No real story to speak of, just a series of novel encounters for a D&D game. Haven't played it, so maybe the true brilliance of it comes across in play and not in reading.

Originall posted here: http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/search/label/Classic%20Adventures%20Revisited

One of the first adventures I ever bought via mail-order was S3 The Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. I had already latched onto the idea that the S series of adventures were going to be mine to run in our extended group of players that crossed many DMs and groups. I grabbed it without really knowing a lot about it. I knew there was crashed spaceship central to the adventure and I knew that it was a larger adventure. Since I was spending my limited paper route money on my new D&D addiction I had to make every dollar count. S3 had two booklets, at 32 pages each, and color inserts. There were two covers with maps. So even my young mind all of this was more valuable than a simple adventure that only had half that material. I got it in the mail one summer and took with me on a family trip to the fish fry my parents loved to go to every year. It was hot, and July and all I wanted to do was sit in our van and read my adventure. This was also the first time that I encountered what I would later call the "Gary Gygax" effect. This would be the "E.G.G." on the map of Level II. I remember not liking it at the time because if this was a real spaceship then why was that there.

Sci-Fi gaming was not new to me. I had picked up Traveller and I knew about Gamma World. I also had learned that Gamma World and S3 had a shared parentage in Metamorphasis Alpha, though I will admit I wasn't 100% clear on what that meant at the time. Without knowing much about the size of the Warden (MA) we always assumed this was the Warden. Given the shape of the ship that landed on Greyhawk and it's size this was more obviously some sort of smaller scout ship with a prison or brig. One thing everyone in my groups agreed on was this is how Mind Flayers came to Greyhawk.

S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks

For this review, I am considering my printed copy from 1982 or so (not my original sadly, lost that one years ago) and the PDF from DriveThruRPG. This adventure was written by Gary Gygax himself and was the official Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Tournament scenario at Origins II in 1976. The adventure was updated and published in 1980. Cover art and art book art by Erol Otus, interior art by Jeff Dee, David "Diesel" LaForce, Jim Roslof, David Sutherland III, Gregory Flemming, and Erol Otus.

The adventure comes in two 32-page black and white booklets. The first covers the adventure and the second covers all the weird animals, plants, and gadgets found on the ship. There is also four pages in the center of book two with full-color art of the animals. I have one copy where they are glossy and another where they are matte. I have no detail on what the differences mean.

Book 1 covers the adventure. The preface sets up what this adventure is about and gives some background on how this adventure came to be. The rest sets up the adventure, placed in the Grandy Duchy of Geoff in the World of Greyhawk. There is a bit of explaining the nature of this "dungeon," really a crashlanded ship, and how to read the maps.

While one could call this a funhouse dungeon it is a bit different than the other Gygax funhouse, Tomb of Horrors. There are a lot of new and weird monsters here and some older ones (like the Mind Flayer) that are given a new life so to speak. What is most interesting to us, and to the players, were the new tech provided. The tech items were designed not really to be functional, but to confuse the players as much as possible. There really seemed to be a fear that D&D characters would run around with laser rifles. Of course the design makes no sense from a human perspective, so we tried to figure out how they might been created. One idea was that these make sense if you are a Mind Flayer.

The adventure itself is a pure dungeon crawl into an unknown structure.

Book 2 covers all the visual aids for this adventure.

The adventure is a must-have really to say you have had the complete D&D experience. My oldest hated it though, saying he hates mixing sci-fi with his D&D. My youngest loved and wanted lasers for everyone.

On my neverending trip through gaming nostalgia I recently picked up Expedition To The Barrier Peaks which I recalled being one of my favourite adventures during my early days of D&D.

The adventure holds up really well if you're interested in weird genre mash-ups and I love the fact that the S series of modules had so many pieces of art to present to players but in 2020 I ran into one problem with this adventure that simply didn't exist in my initial playthrough decades ago, this adventure is EXTREMELY well known to players of a certain era. That means one of the adventure's strongest features (the reveal of that genre mash-up) is pre-spoiled for most players. Having said that if you have a group of players who are new to D&D and don't know the history of these older modules this adventure is fantastic! It lays out a somewhat traditional quest storyline and then almost immediately subverts expectations of what can exist in a fantasy RPG.

One caution for potential DMs; I do remember back in the day when we played this laser guns lingering around our 'fantasy' game for awhile got less fun once the novelty wore off. Having said that, to me personally this and the EX series of modules are my favourite Gygax modules contributions to D&D!

Pages missing. Random blank pages. Cool classic adventure but poor quality. You'd think someone at WoTC would know how make a PDF...

The only attempt at a fantasy/scifi-themed module in classic, old-school AD&D. I imagine it would be harder to DM and play than the typical module, but with patience and creativity from all sides, could prove entertaining.

Ah, the barrier peaks book of WTF?!? If you want to see a weird preview of Metamorphosis Alpha in your Classic D&D game, this is it... Weirdly layed out (there are two thirds of the .pdf made up of artwork, varying in quality and some in full colour) and woefully unbalanced. It'll kill dozens of PC's regardless of level, but those who claw their way out will have the most ludicrously overpowered sci-fi weapons going... Er... If you like the idea, go for it.

Having bought at some point the Realms of Horror compilation (S1-S4), I found the version of S3 therein so badly mauled by poor editing and flat-out omissions that it was unusable. After reading the original, I could see why this module was so popular. Aside from the gee-whiz aspect of high-tech devices in a fantasy context (in a way that really does allow for simulation of fantasy character ignorance of sci-fi gadgetry), the module itself is just plain challenging (read as deadly -- MWA HAHAHA).<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: see above<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

The module that mixed science fiction and AD&D truly for the first time (unless you count the super sorcerous science of Blackmoor in D&D). Fun but a trifle of a let down as there was no ultimate enemy to battle and no thought was given to possibly sending the PC's into space for an adventure or three. Still a fun module overall.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

this is such a strange and quirky adventure. I've run it several times in the past and always to good results. Just be sure your ready to let any of the strange things in the adventure into your campaign.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: nice scans of everything, including the illustration book <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

A great old nostalgia trip.

Re-reading, the adventure has no flow to it - the later levels feel less exciting than the earlier ones and there is no real "boss monster" kind of climax. A lot of the SF elements seem very dated now, too!

WARNING: Includes science fiction material. Based loosely on Metamorphosis Alpha and Gamma World. If you like this stuff, it'll be a real fun addition to your campaign. If you don't like sci-fi in your game; Avoid it at all costs.