Quagmire!
 | |
| Code | X6 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Merle M. Rasmussen |
| First published | 1984 |
| Linked modules | |
| X1, X2, X3, X4, X5, X6, X7, X8, X9, X10, X11, X12, X13, XL1, XSOLO, XS2 | |
Quagmire! is a 1984 adventure module for the Expert Rules of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
Plot summary
In the beginning of this adventure, the player characters set off in search of the city of Quagmire.[1] The characters must travel through a monster-infested swamp to get to the city, which is being slowly swallowed into the sea.[2] Quagmire is a whelk-shaped "spiral city", built by a dead race in the Serpent Peninsula.[1] The module includes a description of the city.[2]
Publication history
X6 Quagmire! was written by Merle M. Rasmussen, with cover art by Steve Peregrine, and was published by TSR in 1984 as a 32-page booklet with an outer folder.[2] The module featured interior art by Jeffrey Butler.[3] The scenario was written for the Expert Rules.[1]
Reception
Graham Staplehurst reviewed Quagmire! for White Dwarf, and gave it 8/10 overall, calling it "a useful acquisition for any D&D player, particularly as a first excursion into a fully fledged wilderness."[1] Staplehurst praised the module, stating that it "promotes a whole 'experience', a total environment and ecosystem, with background colour and depth which more localised scenarios and modules lack. The designers have done a good job in describing large areas of wild lands, giving inspiration and yet not pedantic detail to DMs with players itching to see a bit of their characters' world and feel it come to life."[1] He called the eponymous city a "superb piece of original design", although he noted that DMs running the scenario "will want to dress up the city a little to add to the scenario as it is a little sparsely populated".[1] Staplehurst concluded the review stating, "The weather, the fatigue of travel, disease, the question of provisions, etc, all play a major part in the characters' concerns, and this increases enjoyment of the game no end. A very good scenario."[1]
In his 1991 book Heroic Worlds, Lawrence Schick provides an alliterative summary of the scenario: "Sea slowly swallows seashell-shaped swamp city".[2]
Games historian Jon Peterson used Quagmire! as the subject of a detailed study of TSR's internal operations during the height of the Dungeons & Dragons fad in the 1980s, showing how staff designers moved projects from concept briefs to story boards and drafts up to publication.[4]
Additional reading
- Review: Space Gamer V1, #72 (1985)
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Staplehust, Graham (October 1985). "Open Box: Dungeon Modules". White Dwarf (review) (Games Workshop) (70): 14.
- 1 2 3 4 Schick, Lawrence (1991). Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games. Prometheus Books. p. 149. ISBN 0-87975-653-5.
- ↑ Rasmussen, Merle M. Quagmire! (TSR, 1984)
- ↑ Quagmire! The Making of a 1980's D&D Module by historian Jon Peterson