The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Temple of Elemental Evil is one of the all-time classics of AD&D. It was the long awaited sequel to T1 Village of Hommlet, with a status somewhat like that of Castle Greyhawk today, with people wondering if it will ever be released, and if so, what will it be like. It was the first full module I ever played, and 15 years later, I am still playing (and DMing). It is difficult to overstate the stature of the classic ToEE, in the eyes of most gamers. Expectations for RttToEE were understandably high. There are a variety of opinions about this module expressed on the net. Most are not terribly kind. Those comments (and my own opinions) will be discussed at the conclusion of this review. Spoilers follow.

The module is a hefty tome, as these things go, clocking in at a hefty 192 pages with and a detachable map booklet. The cover art is a menacing and foreboding piece by Brom, with more implication than statement. All-in-all, the initial presentation is quite good, and devouring this adventure was something I was looking forward too.

I Introduction 5 pages
II Hommlet and Environs 30 pages
III The Temple of All-Consumption 99 pages
IV The Rebirth of Elemental Evil 17 pages
App I New Magic Items 7 pages
App II Worship of Tharizdun 3 pages
App III NPC Statistics 24 pages
App IV Player Handouts 2 pages

Each of these major sections begins as each chapter does: with some large lettered boldface type of the title in a paragraph-like form, in a column. Which means in this 192-page work, you will be using the Table of Contents to navigate most of the time.

Introductions tend to be under-rated, because they are generally boring. In a work the size of this one though, the introduction is important in framing the significance of everything that follows. The introduction is vital in understanding how things have changed, and in guiding the DM in running the mega-scenario as intended. Revisiting Hommlet was fun, and I liked a lot of the things that Cook did here. The half page illustration is nice, and sets the tone for the rest of the section. The moathouse is considerably altered, and is more deadly. The moathouse scenario is one of the highlights, and is one that could be altered and transplanted with good effect to any area. It has a built-in narrative already on-going, and the arrival of the third party (the PC group) makes the outcome unpredictable, and thus the whole is more exciting. Nulb was interesting, if brief. The Temple itself is revealed as little more than a charred hulk. This was disappointing, and this topic will be revisited in the discussion.

The Temple of All-Consumption is the heart of this scenario. I suppose you could call it “large”, with roughly 300 encounter areas. The early part of this area (in the Crater Ridge Mines) is where this module feels most like the original Temple scenario (and was thus a part I particularly enjoyed). Many people complain that this part of the scenario drags play down. I understand the complaints, the area functioning essentially as a “leveling treadmill”, reminiscent of MMORPGs. It bears noting then, that the original temple did this as well (and back in my day…we liked it!…dad gum whippersnappers…). Personally, I like this section very much, simply because of the abundance of well-developed encounters. Like the gatehouse, this section can be of great use to any GM, even if you never intend to run RttToEE. Many encounters, many rooms, many whole sections can be transplanted to good effect. This much maligned section deserves better treatment I think.

The lighting towers are one thing that I signal out for particular dislike. These constitute such a ham-fisted device that they cannot be palatable. The story with these towers is that a bunch of electricity generating creatures are hooked up to magical devices, and the net effect is that lighting shoots from the towers to anyone who dares to go airborne inside the CRMs. The reason I take such vehement exception to this is that the remedy is so simple and elegant. The rocky slopes could easily serve as nests for hundreds of demonic fowl or the like. A flying target or group would result in the entire swarm of creatures taking to the air, assaulting and harassing the targets. Not to mention that the unholy shrieking would alert the entire extended complex. The Inner and Outers Fanes, and the Rebirth section are challenging scenarios, which express Cook’s “re-invention” of Elemental Evil. The appendices include sundry details necessary to run the module effectively.

The overall quality of the illustrations is quite nice, with 3 full-page illustrations, and a multitude of half-page and smaller drawings. The included map booklet was absolutely great, a worthy successor to the original, and in full color.

