Well at least the hate posting and down votes finally started coming in. (I had to delete a long crazy post and ban the person - seriously, the Internet, gotta love it!) I was worried that my videos werent reaching the Reddit crowd but now they obviously are! Thanks again to the vast majority of you who pass the test! :)
@@xavierp7658 In this video, nothing. But some people just have so much hate and feel unseen they think they need to smear their feces all over the internet.
@@welovettrpgs Great video--I too have very fond memories of S-3, and I love your different takes on how to run the game with different audiences and flavors. Spot -f---ing on, chief! I hope newer folks love it just as much as we did.
I was a player in this original module in 1982 or thereabouts. My DM and I were also PCs in a Gamma World campaign, and he ported in some of the mechanics and flavor of GW into our session. And it also had a Star Wars / Darth Vader flavor. At least in our campaign, it ended with the PCs trying to launch the ship, failing, and everyone except my character dying in an explosion. My character survived thanks to a ring of fire resistance and the featherfall spell. The rest of the party -- gone! Also, somewhere in the course of that adventure, my PC developed photosynthetic skin, a mutation my GW PC had. We ended the campaign at the point of the explosion, but I loved the idea of my lone-survivor wizard becoming something of a druid with a Swamp Thing vibe, renouncing his magical abilities in favor of whatever gods of nature might be responsible for a plant-manimal hybrid. This was the only campaign I ever played in that had some closure element to it. PS: I do have a short attention span. I hope you will keep that in mind with future videos, but I will do my best to meet you on your own terms. In any event, 18 minutes is not too bad.
I *LOVE* the fact that that illithid was originally a prisoner being transported by the ship to a new prison. The lore alone for this adventure is mind blowing. Great review, Aten. I consistently enjoy and share the essays you create here on We Love TTRPGs! Cheers 🍵🍪
Thank you for sharing the thoughtful review! During the 1980s as DM, i asked for the Players to draw their own map based on what i described. We used poker chips for character tokens. At the end , i shared the official module map and artwork, and in fact the Players all had seen everything secretly at our local game shop anyway
This video, like your sweet mustache, is the best I have seen on this platform featuring this adventure! I, unfortunately, have missed every opportunity to play in this adventure I have had for the last three decades due to circumstances outside of my control (moving away from established gaming groups, groups suddenly dissolving due to personality clashes, once the DM just disappeared). This module/adventure has become my White Whale. Even when I have tried to run it (about 3 times) similar unforeseen events would occur and prevent it. I have not had this issue with any other adventure. I’m not superstitious, but if I was I’d think this adventure was cursed. Maybe my luck will change at some point. This mega dungeon creates some of the craziest, most entertaining rpg war stories I’ve ever read or heard. Thank you for showcasing it in your slick and stylish way, you sexy handlebar-mustachioed beast! I have even done the prep to convert and run this using the Fantasy AGE ttrpg and don’t think it would be difficult to run using the Savage Worlds, Genesys, Shadowdark, and Basic Role Playing TTRPGs. I even think it would be at home using Numenera, the Electrum Archive, Shadowrun and even Star Wars d6 rules. A small tip/note For those who don’t prefer DnD. This dungeon is really cool and doesn’t necessarily scream DnD specifically, its concept is flexible enough to meet your needs for all kinds of fantasy. Yes even grim-dark or low magic. I mean I could even see a way to run this using Call of Cthulhu, Fallout, Conan 2d20, and with some careful prep and planning; Scion and Exalted.
Agreed. Every new-ish DM needs to get those. I look through them just to inspire my imagination but regardless of experience there's something there for everyone.
Thanks! I'm really surprised and pleased to see the positive response this video has received! It's always a gamble when uploading a video that isn't some drama/clickbait if it'll get any views at all.
I remember loving this adventure when it first came out and I can't help but look forward to running it again for a new group....Now if I could only fine the goodman edition for less than $600
I remember hearing about this module a long time ago but never played it. My group wasn't big into mega dungeons. We only played one game with a mega dungeon in the 7 years we were a group growing up. Your advice is great for anyone wanting to run it to keep the surprise.
My pleasure! I'm so sorry I wasn't uploading for two weeks. I had to get a new computer, set it up, etc. But I'm back on track and already have next week's video recorded. I should be able to return to 1/week now.
Intelligent aberrations give the referee the opportunity to add some science fiction to their campaigns. Who doesn't love the idea of giving beholders shield belts, neogis stun rays, mind flayers chain swords, grell flash bangs, and destrachans weirding modules. Heck the kaorti already have freaky alien resin items and bioweapons. They've made several monsters that fill in perfectly for xenomorphs. There's lots of existing material to springboard off of. XD
For sure! My entire campaign atm involves finding a massive starship (like the one from Close Encounters of the 3rd kind) that is deep below the desert and now called "The Sunless City" and an Aboleth posing as a God (who is controlled by dreams sent from Tharizdun) is the BBEG.
