

The Path of the Beast barbarian is a partial shapechanger who can grow natural weapons in combat. As they advance, they can adapt to new movement modes, and spread their rage to allies and enemies. This archetype is suitable for characters with a connection to lycanthropes, druids, or fey or animal spirits--of which there are many examples in Rolland and in the more exotic lands of the World of Freeport.

The Path of Wild Magic is a barbarian who is saturated with powerful magic, over which they have little control until later levels. It's very much a martial sibling to the Wild Magic sorcerer. (I'm not sure whether multiclassing between the two would be awesome or obnoxious--or both.)

Bard

Bards who join the College of Creation learn to use the esoteric power of music to manipulate the world around them, from summoning lingering notes that bolster inspiration, to animating a dancing item, to literally creating nonmagical objects out of nothing. The theme of this archetype reminds me of the Finnish creation myth in which the world itself emerges from a bard's song; DMs may wish to take that a step further and tie this tradition to the doomed world from which Lowyatar is the sole survivor (see Cults of Freeport).

The College of Eloquence gives a bard increased powers of persuasion, communication, and inspiration. The effects are less flashy than many other subclasses, but very well-suited to a silver-tongued bard.

Cleric

The Order Domain is designed for gods of law, civilization, and leadership. If you are using The Book of the Righteous with Freeport, then this domain is most appropriate for Maal (LN god of justice) and Asmodeus (LE god of tyranny). However, those two gods already have the Balance and Tyranny domains, respectively, which embody their own takes on law and order. 

The Peace Domain [renamed from the Unity Domain] emphasizes teamwork and emotional bonds. This domain would be an excellent way to translate the Community domain from Third Edition. (That is one gap that The Book of the Righteous did not fill.)

The Twilight Domain is a natural fit for heroes who brave the darkness to combat the dangers that it hides. Two examples in Freeport canon include Tagmata's dualistic light-based faith of Astrape, and the cult of Nut in Hamunaptra.

Druid

The Circle of Spores druid is attuned to mold and decay, gaining poison attacks and eventually the ability to temporarily raise its victims as zombies. These druids might operate in the jungle of A'Val or in the sewers below Freeport. 

The Circle of Stars for druids involves studying the night sky and channeling the power of starlight. Some of the features gained are tied to astrological foretelling, while others alter wild shape to take on a starry form tied to a constellation's power. The powers of this subclass are thematically appropriate for both the Order of Starry Wisdom and the Wanderer, though druids are not obvious candidates for either cult.

The Circle of Wildfire embraces both the destructive side of fire and the new growth that it makes possible. It's imminently suited for druids who live near volcanoes like the one on A'Val--but such a character is likely to inspire a great deal of terror in Freeporters due to painful memories of the Great Green Fire that ravaged the island a few years ago.

Fighter

The Psi Warrior [formerly Psychic Warrior] uses psionic energy to augment attacks and defenses that improve with level. In the World of Freeport, psionics are most common in Naranjan, the land of the Mindshadows setting. 

Rune Knights learn how to imbue their possessions with the power of giantish rune magic. In the World of Freeport, this archetype would be most common among the northern barbarian tribes of Druzhdin. or possibly the dwarves of Vorizar.

In addition to presenting new fighting styles and maneuvers, this class's section ends in a list of Battle Master builds, with suggested fighting styles, maneuvers, and feats for different types of warriors, such as archers, lancers, and pugilists.

Monk

Monks who follow the Way of Mercy tradition are both skilled healers as well as bringers of swift death to the evil and the ailing. Many wear masks to shroud their identities in mystery. These monks would be appropriate for followers of a god of medicine, or one who holds power over life and death.

The Way of the Astral Self provides a way for a monk to manifest their true form using their ki. This astral form is mastered a piece at a time, starting with extra arms that deal radiant or necrotic damage, then later a mask (visage) that enhances their senses. Later levels enhance both the offensive and defensive benefits of this astral self. This subclass seems best suited for an exotic, possibly psionic-flavored, monastic order, perhaps one started by a planar-traveling race such as the githyanki or githzerai.

Paladin

The Oath of Glory [formerly Heroism] is for paladins who are destined for legendary greatness, enhancing their own powers in a way that eventually can be used to inspire allies and frighten enemies.

