A review by dylansmphillips
Ghosts of Saltmarsh by Wizards of the Coast

3.0

Ghosts of Saltmarsh by Wizards of the Coast is an immersive non-setting-specific campaign that allows DMs to take their players to the coastal cities of a fantasy world and engage in naval-related combat and travel. While this does sound intriguing on the surface, there are a few issues with what this book attempts to sell itself as. While the campaign information and world-building certainly lends itself to being a great setting for either an entire campaign or a piece of a bigger world, the mechanics are incredibly clunky. There is next to no exploration of naval mechanics, combat, or travel, instead just making it a throwaway as part of the coastal setting. For someone who was looking to make naval travel and island hopping an exciting part of their own homebrew world, the promise of these mechanics being tested and used in an official WoTC let me down when it ended up being such a minuscule part of this book's new additions.

TL;DR: Intriguing setting and campaign prompt, but falls very short of the promise of boat mechanics, and water travel for more island-based adventures.