Missing Shipment Contract
A merchant hires the party to recover a vanished cargo of preserves, lamp oil, and sealed crates before the town declares the loss an insurance fraud.
Campaign Overview
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The Blacksalt Ledger
A quiet trade town has begun losing shipments, memories, and people. Strange acid scars mark the docks, old records are being altered, and a hidden ledger points to a deeper conspiracy.
In Act I, the party investigates missing goods and a poisoned archive, then follows the clues into the flooded underworks beneath the town. The tone is moody, investigative, and lightly occult, with a focus on clues, tense skirmishes, and escalating danger.
The campaign is designed as a grounded fantasy mystery with room for combat, negotiation, and exploration. Act I ends with the party uncovering the first layer of the villain’s scheme and earning the means to pursue the truth further.
Player Handout
Welcome to Blacksalt
Rain has fallen for three days straight, and the river smells wrong.
In the dockside town of Blacksalt, cargo disappears, workers forget deliveries they swore they made, and the old archive has started leaking a sharp green residue. A local official is offering coin to anyone willing to look into the thefts before the next shipment arrives.
You are drawn into a mystery of stolen goods, hidden records, and a threat that is already moving through the town’s flooded foundations. Expect investigation, eerie clues, and dangerous foes lurking where the water rises knee-high.
Free Act I Preview
The Blacksalt Ledger
Act I is a compact investigative opener in a river-port town where shipments vanish and archival records are being tampered with. The party should spend the first scene gathering rumors, the second scene investigating the archive and its hazards, and the third scene confronting the villain’s agents in the flooded underworks. Keep the villain mostly offstage, but let the party discover evidence of alchemical acid, altered manifests, and a ledger naming future targets. End with a clear lead into the broader conspiracy.
Adventure Hooks
Archive Fire Watch
A magistrate asks the party to guard the town archive after a series of suspicious leaks, broken locks, and altered records point to sabotage.
Act Structure
Act I: Rain Over Blacksalt
Recommended level: 1-2The party investigates missing cargo and altered records in a rain-soaked trade town. Each scene reveals a deeper link between the docks, the archive, and the flooded underworks until the villain’s first scheme is exposed.
Objectives
- Interview dockworkers and officials
- Find the source of the acid leaks
- Recover the hidden ledger
- Defeat or drive off the underworks cell
Whispers on the Docks
Rain glosses every plank and barrel in the harbor. Workers speak in low voices, glancing toward the river as if expecting it to speak back.
Open with rumor gathering, a few suspicious details, and visible signs of tampering. Let the players choose who to question. The goal is to steer them toward the archive without forcing a single answer.
Checks
- DC 12 Insight to spot frightened lies
- DC 12 Investigation to notice a forged cargo seal
- DC 13 Persuasion to win a witness’s trust
Clues
- A seal with three droplets appears on missing shipments.
- Workers saw crates moved after midnight.
- The archive recently requested old delivery records.
Transitions
- Leads to the Town Archive
- Can also reveal a hidden evidence cache near the wharf
The Leaking Archive
The archive doors are swollen with damp, and a sharp chemical sting rides the air as you step into rows of leaning shelves.
Make this a tense exploration scene with one hazard and one small fight or chase. The party should find the underworks access point and a partial ledger page here.
Checks
- DC 12 Perception to hear movement behind shelves
- DC 13 Arcana or Investigation to identify the acid residue
- DC 12 Thieves' Tools to open the sealed stair gate
Clues
- The acid matches residue found on dock crates.
- Someone altered manifests to hide a recurring route.
- The underworks gate is still in use.
Transitions
- Leads to the Flooded Underworks
- Can be resolved by forcing the hidden stair or following the gate key
Under the Floodline
Water laps against ancient stone, and every sound is doubled by the dark tunnels around you. Somewhere ahead, a lantern swings once and goes still.
This is the climax. Run it as a guarded descent with ambush points, then the final confrontation with the villain’s agents. The ledger should be found here if the party missed it earlier.
Checks
- DC 12 Athletics to cross unstable ledges
- DC 13 Survival to follow the dry route through the flood
- DC 12 Perception to spot the ambush above the waterline
Clues
- The conspiracy reaches beyond Blacksalt.
- A scheduled shipment is due within days.
- The agents fear disappointing someone above them.
Transitions
- Ends Act I with the ledger recovered
- Opens the path to a larger conspiracy in later acts
Milestone: The party reaches level 2 after recovering the ledger and exposing the first layer of the conspiracy.
Villain Character Sheets
Sable Marin
Completed
Sable Marin is the sort of villain who seems almost courteous until the party realizes that courtesy is the blade. Soft-spoken, patient, an…
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Sable Marin Character Sheet
Motivation
Sable wants to erase shipment records, control trade through fear, and build a private supply network beneath Blacksalt before moving to a larger coastal market.