DISCUSSION

Monte Cook has done his research well, and clearly spent a lot of time reading over the original T1-4. He picked up on many incomplete references from the original: things like the Eye of Fire, something referenced but never really described or explained. It is clear that he put a lot of work into research and new design work based on that research. He also makes use of memorable characters from original Temple, such as Senshock and Smigmal Redhand.

Ultimately however, I had a problem with this scenario, a big one. That being: the basic premise. This comes across immediately as you read the introduction. The premise is that essentially, Zuggtmoy and Iuz were being used as puppets by Tharizdun, in the original Temple. “While Tharizdun was imprisoned far away, he used powerful demon lords such as Zuggtmoy, Lolth, and Demogorgon as conduits to transfer power to his clerics. In some instances, the demon did not even know what was happening, while in others it believed itself to be the object of reverence by the worshipper in question.” (pps. 4-5) The implications are impossible to avoid, and they dominate the module. Elemental Evil as an aspect of Tharizdun, combined with the fact that the actual Temple itself is essentially a dead, dusty hulk means that this doesn’t really feel like Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil so much as Return to Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun. This tone dominates the adventure from the outset.

Ultimately, I don’t like this because this is essentially re-writing “history” in a manner which undermines a basic aspect of the Greyhawk world. One thing that has caused me to always feel that Greyhawk is superior to FR and other worlds is the immediacy and power of the threats. Iuz is a demonic demi-god who dwells IN the Greyhawk world. When Lolth threatens the world she threatens it directly, herself. Zuggtmoy reigned as a demon-goddess from the Temple. They were a panoply of dark beings threatening the world in concrete, immediate terms. This re-casting forces one to re-examine the fundamental premise of the conflicts of the game world, and the new light one sees it in is not welcome, at least not to me. The idea that any (and possibly all) threats in Greyhawk are aspects of the “Dread Tharizdun”, acting as his surrogates or proxies, is not welcome.

I also dislike the “re-invention” because of my lack of “susceptibility” to the horror in horror gaming, particularly as expressed in this module. I tend to find the tools of horror to be bombastic or irritating; bombastic when I am supposed to be “horrified”, irritating when I have to make new characters. When I stated “Dread Tharizdun” in the preceding paragraph, I meant it with a tone of faux-portentousness, with mockingly widened eyes. And when someone ominously intones “Lo, you have been utterly destroyed by the Black Essence of Dread Tharizdun,” what I hear is “Lo, you have been (screwed) over by your DM with a save or die roll. Got another character ready Skippy? I sure hope so.” One might be tempted to criticize that mentality as metagaming, but then making a new character is itself metagaming. Which you have to do a lot of in “horror” gaming (oh, its horrifying alright, just not in the intended manner).
Now don’t get me wrong. I do think horror can be cool. One of the best parts of the module to me was the Demonstone, a dark rock oddly shaped by weathering to resemble a small demonic creature with batwings folded about its body. “It is semitranslucent with a dark center that sometimes seems to move. It occasionally seems to whisper…a foul and evil entreaty…” (page 155). This is far, far more effective than all-caps “I AM THE DREAD THARIZDUN”. (“I am the Dwead Piwate Woberts…”)

Taken as a whole, I was extremely disappointed with this module (please note: “Taken as a whole”). Accepted and run as-is in the Greyhawk world weakens that world considerably. It also fails to provide a satisfying return to the temple, since the Temple itself is not very significant against its backdrop.

CONCLUSION

I found it difficult to give a final “rating” of the module. I liked sections of it, but I really dislike what Cook did with Greyhawk. I guess the best way to express my final opinion is to say that I respect his effort and a lot of the work he did, while being unhappy with the whole. The presentation also takes a hit because the different sections are so irritating to try to find.

Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil
Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil Capsule Review by Mike MacKenzie on 20/01/03 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average) The Return of Elemental Evil is Kachooloo-like. Product: Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil Author: Monte Cook Category: RPG Company/Publisher: WotC Line: Greyhawk Cost: 30 Page count: 192 Year published: 2001 ISBN: 0-7869-1843-8 SKU: WTC11843 Comp copy?: yes Capsule Review by Mike MacKenzie on 20/01/03 Genre tags: Fantasy	Temple of Elemental Evil is one of the all-time classics of AD&D. It was the long awaited sequel to T1 Village of Hommlet, with a status somewhat like that of Castle Greyhawk today, with people wondering if it will ever be released, and if so, what will it be like. It was the first full module I ever played, and 15 years later, I am still playing (and DMing). It is difficult to overstate the stature of the classic ToEE, in the eyes of most gamers. Expectations for RttToEE were understandably high. There are a variety of opinions about this module expressed on the net. Most are not terribly kind. Those comments (and my own opinions) will be discussed at the conclusion of this review. Spoilers follow. The module is a hefty tome, as these things go, clocking in at a hefty 192 pages with and a detachable map booklet. The cover art is a menacing and foreboding piece by Brom, with more implication than statement. All-in-all, the initial presentation is quite good, and devouring this adventure was something I was looking forward too. I Introduction 5 pages II Hommlet and Environs 30 pages III The Temple of All-Consumption 99 pages IV The Rebirth of Elemental Evil 17 pages App I New Magic Items 7 pages App II Worship of Tharizdun 3 pages App III NPC Statistics 24 pages App IV Player Handouts 2 pages Each of these major sections begins as each chapter does: with some large lettered boldface type of the title in a paragraph-like form, in a column. Which means in this 192-page work, you will be using the Table of Contents to navigate most of the time. Introductions tend to be under-rated, because they are generally boring. In a work the size of this one though, the introduction is important in framing the significance of everything that follows. The introduction is vital in understanding how things have changed, and in guiding the DM in running the mega-scenario as intended. Revisiting Hommlet was fun, and I liked a lot of the things that Cook did here. The half page illustration is nice, and sets the tone for the rest of the section. The moathouse is considerably altered, and is more deadly. The moathouse scenario is one of the highlights, and is one that could be altered and transplanted with good effect to any area. It has a built-in narrative already on-going, and the arrival of the third party (the PC group) makes the outcome unpredictable, and thus the whole is more exciting. Nulb was interesting, if brief. The Temple itself is revealed as little more than a charred hulk. This was disappointing, and this topic will be revisited in the discussion. The Temple of All-Consumption is the heart of this scenario. I suppose you could call it “large”, with roughly 300 encounter areas. The early part of this area (in the Crater Ridge Mines) is where this module feels most like the original Temple scenario (and was thus a part I particularly enjoyed). Many people complain that this part of the scenario drags play down. I understand the complaints, the area functioning essentially as a “leveling treadmill”, reminiscent of MMORPGs. It bears noting then, that the original temple did this as well (and back in my day…we liked it!…dad gum whippersnappers…). Personally, I like this section very much, simply because of the abundance of well-developed encounters. Like the gatehouse, this section can be of great use to any GM, even if you never intend to run RttToEE. Many encounters, many rooms, many whole sections can be transplanted to good effect. This much maligned section deserves better treatment I think. The lighting towers are one thing that I signal out for particular dislike. These constitute such a ham-fisted device that they cannot be palatable. The story with these towers is that a bunch of electricity generating creatures are hooked up to magical devices, and the net effect is that lighting shoots from the towers to anyone who dares to go airborne inside the CRMs. The reason I take such vehement exception to this is that the remedy is so simple and elegant. The rocky slopes could easily serve as nests for hundreds of demonic fowl or the like. A flying target or group would result in the entire swarm of creatures taking to the air, assaulting and harassing the targets. Not to mention that the unholy shrieking would alert the entire extended complex. The Inner and Outers