Friday, July 6, 2007

The Meteor Mines of Kuldaar

Word to your moms.

Back in the days of yore, like, 1994-1999, I used to get the flu/colds a lot. I don't know whether it was because my immune system was building itself up into the super-resistant eat-food-off-the-floor-and-never-get-sick form it is in today, or whether I was just really bored back then. Either way, I used to take Dayquil when I had to go to classes in undergrad, and then I'd spend the rest of the day on the couch. I quickly realized during the couch time that Cyberninja's Imagination Station reached unfathomable heights of insanity while he was on Dayquil, so I used to try and write DnD adventures during the 'peak hours' of the Dayquil-induced waking coma. But like I said, I stopped getting sick all the time and went off to grad school where I rarely if ever laid around sick on the couch high on meds.

In any case, I was rummaging through a trunk containing some old RPGs and magazines I have stored away that I can't let myself part with, and I found the following hand-drawn map tucked into the back of an old Dragon magazine...

Now, I have no recollection of ever drawing this crazy freaking thing, but I have to say that it is totally awesome. Clearly this is some sort of Otherworld style ripoff, with a little bit of Return to the Planet of the Apes thrown in (note the "Forbidden Zone" in the lower right hand corner). I also recognize the word "Lunth crystal" from some old Star Wars novels. I must have gotten the idea to write a (2nd edition) AD&D adventure either a) on another planet or b) in another dimension, because this thing has Barsoom (pulp Mars) written all over it!

Usually I look back on my past self and cringe with embarrassment at any number of my immaturities, but looking at this map makes me smile at how well I could dive into my own worlds back then. I was half-considering taking a shot at crafting an adventure out of this map for a one-shot sci-fi pulpy Fantasy Grounds or PnP game, but the creativity muscles necessary to do justice to this have atrophied in my old age.