A Slow Evening...

...in other words, relaxing.

As I commented elsewhere, folks all over the internet are going through an angsty, self-analyzing period.  I ain't immune to it myself, though I'm doing my best to sit tight and "fogeddaboutit."

Tonight is TV night (what night isn't really?)...nothing like a little Top Chef, a couple beers, a (slightly large) lap dog or two.

However, PRIOR to the same-old same-old the wife and I were watching a Spanish telvision show (well, technically "HBO Ole," whatever the F that is) called Epitafios ("Epitaphs"). Quite interesting...a cop drama, with a connecting mystery/antagonist through several episodes. I'd never seen in before, but I was able to watch a couple/three episodes.

Here's the thing...I found it entertaining, which is NOT a word I associate with cop shows. Actually, I don't watch "police drama" of any type: no Law & Order, no The Shield, no Dark Blue, no CSI.  Hell, I never watched Miami Vice, T.J. Hooker, or Hill Street Blues either (though the last one was a little old for me at the time it was on...my parents sure dug it). 

I don't know why people love law enforcement dramas...but this Epitafios show is pretty compelling. Perhaps because it's not episodic in nature (you know, one "situational scenario" every week). Come to think of it, I was a big fan of Twin Peaks which certainly had some law enforcement themes (I realize that one's actually kind of a stretch)...mmm, the first season or two of 24 was good, too.

I guess, similar to role-playing, people enjoy the vicarious escapism that comes from these shows...you get to put yourself in the shoes of a police officer (for most people, the closest thing to a hero in most folks' minds) and see the world through his/her eyes.

'Course I like the Epitafios show because the main characters aren't very pretty...to my stereotyped mind, they look and act much more like what I might expect. They're dumpy and frumpy, but competent. They never shoot, strong arm, or beat up folks and mainly they're simply tracking down leads and investigating scenes.

Anyway, it REALLY makes me want to play a little RPG I picked up a few months back (see? I fully intended to tie this to an actual game): Mutant City Blues. 

Now I know that I just lost two-thirds+ of my readers, but I'll tell you this: I would never have got into the Old School gaming thing (i.e. I would still be hiding my own light) if wasn't for Pelgrane Press's GUMSHOE game system. I was researching Ken Hite on the 'Net when I ran into an interview between him and James Maliszewski, which led me to Grognardia, which led me to everything else (of course).

Mutant City Blues is the best "police drama" RPG I've ever seen. Hell, it's the only one I've ever found that I wanted to play (as I said...not much into cop drama). But for an investigative role-playing system it has a lot to recommend it (in my opinion).

- the rules are such that investigations never stagnate because of a failed die roll; all clues are provided, they simply need to be interpreted.

- the ability scores/skills set during character generation do more than simply determine in-game character effectiveness; they set-up to specifically share "spotlight" time between PCs (giving every player's character a chance to shine)

- it's well-written...it actually makes police paperwork interesting (just what I need...an RPG where I'm pushing MORE paper!)

- it has what I think is a very cool premise: cops (and criminals) with (minor) super powers. In the game world something like 1% or .1% of the population spontaneously developed super powers a few years before the start of the game. People got freaked out a little...and then everyone went back to their daily lives.  Most people don't talk about their mutant powers if they have 'em...there's a little discrimination against people with powers but not like Marvel's war on mutants (more like certain types of modern day bigotry; it varies by region). Some of the powered folks are, of course, malcontents/criminals...and your "special unit" of the police force is as much a PR move for the mutant public as is the minority police commissioner. 

- there's no specific setting...well, there is (kind of): your home town! Whatever the town wher you and your gaming group reside is supposed to be used as the default setting (the place everyone calls "Mutant City" because of its higher than normal prevalence of powered individuals). This is cool on a lot of levels, but for me, it makes me find out more about my city...like the location of police stations, local city politicians, etc. You're encouraged to draw scenarios from local news items or set them around actual businesses and civic interests. Quite cool, in my opinion.

Anyway, I'd strongly recommend anyone check it out. I know I know...we all have tough schedules and it's tough enough to find a night to play B/X Dungeons and Dragons. But it IS cool...it's been sitting on my shelf long enough; it's time to take it for a test drive; perhaps with an Epitafios knock-off campaign?

Now if only my home-town was in Argentina....

: )

Ciao!

Frayed Ends

It’s often been said that high school is the best time of your life, to which of course I say, “bullshit.” Oh certainly there were some ups, but mostly it was a lot of downs (perhaps it would have been different had I been involved in team sports).