Hello Kind Sir! Just stumbled across your channel, and I have been binging! You and I are of similar age and experience, and we are on the same page. DMing since the early ‘80’s, but I’m still learning a ton from your channel…. When I’m not agreeing and giving you a virtual fist bump! Keep up the work my brother…. You are doing it right! Don’t stop! Your brother from Motown, Eric
Jon Pintar is an awesome artist, who has recreated scores of classic D&D modules, and is well worth checking out via artstation. Great overview of this module!
@@welovettrpgs Loot the Body is a band that produces D&D-based (as well as other systems) music, and has produced a "Concept Album" around Barrier Peaks. It's well worth a listen, and is available via Bandcamp and youtube.
I wanna run this so bad since I have a second D&D day for my group with the difference being one player is swapped out from the other who’s part of the Sunday campaign. And I call the party the tomb raiders, it’s a more wacky party and I just run anthology modules from yawning portal and soon to be infinite staircase. So this one is right up their alley in terms of insanity.
This was one of the first few adventures I ran, back when I actually ran modules. I rarely touch them, anymore. Haven't, in years. I loved this one so much, I've developed my own version of it... I've considered packaging that and making it available, but, as it contains copyrighted material (the ship is a crashed Miranda-class frigate saucer section from Star Trek)... I don't think I can legally do that. Lots of fun, though! Great video! You're right, too - when you have haters, you know you're doing something right!
Been contemplating running this for my players, but with a twist...instead of a mind flayer as the "final boss" I would replace him with a Yautja (aka The Predator from the movie series of the same name). It would mostly just be a matter reskinning, but their are stats for a Yautja/Predator online.
this works in all sorts of other ways too. I can imagine a sci-fi Phandelver 'rephrased' in such a way that magic is tech, monsters are aliens etc. Or taking any Sci-fi adventure game and running it as magic. I've been dabbling at turning Phandelver and Curse of Strahd into Dark Sun games, but I imagine it would be possible to take all my old Dark Sun adventures and turn them into Dragonlance adventures to create more content for that setting besides the recent Dark Queen box set. or maybe have a spelljammer crash on Barsoom with Tharks (thrikreen), white martians (halflings), red martians (humans) etc.
Absolutely. I regularly grab creatures from the books (for example) and just give it a different name and appearance. First off it saves time in my process instead of making something from scratch that will just end up being the same or near the same to the thing I reskinned and ensures players arent likely to meta game.
Wonderful stuff! Looking forward to the new 5e book containing this adventure. I played it as a kid but the DM wasn't great. I then played it more recently as a competition-style adventure, and it was good fun. I'm a huge fan of 1st ed modules and the Goodman Games versions of this and The Lost City look phenomenal.
Great video and I appreciate the hard work you put into your videos. I agree about keeping the images to yourself and using descriptions that only their characters would relate to. Don't worry about the haters. You speak from a logical viewpoint on your videos and as we know many people don't like logical or critical thinking.
Another great video! I'm late to the viewing (been busy, but finally catching up a bit). This was always one of my favorite modules as well. This and Gamma World have always been a big influence on my D&D campaign world. I run a very-post-apocalypse campaign world, where the players might discover lost ancient technological installations buried beneath not-quite-as-ancient dungeons filled with magic and monsters ~ as well as whatever constructs, weaponry, or gadgets have leaked up into the dungeon from below.
When I started my current 5E campaign in the Spring of 2022 I couldnt decide if I wanted to play Star Wars D6, Star Frontiers, Gamma World, or D&D. So I turned my 5E campaign into all of them. There's an enormous ship (like the big one from close encounters of the 3rd kind) buried beneath the sands (of what is basically ancient Egypt) and a time travelling mind flayer with lasers has been screwing with the PCs. :) And the ship is now in a state of ruins aka Gamma World.
@@welovettrpgs that's awesome 🙂 Jeez! A time travelling mind flayer! He's probably smart enough to not get flustered or confused by meeting his past / future selves. I could see it pulling in multiple selves to help out in a serious conflict vs a party. "You suddenly see three of it appear from ripples in the air!" It would also be wicked evil to have the party kill it only to have several of his past / future selves show up to recover the body and bring it back to life >.< My current party fought a Wight Monk that had a robotic laser-beam (scorching ray) eyeball. After they defeated it the party barbarian decided to stick the tech gadget into their own eye. I can't wait to start giving her strange dreams and headaches as the nanobots try to take over >:-]
Hard agree.... Goodman Games' update is definitive. The WOTC version will have to be absolutely stellar to impress me like Goodman's has, and most of their recent re-releases just haven't. If I'm being honest, I think D&D would be better served by generating new content for their IP, and leaving the re-releases to the people who will put the love, time, and work in to do them properly. Good video, Aten.