Paladins who swear the Oath of the Watchers are guardians against extraplanar threats. This manifests as heightened vigilance and methods to punish unworldly foes. This archetype is very well suited to servants of the Inquisition and other champions who hunt the devils and demons who plague Freeport from time to time. 

Most Sacred Oaths suggest one or more alignments common to their members, but these two do not. In Freeport, that might mean these oaths are equally valid for both idealistic crusaders and their more jaded, corrupt associates. The Oath of Glory in particular seems more concerned with personal glory than the greater good, and that kind of egotism does fit Freeport just fine.

Ranger

The Fey Wanderer ranger archetype is a guardian of the borders between the Feywild and the material plane. They are imbued with fey magic that allows them to better negotiate with beings from both worlds, to resist some of the snares of the fey, and to bend the minds of others. This subclass is probably most common in the elven kingdom of Rolland, but might also be appropriate for rangers (human and otherwise) who have learned something about the strange, rare fey peculiar to the Serpent's Teeth.

The Swarmkeeper ranger archetype has a connection to a fey nature spirit that manifests as a swarm of tiny beasts sharing their space. As the ranger advances in level, this swarm can increase their weapon damage and enhance their movement. This subclass is rather bizarre and potentially offputting in social encounters, but could be appropriate to a wide variety of characters, from fey-bonded wood elves from Rolland, to worshipers of insect or plague gods from Hamunaptra, to weird outcasts who dwell in the sewers beneath Freeport.

This class's optional class features include an alternative to the Beast Master's animal companion. That original take has been much criticized for its poor action economy, and Primal Companions help improve that somewhat. (They also don't require the level of familiarity with the Monster Manual that picking a companion can sometimes entail.)

Rogue

The Phantom is a killer with a mystical connection to the dead. That connection gives them a bonus proficiency (which can be changed after a rest), and at later levels it can give them a little bit of the luck or knowledge of those who have died near them. When they sneak attack a foe, they can cause ghostly wails to damage a second target. This subclass would be ideal for the assassins of a death cult, or a haunted loner. It fits in admirably with the horror elements of the Freeport setting.

A Soulknife can create a blade of pure psychic energy, and at very high level, can target an enemy's mind directly. As with the Psi Warrior, Soulknives would be most common in Naranjan.

Sorcerer

The Aberrant Mind sorcerer has had an alien experience that warped their mind and body. This subclass gives them limited telepathy, psionic-flavored additional spells known, and (at higher levels) resistance to psychic damage. Higher levels also give the ability to transform into an aberrant form, and a destructive teleport ability. In Freeport, an Aberrant Mind might have acquired her powers through an encounter with servitors of the Yellow Sign or other eldritch horrors.

The Clockwork Soul is a sorcerous origin tied to Mechanus, the plane of ultimate order. The archetype's powers focus on warding magic and reducing the extremes of random chance (usually by denying advantage or disadvantage). The World of Freeport includes enough constructs (particularly in adventures such as Hell in Freeport and The Ironjack Legacy) that this subclass has a solid place there.

Warlock

The Fathomless is a powerful entity of the deep ocean, or the Elemental Plane of Water. In addition to an expanded spell list with water and weather-themed spells, this patron grants the ability to create spectral tentacles to attack your enemies. At higher levels, these appendages can help defend the warlock, and she can conjure more deadly manifestations of her patron's power. The warlock eventually gains some class features that make it easier to move through and survive in her master's watery domain. The Fathomless is perfectly suited to Yarash and Dagon's cults.

The Genie is an otherworldly patron from among the nobles of geniekind. Warlocks of this subclass actually take on some of the properties of their genie masters: they start with a genie's vessel, in which they can retreat from the outer world to rest. At later levels, they gain resistance based on their master's element, can take others into their vessel, and eventually gain some limited wish magic. Genie-binders are an established part of Freeport history, both in the construction of the Wizards Guild, and among the efreeti-blooded azhar, and this subclass offers an interesting inversion of that master-servant relationship.

Wizard

The Bladesinging tradition melds magic with martial prowess to gain enhanced AC, mobility, and concentration saves. At higher levels, they gain Extra Attack, and can sacrifice spell slots to absorb damage. This subclass originally appeared in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, where it was restricted to elves and half-elves. That limit has been omitted here, but in the World of Freeport, most Bladesingers would come from those races. One prestigious school for Bladesinging is the Arcane Blade Academy at Dragonmont, in Rolland (mentioned in True20 Freeport: The Lost Island).

