zslane Posted January 27, 2018 Report Share Posted January 27, 2018 I'm hoping some AD&D old-timers out there can help me with something. I have this vivid memory from when I was a kid playing AD&D in the early 80s and getting my hands on a copy of S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. I distinctly recall the illustrations that were to be shown to the players, and many of them showed alien writing on the walls, on devices, and so forth. I remember applying basic substitution cypher cracking methods (frequency tables) to translate all the alien writing. Somewhere along the way I lost or gave away all my old AD&D modules, so I no longer own my original copy. But here's the thing: some years ago I bought the S1-4 "supermodule" off of eBay, and this alien writing is missing from all the artwork. Moreover, every image I see returned by Google when I put this module's name into the search bar looks like what I currently have. So either my memory is failing me and I'm thinking of something other than the S3 module illustrations (and no, it's not Metamorphosis Alpha or Gamma World, I've checked), or that alien writing was somehow removed (for reasons I can't fathom) after the first printings of the module and now there's no evidence of it anywhere (online anyway). Does anyone else know what I'm referring to, and can perhaps either corroborate my memory or correct it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywind Posted January 27, 2018 Report Share Posted January 27, 2018 I would need to pull my copy out of storage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Desmarais Posted January 27, 2018 Report Share Posted January 27, 2018 The 1987 S1-4 book left out several of the illustrations that had been in the original Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zslane Posted January 28, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2018 Ah, yes, thank you for that link! Boy, a lot of illustrations were taken out when the 1987 supermodule was released, holy cow! The alien writing is evident in illos 17, 18, and 24, with a little bit visible in illos 60 and 61 as well. You guys rock! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted January 29, 2018 Report Share Posted January 29, 2018 I've converted a bunch of modules but never touched this one because I can't stand mixing fantasy with sci fi ray gun stuff. For a while, Wizards of the Coast made all their old modules free for download off the website, and I snagged just about everything pre-4th edition that was out there. Old Man and Spence 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zslane Posted January 29, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2018 Yeah, I think the mixture is dopey too (which is why I don't care for Shadowrun), but at the time it was quite a novel concept for an RPG module, and I had fun de-cyphering the alien text. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spence Posted January 29, 2018 Report Share Posted January 29, 2018 2 hours ago, Christopher R Taylor said: I've converted a bunch of modules but never touched this one because I can't stand mixing fantasy with sci fi ray gun stuff. Maybe, but at the time it was a nifty twist. When I played the module in the way back, out GM went out of his way to conceal what was really going on so it was shock when it dawned on us that it was a space ship. Sure we didn't see some of the art at first, instead just had the DM's descriptions filtered to fantasy. But it was a lot of fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattern Ghost Posted January 31, 2018 Report Share Posted January 31, 2018 Not to be a wet blanket, but I think Dan frowns on linking pirated stuff on the forum. Considering that the PDF of the module is for sale on Drive Thru RPG, the above link might fall into that category. Although at one point they may have given it away, they currently aren't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted January 31, 2018 Report Share Posted January 31, 2018 On 1/28/2018 at 9:50 PM, zslane said: Yeah, I think the mixture is dopey too (which is why I don't care for Shadowrun), but at the time it was quite a novel concept for an RPG module, and I had fun de-cyphering the alien text. Did it say anything interesting? Lucius Alexander Expedition to a palindromedary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zslane Posted January 31, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2018 As I recall it was mostly instructions on the use of various equipment and so on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted April 6, 2018 Report Share Posted April 6, 2018 On 1/30/2018 at 6:23 PM, Pattern Ghost said: Not to be a wet blanket, but I think Dan frowns on linking pirated stuff on the forum. Considering that the PDF of the module is for sale on Drive Thru RPG, the above link might fall into that category. Although at one point they may have given it away, they currently aren't. Ayup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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