OMG that's a lot of pressure! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Be sure to read that review on rpg.net just to hear their perspective but frankly I think the reviewer just had a personal issue with the subject matter. idk. Good luck!
I added a couple of levels, one was for maintenance and one was all computers. Since S3 is one segment of that spaceship, I wonder what the other segments might have contained. Regarding Goodman Games, I suspect Wizards of the Coast has a say on what they may or may not include, there must be some negotiation there.
Ooh, I never got to play or run this one. I wonder if my local game shop might have it, they do have a selection of older stuff-not huge but still good. Awesome review Aten, I'm almost caught up again. lol =^_^=
Aten Thanks for this masterpiece of video! I am a DM for this group from 6 months from now on, i was making a Campaing that merge Keep on the Borderlands and Expedition to The Barrier Peaks in the same story, and i was figuring out how i gonna explain some aspects of the spaceship if i dont say: "Well is a Spaceship" thanks man your video gave me a light to make this and i am gonna watch your videos about Dragons and Lasers guns and horror (Because the Mind flayer in the final area was a serve of a Star Spawn) so i want to set a cosmic horror vibe in this part. But for now on this is a fantastic video, huges from Brazil!!!
I had a similar experience with this module in the 80s. It’s fantastic! I remade my own version of it full of all my favorite sci fi tropes and movie references to run in 5e. I 1000% agree with framing to details of the adventure in terms the characters would understand like constructs instead of robots.
I don't have a problem with crossing genres, as long as it's done right and not just smooshed together. I love that you started with the quote from Arthur C Clark. It's one of my all time favorites! Great video Aten 👍. I'm looking forward to your upcoming posts. 🖖😎🤘🇨🇦🍻
The Mind Flayer should definitely use darkness and smoke grenades as it moves away from hero's. It should make deals with other monsters to serve it or attack players and it should have it's over all goal of seizing control of the entire complex!
@@welovettrpgs Yep! I mean, I've run multiple module/books and ALWAYS have had to do some work to make them work. Now, sure, that really is always true for modules, but with some books, like Princes of the Apocalypse, it is just to much effort. I think the best book of theirs was Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. My absolute least favorite is, yep, Princes of the Apocalypse. I have Goodman Games Temple of Elemental Evil, which is, again, BY FAR superior to Princes.
Great review Aten! And the flow chart method really needs it's own video. Young players today are very familiar with flow charts. And in my Kickstarter adventure for Khor, I'll be using a flowchart method for those younger DMs. The challenge tho, is organizing the flowcharts into the module text so that DMs don't have to flip back n forth thru the module as they run it. Which, imo is another topic for a great video my friend!
Great video. I've always liked the idea of mixing genres, but every time I've tried it, it's come across as contrived and cliched. There was some really good advice that I think I can extrapolate to positive effect while revisiting some old adventures I ran many years ago. I will definitely be checking out this particular adventure, as well as the earlier video you mentioned on introducing sci-fi into fantasy games. Incidentally, it's exactly this kind of melding that makes the setting (although sadly not the ruleset) of Hyperborea one of my all-time RPG obsessions.
You know, I've heard several people in the past use terms like "contrived and cliched. " to describe things and I've been considering doing a video to address that. I think I will now. I think I can help overcome that.
Or, you can have it not be a ship at all. A powerful creature, that's the end boss, has seen the far distant future and he's gone insane so he's imagining things the best he can and it has warped the cave he's stuck in into a biometal hellscape the players have walked into. It will take a touch of horror and description, but once you hit that sweet spot, the players can see the pictures but they'll imagine the nightmare.
Thanks. And even if the Goodman Games version never existed, the WotC version is going to be terrible. Look at what they've already done to other classic 5E "updates."
No joke... I had the big reveal twist in Empire Strikes Back spoiled for me on opening day... prior to the first showing... WHILE I WAS IN LINE. lol It was a massive line and we were waiting at our local theater to get into the matinee first showing of the day. My mom's friend was with us and he was in the entertainment industry and was fortunate enough to be at the premiere for the movie, so he had already seen it. I guess he thought he would be "cool" or something to give me some inside information that he knew, so he said, "Want to know a secret?" He bent down and whispered in my ear, "Darth Vader is Luke's father." lol Literally spoiled for me right then and there minutes before we were about to see the movie. Even as a 9 or 10 year old, I was mildly annoyed that the surprise was spoiled for me. lol It bothered me more after the fact. ;-)
The Goodman games version uses all of it plus added even more art!! As far as the WotC coast version, I have no idea how they're going to find the space for it in that book.