A wizard of the Order of Scribes can create a magical quill at will, and instills some limited sentience in his own spellbook. At higher levels, they become expert spell scroll makers, and their spellbook gains new abilities. This subclass seems ideal for a lorekeeper at the Wizard's Guild or an archivist at the Temple of the God of Knowledge.

Feats

This section presents 15 new feats. Some grant a small taste of another class's abilities (Artificer Initiate, Eldritch Adept, Fighting Initiate, Metamagic Adept). Others enhance the use of a skill (Chef, Poisoner, Skill Expert). Two represent the influence of another plane (Fey Touched, Shadow Touched). Two give some cantrip-level psionic abilities (Telekinetic, Telepathic). The rest give advantages in combat, usually enhancing attacks (Crusher, Gunner, Piercer, Slasher). All of these feats are appropriate for Freeport, though GMs who don't want to use artificers or firearms in their game will need to restrict access to Artificer Initiate and Gunner, respectively.

Next up: Everything Else! (Chapters 2-4.)

James Marlowe and the Giant Peach

(See the full-sized scan at my Deviant gallery.)

My wife and I recently rewatched James and the Giant Peach. Partway through, it occurred to me that Miss Spider would be the sort of costume that one of my NPCs in the Grey Angels game would choose. Lilith Corman is a goth witch, largely inspired by Wednesday Addams (and cast as Christina Ricci), who works for Nightwatch. So I sketched her costume, and added her boyfriend dressed as Mr. Centipede. Lance Bogan (cast as George Eads) is a Nightwatch commando with an ever-cheerful personality. This pairing of opposites surprises everyone--not least the couple themselves--but they've made it work for a little over a decade now.

For this piece, I used photo references of both actors as well as stills from the movie to portray them in costume. Eads is approximately a foot taller than Ricci, so tall, lanky Centipede is a good fit for their relative sizes as well as their disparate personalities.

(Nightwatch is briefly explained at the end of this blog post. For more on the Grey Angels campaign, see my links on that page to my other blog posts about my PC, Trick Tillinghast. My title above references James Marlowe, a veteran Nightwatch agent who heads up a team that goes on missions to other parallel worlds.)

LEGO Minifigures Series 21

(See Tim's LEGO Reviews for my reviews of past LEGO Minifigures series.)

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I never did acquire any of the Series 20 Minifigures, but I did recently visit a local store that had the Series 21 figures. Fortunately, the character I wanted most, the Centaur Warrior, is very easy to find by feel thanks to her large horse body piece. I was able to find several of them within just a few minutes, and then spent some more time looking for the others I wanted. 

I now own 7 of the 12 characters in this series. (Note that it's a smaller series that most, with only a dozen characters instead of the usual 16.) I did not buy the Airplane Girl, Beekeeper, Pug Costume Guy, Space Police Guy, and Violin Kid, so am omitting them from my mini-reviews below. Rest assured, however, that if you're looking for Airplane Girl, the big wings of her costume are almost as easy to find by feel as the centaur body. The Beekeeper's hat and square tile honeycomb are very distinct as well, as is the Space Police's shield and armor. (Is it just me, or does issuing a policeman with a riot shield and baton seems rather tone-deaf to major news stories of the past year or two? If I acquire more of this series, I'll be skipping that one.)

Alien: This alien wears an orange bodysuit and carries a crowbar and a crystal that it likely just extracted from a mine. Its species is unclear due to a mask covering part of its face. The mottled skin and small spines on the back of the head suggest reptilian or amphibian, or even insectoid or more bizarre. (My wife will be using this minifigure for her shirren, an insectoid race in the Starfinder RPG.)  

Ancient Warrior: This warrior is based on an Aztec Jaguar Warrior, with a feathered feline headdress, a shield with stylized jaguar face, and even jaguar-print tattoos or bodypaint, and clawed toes. The head is double-sided: one smiling, and one snarling with fangs. He wields a macuahuitl, a flat wooden club edged with sharpened pieces of obsidian. (This weapon is the main reason I wanted this character, because a recent session of the Grey Angels campaign involved stealing magical ones from an auction.) 

