Expedition to the Barrier Peaks is an adventure module written by Gary Gygax (pictured) for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. While Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is typically a fantasy game, the adventure includes science fiction elements and thus belongs to the science fantasy genre. It takes place on a downed spaceship; the ship's crew has died of an unspecified disease, but functioning robots and strange creatures still inhabit the ship. The player characters fight monsters and robots, and gather the futuristic weapons and colored access cards that are necessary for advancing the story. The adventure was first played at the 1976 Origins II convention, where it was used to introduce D&D players to the science fiction game Metamorphosis Alpha. TSR published the adventure in 1980, updated for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. The adventure is a favorite of many fans, including Stephen Colbert. It was ranked the fifth-best D&D adventure of all time by Dungeon magazine in 2004, and received positive reviews from White Dwarf and The Space Gamer magazines. (more...)
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