It's probably more complicated than that. I was researching Tim Cain's Fallout for my upcoming Gamma World 2E video (next week) because I heard Gamma World had inspired Fallout but it's ends up that Gamma World was only one of many many different inspirations. So I bet Numeria has many many different inspirations and it is certainly possible this is among them however this was inspired by many different sources as well.
@@welovettrpgs great work as always. i've been reading non stop and the silo books lately so this is in my current sweet spot. excited about the MA video. and i really feel your closing comments. there is a greater than zero chance that my ship has just come in, I have to work for a year to find out but I may have stumbled on something "Extremely rare and desirable" according to a professor I asked. It would be nice to make a good living but I am more excited that I may have a chance to bring something to the world that should be beautiful. To close in on doing something that will make the world a better place is pretty exciting.
the goodman version is the poorest of hardcovers needed art and descriptions of monsters especially ones new camp[agn material used other volumes have better illustrations - its still very awesome 4 ot of 5 for me i think its a flawed early gygax adventure the vegepygmie army early on took a whole session to play - then another one down the hall most of encounters after were not really that bad and felt anti climactic needs a better quest and ending
ZAP!! Get your ray guns ready! "BUT I DONT WANNA BLEND SCI FI WITH MY D&D!!" Thought Experiment: What if you already are? What if magic does not exist and all of our primitive heroes are already using high tech alien items that they think are magical? It's all a matter of perspective. Something as simple as a cigarette lighter would seem like a magical gift from the devil 400 years ago.
In Khor, I make the real-world connection between the quantum world & how magic would be perceived by a "primitive mind." I go into a 2 page exposition on how magic & the quantum "foam" that surrounds a solar system. That's the basis for all those portals that science now calls "wormholes." It's a great way imo on to bridge the gap between medieval magic & modern science.
I mean, you can do anything. Want to play a farmer? You can literally do that, and I'm sure some people have modded DnD to just be farmers in Parnast. You can just create your own homebrew world. Poof! Alien tech and no magic. Not hard. People do it all the time. The question is, how many people want to do that? Why is the norm for DnD to be a high fantasy high magic heroic Medieval fantasy? The answer is because it's the coolest setup. We did peer reviewed scientific studies, and the results were more people thought lots of magic in a Medieval fantasy setting was "cooler" and, thus, superior. My logic is unbreakable and sound. It is known.
I don't like Nickelback and I certainly don't like this adventure. For me a mixture of sci-fi and fantasy has always been one of the greatest no-goes. It just never clicked with me. I mean even renaissance style is way too modern for me. I prefer my fantasy settings based on early to high middle-ages. That said I really appreciate your effort and your perspective. It's always interesting to hear a different opinion and at the very least think about that opinion with an open mind (I still don't like this adventure - even back in the 80s I didn't like it and that was at a time when we played anything and everything we could lay our hands on).
Everyone has their own tastes. Youre neither wrong nor right. There's no "objective truths" as to what is best. I would however say that a good GM can make a bad adventure great while a novice DM can make a great adventure bad. The blending of sci fi with fantasy is not a new thing, not to D&D or even the genre on which it is based. And at least we agree on nickleback. :) Best wishes.
i disagree. let the keycards, and every other bit of tech, detect as magic. let it be dispelled as magic as well. let them think this is some kind of mad mage's sanctum where every door and object has been enchanted and weird golems patrol the corridors.
"Does Greyhawk suck or is it just you?" That would be a nice title. And the answer would be Greyhawk sucks. Greyhawk sucks so bad I associate it with the worst day of the week, Sunday. Sundays are boring and depressing. You'd rather it be a Friday playing Forgotten Realms because Ed Greenwood is a better world builder than Gary Gygax. I like my fantasy worlds to represent ancient Earth but plunged into a high magic universe. That the Forgotten Realms. And the name...bleh! Greyhawk....boring! Forgotten Realms!? Mysterious! Exciting! Strange! Friends don't let friends play Greyhawk. 😅😂
@@007ohboy Ed is great and I have a recent video praising him but are you aware of the history regarding why TSR pushed Forgotten Realms? Also, Lolth, the Drow, Tharizdun, and countless named NPCs are all from Greyhawk. I'm 100% convinced the only reason WotC is turning back to Greyhawk is to somehow screw Ed out of profits.
Forgotten Realms is the grey slop gruel of the modern DnD player. Mystara is where it’s at. I don’t love Greyhawk either but you can’t sit there criticizing Grehawk while acting like the plain vanilla DND catch all setting is something great!
@xavierp7658 My rebuttal is Baldursgate was game of the year. Also: Drizzt. Elminster. The Seven Sisters. The Companions of the Hall. Jaraxle. Neverwinter Nights. Waterdeep. People know these places/people. No one knows who or what Mystaria is. I thought you were talking about Mystra, the magic goddess. 😆 🤣