Cabaret Singer: This performer wears a glittery teal and purple costume with a silver fabric train and a feathered headdress, with matching makeup on a double-sided head--one face smiling, the other with eyes closed as she belts out her song. She comes with a microphone and stand, which uses a 1x1 round plate with a hole in the stud as the base, so it can be mounted on a baseplate's stud.

Centaur Warrior: This character's body is the same piece as the centaurs from Forbidden Forest: Umbridge's Encounter*, but in caramel and brown. The body is a bit smaller than a standard LEGO horse--about half an inch shorter both vertically and horizontally--but I think this smaller size looks more in scale with the minifigure. It's also easier to fit this centaur into a Large (2") space than a horse, and not horrible outsized for the playable centaur race in D&D 5E, which is technically Medium-sized.

The torso has a sleeveless green garment, with a tree motif, and the wrists have matching bracers. She has a bow, and a quiver that can be hung from one of the studs in her back. She also comes with an apple--but whether that's supposed to indicate her forest home, or be used as a target (ala William Tell) is unclear. 

(*The centaurs and the giant in the Umbridge's Encounter set are very appealing, but J.K. Rowling's very public transphobic comments over the past year or two have made my family resolve to not buy any more tie-in products to her creations. So I was very pleased to see the centaur body re-released as part of the Minifigures line.)

Ladybug Girl: This woman wears a spotted black and red ladybug costume, including a helmet with antennae, and a short, split cape like the insect's wings. Her head is double-sided, with two different smiles. She comes with a leaf and a 1x1 round tile printed to look like a ladybug. As with most parts this small, my bag came with an extra tile, which could be handy for anyone wanting more tiny vermin.

This minifigure makes a serviceable Medium-sized beetle as-is by bending her over onto all fours.

Paddle Surfer: This woman is clearly fond of dolphins: she has one printed on her wetsuit (though her life vest covers it) and she has found one to paddle near. Her head is double-sided, one side having sunglasses, and her ballcap is combined with hair in a ponytail. 

The dolphin is the same as used in the Friends theme, in a neutral gray. There are "anti-studs" on the bottom side of the flukes, so that the dolphin can be stood up on its tail on the baseplate, as if leaping out of the water. Strangely, the bottom surface between the flippers is exactly the same as the bottom of a minifigure torso, so it's possible to create a weird mutant dolphin-monster with human legs. It looks ridiculous--and a bit creepy. 

Shipwreck Survivor: This castaway wears tattered pants and a seashell necklace, and has an anchor tattoo. The head is printed with a beard, which is fully covered by the hair piece's shaggy mop. He also comes with a bottle printed to look like it has a rolled-up message inside. 

He is accompanied by a tiny, cute hermit crab. The shell, made of a 1x1 round plate (with a hole on the stud) and a cupcake (or ice cream?) piece, is attached to a small post on the back of the crab's body. Stacking multiple 1x1 round plates on this post allows other things to be attached to the crab--such as a tail to turn it into a scorpion. 

Or, on a more silly note, make it into the tiniest reality show contestant ever!

Ghosts of Saltmarsh and Freeport

For my past columns about using D&D Fifth Edition sourcebooks with Freeport: The City of Adventure, see the Freeport 5E Index.

This columns contains spoilers for the adventures in Ghosts of Saltmarsh.

Ghosts of Saltmarsh is a nautical-themed anthology of seven adventures from previous editions of D&D updated to the Fifth Edition rules. Three of these form the original Saltmarsh trilogy (The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, Danger at Dunwater, and The Final Enemy), so the book begins with a much expanded description of that port town. The appendix includes rules for ships, sea travel and encounters, and a few additional encounter locations that are too short for chapters of their own.

This book should be invaluable for a GM running a Freeport campaign using 5E. Some adventures will be easier to adapt to that setting than others (see each chapter's entry below), but almost everything in the appendix will be useful in any maritime campaign.

Saltmarsh

Saltmarsh is a coastal port town with a sizable fishing fleet, but it also serves as a port of call for many merchant traders. It is a far cry from the cosmopolitan, pirate- and cult-infested island city of Freeport, so the three Saltmarsh adventures in this book will require some thought to fit into a Freeport campaign. 

