U1: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh is a well kept artistic secret!

I feel like I should be toasting or something as this will be my very first post concerning classic TSR modules.  Sure, this one is a bit remote, being a UK production, but still U1: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh has a very special place in my heart.

Back in late 1989 I’d gone away to university and decided that I would leave all the trappings of my youth behind.  That meant I was going to completely remake myself in a place where no one knew me.  It might have worked too, except that as I studied one night in the first month of the first semester I heard dice rolling in the dorm room next to me.  People were making characters, and low and behold they were going to run in a module, that being U1, and before I knew it I’d signed on as the groups fighter.

Thus, I tried to get away, but they kept pulling me back in!

So, as I look over U1 today, I’m pleasantly impressed with just what a lovely little module it is.  Written by Dave J. Browne and Don Turnbull, this 31 page module is the first in a trilogy that really has a very nice run time and balance for play.

The cover art, beautifully rendered by European import Dave de Leuw, paints a perfect picture of the lonely bluff estate battered by wind and the screech of bats.  Dave also gets credit for the back cover as well, which is another nice piece.  My only complaint is that on both, all characters are turned away from the viewer which makes me wonder as to the artist’s mastery of the human face.

Inside, I was surprised to find reference to Stephen D Sullivan as an artist, although I can’t find a signed piece I’d attribute to him, as well as TSR alum Harry Quinn of Monster Manual II fame.  The bulk of the interiors, however, are drafted by artist Jim Holloway, who in 1981 might have been working on one of his first D&D projects.  He does an astounding eleven pieces for this project, and I had to wonder as to his speed of production, which must be amazing to watch.

In all, U1 holds its own again other classic modules of the day.

Artistic Rating: 3.5 [out of 5]