Now college…THAT was a great four years.

Besides all the usual wonderfulness that goes with a university (studying what you want, intelligent discourse and conversation, being able to (finally!) hold your liquor, and eating Big Macs for lunch and dinner while staying thin as a rail…and, of course, very nice members of the opposite gender), college was the re-birth (the Renaissance, if you will) of my role-playing experience. Well, for awhile at least…it also trailed off as I became more involved with the theater program (my major) and some fairly intense romance. But college was where I started meeting a lot of new people from wildly different backgrounds (including Canadians and Republicans!) that all gamed, just like me.

‘Course, none of us were playing D&D. There was some serious Call of Cthulhu happening in the basements of one dormitory. I sampled A LOT of White Wolf games (multiple Vampire sagas, some Mage, Ars Magica 3rd edition, a still-born Werewolf game). Plus I met folks whose “base” game (their particular “gateway drug”) was something other than D&D…Champions being the most notable (a game I still have never owned, nor played).

Anyhoo, that was a decade and a half ago. Now that I am experiencing yet another personal re-birth of role-playing, I find myself considering looking up old buddies from college and seeing if they want to throw down. ‘Course, being an adult, out-of-school, with years of Real World experience has a few drawbacks.

Like baggage. Case in point: two of my gamer companions from college were a couple. A fairly neat pair, they eventually got married…perhaps a year after I graduated (though I believe at least one of them was doing some Masters work). I was even the best man at their wedding!

Welp, they did not last (unfortunately or not…it’s certainly not fair for me to judge such things). The female of the pair is re-married (I think to husband #3). The male is/was still fairly bitter/resentful the last time I saw him (perhaps a year or two ago). And they are BOTH friends with me on my Facebook page!

[yes, my wife and brother forced me to get a Facebook about 8 months ago; I am not very good with remembering to update it…or even with using the built-in applications. Mainly it simply gathers internet dust…]

Anyhoo, should I tap either of these resources to potentially build a new group? I’m almost sure the ex-wife still games (she was always very heavy into gaming). I know the ex-husband MIGHT be willing to game (he still had a ton of gaming material stock-piled last time I saw him). Both have been contacting me lately via Facebook (the former has been messaging me, the latter has been “poking” me) which is the reason they spring to mind in the first place.

Of course, I doubt I could ever be in the same room with both of them at the same time…theirs was not what one would call an "amicable split."

I was responding to both of them while updating my Facebook this morning around 5:30am (the first time I’ve checked it in over a month). Generally, I just ignore people’s requests for info on how/what I’m doing. But am I passing up a good opportunity for game play here? Should I be having a more open mind regarding past relationships/friendships? Or should I simply move on, leave the past behind, and broaden my circle of friends and gaming experience?

These are the things I contemplate, as I drink my morning coffee….

Shambling Mound Haiku

Ken over at The Rusty Battleaxe, has an amazing string of haiku posted, most concerning individual monsters of AD&D (1st edition as far as I can tell).  I love haiku, I don't know why. I love it a lot more than the Japanese language, and I studied THAT for three years (and went to Japan! But don't tell Noisms, 'cause he might try to test me and that was nearly 20 years ago!).

ANYway, haiku. So wonderfully simplistic. So disciplined in forcing one to condense thought. So much easier to remember than iambic pentameter.  Ken is a brilliant man, as well as quite entertaining. In a total rip-off/homage (in Ken's style) I would like to formulate my own monstrous haiku to a monster that just doesn't get enough love (in my opinion): the Shambling Mound.  Without further ado:

One two fists hit

Smothered muffled screaming death

Don't use lightning bolt!

Doitashimashte!  I'll be here all week!

: )

B/X Barbarians

I spent a lot of time this morning trying to come up with how I wanted to handle assassins in my B/X Companion. Not as a character class, nor as a monster (a la the headsman of BECMI). No, but as a specialist hireling. I have some ideas (kind of a combination between AD&D and BECMI actually), but I’m just trying to figure out the minutia.

Of course, then I thought up this little number.

I don’t intend to add any new character classes to my B/X Companion (so no, don’t expect to see the paladin, druid, or monk). Part of this has to do with space considerations (the book is already filling up quick); part of it has to do with personal insecurities (who am I to suggest a new class when I’m simply trying to fill-in a companion supplement to an already excellent game system?).