Perhaps the easiest option is to locate Saltmarsh on the Continent, some days' sail from Freeport--but that make the campaign more about the Saltmarsh region than about Freeport, at least for the duration of those adventures. On the other hand, Saltmarsh could be very useful for fleshing out part of the Ivory Ports part of the Continent, for when your Freeporters are passing through and catch a whiff of interesting news and rumors that cause them to tarry a while.

This chapter also includes a few new backgrounds for PCs--fisher, marine, shipwright, and smuggler--that are perfectly suited to a Freeport campaign. Each of the backgrounds from the Player's Handbook gets a few notes about how to tie them into Saltmarsh, which may inspire similar connections for Freeport GMs.

The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh

The first Saltmarsh adventure involves investigating a seaside haunted house outside the town, then taking on the crew of a smuggling ship using the site as cover. This is a classic adventure, perfect for starting characters, but difficult to work into a campaign that starts in Freeport. It probably works best if set elsewhere in the Serpent's Teeth, perhaps near Libertyville or one of the handful of plantations on the islands. The house and the ship can also be easily used separately, if the GM needs a creepy hideout or a low-level ship's crew for their own adventures.

Danger at Dunwater

The second part of the trilogy is easier to adapt to a Freeport game. The adventure takes place within a massive lizardfolk lair located in a swamp. Lizardfolk are known to live in the Serpent's Teeth, and a tribe of this size would certainly pose a potential threat to other settlements there (though probably very little to Freeport itself). The other races present for the emerging alliance are also common to the seas near Freeport. 

The new lizardfolk stat blocks in the Appendix should be useful in converting older adventures such as "Dead Man's Chest," in Tales of Freeport.

Salvage Operation

This adventure is easily dropped into any ongoing nautical campaign, and Freeport has no shortage of desperate merchants who need adventurers to do dangerous work for them. Demonic cults are also a staple of Freeport campaigns, though GM who wish to emphasize the World of Freeport over Wizards of the Coast's IP may wish to have the villain of this piece worship the alternate Spider Queen described in Green Ronin's Plots & Poison: A Guidebook to Drow.

Isle of the Abbey

The heroes are hired to clear out evil clerics and undead that guard an abbey, while the cult is weakened from a pirate raid. Much like the Freeport line does, the adventure leaves the identity of the cult's god open-ended, with a few campaign world-specific suggestions given in the "Placing the Adventure" sidebar. 

The Final Enemy

In many ways, the finale of the Saltmarsh trilogy is the easiest to incorporate into a Freeport campaign. The sahaugin fortress is located some distance from the city, and could easily be located on an obscure reef near the Serpent's Teeth. The "sea devils" (as Freeporters call them) are a perennial problem for the City of Adventure, so scouting and then assaulting the site would be a highly appropriate mission for Freeport-based heroes. The module presents the stronghold as a former lizardfolk lair, but in the World of Freeport it might actually be an ancient Valossan ruin.

This adventure also includes many new stat blocks for new sahaugin foes and other undersea monsters (in the Appendices) that Freeport GMs can make use of elsewhere--for example, in converting the sahaugin attack in Crisis in Freeport.

Tammeraut's Fate

An island hermitage has come under attack by undead pirates, and by other monsters drawn to the scent of death. Once the PCs secure the island, they must follow the undead below the waves to stop the real threat that they pose.

The Styes

The Styes is a decaying port slowly sinking into the sea. Overall, the City of Adventure is too prosperous to be a good match, but the major sites of the adventure could be probably be transplanted to the docks of Scurvytown. Mr. Dory might be a gang leader, or a politician with ties to a member of the Captains' Council. The Tharizdun cult might be recast as a followers of one of Freeport's secret cults, such as the Unspeakable One, the Crawling Chaos, or Yarash. This adventure is certainly the most Lovecraftian in feel in the anthology, so may very well be worth the extra effort to adapt to Freeport.

Of Ships and the Sea

The book's first appendix presents rules for ships and ship combat, sea travel, and water hazards. Tables for generating random encounters, ships, and mysterious islands are also included. Finally, a trio of underwater locations are briefly detailed. 

Magic Items

A handful of new magic items are presented here, including a couple classic items updated from older editions of D&D.

