Expedition to the Barrier Peaks

[Tadhg]

I saw that some years ago, I don't remember if I finished reading it.

But I'll wait until we complete the module and then come back to read it. It'll probably be more meaningful.

[Penny-Whistle]

Game on 7:00 Central Tonight =D

[Tadhg]

Thanks for the reminder - I'll be along in a few moments!

[Penny-Whistle]

It's Wednesday do you know where your expedition is? Roll 20 7:00 Central =D

[Tadhg]

Just wrapped up dinner - be along in a few . . .

[Tadhg]

Great game, everyone!

Thanks Penny!

[Penny-Whistle]

eeep
Sorry for the last second notice. Golng to have to cancel for tonight.

[Tadhg]

K, thanks for posting!

[Tadhg]

Great Thunder Rift game tonight.

Many thanks to Aergraith and Penny!!

[Penny-Whistle]

Game on for tonight if anyone is interested.

P.S. Who is your paladin's god/goddess, Rhuvein? Depending on which direction you take it might come up ...

[Tadhg]

Game on for tonight if anyone is interested.

P.S. Who is your paladin's god/goddess, Rhuvein? Depending on which direction you take it might come up ...

Oh yeah, I'm interested!

Is our game world Greyhawk, then?

[Penny-Whistle]

Yes but any will do if you prefer another pantheon.

[Tadhg]

Heironeous The Invincible
Pholtus of The Blinding Light
Zagyg, the Mad Arch-Mage
Murlynd, the True

[Penny-Whistle]

22390 xp each

Loot
divine companion: Freebird from Pholtus of The Blinding Light
gray card
box with random jewellery worth 15,000 gold
2100 g.p. gems,
6 x 50 g.p. gems,
plastic tubular instrument (recorder)
a language translator (three usages)
wheely sled
120 X 3 gold pieces worth of amethysts in gullet.
spool of platinum wire worth 1600 gp
anti grav belt
A fire extinguisher

[Tadhg]

Whoa . . is that XP total correct or a mis type??

[Tadhg]

Fabulous . . we did find a fire extinguisher!!!

For some reason, I really think this is gonna help us somewhere, somehow!!

[Tadhg]

Fab game, again!!!

Thanks to all.

[Penny-Whistle]

I said the same thing! Crazy amount of XP. The ropers each were 12,000 ( 10 - 12 hit die creatures not the C&C version) and I assign xp for treasure too.

Are you enjoying this module? It kind of feels like a monster hotel to me. Maybe now that the monsters are getting more difficult that will change.

[Tadhg]

Are you enjoying this module? It kind of feels like a monster hotel to me. Maybe now that the monsters are getting more difficult that will change.

Totally!!!

I never know what to expect - keep 'em coming!!

[Gringnr]

Here is a possible follow-up module that I only recently became aware of:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_the_Gods

[Penny-Whistle]

Not really liking the TSR modules I've played so far.

[Gringnr]

Not really liking the TSR modules I've played so far.

Hit and miss, mos def. But some of them were among the finest examples ever written. Lots of chaff to sift through in order to get to that fine, fine wheat, though. But, that's just my opinion, and, of course, YMMV. I've always been a HUGE fan of Barrier Peaks.

[Penny-Whistle]

Beyond the setting conceit it feels way too much like a monster hotel for me. Like grinding through a video game. I suppose if your goal is to level up a character that is fine but this is a one off rather than a campaign for my players. I hope I can get inspired to add some kind of story to it.

[Gringnr]

Beyond the setting conceit it feels way too much like a monster hotel for me. Like grinding through a video game. I suppose if your goal is to level up a character that is fine but this is a one off rather than a campaign for my players. I hope I can get inspired to add some kind of story to it.

Well, I think it was born as a "tournament module" so it probably is a bit light on background.

[GatewayTodd]

Those old TSR modules (many of which, as Gringnr stated, were used as tournament modules) were mostly designed so you could drop them into the middle of your campaign world and thus didn't tend to contain any major, overarching story lines or world changing plot schemes. It was up to the DM to turn it into a story for the players. Adventures with boxed, readable text and more complex plot lines came later, much to the joy of some and the chagrin of others. In 30 pages of text S3 presents new items, new monsters, new game mechanics for figuring out technical devices, stats for said devices, and about 75+ encounter areas. But your work as a DM is far from being done once you buy the adventure and read through it once or twice.