Personality
Soft-spoken, patient, and unsettlingly polite. Sable never raises the voice, preferring precise language, controlled gestures, and the quiet confidence of someone already several moves ahead.
Resources
- A small cell of cultists and hired thugs
- Access to the archive through forged permissions
- Alchemical acid and record-altering reagents
- A hidden route through the flooded underworks
Battle Plan
Sable avoids direct confrontation in Act I, using agents, traps, and timed destruction of evidence. If cornered, Sable uses terrain, retreat routes, and disposable defenders to escape rather than die in place.
Defeat or Redemption
Defeat in Act I exposes the ledger, but Sable may survive to become a recurring antagonist. Redemption is possible only if the party uncovers coercion behind the operation and offers a way out before the final escape.
Running Notes
Recommended party: 3-5 characters
Session Zero
Confirm the desired tone is mystery-forward with moderate danger and no graphic horror. Ask players how they feel about corruption, theft, and sewer-like spaces. Use lines and veils for drowning, confinement, and poisoning. Encourage at least one character to have a reason to care about shipments, records, or honest trade.
Scaling Guidance
For a weaker party, remove one enemy from each encounter and reduce hazardous terrain. For a stronger party, add one low-CR official monster to the first two encounters and increase enemy willingness to use cover, shoves, and retreats. Keep the final fight dangerous through terrain rather than extra bodies.
DM Advice
Give one new clue per scene and repeat key symbols often: the three-droplet seal, acid residue, and altered records. Let failure complicate the path rather than stall it. If the players miss a clue, have it appear in another place. Keep the villain offscreen until the party has the ledger in hand.
Secrets & Clues
- The three-droplet seal marks all coordinated shipments and bribes.
- The acid is used both to damage locks and to erase ledger entries.
- The underworks route bypasses normal inspections and explains the missing cargo.
- The villain’s operation relies on people believing the thefts are random.
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Encounters
Dockside Saboteurs
Encounter Builder
Moderate
Suggested Level: 1-2
Two hired toughs and their trained beast try to destroy a shipment ledger and escape into the fog-shrouded wharf streets.
Creatures
Terrain Features
- Slippery dock planks
- Crates provide half cover
- Mooring ropes can be swung or cut
- Dark water counts as difficult terrain if entered
Treasure
15 gp, a cargo seal stamped with three droplets, and a torn page listing archive access times.
DM Notes
Reduce to 1 Bandit and no mastiff for a very small party. Add 1 Bandit for a stronger group or if the party has advantage from good scouting.
Poisoned Archive Hall
Encounter Builder
Moderate
Suggested Level: 1-2
A leaking chamber in the town archive fills with irritating vapor while animated papers and panicked staff complicate the investigation.
Creatures
Terrain Features
- Narrow reading aisles
- Broken shelving creates difficult terrain
- A leaking alchemical vat creates a 10-foot hazard zone
- Tall windows offer climbing exits
Treasure
A key to the underworks gate, 25 gp in sealed payment slips, and a partial ledger page naming the next target.
DM Notes
If the party prefers roleplay, the cultists can flee or bargain after one round. For more danger, add 1 Flying Sword or increase the hazard zone.
Flooded Underworks Ambush
Encounter Builder
High
Suggested Level: 1-2
In the submerged tunnels beneath the town, hidden attackers strike from ledges while the rising water threatens to split the party.
Creatures
Terrain Features
- Knee-deep water in most passages
- Narrow stone ledges above the floodline
- Collapsing brickwork near old valves
- One dry platform overlooks the chamber
Treasure
A sealed ledger, 50 gp in mixed coin, and a potion of healing hidden in a watertight tube.
DM Notes
This is the climax of Act I. For a weaker party, replace the Cult Fanatic with a Cultist. For a stronger party, add 1 Bandit and a secondary water hazard that forces movement.
Magic Items
Ledger-Pen of Clear Ink
Completed
Ledger-Pen of Clear Ink
Common
This brass pen writes visibly only to its wielder, then fades after an hour unless the words are spoken aloud. It is useful for secret notes and marking forged records.
Location
Act I, Town Archive
Attunement
False
Tideglass Charm
Completed
Tideglass Charm
Uncommon
A blue glass charm that gives the wearer a faint sense of nearby running water and leaking stone within 30 feet, helping reveal hidden passages in the underworks.
Location
Act I, Flooded Underworks
Attunement
True; requires attunement
Watertight Tube of Holding
Completed
Watertight Tube of Holding
Uncommon
This sealed metal tube keeps papers, coins, and small objects dry even when submerged. It is stamped with the three-droplet seal used by the smugglers.
Location
Act I, Dockside Evidence Cache
Attunement
False
Player Characters
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