Monsters and NPCs

In addition to the new monsters already mentioned above, this appendix includes a number of new undead and constructs that should prove useful in other adventures in the "sword & sorcery" vein of Freeport.

Bats in the Belfry

The phrase "You're got bats in your belfry" is purely metaphorical to most people, but for the church I attended throughout my childhood, it was absolutely literal. 

The belfry was located above one of the two entrances into the sanctuary. The vestibule below it had a pull-rope for ringing the bells when it was time for the worship service to begin (shortly after the end of Sunday school). However, a colony of bats lived in the belfry, which meant that guano falling through the rope hole was a recurring problem, and a serious health hazard. Eventually, the church had to thoroughly seal off the belfry from the rest of the building, after installing a system by which the bells could be rung by pushing a button rather than pulling a rope.

Because of that hole, and because that vestibule was the exterior entrance to the sanctuary, a bat would occasionally find its way inside the building. I recall two occasions when this happened when I was present at the church, which had very different endings.

The first time was during a youth group meeting held in the sanctuary one evening. Towards the end of the meeting, a bat started swooping around the sanctuary, freaking out most of the kids. As the only adult present, our youth leader took it upon himself to get the animal out of the building. He found a broom and swatted the bat out of the air. However, he hit it a lot harder then he intended, and it went BOOM into the paneling right below the framed painting of Jesus above the altar. The youth leader had an immediate and intense attack of guilt--he had hurt this tiny creature, and now Jesus was glaring at him!--so he carefully collected the stunned animal, putting it into a bucket until it recovered. I think he stayed there watching over it long after the rest of us were picked up by our parents.

A few years later, when I was in high school, someone spotted a bat clinging to the frame of a stained glass window in the sanctuary. This was during the brief gap between Sunday school and the worship service, so the room was still largely empty and quiet, but wouldn't be for long. I retrieved a ladder and gloves from the janitor's closet, and climbed up to very carefully pry the bat off the window. I held it gently but firmly in my hand as I climbed down and took it outside. Along the way, the bat caught the attention of many of the younger kids as they were leaving their Sunday school classes, so once we were outside, I held the bat so they could get a closer look, but warned them not to touch it. After a couple minutes of this, I found a high ledge on the outside of the building where the bat couldn't be reached easily by little kids, local cats, or other dangers while it recovered from being frightened and disoriented by all the noise and light. 

The picture above is a recent photo of the church, as seen on Google Maps Street View. The belfry roof shown here is new since I last regularly attended (many, many years ago), and I believe that the tower was shortened somewhat in the process, so I'm not sure if there are still any bats in the building today. 

Trick's Picks (updated)

I first posted my "Trick's Picks" playlist last April, and have been adding to it in fits and starts ever since. It now has well over 100 tracks (120 at the time that I'm posting this), so I've taken the list and sorted it into some semblance of order. I will update this post as the playlist continues to evolve.

[Songs with dates are just a reminder to myself that the game hasn't caught up to the present day (we're in December 2020 as of December 2023), so Trick hasn't technically heard these tracks yet.]

ABBA - Dancing Queen
Adam Lambert - Better Than I Know Myself
Adele - Rolling in the Deep
Alicia Keys - Girl on Fire
Angel & The MamboKats - Black Mambo (Mambero Mix)
Anna Kendrick - Cups

Ava Max - Kings & Queens  

The B-52’s - Love Shack
Backstreet Boys - Larger Than Life
The Bangles - Eternal Flame

The Beatles - Blackbird

The Beatles - Can't Buy Me Love

The Beatles - Imagine

Beyonce - Run the World (Girls)  
Bjork - Hunter
The Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling

Blondie - One Way or Another  
Blue Man Group - Drumbone
Bruno Mars - Locked Out of Heaven

C&C Music Factory - Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)  

Calvin Harris (feat. Rihanna) - This is What You Came For

Christina Aguilera - Genie in a Bottle
Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya, Pink - Lady Marmalade
Clean Bandit (feat. Jess Glynne) - Rather Be
Colbie Caillat - Brighter Than the Sun
Colbie Caillat - Bubbly
Colbie Caillat - Fallin’ For You
Coldplay - Viva La Vida