Mainly, though, it is a conceit of principle on my part: most every character archetype of B/X play can already be created with the classes available. Let others house rule new character classes (monks, half-ogres, etc.) that will better fit into their game world concept. I just want to add some supplemental rules (levels to 36, monsters, treasures, spells, mass combat and dominion rules, etc.). Yes, I’ve got plenty of ideas that I COULD throw in, but a 64 page Companion is my aim. Maybe someday I’ll throw out MY own character guide.

However, I HAVE been reading a lot of Howard recently, and while I’m positive the character can be effectively modeled using the B/X Thief class, I figured I’d throw out a little something-something for those who cannot stand the idea (there IS a barbarian “fighter variation” over at Pandius Vault, but I don’t think it accurately models the classic pulp barbarians of Fafhrd and Conan).

There is no intention for this class to be included in the B/X Companion.


BARBARIAN

All barbarians are human but they are of a hardier stock than normal men, growing up in the savage wilderness, outside of civilization. Born warriors, they do not have the same martial training as true fighting men; however they have other skills that compensate for this.

To be a barbarian, a character must have a minimum Constitution of 9. The barbarian has two prime requisites: strength and dexterity. Barbarians with both a strength and dexterity of 13+ gain a +5% on earned experience; barbarians with a dexterity of 16+ in addition to a strength of 13+ gain a +10% on earned experience.

Barbarians may use any weapon and may wear either leather or chain mail armor; they may not wear plate mail. A barbarian can use a shield. They may use any magic item not restricted to another class. Because barbarians are new to society, 1st level characters only receive half the gold of a normal starting character (divide gold rolled by two).

Barbarians have a maximum level of 36. They roll 1D6 hit points per level up to level 9 (Name level). Barbarians receive +3 hit points per level after 9th level. They use the same attack and saving throw matrixes as Thieves (however, see special abilities below).

Level..........Title..........XP Needed
1..........Savage..........0
2..........Brute..........1600
3..........Scout..........3200
4..........Protagonist..........6400
5..........Nomad..........13000
6..........Raider..........26000
7..........Marauder..........52000
8..........Scourge..........105000
9..........Chieftain..........210000

Barbarians require 130,000 XP for every level after 9th (Name level).

Barbarians have several additional abilities learned from their upbringing in the wilderness. As a thief of the same level, barbarians can climb sheer surfaces, move silently, hide in shadows, and hear noise. Wearing chain mail does not affect the use of these skills. Barbarians also have the same percentage change to track and find tracks that a thief of same level has to “find traps.” If a barbarian wishes to hide his or her own tracks from an adversary, he can do so with a successful “move silently” roll, though the barbarian cannot do this when moving faster than normal (i.e. when running). Literate barbarians (Intelligence 9+) also gain the thief ability to read languages due to their long wanderings, but the ability isn’t gained until 5th level. Barbarians never learn to read magic.

Barbarians are ferocious hand-to-hand combatants, gaining a bonus of +1 on their melee attack rolls. Missile attacks and damage rolls are unaffected by a barbarian's berserk frenzy.

A barbarian traveling on-foot, either alone or with other barbarians, moves faster through the wilderness than other characters. The barbarian treats woods and hills as clear terrain, and jungles and mountains as woods and hills, respectively. A barbarian travels no faster than any other character through desert or broken terrain.

Barbarians never build strongholds, though they may live in a castle or palace if they can take one by force. At Name (9th level), barbarians have the ability to call together a barbarian horde made up of many tribal clans banded together. It takes 1D8 weeks to gather the horde, and the total number of warriors gathered will be 10-100 per level of experience (though the DM may limit the number available). Use the berserker statistics in the Basic rules for individual horde members. This horde can be used to attack or defend a territory, but will only stay together a maximum of 1D4 months unless regularly plied with loot and treasure (2 gps per horde member per month; greater rewards may improve morale of the horde).

Red Wine, Chocolate Cupcakes, and Expedition to the Barrier Peaks

I've been thinking a bit about what I wanted to say about S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks...truth be told, I couldn't think of a single profound thing (go figure...I told you folks I was a hack!).

Considering the fact that I've had it as long as any of my oldest modules, it is in fairly good condition...minimal creasing on the cover, no pencilled marks inside, the only rip being on the illustrated booklet. Part of the reason for the good condition is that this module was picked up new, along with several others in a four-pack set (I know that two of the other modules were S1: Tomb of Horrors and S4: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth), rather than from a used bookstore in Montana. I must have acquired it around 1985 or so.

