Publication:Oasis of the White Palm
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This text is quoted from promotion material. Text and images are copyrighted by the original publisher.
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Plot Summary[edit]
In Oasis of the White Palm, the PCs arrive at the Oasis of the White Palm, which is on the brink of turmoil. Shadalah, who is to be the bride of the sheikh's eldest son, has been kidnapped. The sheikh believes her to be held by his enemies somewhere in the oasis. The PCs must solve the mystery before they can progress further. Once the characters make the contacts they need at the oasis, they continue to the temple of Set and the crypt of Badr al-Mosak, and the adventure concludes in the city of Phoenix; there, the PCs must obtain the three Star Gems (the one from Amun-Re's tomb in the previous adventure and two more introduced here) and free the djinni if they plan to move on to the next module. The Oasis of the White Palm module contains wilderness maps, and also includes a number of smaller adventures.
Publication History[edit]
In 1977, Tracy Hickman (co-creator of the Dragonlance campaign setting) and Laura Hickman were married. Soon after, while living in Provo, Utah, they wrote the adventures Pharaoh and Ravenloft. The Hickmans decided to privately publish the first two adventures they had designed together, Rahasia and Pharaoh, which earned them a reputation on a local level. Pharaoh was published as part of the "Night Ventures" line of scenarios in 1980, by DayStar West Media Productions, as a sixty-eight-page book.:172 However, disaster struck when Tracy went into business with an associate who went bad, leaving the Hickmans to cover thirty-thousand dollars in bad checks. They were driven into bankruptcy, and Tracy Hickman decided to sell their modules to TSR, "literally so that I could buy shoes for my children". TSR decided not only to buy the modules, but hire Tracy as a game designer:
"They said it would be easier to publish my adventures if I was part of the company. So, we made the move from Utah to Wisconsin." In 1982, TSR published Pharaoh as a thirty-two-page booklet with two outer folders, for the first edition of AD&D.:101 It was designed for 6-8 player characters of levels 5-7, and formed the first of the three-part Desert of Desolation module series.:101
Oasis of the White Palm is the sequel to the Pharaoh module.:102 TSR published this adventure in 1983 as a thirty-two-page booklet with two outer folders, and the adventure was written by Tracy Hickman and Philip Meyers with cover art by Jim Holloway and interior illustrations by Keith Parkinson.:102 It was intended for 6 to 8 characters of levels 6-8. Lost Tomb of Martek is the third module in the series, and was designed by Tracy Hickman, for 7th-9th level characters.:102 Lost Tomb of Martek was published in 1983 as a 32-page booklet with two outer folders.:102
The compilation module Desert of Desolation was printed in 1987. The compilation features a cover by Keith Parkinson. :101 It is a revision of the I3, I4, and I5 AD&D game modules, with additional design and revision by Peter Rice and William John Wheeler. Wheeler attempted to expand on the originals, without altering their tone. The adventures in Desert of Desolation are designed for a 5th-10th level party and have been reworked to fit into the Forgotten Realms setting, and the material was made compatible with the Wilderness Survival Guide rules. In the revision, the designers added additional background material, as well as staging tips for the Dungeon Master. The details of various elements that had been open-ended elements were spelled out. Desert of Desolation includes a 128-page adventure booklet, a sixteen-page maps booklet, and a large A1 sheet of maps and handouts. The compilation module contains new maps, including an isometric map of the tomb of Amun-Re. The revision also introduces ancient inscriptions for the players to decipher.
At the time these modules were released, each D&D module was marked with an alphanumeric code indicating the series to which it belonged. The earlier modules have module codes I3, I4, and I5 respectively, and the combined module's code is I3–5
Author | Tracy & Laura Hickman + |
Maximum Level | 13 + |
Media Type | Paperback + |
Minimum Level | 5 + |
Module Code | I4 + |
Page Count | 32 + |
Publication Date | 1983 + |
Publisher | TSR + |
System | Dungeons and Dragons 1e + |
Title | Oasis of the White Palm + |