Fanes, and the Rebirth section are challenging scenarios, which express Cook’s “re-invention” of Elemental Evil. The appendices include sundry details necessary to run the module effectively. The overall quality of the illustrations is quite nice, with 3 full-page illustrations, and a multitude of half-page and smaller drawings. The included map booklet was absolutely great, a worthy successor to the original, and in full color. DISCUSSION Monte Cook has done his research well, and clearly spent a lot of time reading over the original T1-4. He picked up on many incomplete references from the original: things like the Eye of Fire, something referenced but never really described or explained. It is clear that he put a lot of work into research and new design work based on that research. He also makes use of memorable characters from original Temple, such as Senshock and Smigmal Redhand. Ultimately however, I had a problem with this scenario, a big one. That being: the basic premise. This comes across immediately as you read the introduction. The premise is that essentially, Zuggtmoy and Iuz were being used as puppets by Tharizdun, in the original Temple. “While Tharizdun was imprisoned far away, he used powerful demon lords such as Zuggtmoy, Lolth, and Demogorgon as conduits to transfer power to his clerics. In some instances, the demon did not even know what was happening, while in others it believed itself to be the object of reverence by the worshipper in question.” (pps. 4-5) The implications are impossible to avoid, and they dominate the module. Elemental Evil as an aspect of Tharizdun, combined with the fact that the actual Temple itself is essentially a dead, dusty hulk means that this doesn’t really feel like Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil so much as Return to Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun. This tone dominates the adventure from the outset. Ultimately, I don’t like this because this is essentially re-writing “history” in a manner which undermines a basic aspect of the Greyhawk world. One thing that has caused me to always feel that Greyhawk is superior to FR and other worlds is the immediacy and power of the threats. Iuz is a demonic demi-god who dwells IN the Greyhawk world. When Lolth threatens the world she threatens it directly, herself. Zuggtmoy reigned as a demon-goddess from the Temple. They were a panoply of dark beings threatening the world in concrete, immediate terms. This re-casting forces one to re-examine the fundamental premise of the conflicts of the game world, and the new light one sees it in is not welcome, at least not to me. The idea that any (and possibly all) threats in Greyhawk are aspects of the “Dread Tharizdun”, acting as his surrogates or proxies, is not welcome. I also dislike the “re-invention” because of my lack of “susceptibility” to the horror in horror gaming, particularly as expressed in this module. I tend to find the tools of horror to be bombastic or irritating; bombastic when I am supposed to be “horrified”, irritating when I have to make new characters. When I stated “Dread Tharizdun” in the preceding paragraph, I meant it with a tone of faux-portentousness, with mockingly widened eyes. And when someone ominously intones “Lo, you have been utterly destroyed by the Black Essence of Dread Tharizdun,” what I hear is “Lo, you have been (screwed) over by your DM with a save or die roll. Got another character ready Skippy? I sure hope so.” One might be tempted to criticize that mentality as metagaming, but then making a new character is itself metagaming. Which you have to do a lot of in “horror” gaming (oh, its horrifying alright, just not in the intended manner). Now don’t get me wrong. I do think horror can be cool. One of the best parts of the module to me was the Demonstone, a dark rock oddly shaped by weathering to resemble a small demonic creature with batwings folded about its body. “It is semitranslucent with a dark center that sometimes seems to move. It occasionally seems to whisper…a foul and evil entreaty…” (page 155). This is far, far more effective than all-caps “I AM THE DREAD THARIZDUN”. (“I am the Dwead Piwate Woberts…”) Taken as a whole, I was extremely disappointed with this module (please note: “Taken as a whole”). Accepted and run as-is in the Greyhawk world weakens that world considerably. It also fails to provide a satisfying return to the temple, since the Temple itself is not very significant against its backdrop. CONCLUSION I found it difficult to give a final “rating” of the module. I liked sections of it, but I really dislike what Cook did with Greyhawk. I guess the best way to express my final opinion is to say that I respect his effort and a lot of the work he did, while being unhappy with the whole. The presentation also takes a hit because the different sections are so irritating to try to find.