Back to blog

30 comments

https://github.com/youranreus/G/issues/130

https://github.com/citizenfx/natives/issues/1259

https://github.com/youranreus/G/issues/129

https://github.com/Aniverse/A/issues/51

https://github.com/fmtn/a/issues/268

https://github.com/as/a/issues/187

https://github.com/Automattic/_s/issues/1585

https://github.com/ethereumbook/ethereumbook/issues/1239

https://github.com/as/a/issues/188

https://github.com/adamhaile/S/issues/68

https://github.com/hypothesis/h/issues/9530

https://github.com/SiJiDo/H/issues/62

https://github.com/ethereumbook/ethereumbook/issues/1242

https://github.com/ethereumbook/ethereumbook/issues/1244

https://github.com/ntop/n2n/issues/1197

https://github.com/ntop/n2n/issues/1198

https://github.com/dubinbin/videoBackEnd/issues/4

https://github.com/myriadmobile/Droar/issues/64

https://github.com/prife/fox/issues/12

moy1

https://github.com/OpenLake/Virtual-IIT-Bhilai/issues/10#issue-3027262119

https://github.com/yixuan/LBFGSpp/issues/44

https://github.com/xFreed0m/RDPassSpray/issues/18

github.com/JapanExchangeGroup/J-Quants-Tutorial/issues/47

https://gist.github.com/Worawongkunakorn789/e93395a5e3649260270675a8ef6fbdcc

https://github.com/ycm-core/YouCompleteMe/issues/4300

https://github.com/svendiedrichsen/jollyday/issues/185#issue-3027787677

https://github.com/github-tooling/ghtopdep/issues/38

https://github.com/trumank/drg-custom-difficulties/issues/17

https://github.com/mausworks/tyin/issues/14

https://github.com/jkiprono23/jkiprono23/issues/1

moy1

https://github.com/youranreus/G/issues/124
https://github.com/zserge/o/issues/8
https://github.com/ntop/n2n/issues/1194
https://github.com/xyba1337/ValorantEZTS/issues/3
https://github.com/riscv-software-src/riscv-isa-sim/issues/1929
https://github.com/supercrabtree/k/issues/126
https://github.com/SaeruHikari/SakuraEngine-Old/issues/3
https://github.com/youranreus/G/issues/125
https://github.com/youranreus/G/issues/122
https://github.com/mit-pdos/xv6-riscv/issues/328
https://github.com/MiRO92/uYou-for-YouTube/issues/514
https://github.com/voidint/g/issues/153
https://github.com/mit-pdos/xv6-riscv/issues/326
https://github.com/mit-pdos/xv6-riscv/issues/327
https://github.com/dmpe/R/issues/16
https://github.com/youranreus/G/issues/126
https://github.com/youranreus/G/issues/127
https://github.com/selfteaching/the-craft-of-selfteaching/issues/1206
https://github.com/MiRO92/uYou-for-YouTube/issues/513
https://github.com/defunkt/ambitious_activeldap/issues/14
https://github.com/EllanJiang/GameFramework/issues/76
https://github.com/gzc/isystem/issues/1
https://github.com/cy4nguy/PythonSimpleKeylogger/issues/3
https://github.com/openai/sparse_attention/issues/13
https://github.com/dashpradeep99/https-github.com-miguellgt-books/issues/6
https://github.com/Programming-from-A-to-Z/A2Z-F15/issues/30
https://github.com/HoyDiamond/DiamondSeo01/issues/1
https://github.com/henryjeff/portfolio-website/issues/16
https://github.com/zquestz/s/issues/189
https://github.com/segmentio/ksuid/issues/86
https://github.com/selfteaching/the-craft-of-selfteaching/issues/1208
https://github.com/ccg2018/ClashA/issues/50
https://github.com/frankstar007/kNN/issues/2
https://github.com/xiesuichao/KLineView/issues/36
https://github.com/LeeJunHyun/Image_Segmentation/issues/99
https://github.com/selfteaching/the-craft-of-selfteaching/issues/1204
https://github.com/udlbook/udlbook/issues/275
https://github.com/selfteaching/the-craft-of-selfteaching/issues/1208

𝓣’𝓣𝓸𝓾𝔂

https://github.com/eleqian/WiDSO/issues/2
https://github.com/NJU-ProjectN/ics2015/issues/16
https://github.com/frkngksl/Huan/issues/8
https://github.com/Aniverse/A/issues/49
https://github.com/xcatliu/react-ie8/issues/66
https://papaly.com/categories/share?id=130d1b872d214bd39b30a9d1e24f91d0
https://papaly.com/johnsmith96/84HbY/DiamondSeo274
https://pastebin.com/6KaC9UJK
https://etextpad.com/ybpzareg6g
https://paste.ee/p/WLfb81zq
https://ideone.com/Gt2pMj
https://pastelink.net/hpd79igh
https://rentry.co/pdidckze
https://papaly.com/categories/share?id=173844d74bd9482d97189bd777bbdd18
https://papaly.com/categories/share?id=3e213c24d5aa4870b8fcd3865e5a9a55
https://pastebin.com/h2SAnsgs
https://etextpad.com/jgfpxbybzm
https://paste.ee/p/Jxaqivv2
https://ideone.com/IZhYQa
https://pastelink.net/k5kd1glw
https://paste2.org/cXkXJkyc
https://glot.io/snippets/h6p2j8vd9g
https://jsitor.com/ojnYpCZnpen

kaina123

https://github.com/78ResearchLab/PoC/issues/4
https://github.com/ldlqdsdcn/eidea4/issues/6
https://github.com/eleqian/WiDSO/issues/2
https://github.com/NJU-ProjectN/ics2015/issues/16
https://github.com/frkngksl/Huan/issues/8
https://github.com/Aniverse/A/issues/49
https://github.com/xcatliu/react-ie8/issues/66
https://papaly.com/categories/share?id=130d1b872d214bd39b30a9d1e24f91d0
https://papaly.com/johnsmith96/84HbY/DiamondSeo274
https://pastebin.com/6KaC9UJK
https://etextpad.com/ybpzareg6g
https://paste.ee/p/WLfb81zq
https://ideone.com/Gt2pMj
https://pastelink.net/hpd79igh
https://rentry.co/pdidckze
https://papaly.com/categories/share?id=173844d74bd9482d97189bd777bbdd18
https://papaly.com/categories/share?id=3e213c24d5aa4870b8fcd3865e5a9a55
https://pastebin.com/h2SAnsgs
https://etextpad.com/jgfpxbybzm
https://paste.ee/p/Jxaqivv2
https://ideone.com/IZhYQa
https://pastelink.net/k5kd1glw
https://paste.kodi.tv/luhudenora
https://paste.firnsy.com/paste/yqclHJqjfya
https://paste.myst.rs/2qiv3k2v
https://paiza.io/projects/rZ1ibY04SCLc8rKpswITxA
https://notes.io/wGLr4
https://rentry.co/w8ko89s5
https://paste2.org/cXkXJkyc
https://glot.io/snippets/h6p2j8vd9g
https://jsitor.com/ojnYpCZnpen

kaina123

Leave a comment