tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post203141688459652780..comments2024-03-28T15:30:09.903-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: Retrospective: RahasiaJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-31852090493801768912021-06-30T00:02:37.483-04:002021-06-30T00:02:37.483-04:00I've run B7 only once, but was able to secure ...I've run B7 only once, but was able to secure copies of RPGA1 and RPGA2 years ago, when they weren't that expensive. I want to run them at a con, back to back, some day.paleologoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02640356065053822793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-72931782213112935292021-06-25T01:02:17.443-04:002021-06-25T01:02:17.443-04:00"Rahasia", "Pharaoh", and &quo..."Rahasia", "Pharaoh", and "Ravenloft" were the Daystar West adventures - Daystar West was the name for the Hickman's publishing efforts prior to joining TSR. "B7 Rahaisa" is actually a fixup of 2 earlier modules - the RPGA version of "Rahasia" and the RPGA adventure "Black Opal Eye." Originally Black Opal Eye was called "Orthanc" and was an adventure set in Middle Earth that covered the 1st level of the eponymous tower. In the RPGA version the Middle Earth elements were removed and it was retooled with a different backtory. In B7 the backstory was expanded such that the Tower was crushed by a floating mountain and then the Temple from Rahasia built on top of the mountain. Originally they were separate adventures. Also Pharaoh and "Rahasia" had WAAAY less backstory. The original hook in "Pharoah" was simply that the characters hear a chant while they travel by the pyramid in the desert. It did not have much of the wilderness wandering of the I6 version. I think the heavy handed intro of "Rahasia" comes from it being an RPGA tournament module. <br /><br />What is interesting about both "Pharaoh" and "Rahasia" is that you can easily drop the hook-story - essentially taking them back to their Daystar West intros. Personally I drop the whole backstory for "Rahasia." The Rahib is a Orcus worshipper and the "siswa" are the Rahib's cultists and they are plumbing the depths to resurrect the witches. They have captued two suitable and are seeking a third. And this does not have to be a hook.<br /><br />As for the boxed text I find the intro stuff terrible, but I find the actual dungeon room description boxed text to be quite on the utilitarian side of the whole boxed text error. All in all both "Pharaoh" and "Rahasia" are some of my favorite dungeons when you pull them out of their respective hooks and backstories. The desert that has the pyramid from "Pharaoh" is actually in a pocket dimension accessible from a dungeon in my campaign world. Steamtunnelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02597332921872904036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-30309025940441974722021-06-24T11:31:21.708-04:002021-06-24T11:31:21.708-04:00Curse of strahd and Rahasia are very similair in s...Curse of strahd and Rahasia are very similair in some ways. Since they were written by the same people, I wonder if its a reference or homage, or artifact? I don't know what was in the original ravenloft adventure. First there's its hook: on your way to do something else, (and after getting abducted by mists,) you find a very similair letter on a corpse, containing almost the same contents, but its instead a backhanded plea for help because of its utter hopelessness. it warns adventures to leave this cursed town to its fate, but also mentions treasure, and beatitul women in peril and sadness. <br /><br />and as in strahd, the Wizard of wines exists here, and bottle labels for all the different wines like 'red dragon .. crush, champagne du le stomp' or whatever, are in the module. the labels are player handouts cause they contain the key to... spoiler alert? ... the teleport maze<br /><br />There might be others. Probably similairities to tatiana and rahasia, the rahib and strahdUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16533280526425420940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-71230508850097106742021-06-24T09:21:01.739-04:002021-06-24T09:21:01.739-04:00Agreed. We may be a minority for that opinion, bu...Agreed. We may be a minority for that opinion, but if so it's a large one.Dick McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14521293874696659063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-37967602886842433072021-06-24T04:10:11.050-04:002021-06-24T04:10:11.050-04:00To be fair, B2's story is "here is a bast...To be fair, B2's story is "here is a bastion of order, over there is a bastion of chaos, make of it, what you will". I'm sure many great stories where created using B2, but it doesn't contain one from the get go.Lance of Countersonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17572628311538950632noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-33659142556337529292021-06-24T04:06:51.399-04:002021-06-24T04:06:51.399-04:00You are welcome to write that module, I'm sure...You are welcome to write that module, I'm sure many will love it!Lance of Countersonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17572628311538950632noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-22672289377461656072021-06-24T03:54:23.678-04:002021-06-24T03:54:23.678-04:00The eternal debate between 'I need history in ...The eternal debate between 'I need history in my modules' and 'Fine, I'll do it myself!'