STARSTONE
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Post Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2003 1:11 pm 
 

I have posted on my pseudo site  :D  a directory containing images and infos about the D&D/AD&D unofficial Star Stone campaign, published in the UK. If anybody is interested or has some info more to give, everything is at:   http://www.members.xoom.it/sotterraneo  The description text is in English too! 8O

  


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Post Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2003 3:29 pm 
 

Hey Sotter, link to your site is not working......

  

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Post Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2003 5:15 pm 
 

Try this:  http://members.xoom.virgilio.it/sotterraneo/  He got excited with the 'www' but otherwise, it's all there!   Jon


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Post Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2003 10:11 pm 
 

Thanks Ciro for posting all of that info, picts etc. It makes me feel better about leaving mine in plastic since I do not have to rip it open to understand better what is in it.  :D   Later. Adam


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Post Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2003 3:39 am 
 

Adam Shultz wrote:Thanks Ciro for posting all of that info, picts etc. It makes me feel better about leaving mine in plastic since I do not have to rip it open to understand better what is in it.  :D   Later. Adam
 I was going to reply to your first request for infos about Starstone, then I thought: "Well, I have the module, I have some info, let's do some scans and post everything on my 'service' web site so that everybody can check everything out and perhaps sending me some feedback". If I ever happen to find the original reviews of Starstone, I'll scan and post them too - it would be very interesting I think!  Please note that I used English names for the files too :wink:   About the http:// thing, well, it slipped from my fingers  :oops:

  


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Post Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2003 4:29 pm 
 

The print run was about 3000 "Northern Sages" was just the author self publishing Sequel never written  Related adventure found in White Dwarf 34 - "Embertrees" (excellent) and White Dwarf Articles: "The Town Planner" and "Designing a Quasi-Medieaval Society" - issues in the 30's, cant remember exactly, but reprinted in Best of Articles III  Also wrote a couple of Middle-Earth gamebooks, for Urwins (?) the publishers who used to own the Tolkein rights.

  

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Post Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2003 9:26 am 
 

nn wrote:The print run was about 3000 "Northern Sages" was just the author self publishing Sequel never written  Related adventure found in White Dwarf 34 - "Embertrees" (excellent) and White Dwarf Articles: "The Town Planner" and "Designing a Quasi-Medieaval Society" - issues in the 30's, cant remember exactly, but reprinted in Best of Articles III  Also wrote a couple of Middle-Earth gamebooks, for Urwins (?) the publishers who used to own the Tolkein rights.
 I have rectified the description of the module. How can you know the print run of Starstone? Did you speak to Paul Vernon personally at the time?

  


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Post Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2003 10:21 am 
 

Just got an opened copy of Starstone in the mail. It looks great. Cursory check through gives me the impression that it looks like a cross between TSR B3 and B2 in flavor. The artwork inside is great.



Later.

Adam


"before chuck even gets in the room, you can feel the bad-ness." -Al

  


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Post Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2003 6:11 am 
 

A cross between B2 & B3 ?



God no, its about a billion times better than either of them.



Its more like a cross between the plot-heavy "Companions" series and a conventional village+dungeon adventure like T1.

  


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Post Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2003 8:39 am 
 

nn wrote:A cross between B2 & B3 ? God no, its about a billion times better than either of them. Its more like a cross between the plot-heavy "Companions" series and a conventional village+dungeon adventure like T1.






A billion is an awful lot even in fantasy games. hehehe Personally I liked a majority of the B series very much.



Did you catch the risqué image of the raping and pillaging? Forget about the B3 orange imagery. I gotta scan this one in and post it up...



As far as the plot goes I will have to spend more time reading through it. All and all it seems to be worth the hype.



BTW- How did you know the print run on this?


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Post Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2003 6:19 pm 
 

Page 12!  :oops:



Let me know what you really think of Starstone - its certainly a lot more ambitious than any contemporary TSR module.



I managed to track down Paul Vernon about a year ago, he confirmed that the print run was about 3000, and he never did write the sequel.

  


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Post Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2003 9:48 pm 
 

Interesting...  I might have to keep my eyes open for a copy now.  I usually stay away from non-TSR stuff because I've always felt the vast majority of it, to be blunt, sucked.  Always wondering if there were things out there that were good.

Are the later Role Aids box sets worth picking up?  Things like Demons, Apocalyse, etc?  One of my local gaming stores has copies, but I'm actually thinking of picking a few other things up instead.

  

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Post Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2003 10:54 pm 
 

Though not related to this topic I would recommend the Role Aids products.  They are well written and have pretty kick-ass artwork.  In addition, they are inexpensive to collect for the most part.

  


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Post Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2003 11:15 pm 
 

Cernunnos wrote:Interesting...  I might have to keep my eyes open for a copy now.  I usually stay away from non-TSR stuff because I've always felt the vast majority of it, to be blunt, sucked.  Always wondering if there were things out there that were good.




What I like about NON TSR items is its unpolished quality. In general you find alot of raw ideas and even rawer (is that a word) imagery. One can easily see the creative energy involved in early gaming particularly with these small publisher material in the 70's. They really threw caution to wind with content with respect to PR.



Scope this one out from 'Duffs trade list (thanks Tim)... Error 404 - Not found



How can you not like that image? Cheesy as hell!



PS I am still reading through starstone, NN. Will post soon


"before chuck even gets in the room, you can feel the bad-ness." -Al

  


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Post Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2003 10:43 pm 
 

I must say this adventure is as close to literature as an adventure module can get. I think it is good for this reason specifically. Every detail seems to be colored with descriptive language. The plot seems to move through the entire adventure without forcing the game into a single direction. It really seems to be as perfect as an adventure could be. Wrap all this together with very nice illustrations and it far and away does in fact blow away anything I have seen TSR put out.



If I had to vote on best adventure across the board, I would vote this one in second place. First place still belongs to Pharoah by Daystar West. You owned that one too NN. How do you think the two stack up to one another?


"before chuck even gets in the room, you can feel the bad-ness." -Al

  


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Post Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2003 7:29 am 
 

Pharaoh was a decent enough dungeon (I sold it), but its "only" a dungeon rather than a campaign.



Anyway, welcome to the Starstone Appreciation Society.



Try to pick up

-White Dwarf issue 34, for another scenario "Embertrees" which you can fit in before "Sardkirk".

-The Best of White Dwarf Articles 3 has several articles by the Starstone author about designing quasi-medieaval societies and cities.

-The Best of White Dwarf Scenarios 3 has an excellent city campaign called "Irilian" which is heavily influenced by Vernons quasi-medieaval design ideas. Its another cult classic and my second favorite scenario.



Heres the catch: Beginning of September Im clearing out my duplicates - there may be a Starstone and a complete set of Best of White Dwarfs in there...

  


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Post Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2003 8:19 am 
 

Wow! I thought you were never gonna invite me. :lol:



Is your name Paul Vernon? :wink:


"before chuck even gets in the room, you can feel the bad-ness." -Al

  


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Post Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2003 3:09 pm 
 

I just picked up about 9 issues of Imagine Magazine this weekend (for $1-3/issue, was pretty good...  saw some spare issues of 26 and 30, and a few more I think, lemme know if anybody is interested).  Was suprised to see a few blurbs about Starstone in Issue #4, as well as the (then) future plans on where to take the game line.

  
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