Random Ramblings – Salt & Ash (Feedback Needed!)

Hi everyone!

I'm Nick, one of the writers at Snowy's Maps. You might know some of my previous work: Where Mimics Come From, Root of All Evil, Dragon in Distress, and Dead Mountain.

A quick bit about me: I’ve been a Dungeon Master for over 8 years. I've even run a complete 1 to 20 D&D 5th Edition campaign (though, honestly, that frustrated me enough to make me switch over to Pathfinder 2e).

I've had two main issues with D&D 5e content:

First, many adventures overly rely on skill checks leading to limited outcomes. Something either happens or it doesn't (I've been guilty of this myself in some of the oneshots). This restricts creativity because players often only have a couple of options, forcing DMs to improvise heavily when players do something unexpected.

Second, combat often becomes a drag. Creatures frequently end up just being large sacks of hit points with little tactical depth. Especially at higher levels, encounters either become trivial or painfully slow. (I once threw four CR 20 creatures—a total CR of 80—against a level 15 party, and only one person went down...)

With Salt & Ash, my goal is to experiment with putting some old-school D&D into a oneshot. Here are a few core principles behind the design:

No Gotchas

Nothing randomly leaps out of nowhere to kill you. Every danger or trap has a hint, no checks required to sense that something’s off. You might not immediately understand the threat, but you will become suspicious.

More Varied Solutions ("Blue Option")

Inspired by the game FTL, where having specific equipment or crew grants better outcomes, this oneshot encourages creative use of adventuring gear. Got oil? That squeaky winch or door goes silent. Rope on hand? Skip those checks. Blanket or cloak available? You're protected from poison. I think adventuring gear is incredibly underutilized in most scenarios and I want to emphasize creative solutions.

Creature-Centric Design

Each oneshot revolves around a specific creature, with maps and challenges tailored accordingly. In the first one, you're up against Kobolds in a mine filled with traps.

Additionally, as a general design principle, creatures have lower hit points but slightly higher AC, as well as some survival tricks and reactions to spice up combat. They also deal higher damage for their CR, though adjusted down at level 1 to avoid instant player deaths from unlucky crits.

Adventure-wide Stacking Effects

As Sun Tzu said, "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting." Throughout the adventure, there are cumulative effects, positive or negative, that can impact your party. This might mean gaining access to poisons, or suffering from those same poisons. There are some more encounter-specific choices like altering enemy initiative or disabling certain monster abilities.

Overall, Salt & Ash aims to evoke an old-school revival feel rather than modern, mainstream D&D.

However, as the creator, I’m naturally biased. That’s why I need your feedback!

Give it a try, let me know what you loved or hated, and if you’d like more of this style. The next Salt & Ash adventure is likely to involve a level 5 party tackling a fire-immune troll.

Here’s the link to the oneshot if you haven't checked it out yet.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/slot-in-session-131621096

And if you enjoy it, don’t forget to support Snowy so we can continue creating content like this!

Thanks,
Nick