Todd

[Penny-Whistle]

Those old TSR modules (many of which, as Gringnr stated, were used as tournament modules) were mostly designed so you could drop them into the middle of your campaign world and thus didn't tend to contain any major, overarching story lines or world changing plot schemes. It was up to the DM to turn it into a story for the players. Adventures with boxed, readable text and more complex plot lines came later, much to the joy of some and the chagrin of others. In 30 pages of text S3 presents new items, new monsters, new game mechanics for figuring out technical devices, stats for said devices, and about 75+ encounter areas. But your work as a DM is far from being done once you buy the adventure and read through it once or twice.

Todd

That's just it. It feels like work rather than play. I think I'll stick to making my own stories up in the future =)

[Penny-Whistle]

Well, I think it was born as a "tournament module" so it probably is a bit light on background.

A background is included. it explains why the 'dungeon' is there and what happened to the people inside. It doesn't connect to character motivation.

Easy to forgive some of the faults. The setting conceit is clever. Some people really do like to bash monsters and find that rewarding. Some players are so awesome that they can build a story themselves. And it comes from early days. People know much more now about games. That knowledge was built on top of these early examples.

However, I am not buying the excuse that a tournament module has to be light on story or motivation. And for me a story that starts with 'some guy has hired you to explore a dungeon' feels a little thin.

[Tadhg]

Beyond the setting conceit it feels way too much like a monster hotel for me. Like grinding through a video game. I suppose if your goal is to level up a character that is fine but this is a one off rather than a campaign for my players. I hope I can get inspired to add some kind of story to it.

Penny, feel free to trim or change anything to make it work for you. Remove anything that is boring you and have us find what you think will be fun areas to explore.

Since I don't know what to expect in the module, I'm sure it will be fun for us ~ with whatever you might do.

[Penny-Whistle]

Beyond the setting conceit it feels way too much like a monster hotel for me. Like grinding through a video game. I suppose if your goal is to level up a character that is fine but this is a one off rather than a campaign for my players. I hope I can get inspired to add some kind of story to it.

Penny, feel free to trim or change anything to make it work for you. Remove anything that is boring you and have us find what you think will be fun areas to explore.

Since I don't know what to expect in the module, I'm sure it will be fun for us ~ with whatever you might do.

That's a sweet thing to say. Thx.

Unless I am mistaken before we started a couple people mentioned they wanted the experience to be as genuine as possible - to play it as it was written. I can dig that so I've been faithful to the text. I'm not hating it but I am also not interested in its sequel.

[Gringnr]

Well, I think it was born as a "tournament module" so it probably is a bit light on background.

A background is included. it explains why the 'dungeon' is there and what happened to the people inside. It doesn't connect to character motivation.

Easy to forgive some of the faults. The setting conceit is clever. Some people really do like to bash monsters and find that rewarding. Some players are so awesome that they can build a story themselves. And it comes from early days. People know much more now about games. That knowledge was built on top of these early examples.

However, I am not buying the excuse that a tournament module has to be light on story or motivation. And for me a story that starts with 'some guy has hired you to explore a dungeon' feels a little thin.

I agree with you for the most part. But, when you consider that a) most of these "tournament" modules had some kind of IRL time constraint IIRC, b) there was usually a scoring process (so the goal wasn't character development, but "competition" with other players) involved, and c) that "tournament" modules usually used pre-gens which were distributed to the players (again, no goal of character development, but the only way to ensure a balanced party/level playing field in a scored module, really), it becomes more forgivable.

Not defending the module against any of your criticisms, necessarily, just saying that its "shortcomings" make more sense if you consider the module's origins. Now, more effort could have been taken to make the module less "tournament-y" and more suitable for campaign play, but IIRC, at the time it came out, we were more than happy to play it as It was. Also, at that time, you could have stuck the D&D name on just about anything and it still would have sold (looking at you, Judges Guild), so why would they have bothered? Roleplaying was still young then, and many were content simply to hack, slash and loot. The actual roleplaying potential of this game and similar games had yet to be discovered by many.

Dropping it into a campaign could work, imagine the effect some off that technology might have on the setting. Scholars wanting to study the ship, or nefarious baddies looking to harvest its technology for their own terrible ends...

Hell, if you really want to throw your characters a curveball, have them accidentally start the ship's launch process. Would they be able to escape the ship in time? That could make for an excellent "race against time" type of scenario, and solve the problem of having the alien technology (or at least more of it than the party can carry) in your setting. If they didn't escape in time, what would they do? How would they get back? Perhaps they aren't the first adventurers to board the ship. A previous party has perished and left a single-use, powerful artifact that can return them to their planet- if they are clever enough to find it, and fortunate enough to have survived long enough to use it!

In any event, I'm not arguing, or trying to be contrarian. I have a deep respect for your approach to gaming. And, to be fair, I am probably letting nostalgia get in the way of appraising this module too honestly...