However, a main part of the reason for its good condition is that I simply haven't used it much. I think I've run it all of twice, maybe three times (and that maybe is very iffy). Fact of the matter is, I never liked Expedition to the Barrier Peaks very much. Certainly not as a DM.

Now if my little spot poll means anything, that definitely puts me outside the norm...I'm the only one (so far) that's voted for "DM; eh, so-so." Considering 15 out of 19 who bothered to respond answered with the "loved it" answer, and the fact that it was named #5 on the greatest all-time list by Dungeon magazine (2004), I must be pretty silly. Even Stephen Colbert, whom I have immense respect for as a comedian, actor, and humanitarian considers it his favorite adventure module, at least according to wikipedia...high praise indeed!

So what's my beef?

Well, it's hard to say. I can list a number of things that bothered me as a kid. Never was it the problem with mixing genres...my players happily time-tripped to the 20th century, Boot Hill, even the Marvel Universe. Hell, we may have even had a stint in Gamma World but my memories of thos days are hazy. No it definitely was not the inclusion of space ships and lasers that bugged me. Let me see if I can put it into words...in no particular order:

1) The front cover. I like Erol Otis art, though I appreciate it much more as an adult than I did as a kid. I liked the black cover (this was the only black covered module I owned...badass, in other words). But goddammit! You stick a picture of a dude shooting a laser pistol on the front and another guy wearing some sort of techno-helmet and you've given the whole game away! Any player with half a brain (and believe you me, my players had big ol' brains!) is going to know right away what they're in for when they see the cover.

[side note...I absolutely love the Roslov back cover, on the other hand....what is it about this guy? He totally "tickles my fantasy." I should research him some...]

2) The module is too easy/too hard. This is my memory from childhood, so may not stand up to the test of maturity, were I to run the module again as an adult. I ran this for characters of slightly higher level (if I remember correctly) and they breezed through pretty much every challenge...besides the froghemoth, of course. But for characters of slightly lesser level this (i.e. the recommended levels) it was too f'ing hard, especially considering that they would get trapped inside the dungeon upon entry. And certain encounters (especially one of my all-time favorite monsters: shambling mounds) proved especially deadly for any level party, seeing as how no group ever took a druid into an underground dungeon!

Now granted: in re-reading the module yesterday, I realized that adventure is meant to be played with a party of 15 characters. It is specifically designed for a large party, with the adjuration that players use two or even three PCs each! If I knew this as a kid, I'd since forgotten it, but I'm about 91% sure I missed this, and the parties that ran this module (admittedly not many) were fairly small (4-6 character parties).

3) The best stuff is hidden. I realize that part of the Old School dungeon design philosophy is to reward good play and thoroughness. Characters in my games tried hard and generally played pretty smart, but they were not always thorough...the chances of them finding a single grey security card and unlocking the locker with the power armor was pretty damn slim without DM fudging (I don't remember fudging by the way...I don't think anyone got the truly cool goodies).

Someone commented earlier that those locked doors drove him crazy as a kid/player. I think one party of youngsters (from when I was a youngster) couldn't figure out the doors at all until I gave them A LOT of hints (they just didn't get the whole door/security card concept, even with the illustrations and boxed descriptions). Jeez. I like the cool stuff to get found. That way players get to experience the cool stuff (though I realize it is the extreme of this attitude that leads to "story path" adventures and rail-roading).

4) It's too big. I understand that this is a persona preference, but as I've mentioned before, I was a self-taught Dungeon Master who cut his teeth on B/X. The "mega-dungeon" was not my experience or the norm. The Keep on the Borderlands would have been too big without the Keep to use as a sanctuary. The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, the Tomb of Horrors, White Plume Mountain...these were the size of dungeon I was used to. When I wrote my own dungeons, 95% of the time they were a single level (albeit a tough level, geared to high level PCs). Expedition to the Barrier Peaks is six full levels. For a young DM, as I was then (or a lazy DM as I am now) that is a ton of material with which you need to familiarize yourself.

This is, of course, not even taking into account the plethora of extra rules regarding new technological items, new monsters, new systems for determining how to figure out those techie items, and the numerous un-numbered encounters.

