Skalding Hot
With the arrival of Mel’s new character, Gerta Stonesong (dwarven bard) and the reveal of the group’s intentions, things really get underway next week.
I realize some of you out there may not pick up on the significance of Gerta dropping “Expedition to the Barrier Peaks” so allow me to bring you up to speed. The short version is Expedition is the old-school module Sam plans to run for Pops and the rest of the group and in my experience the adventure falls into what I would call infamous territory for some of the ideas it presented. Granted, if you do not want to have any of the iconic scenes from the adventure potentially spoiled for you, just stop here and do not click the link to the Wikipedia article.
In addition to today’s comic, I also submitted a blog post yesterday where I talk about validation and the idea of being one of the “cool kids”. It is a subject that I believe a lot of folks wrestle with and it is one of the subjects I want to talk about with anyone who is interested.
I hope you guys have a great weekend! Monday brings a new comic and a few new things for the store as well oooooooooooooo /cryptic
– Brian
“No habla paladino” is going to have to make it into my gaming group’s lingo.
Congrats on making a bard look cool (and hot). I suppose I’ll stop berating you about how lame they are for 2d6 days or so.
Also “pawing the ground like an owlbear in heat” is going to have to make it into my gaming group’s lingo too.
Oh, sweet! I had good times playing that module. It was the first time my wizard blasted a fireball right at his feet.
I am SOOO glad I was not drinking my coffee when I saw the mustache reveal in panel 2. I don’t think work would appreciate needing to buy me another monitor.
Keep up the good work, Brian.
P.S. REALLY didn’t need that owlbears in heat image in my head.
Expedition to the Barrier Peaks! That’s an even better choice than ToEE. Brian, you have again exceeded my expectations with your storytelling. Can’t wait to follow the gang along on this one. (Love the drawing of Gerta, too. Fantasy art needs more sexy, substantial women.)
I ran Expedition to the Barrier peaks as a stripped down two session game a few years ago for Gygax Tribute Night. Good stuff! I hope we get to see your take on the Vegepygmies and Froghemoth!
Shouldn’t the female Dwarf have a beard?
Yeah, can’t be a dwarf woman. Maybe she’s just a buxom human with a compound last name? Or half dwarf/half halfling?
A Dwabbit?
not all dwarves have beards you guys
If female humans can shave their legs, underarms, and/or other parts, then female dwarves can shave their chins if they wish. So there goes that controversy! 😀
[resumes trolling the archives]
I still have that module. I ran it for my group in high school. It was nuts!
I agree with yusaku777, “No hablo paladino.” had me crying. I am so gonna comp a t-shirt with that on.
I can’t wait to see what happens. This was the module that led to some of my first discussions (read “loud, soda-fueled arguments”) with my players about the nature of meta-gaming (“I know what a #@&%ing laser is!” “But your $#@&ing fighter doesn’t! Stop being an a$$hole!” “You first!”) Ah, those were the days…
I may have to break this out again…hmmm…
YUS! My Dwarf went insane in that thar dungeon!
I *loved* that module. I even put it into a Forgotten Realms 3.5 campaign.
So I have one big question:
How well is Sam’s Dad going to keep from allowing precognitive spoilers to influence Sir Reggie’s actions?
Hopefully he’s an old schooler with some scruples, though back in the day it was not uncommon for people to give away that they’d read the module before in the heat of the encounter with a, “Oh damn it’s the *left* door he’s suppose to come out of…”
Don’t worry, unless he’s read it recently, if Pop’s tries to use player knowledge it will generally come back to bite him in the ass. Case in point, a friend of mine was in a run of this very module with someone who had been through it before. That guy thought he was all cool and jumped into the anti-grav chute and promptly died. The first chute is broken, the second one works 😉 Apparently the look on the idiot’s face was epic.
I loathe that module. It’s like a GI Joe Transformers Spiderman crossover…
It’s cool, but generally REALLY fucked up for an AD&D module… the stuff my Paladin ended up with after that run…