The weird surf curse piano is an intriguing phenomenon that has captured the attention of many people. It refers to a mysterious curse that supposedly befalls anyone who dares to play a certain piano that is said to be haunted. The origin of the curse is often attributed to a tragic event that took place many years ago involving a talented pianist. Legend has it that the pianist, driven by jealousy and despair, made a pact with dark forces to enhance his musical abilities. As a result, he gained unmatched skill and began performing in front of amazed audiences. However, as time went on, the pianist's talent became a burden, and he grew resentful of his own gift.
However, as time went on, the pianist's talent became a burden, and he grew resentful of his own gift. He became obsessed with perfection and started practicing relentlessly, pushing himself to his physical and mental limits. Eventually, the pianist's obsession consumed him, and he met a tragic end.
D&D Basic Review: X6 Quagmire!
There are D&D adventures I am intimately familiar with. I3 Pharaoh is one of those. It’s an adventure I’ve read many, many times, and DMed on two separate occasions. Other adventures I have known only through their product code. X6 Quagmire
is of that latter sort. I never owned it during my early days of D&D, nor did I play it or run it.
So, all that I had to go on with Quagmire is its reputation. As an adventure released in 1984, it doesn’t really have one. It’s not particularly memorable as an adventure, it was released as part of the Expert line, and – perhaps more importantly – it wasn’t released in 1983 or before. The first few years of D&D adventures have an astonishingly high “hit” rate, with most of them now being considered classics. Being first is important, and being first with a good adventure makes for a good reputation. Quagmire wasn’t first. And it isn’t very distinguished.
Jon Peterson posted a history of the making of Quagmire
on his blog, which gives us rare insight into the development of this adventure. Through it, we learn that the original goal of the adventure was to teach the players how to map – wilderness mapping, in particular, it seems – although the later proposals began to consider the hook (and plot) of the adventure more than just it as a teaching aide.
This, just in itself, causes problems for the adventure. And a lot of this has to do with the fact that it’s hard to make interesting wilderness exploration adventures. Filling in a lot of blank hexes whilst having random encounters was explored in detail in X1: The Isle of Dread, and it was less than satisfactory. At least The Isle of Dread had a lot of dinosaurs. The monsters in Quagmire are nowhere near as interesting. The author, Merle Rasmussen, does at least try something new, by providing random encounters with a little more detail and interest than 2d4 pteradons.
The trouble is that the encounters tend to be lone set-pieces, with very few really leading on to anything. Demonstrating natural hazards like quicksand and swamp fever is nice for verisimilitude, but it doesn’t make for interesting adventuring. An encounter with curious horses? Well, it fills a few minutes. We also have encounters like “Grab Grass” and “Killer Trees”. The players see a lot of skeletons ahead. If they avoid them, they avoid the encounter. If they investigate them, they get attacked. It’s interesting once, but two encounters that are essentially the same? Likewise, we get one encounter where you gain the services of a djinni and another where you get the services of an efreeti. The occasional encounter that is good is quickly overwhelmed by a sea of mediocrity.
There are twelve pages covering this material. There are encounters for the sea, and encounters for the land. And very little of it builds to anything. It is a relief when you find that there’s a ship in one location and a survey team randomly encountered elsewhere and the two encounters are linked… but only a handful of encounters actually build the adventure rather than just providing obstacles.
The plot that the adventure was eventually designed about has the party discovering a message in a bottle from the King of the Swamp begging for help. Their city is under siege, has the plague, and needs heroes to bring them food and water and escort them to a new home. As described, this is a properly epic quest. It doesn’t come off that way. When the adventurers reach Quagmire, they find the residents are now reduced to about 40 in number.
It’s at this point that we realise that the reason no-one talks about Quagmire is because the adventure is utter crap. The premise is absolutely ridiculous: You need to escort forty people to a new home which, in fact, is exactly like the old home except it has different monsters. (To save space, there are three “spiral cities” in the adventure, each which uses the same map, and have shared encounter keys with notes when they diverge from the other cities. It isn’t inspiring). Forty people in a new monster-ridden city? Sixteen of them children? Why aren’t you taking them to a proper population centre where they’d have a chance of surviving? It’s not like the new city will have any trade or farms. You’re just condemning them to a different death!
There are seven pages devoted to describing the three cities. It’s absolutely astonishing how dull these cities are. They are marvels of architecture, but anything stimulating is abandoned in favour of lots of mundane descriptions of yet more rooms with monsters. Fascinating ruins with hints of the civilisation that built them? We only wish. There’s nothing interesting about any of them. A room with trolls. Great. Why did we come this way?
Who names their city Quagmire, anyway?
People talk about bad adventures like The Forest Oracle because they’re at least interesting in how they go wrong. No-one talks about Quagmire! because it’s just dull. The main hook for the adventure doesn’t work, and though there is some attempt at more detailed wilderness exploration, the results are hardly worth the effort. This is one of the worst adventures I’ve read in the line.
My Thoughts
Since then, the piano he played on has been said to be cursed. The curse allegedly manifests in a peculiar way when someone attempts to play the instrument. According to witnesses, strange occurrences happen during and after playing the cursed piano. Some claim to hear eerie melodies that seem to come from nowhere, while others report feeling an overwhelming sense of dread or even glimpsing ghostly apparitions in the corner of their eyes. There have even been accounts of pianists experiencing physical discomfort or injury while playing, such as sudden, sharp pains in their fingers or wrists. Despite these claims, skeptics argue that the weird surf curse piano is nothing more than a myth. They believe that the alleged curse is simply the result of overactive imaginations or a desire for a good ghost story. Skeptics also point out that no concrete evidence has been presented to support the existence of this curse. Nevertheless, believers in the weird surf curse piano remain captivated by the mystery and continue to share their stories, both online and offline. Some even actively seek out the cursed piano, hoping to experience the supernatural for themselves. Whether the weird surf curse piano is a legitimate curse or a figment of imagination, it has undoubtedly sparked curiosity and intrigue in those who have heard of it..
Reviews for "Supernatural Surfing: The Legend of the Curse Piano"
1. Alice - 2 stars - I was really excited to listen to "Weird surf curse piano" after hearing so much hype about it. However, I have to say I was really disappointed. The music felt extremely repetitive and lacked any sort of creative spark. It just felt like a mishmash of random sounds rather than a cohesive piece of music. I couldn't even bring myself to finish listening to the whole album.
2. John - 1 star - "Weird surf curse piano" was a complete waste of my time. The entire album sounded like someone randomly banging on a piano without any skill or direction. It was painful to listen to, and I couldn't find any redeeming qualities in the music. I seriously don't understand how anyone could enjoy this. Save yourself the agony and stay far away from this album.
3. Emily - 2 stars - I'll admit that "Weird surf curse piano" had an interesting concept, but the execution fell flat for me. The songs lacked structure and cohesiveness, making it difficult to connect with the music. It felt like there was no clear direction or intention behind the album. While I appreciate experimental music, this just felt like a failed attempt at being avant-garde. Overall, I was left feeling unsatisfied and confused by this album.