Thread by @drskyskull

Let me do a quick #OldSchoolDungeonsAndDragons, and a real classic: Rahasia (1984), by Tracy and Laura Hickman!

Rahasia is one of two adventures that the Hickmans originally self-published, along with the other classic Pharaoh. It was originally published by their Daystar West Media in 1980, in a run of no more than 200 copies.

The Hickmans originally wrote and sold D&D adventures to fund their own interest in the hobby. However, they ran into financial difficulties and sold their first two adventures to TSR, who also hired Tracy Hickman as a writer.

Both adventures had what was at the time a revolutionary philosophy: that adventures should be about something more than just killing and looting (which was the point of a lot of early D&D adventures).

Rahasia throws the characters right into a rescue operation: they receive a letter from the elven maiden Rahasia, who seeks their help to rescue two other maidens, kidnapped by an evil wizard who has also enchanted the elves at a local temple to serve him.

In a sense, the entire adventure is a puzzle: most of the defenders of the temple are these Siswa who have been ensorcelled by the evil wizard Rahib. Assuming they are halfway good characters, they will have to find ways to take down the defenders without hurting them.

There are many other clever puzzles, including a rather classic puzzle in which the path through a magical maze is hidden in plain sight on the labels of wine bottles.

The temple complex is quite massive and elegant, and shows another Hickman design philosophy: that dungeons should have some architectural sense to them.

There are some genuine fights in the adventure, but even some of these are puzzles. A bone golem guards one passage, and it is unlikely to be defeated by the low-level adventurers; they need to find another way past it.

(Spoiler about the plot of Rahasia follows, in case you don't want to know!)

The biggest puzzle comes in the rescue of the elven maidens! It turns out that Rahib is seeking new bodies for a trio of powerful witches trapped in stone ages ago. The PCs must figure out how to drive the witches from the bodies of the innocent maidens.

The interior art of the adventure is excellent, by some of the classic artists. This skeletal warrior woman is a particular favorite of mine.

The adventure also introduces a number of potential allies to aid the players in their quest -- if they aren't hasty and start a fight with them!

Rahasia is considered one of the really great early D&D adventures. The Hickmans, of course, would go on to create some of the most popular series in D&D of all time: Ravenloft and Dragonlance! /END

PS as always, I got a lot of useful information from DriveThruRPG's resident historian! More there. drivethrurpg.com/product/17113/…