You know, over at the Revolution, Odyssey has been blogging about the role-playing that's been going on in-between the monster hunter...that is to say, the character development of PCs with NPCs when not busy with the normal "business" of adventuring. In my old campaigns, this kind of RPG action was par for the course, as we had long-running campaigns with long-established characters (with fairly strong personalities and detailed histories)...having to worry (as a DM) about a bunch of extra, module-specific material got in the way of "the juice" of the campaign. Trust me...if you HAVE high level characters (10-12 or high) that have been advanced over many months of play, there will be party dynamics greater than "okay the fighter's going to tank while the cleric heals him and the wizard lays down the heavy support fire." At least if you're bothering to play an Old School game where character gets developed outside of an intricate stat block. S3 as a tournament module with high-level pre-gens may be fun...S3 with developed characters can be a tedious nightmare.

5) Psionics. A bit of a delicate subject perhaps. Many of the most potent monsters in the various monster manuals (including all the high level challenges, like demon princes and arch-devils) have psionics to some degree or another. And yet few PCs (1% or better depending on stats) will have ANY psionic powers at all. In all of my old campaigns, there was a total of two, possibly 3 if I remember correctly...and only one of those characters had "traditional" psionics as per the Player's Handbook (the other that I remember for sure had a type of home-brewed pyrokinetics....remind me to blog about Dark Flame one of these days).

I never had a major problem with psionics (the one PC with "traditional" psionics? Mine), but I didn't like running a module with major antagonists being mind-fuckers and no one else having the stuff to go up against 'em...or having mind-killers that could not use their best abilities because of a lack of party psionicists.

6) No big finale. Tomb of Horrors has a showdown (albeit, one-sided) with Acerack. White Plume Mountain has several possible climactic scenes (my favorite? Being blown out the top of the volcano?). Even Lost Tomb of Tsojcanth (which I think suffered in several regards), had a final showdown with the baddest vampire ever (yes, Vlad is a pansy compared to Igwilvv's daughter). What's the end result of Expedition to the Barrier Peaks? Um...you get thrown out the cargo hatch by a couple robots. Oh...and then you fight a sleepy bulette. A bit anti-climactic after the froghemoth and shambling mounds, if you ask me. Certainly not what I'd call especially heroic or "Special" (isn't the S series the Special series of modules?).

ANYWAY...as I said, I have some complaints, and they aren't in any particular order, but they include some pitfalls I'd like to avoid as I design my own, new module. I emailed my buddy some of my ideas this afternoon and I'm waiting to get his feedback, so the jury is still out as to whether or not we'll be collaborating (I'm keeping my fingers crossed). I wish I could have the balls to call my module "S5" or something (kind of like Carcosa's "new" OD&D "supplement") but I fully intend the module to be for B/X play, not A&D...and I'm a stickler for tradition.

Whoops! The beagles are up to no good in the other room; gotta' go folks! Prost!

Starting the Season Right

So the Seattle Seahawks got off to a tremendous start today by soundly crushing their division rivals, the St. Louis Rams. Now granted, the 'Hawks were playing at home where they generally have a consistent home field advantage, and the Rams did go 2-12 last year (ever worse than the Seahawks own decade worst 4-12 record). But the Seahawks showed the kind of play-off poise they need if they're going to go far in the season.

Yes, we SHOULD be destroying teams 28-0 when we play them at home...at least if we want to climb back on top of the NFC West. 

What we DON'T want to be doing is playing close, hard fought matches against mediocre (or worse) teams. Save the hard, tooth-and-claw matches for road games against stiff competition, not patsies like St. Louis. Let's face it...the Rams are definitely in a "re-building phase."

The game heralded Jim Mora's first win as a head coach, and it showed a few things...creativity, versatility, the use of multiple weapons, a balanced offense, and a helluva' deep defense (with one pro-bowler out and two more being injured in the first quarter, we still shut out the Rams for the first time in recent team history). 

Even the referees came through for a change, reversing a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown (it's always a lot easier for teams to do that with 12 guys lining up instead of 11).

All-in-all, quite pleasing, especially as I had both Matthew Hasselbeck and tight end John Carlson on my fantasy team...they hooked up for two touchdowns (too bad I left Julius Jones and Nate Burleson on the bench...I would have won my fantasy match-up this week if I'd played them, too).

[sure, sure...I realize that Blood Bowl and fantasy football isn't what one might consider REAL role-playing...but pretending to be the coach of a fantasy team is "playing a role" after all. And you should hear my wife talk to her players on the pitch...I always find it entertaining]

Sorry for the poor quality of my photos, by the way...I'm even worse with the digital camera than I am with HTML...and that's saying something!  The minis themselves give off less glare than the play field, but it's too dark to get a decent picture without a flash right now (hmm...after midnight again. It's been a loooong day of football watching!).

