City of the Gods & Expedition to the Barrier Peaks

[Falconer]

Here is a thread for discussing Advanced D&D module S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks (1980) and Expert D&D module DA3 City of the Gods (1987). How strong is the Star Trek connection? How about using one or the other to transition a full-blown Greyhawk or Blackmoor campaign over into a full-blown Star Trek campaign? Or using Greyhawk or Blackmoor for landing-party adventures in an existing Star Trek campaign? How about its presentation of tech as game mechanics?

[rflowers]

I always hated the mixing of the genres... S3 is a pretty nice module, though, with all its illustrations & places to explore. Not so much Star Trek as Generic Trek, though.

[finarvyn]

Jan 13, 2010 23:03:29 GMT -5 rflowers said:

I always hated the mixing of the genres... S3 is a pretty nice module, though, with all its illustrations & places to explore. Not so much Star Trek as Generic Trek, though.

A lot of people seem to strongly dislike genre-mixing like this, although I find it fascinating. S3 is a well-written module, as is the AD&D 2E module Night of the Comet, which also blends SciFi with Fantasy.

[Badelaire]

I say if you wanna roll with it, roll with it. Perhaps the crashed ship is actually a Federation vessel that's trapped on a remote, primitive planet whose inhabitants have access to strange psychic powers that resemble magic? The PCs are natives who later come in contact with Starfleet when recovery operations begin to take back the crashed vessel. Shenanigans then ensue.

[rflowers]

Go hardcore - take those USS Enterprise blueprints and write your own module (or key S3 locations to the blueprints). "The party finds a potion. It is... it is... green."

[Falconer]

I believe in Arneson’s campaign all so-called “magic” was just tech. Zombies=Androids, magic wands=hand phasers, etc.

[rsaintjohn]

Jan 14, 2010 11:40:24 GMT -5 rflowers said:

"The party finds a potion. It is... it is... green."

I had to read this three times before I got it, but then.... ;D

[robertfisher]

Jan 14, 2010 11:40:24 GMT -5 rflowers said:

Go hardcore - take those USS Enterprise blueprints and write your own module (or key S3 locations to the blueprints). "The party finds a potion. It is... it is... green."

I always wanted to do this. Those blueprints looked so much like the ultimate dungeon. The PCs find some item, mess with it, and find themselves on the transporter pad. I never really figured out where to go with it beyond that, though. Derelict and somehow full of monsters and treasure?

[Grendelwulf]

Mixing genres can be fun if done properly. I had a five-year campaign between three seperate playing groups: Dungeons & Dragons - Greyhawk, Marvel Super Heroes - 2015 AD, & Star Trek - TOS/TAS. Over time, the playing groups were brought together finally realizing they were all part of the same adventure.

As for EtBP's: I used the Franz Joseph Tech Manual & early Enterprise bluprints to make the ship a Federation Transport Tug that had fallen through a temporal anomaly & crash landed on a planet called Oerth. Their descendants were some of the early inhabitants of the Valley of the Mage in the World of Greyhawk.

Ciao!
Grendelwulf

[Badelaire]

L.E. Modesitt Jr.'s Recluse series features one novel dealing with the distant past of the world, where the ancestors of his "order mages" turn out to be the engineers and crew of a crashed starship. Apparently these crewmembers had some kinda of augmetic implants or other technology that they used to control the ship, which now granted them, essentially, "magic powers" on the planet. While not directly applicable to a Trek-verse adaptation, it would be good inspirational reading with regards to handling a starship crew learning to adapt on a feral, magical world.

I think the book is "Fall of Angels" but I'm not certain - it's been about a decade...

[Falconer]

Once, just once, I’d like to be able to land someplace and say, “Behold! I am the archangel Gabriel!” —Leonard McCoy, MD

[finarvyn]

Jan 14, 2010 23:35:23 GMT -5 robertfisher said:

Jan 14, 2010 11:40:24 GMT -5 rflowers said:

take those USS Enterprise blueprints and write your own module...

I always wanted to do this. Those blueprints looked so much like the ultimate dungeon. The PCs find some item, mess with it, and find themselves on the transporter pad. I never really figured out where to go with it beyond that, though. Derelict and somehow full of monsters and treasure?

I had the same problem. Once I beamed a bunch of OD&D characters onto the Enterprise but then we all got sort of stumped from there.

The problem was the difference between player knowledge and character knowledge. The characters might have had a heck of an adventure, but the players just weren't sure what they were "supposed" to do next. (The joy of having a very wide-open DM style is that I don't always have a plan, but this also has backfired on many an adventure when the players just feel stumped. )

[Grendelwulf]

Jan 15, 2010 14:42:42 GMT -5 finarvyn said:

The problem was the difference between player knowledge and character knowledge. The characters might have had a heck of an adventure, but the players just weren't sure what they were "supposed" to do next. (The joy of having a very wide-open DM style is that I don't always have a plan, but this also has backfired on many an adventure when the players just feel stumped. )

Remember the ol' saying, "If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad will go to the mountain". Just bring the adventure to them!

In a Trek/D&D crossover, there are possibilities. If you don't feel right having characters hack & slash the crew of the Enterprise, have them land on a Klingon vessel. The 23rd century crews & scientists may find themselves wanting to study a D&D group that can cast "magic" and have "holy" or "magical" equipment. Imagine the D&D thief discovering how a replicator can make more gold pieces. Perhaps the starship has such a magical device somewhere aboard the ship. Or if a wand of magic detection leads them to the dylithium crystal chamber.

Put them aboard a Federation ship that is researching the Guardian of Forever. Talk aboard ship of a "Gateway" should seem natural for a D&D party. This gives the players a goal for returning home.

Ciao!
Grendelwulf

[finarvyn]

Jan 14, 2010 12:39:22 GMT -5 Falconer said:

I believe in Arneson’s campaign all so-called “magic” was just tech. Zombies=Androids, magic wands=hand phasers, etc.

Honestly, this is the beauty of OD&D compared to many modern RPGs.

Many games today are designed to be a series of interlocking rules with each case clearly defined. That's part of why there are so many monster books, full of stats and information.

OD&D at its genesis was wide open, so that a person could just create monsters "on the fly" and just play them. As such, Falconer's statement reflects exactly the philosophy of the game at the time. Need an android, take something similar and use it instead ... BAM! ... there's your android.

[Grendelwulf]

Jan 29, 2010 9:10:24 GMT -5 finarvyn said:

Need an android, take something similar and use it instead ... BAM! ... there's your android.

As long as you keep that one rule in mind, it shouldn't matter what system you use. It was the only way to keep me sane whenever I cross-campaigned between D&D and/or SuperHeroes and/or Trek. Like cars, different mechanics but they all can be driven the same way.

Ciao!
Grendelwulf