Well, that sure is a butt-tastic cover, huh? Struggling to not make a “dying from exposure” joke. More than the general lack of clothing, I think the most troubling thing about this painting, by Stephen Venters, is that fellow’s metal loincloth. That thing looks deeply uncomfortable with or without the frigid wind of a mountaintop.

Anyway, this is Pinnacle (1986) and we’ve reached the last batch of Role Aids adventures. That might be for the best? After this it’s…all down hill. Ugh, I hate me, too, don’t worry.

But yea, this is about a race to climb to the top of an unclimbable mountain. It immediately reminds me of Fritz Leiber’s “Stardock,” but also the recent RuneQuest adventure “Pegasus Plateau,” which I feel must be inspired in some way by this. There is more to the mountain than punishing elements and weird magical storms, though. There’s an ancient ruined city and a dreaming titan thing and a secret assassin factory? I really didn’t see one of those things coming. The whole mountain is hollow, too. Players are gonna be so pissed when they get to the top, wander inside and find the elevator.

There is a whole lot of intrigue too. The sponsors of the climb have hidden motives, the assassin factory folks have secrets that they wish to keep secret. There are rival climbers, too — the reward is 100k gold pieces to whoever reaches the summit, so expect lots of bedchamber scorpions ahead of the climb.

The investigative system is really just a set of rumor charts, so that’s a little underwhelming. Otherwise, a solid adventure. The climb is a pretty unique character test, and the subsequent encounters, while over the top (there is an assassin in a cake!), should be satisfying. A top shelf Role Aid.