. I'm in the second position, but nearly every adventure module from the late... ¿20 years? tend to the first one. <br /><br />Joseph Manola (from Against the Wicked City) suggested that a lot of 'modern' - I say, from late TSR to our times- modules are made for reading, not so much for playing. And I thing he's right. Nirkhuzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01625430841723207402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-20112422355039294782021-06-23T21:38:04.196-04:002021-06-23T21:38:04.196-04:00We ran through this a couple years ago with my Lab...We ran through this a couple years ago with my Labyrinth Lord group. Wanted something that was a bit different as an intro adventure, but still included lots of the classic elements. Worked pretty well. I had last run it shortly after it came out. And having also recently re-played B1 & B2, this is superior as a story by far.Persimmonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02966572602767972805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-33850964729829854822021-06-23T16:38:12.416-04:002021-06-23T16:38:12.416-04:00The Hickman's exhibit quite a bit of clevernes...The Hickman's exhibit quite a bit of cleverness with their dungeon design. There's "juice" in some of their ideas and concepts. <br /><br />That's about the nicest thing I can say.<br /><br />However, one thing to keep in mind was how YOUNG the Hickmans were at the time they were writing these early adventures: Tracy was 25 and Laura was 24 the year Rahasia was first published (1980). In my opinion, very few writers have the "seasoning" to write decent prose at such a tender age.<br /><br />According to Ye Old Internet, the average age for a novelist's first publication is 36. The Hickmans had a tremendous advantage in joining a "publishing house" (TSR) that had pretty minimal standards when it came to writing novels but that had a tremendous "built-in fan base" (D&D gamers). Without TSR...well, I find it doubtful Hickman becomes the "Bestselling Author" he is today.<br /><br />[Margaret Weiss, co-author of the first DL novel was 36 when it was published; so far as I can tell it was her first novel, though she wrote some children's books prior]<br /><br />I'd guess that Rahasia and Rahasia each enjoyed play-testing prior to publication; Ravenloft certainly did (it was run as an annual "Halloween" game five times prior to publication, which explains the need for its randomization elements). But bad prose (symptomatic of a young author) was probably an attempt to recreate the style of DMing used when running the adventures.JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-1327938052647444472021-06-23T16:37:22.915-04:002021-06-23T16:37:22.915-04:00I always loved the striking and "Trippy"...I always loved the striking and "Trippy" cover art on this one but never got around to actually reading it. I'm a little disappointed that it's just a save-the-princess deal and not some psychedelic epic about a witch that keeps getting reincarnated as a jaguar or something. Parvel Shunkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11797860937349949157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-34702462003444978952021-06-23T15:18:33.119-04:002021-06-23T15:18:33.119-04:00It means the same in Indonesian. Hickman spent 18 ...It means the same in Indonesian. Hickman spent 18 months in Indonesia as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So it's absolutely no coincidence. Rāhib is a monk (loanword from Arabic), so the names of the characters in the story are clearly indicative of their function. Commentator616https://www.blogger.com/profile/02574168380962301712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-13065217768113329922021-06-23T14:40:06.607-04:002021-06-23T14:40:06.607-04:00You're most definitely not alone in your inter...You're most definitely not alone in your interpretation of their boxed texts. Ugh.Nick the Lemminghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07421763979523839533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-39197634239257969052021-06-23T12:52:36.367-04:002021-06-23T12:52:36.367-04:00The word 'Rahasia' means 'secret' ...The word 'Rahasia' means 'secret' in Malay. I wonder if that was intentional.Not Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00671823372718349946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-85050564169880339422021-06-23T12:48:14.142-04:002021-06-23T12:48:14.142-04:00Not familiar with this module but I would say your...Not familiar with this module but I would say your final assessment of the Hickmans is spot on. Personally I find all styles engaging at times, and my own is some sort of weird hybrid of Gygax and The Hickmans, if I had to describe it. JEFFBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08862106711059104379noreply@blogger.com