A bit more of Thank You

[Duke Bushido]

If you don't understand why this is a thank you, and you haven't checked it out already, please: 

 

 

 

 

So this one is actually finished!

 

However, it's a bit niche, and out of respect for the fine people at HERO Games and those folks who publish RPG books, there are several references to other HERO Games materials (mostly Bestiaries and the like); it didn't feel right to include stuff that other people were selling, you know?

 

A brief explanation:

 

Chris Goodwin pitched an idea at me that tickled my fancy so thoroughly that I asked him how he planned to introduce the idea.

 

He had hit upon the idea of revisiting that old love-it-or-hate-it classic, Barrier Peaks from TSR.  This time, though, he wanted to run it as a western as opposed to a fantasy.  Cowboys and Aliens (man, what an awful movie  ) just tickled me enough that I became _very_ interested.  He didn't have any real solid plans beyond the creature conversions: no setting; no introduction. At least, not yet.  So I _begged_ him for permission to write something for him and his group-- a setting in which the adventure would take place; a series of hooks to draw the PCs into this classic bait-and-switch (which is why I hated it, originally, but Chris promised he was going to let his Players know up-front what was going on to prevent the extreme negative reactions that half of those who played that old module experienced-- myself included).

 

 

At any rate, you don't _have_ to put Expedition to the Barrier Peaks in the center of this.  You can put in some weird voodoo, or perhaps some native american spirits, or what-have-you.

 

Please note that the idea and the Bestiary recommendations / conversions are not mine; that was all Chris' hard work, and frankly, I think he chose well.  The Grey Men-- well, that's me, but it's really a universal thing, I think: the treacherous and horrible shapeshifter....

 

Or perhaps I've said too much.

 

 

As in the thread I linked above, this one is for anyone who wants it:

 

It's the best way I know to thank all of those who worked so hard on the old Web Ring of Heroes to keep the game alive when there was nothing else.

 

 

Thanks, guys.  I hope that there is at least some sliver of this that is worthy of all you did.

 

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-spZFRGOvWxKneEvpTOy1OVAjHuCilKSJaGUiZxPc0E/edit?usp=sharing

 

 

 

 

[Chris Goodwin]

Duke is being way too modest.  I had the wild hair of an idea, wrote about two pages, then Duke added... what looks like another one hundred seventy seven pages!

 

Seriously, thank you.  You did, almost literally, a hundred times as much as I did.  It wasn't all that hard to match up original module monsters with Bestiary entries.  

[Christopher R Taylor]

Barrier Peaks is seriously not my cup of tea but this could be fun and more content for WH is always nice

[Duke Bushido]

Barrier Peaks was a bad experience for me, too, but I realize, now, that this was not the fault of the adventure itself, but that I had gotten myself psyched up for a fantasy game (which is a bit of work for me, given that I generally prefer anything else) and then got hit with the bait and switch, then we were expected to just not have done any of that or made off with any of the spoils afterward: instant recon.  

 

There are other complaints, but honestly, I think I can lay all of them at the feet of the GM (which I do not do lightly; he was otherwise an excellent GM).  I think had he done as Chris discussed doing-- been up front that "this is going to start as a standard fantasy quest but it is going to take a surprise twist or two" or even if he had said "expect three, maybe four sessions out of this, but keep in mind that it is just a one-off that won't factor into our continuity," or _anything_ other than just dropping it into our ongoing campaign, I probably would have had a much better time with it, and far happier memories of the module.

 

I think that is why I dumpwd so many vignettes into the settting I built for Chris: give it a few stories, a few locations, and build a mini-campaign that can stand on its own merit, self-contained.

 

And Chris:  the town still needs a name. 

 

 

[Chris Goodwin]

On 10/6/2021 at 9:40 AM, Duke Bushido said:

And Chris:  the town still needs a name. 

 

I hereby dub the town, for whenever I run it, Sharpe's Corners, after a family named Sharpe who were early settlers.  

[Duke Bushido]

On 10/7/2021 at 6:03 PM, Chris Goodwin said:

 

I hereby dub the town, for whenever I run it, Sharpe's Corners, after a family named Sharpe who were early settlers.  

 

and absolutely _not_ named for the coffee table you whacked your shin against while reading this post.

 

Got it.

 

 

 

[Duke Bushido]

Thanks for the rep, guys!  Seriously: I appreciate it.  I had only meant to do a little clearing before undergoing some surgery: trying to figure out what I knew I would not be able to finish against what I want to achieve before shuffling off, etc.

 

 

Having completed my first two heart procedures-- which, _hopefully_ (but alas, not assuredly) will stave off the need for the big ones I can't afford-- I feel a bit more comfortable in my desire to start and complete _something_ useful for the community.

 

To that end, if anyone who looks these two things over (and no; I'm not going to beg everyone to look them over: I know how it is: you are either interested in something or you're not, period    ), if you wouldn't mind giving even just a tiny bit of feedback: what worked; what didn't.  What was right; what wasn't.  Things like that.  Just to sort of establish a few guideposts should I ever get around to starting something new for the community.

 

 

Thanks!