The Corrs - Breathless

Daft Punk (feat. Pharrell Williams) - Get Lucky
David Guetta (feat. Sia) - Titanium
Des’ree - You Gotta Be
Donna Summer - Hot Stuff (12" Version)

Dua Lipa - Dance the Night [2023]

Dua Lipa - Levitating  

Ed Sheeran - Shape of You

Ed Sheeran - Shivers  
ES Posthumus - Unstoppable
Eurythmics (feat. Aretha Franklin) - Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves
Evanescence - My Heart is Broken

Fall Out Boy - Uma Thurman
Fatboy Slim - Weapon of Choice
Fine Young Cannibals - Good Thing
Franka Potente - Believe

George Michael - Faith
The Greatest Showman Cast - This Is Me

Hadouken! - Levitate
HAIM - Little of Your Love

Halestorm - Freak Like Me

Halestorm - I am the Fire
Hayley Kiyoko - Girls Like Girls

Heart - Barracuda  
Heart - Crazy on You
The Hu (feat. Lzzy Hale) - Song of Women

INXS - Need You Tonight

Janelle Monae - Make Me Feel
Jason Mraz - I'm Yours
Jefferson Airplane - Somebody to Love
Jessie J - Domino
John Legend - All of Me
Journey - Any Way You Want It
Journey - Don't Stop Believin'

Katrina & The Waves - Walking on Sunshine
Katy Perry - Firework
Katy Perry - Rise
k.d. lang - Constant Craving
Kelly Clarkson - Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)

KISS - I Was Made For Lovin' You  

Lady Gaga - Edge of Glory
Lady Gaga - You and I

Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song  
Lenny Kravitz - Fly Away
Lenny Kravitz- Are You Gonna Go My Way

Lindsey Stirling - Artemis  
Lizzo - About Damn Time [2022]

Madonna - Vogue
Major Lazer & DJ Snake (feat. M0) - Lean On
Mark Ronson (feat. Bruno Mars) - Uptown Funk
Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing
Mary Lambert - She Keeps Me Warm
Meredith Brooks - Bitch

Michael Franti & Spearhead - Say Hey I Love You  

Michael Sambello - Maniac

Natalie Cole - Wild Women Do
Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten

Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes
Pharrell Williams - Happy
P!nk - F**king Perfect 

P!nk - Get the Party Started
P!nk - Just Like Fire 
P!nk - Raise Your Glass 
P!nk - Try 

The Police - Every Little Thing She Does is Magic

Portugal. The Man - Feel It Still
The Pussycat Dolls (feat. Snoop Dogg) - Buttons

Queen - Somebody to Love
Queen - We Are the Champions

Rachel Platten - Fight Song
Rachel Platten - Stand By You

Rare Earth - Get Ready  

Rick Astley - Together Forever
Ricky Martin - She Bangs
Roisin Murphy - Night of the Dancing Flame
Roisin Murphy - Ramalama (Bang Bang)

Salt-N-Pepa - Push It
Sara Bareilles - Brave
Sara Bareilles - I Choose You

Sara Bareilles - Orpheus  
Savage Garden - I Want You
Shania Twain - Forever and for Always

Shania Twain - Man! I Feel Like a Woman

Shania Twain - You're Still the One  
Sia - Alive
Sia - Cheap Thrills
Sia - Unstoppable
Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2U
Sixpence None the Richer - Kiss Me
Sixpence None the Richer - There She Goes

Skillet - Not Gonna Die  
Smash Mouth - All Star
Sophie P. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover

Spice Girls - Wannabe  

Steppenwolf - Born to be Wild
Sting - If I Ever Lose My Faith in You
Survivor - Eye of the Tiger

Swedish House Mafia - Save the World  
The Sweet - Ballroom Blitz

Taylor Swift - Blank Space
Taylor Swift - Delicate
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off
Tegan and Sara - Closer
They Might Be Giants - S-E-X-X-Y
Trinket - Boom
The Troggs - Wild Thing

Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles
The Veronicas - Take Me On the Floor

Walk the Moon - Shut Up and Dance
The Wallflowers - Heroes
WAR*HALL - All This Power [theme song for Grey Angels Season 4]
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army

Whitney Houston - I Want to Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)  
The Who - Who Are You
The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Burning [2022]

Zara Larsson, MNEK - Never Forget You