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Classic Modules Today: U1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh (5e)

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In 1981, TSR published the module named “The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh” with the module code “U1”. It was written by Dave J. Browne and Don Turnbull, and illustrated by Dave De Leuw, Harry Quinn, and Stephen D. Sullivan. It consisted of a 32 page booklet and tri-fold cover with maps.

This conversion guide allows DMs to run the original module with 5th Edition rules and provides a reference sheet for encounters.

To use this conversion guide you will need a copy of "U1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh", originally available in hard-copy and now for sale in Digital format at DMsGuild.com.

"Classic Modules Today: B4 The Lost City" contains the OpenOffice/LibreOffice source files used to create this PDF. Visit Classicmodulestoday.com for instructions on creating your own classic module conversions and selling them on the DMs Guild.

Classic Modules Today are a series of products that convert early edition Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure modules to the Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition rule set. They fully adhere to the rules set forth in the Community Content Agreement of the DMsGuild. The CCA states that adventure conversions must be:

"A streamlined, bare-bones conversion guide for someone who already owns the classic adventure — i.e., encounter-by-encounter conversion notes with any 5E stats needed, leaving out all other content."

For more information, download the free guide "Using Classic Modules Today Conversions".

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Reviews (3)
Discussions (3)
Customer avatar
Peter L December 25, 2018 5:47 am UTC
PURCHASER
There are free 5e conversations of this available--what sets yours apart?
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Customer avatar
Mark S December 26, 2018 4:50 am UTC
CREATOR
Thanks for asking Peter. The biggest standouts are:

Organization of the information in a format that's easy to understand and reference back to the original module.

Magic items list with reference to module page with changes to magic items where necessary, and custom magic items for those not present in 5e rules.

Custom created monsters and NPCs, more often than "use existing monster X with these changes".

Detailed list of tricks and traps with module page reference.

List of planned encounters with appropriately scaled ability/skill checks.

Adherence to original module design - no balancing of opposition numbers to always provide a "fair" fight.

I believe these features are worth the price, less than a bottle of soda in most cases.
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Customer avatar
Peter L December 27, 2018 8:28 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I appreciate the answer Mark. Most adaptations I see minimalist and straight-up--adjusting mechanics and (less commonly) treasure and magic items, but nothing else. Personally, when I do these for myself, I prefer story logic work--most adventures (classic or modern) contain poor organization, plotholes, unexplained assumptions, overly or under developed settings/NPCs, and sometimes just bizarre decisions/ideas. The mechanics stuff, while sometimes tedious to do, isn't particularly difficult or time consuming (except for people who want a one-for-one challenge rating between editions). I think your price point is reasonable, although I'd want the story logic and setting/NPC development to jump at it.
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Customer avatar
Mark S December 28, 2018 5:30 am UTC
CREATOR
I understand. The biggest stricture with doing something like that for publishing here on the DM Guild is the CCA, which limits how much you can present of the original module to be converted.

"No direct, full reprints of classic adventures converted to 5E. If you want to publish something based around a classic adventure like Against the Giants or Queen of the Demonweb Pits, then you could consider options like:
-a distinctly new 5e adventure that is perhaps a prequel or sequel to the classic adventure content;
-a streamlined, bare-bones conversion guide for someone who already owns the classic adventure (i.e., encounter-by-encounter
conversion notes with any 5E stats needed, leaving out all other content, augmented with ideas for setting the adventure in the
Forgotten Realms); or
-a unique take in the spirit of the classic adventure. Yeah, Acererak’s tomb is horrific, but what about that other lich’s place?"

With those rules we -might-...See more
Reply
Customer avatar
Peter L December 28, 2018 5:38 am UTC
PURCHASER
Without having tried putting something on here it's hard to know if what I mean is what you mean. I'll give you a very specific example to illustrate what I mean: the background chronology of Princes of the Apocalypse makes no sense--it's filled with scattered, contradictory references (the editing of that book in general is awful). It's hard to imagine that creating a sensible timeline would go against terms of service since the *intent* of the publisher was something that makes sense. I think what you're suggesting is inserting entirely new plotlines or extensions to the existing material, and that's not what I mean--I'm talking about fixing mistakes in logic, missing motivation, etc, and making suggestions for fixing them.
Customer avatar
George F August 15, 2018 5:54 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I'm running this tomorrow night for my first ever 5e session. Looking through this, I noticed none of the NPCs have a class listed. Are all 5e products like this?
Reply
Customer avatar
Mark S August 17, 2018 4:36 pm UTC
CREATOR
Class isn't always explicitly stated for NPCs in 5e since NPC creation tends to be organic. You build an NPC with the abilities you want to give it, then figure out the CR from that. Spellcasters sometimes have it noted under the Spellcasting heading, although I didn't opt to do it for Sanbalet and Punketah (they're wizards with different school focuses to stay true to the original module). Most of the time reading through the stat block will give you an idea what class the NPC is based on.

I wrote up a document of NPC stat blocks by class that I use as the basis for creating NPCs.

/shameless plug
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/183538/Classed-NPC-Quick-Build-Guide-5e
/shameless plug

Hope that helps!
Customer avatar
Ronald S February 02, 2017 5:51 am UTC
PURCHASER
Love it, hoping to see "Danger at Dunwater" and "The Final Enemy" soon. Always wanted to do those as a campaign back in the day, but never got to. Hopefully, I will be able to do them with 5e
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File Last Updated:
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This title was added to our catalog on December 11, 2016.