Before the beginning of the 24th Deep Space Adventure, the players were forced to fill out a chart that would determine the best adventures that the campaign had seen thus far. This ranking page presents the results of those charts. Of course, only a chosen few were granted the 'highly coveted' privellage of filling out these rankings. Mainly because they were the only ones to have kept up with every adventure in the campaign. This included the players of Mr. Rhyze and Morton, the characters who had lived through every one of these adventures. I also allowed another person who had read every single one of these web summaries. Hey, I'd be willing to take into account input from anyone with the time and will to read through the approximate 200 pages it required to detail these adventures. Finally, I couldn't pass up the chance to rate my own campaign. Of course, I like all the adventures that I created, but some truly stood up above the rest, as this ranking will demonstrate. And now, I present the original description that went along with this chart.
As Gene Roddenberry, creator of the Star Trek series, would be the first to note, most seasons of a series consist of twenty-four episodes. Although there are rumours that this is now the third season of Deep Space, the fact remains that the campaign is now entering its 24th adventure, and is approaching a year's worth of play.
Considering such monumental news, I thought it appropriate to get a bit of feedback about the first 23 adventures of the campaign. No experience is at stake for this chart, but it will still have an effect on the campaign. Hopefully, this feedback will allow me to tailor future adventures in the campaign to match the style preferred by the players.
The range of adventures in the Deep Space campaign runs from fairly serious, combat-oriented adventures, puzzling mystery adventures to more comedic adventures with almost no combat at all. By marking your five favorite adventures from the list below (with 5 being the best adventure of all), I will be able to better determine the style preferred by the PCs.
As the explaination should hopefully make clear, the adventures that scored more points are ranked higher. In the case of the several ties, precedence is determined by the number of people who marked that adventure on their charts. As such, given two adventures with the same score, the one recognised by more of those polled will be given a higher ranking. This number will be written in brackets after the adventure's score. My comments, if I have any (and I usually do), will follow. The top adventures will be displayed in descending order of popularity. Once again, it should be noted that this ranking includes only the first 23 adventures of the campaign. That said, it's time to present Deep Space's finest hours.
1. Adventure 23 - Flames of Revenge
Score: 16 (4)
In my view, it's no coincidence that the most popular adventure was also the only one to be found on all four charts. This adventure provided an epic conclusion to the second Starbase saga, as well as introducing the menacing Scith and the often spaced-out Dave Spector. This was certainly my favorite adventure of the campaign thus far, and I was glad to see its quality recognised.
2. Adventure 18 - Gangsta's Paradise
Score: 7 (2)
It seems that both the most popular adventures took place off Space Station Epsilon. I'll have to keep that in mind. Gangsta's Paradise also contained one of my favorite mini-objectives of the campaign. Others have also cited Morton's constant struggle with Mortal Kombat references as a big positive point. And of course, Mr. Rhyze's growing reputation as a player added greatly to this adventure's already considerable assets.
3. -Tie- Adventure 6 - Blitzoff!
Score: 5 (1)
The first Blitzball adventure earned its score entirely from Mr. Rhyze. Scoring the winning goals against the Fenixa Infernos constituted his favorite moments of the campaign. The way he tackled Flavius likely also played a part in his ranking. And the acquisition of his patented Sphere-Shot was surely another persuasive factor.
3. -Tie- Adventure 13 - Jailbreak
Score: 5 (1)
While Mr. Rhyze prefers Blitzball-oriented adventures, Morton's bias definitely leans towards space combat. And the battle against Jabba's Sailbarge delivered one of the most dramatic and intense space encounters. It also gave Morton a second chance to go one-on-one with Mallastayre the Red. Personally, I liked the appearance of Guido, and his ability to automatically gain the first shot, albeit with terrible accuracy.
5. -Tie- Adventure 14 - Without a Clue
Score: 4 (2)
It doesn't take a master detective to realise why this adventure made the list. With the cast from Clue, the first encounter with Neo and the appearance of the arch villain Moriarty, this adventure presented a chance for many ridiculous accusations and plenty of exercise for the little grey cells. But I can't just explain the quality of this adventure; you have to see it for yourself.
5. -Tie- Adventure 7 - Time Crisis
Score: 4 (2)
Oh my! I am tempted to leave the rest of my comments up to the reader to imagine. Instead, I'll just note that this was one of the first ideas I had in mind for this campaign. As such, I had a great opportunity to build up to it. And it had Big Foot. Enough said.
7. -Tie- Adventure 15 - A Little Media Coverage
Score: 4 (1)
This adventure saw the return of Don Cherry, and the introduction of the Yankees Blitzball team. Aside from breadbowls, there could be little more satisfying than this adventure. It also served as the origins for many of the media personalities present around Epsilon to this day. Finally, the Boom Mike Operator has been cited as quite possibly the best character in the campaign, with or without a name.
7. -Tie- Adventure 16 - Predator
Score: 4 (1)
How could this ranking be complete without the obligatory Halloween adventure? The hunt for the Death-Grobus was certainly one of the more suspenseful segments of the campaign. And if that alone wasn't scary, this adventure also featured an appearance by a Fat Man in a Speedo. It might make for a truly chilling visual, but it also constitutes a good Halloween adventure.
7. -Tie- Adventure 9 - Enter Star Wolf
Score: 4 (1)
Although this adventure didn't actually feature a big space battle, it did serve as an introduction for Star Wolf and several coffee barons with awesome names. Those deserve recognition in their own right. But Star Wolf would prove to be one of the defining villains of the campaign, and his appearance would always herald fierce space battles. Some people's ranking bias might hypothetically lie in that direction.
10. Adventure 21 - Fans & Fanatics
Score: 2 (2)
This adventure had a winning combination of features that earned its spot on the ranking. This included a Blitzball game against the Electran Currents, and a small space battle to rescue the beleaguered SpaceDome. And it also offered further hillarity from Chris Tucker, the Terrorian Barbecue and Lin Ye Tang. It's not hard to see why some people might be fans of this adventure.
11. -Tie- Adventure 19 - Mob Hits
Score: 2 (1)
The second part of the Gangsta's Arc was also a great adventure, and would likely have received even more marks if it wasn't considered a part of that original adventure. I should also mention that this adventure also contained my favorite report of the campaign. Mr. Ezyhr's Player's Report was a definite highlight of this highly combat-oriented adventure.
11. -Tie- Adventure 1 - Enjoy your Flight!
Score: 2 (1)
I suppose it's only fitting that the first adventure of the campaign receive some mention. This adventure served mostly as an introduction to the campaign and its first PCs. All the same, it did feature the dreaded Captain Crunch, one of the best cereal mascotes to ever appear in a roleplaying campaign. And the random acts of management constituted one of the first mini-games, and in fact formed the basis for the mini-objectives that would soon come.
13. Adventure 4 - The Power of Eiffel
Score: 1 (1)
This early adventure was definitely one of the first ideas I had for the campaign, even before Grassmann's Time Crisis. I also really liked the way the computer malfunctions fit together with the evil that is E-bench. And the use of the Eiffel CDs in battle could not be anything but great.
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