And to any St. Louis fans out there that may be reading this blog...you can believe me when I say "no hard feelings." I'll be rooting for you to kick the ass of both Arizona and San Francisco (at least once each).

; )

New Poll: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks

So...just winding down for the evening after a couple hours of hiking with the fam (the beagles are completely passed out), and my fantasy football team is all set for tomorrow, and the wife is watching Little Women on the HD...

AND...I've been trying to figure out what I wanted to post for the last hour or so...

[God, sometimes I really want to turn this thing into a political rant forum when I see how F'ing retarded some Americans are. UGH! I can't help being ethnocentric myself...it's human nature...but FUCK I just want to beat some sense into these people...with a cudgel! Anyway...this isn't the proper place...sorry for the tangential venting]

...anyway, I've been reading a LOT o blogs today (well, earlier today), and I couldn't help but take interest in several, throwing my two cents hither and yon (I'm like a goddamn rash all over the internet these days), AND I couldn't help but notice this little piece by Al over at Beyond the Black Gate. Here's the gist of my interest:

I think the OSR really needs a "showcase" adventure. It needs a Keep on the Borderlands or Temple of Elemental Evil of its very own, something shared from group to group regardless of whether they're using LL, S&W, OSRIC, or the systems that orignally inspired them. That's not to say there havn't been some great adventures released for the RCs, there certainly have been. But I think the emphasis of the last couple of years has been on honing the rule sets themselves, diligently recreating the spirit of the three big old-school games into three faithful and marvellous RCs. I'd love to see that level of commitment put into recreating something as epic and iconic as the G or A series of modules.

The other part of the blog is also food for thought, but mainly I think he may have something here...I mean, many OS publishers are putting out a slew of new material, but how many are putting out new modules? Certainly a few, and several of note (if you can believe the blog hype). My thought is: not enough.

But it's tough. Tough because there IS a lack of organization in the OSR...so many independent knuckleheads firing on all cylinders for their own particular pet projects. Tons of creativity, energy, drive...but is there real direction?

No, of course not. We aren't a single company like TSR was or WotC is. There is no one setting project goals for the OSR, no one setting deadlines...hell, no quality control. We are self-policing, and as others have pointed out, we ain't always especially good at it.

However, while it's all well and good to sit around blogging about what we'd like to see happen (for example: writing the new classic adventure of the OSR), the real thing to do is to sit down and write it. Some are already attempting it (you know who you are, even if the rest of us don't), but this is a particular market in little danger of being saturated, unlike say...um...the "new retro-clone" market. Not that quick-start rules, 2nd editions, advanced character editions, and new basic editions truly have worth and value and part of the OSR is a return to the idea that gaming groups are perfectly capable of establishing their own game worlds and adventures outside of pre-packaged game settings and story-pathed scenarios.

But shared adventures...like Keep on the Borderlands, like Tomb of Horrors...create a shared mythology, a shared history, a shared camaraderie, a shared culture. Shared adventures can become the ties that bind between different gamers and otherwise insular groups.

Anyway, as I commented over at Al's, I'm as guilty of sitting on my hands in the adventure department as anyone else. Sure I'm working on my own OS project (my B/X Companion), but as said, there's already plenty of material ready-made to play with (original editions and retro-clones). Maybe we should ALL put off our little projects until we've put out at least one decent adventure with which we're satisfied/proud.

My personal challenge is that my map-making skills are a bit lacking (as far as I'm concerned). Sure, I have some good ideas and I can write and write and write (note the blog), but I prefer to collaborate with someone a bit more skilled in the drawing department.

Enter my buddy Kris, AKA "Dr. Love" AKA "the Doctor" or "Doc" (don't ask...it's a long story in and of itself). I've mentioned Kris before (he's plays the perennial thief) an excellent artist (and fine musician). I called him up today and asked him if he wanted to collaborate with me on an old school adventure module...and lo and behold, Doc agreed! Very cool, as he has rejected other requests for collaboration (despite being a fairly creative dude himself).

So now we finally get to the new poll I've posted to the blog. No, I am not recreating, rewriting, converting or retro-cloning S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. There are some similarities of structure being considered for my new adventure (no, there aren't robots nor spaceships) and I'd appreciate a little honest feedback. I know how I feel about the particular adventure...but I'd like to hear from others. Please post any comments you have about your experience with the Barrier Peaks her on this post. Thanks!

: )