D&D 5E Temple of Elemental Evil is the next Original Adventures Reincarnated

Goodman Games has announced the next in its line of Original Adventures Reincarnated - -and it's The Temple of Elemental Evil, in late 2020 or early 2021.

"Like all of the Original Adventures Reincarnated line, this release will contain both the original material scanned in and cleaned up to present it as it originally appeared, along with a full, new 5E translation in the second half of the book. The new material is being designed by a creative team led by Chris Doyle with contributions from Rick Maffei and others, all of whom are seasoned veterans of Dungeons and Dragons across its many incarnations.

Unlike the previous five volumes in the OAR line, the sheer size and scope of this module requires something new: OAR #6: The Temple of Elemental Evil will be released as a two-volume hardcover slipcase edition. The two volumes will also contain expert commentary about the original modules and their history."

Here's the back cover text:

EVIL BORN ANEW

The Village of Hommlet thrives again. Years ago, this quaint village nearly fell prey to a great, neighboring evil. The nearby Temple of Elemental Evil, a grand edifice of wickedness, was defeated after a great battle and thrown into ruin forever … or was it? Bandits have started to ride the roads again, and there are other ominous signs afoot. It is whispered that the demonic evil at the heart of the Temple was not truly conquered but merely imprisoned. Even now, agents of evil, malevolent beasts, and far worse creatures are conspiring to return the Temple to power and enslave the surrounding lands. Hommlet and the neighboring ruins may hold clues, but not everyone is to be trusted. Surely danger lies hidden in this idyllic region.

Sharpen your swords and axes. Purchase your iron rations and tinderboxes. And don’t forget at least one 10-foot pole. Great adventure awaits those that dare confront the Temple of Elemental Evil!

This book collection is an homage to the origins of an adventure that began decades ago with T1: The Village of Hommlet and T1-4: The Temple of Elemental Evil. Herein you will find high-quality scans from multiple printings of the original first edition adventure modules, plus commentary by gaming legends. Full fifth edition conversions of both adventure books are included, as well as brand new adventure material that adds new wilderness encounters, expands the Village of Nulb, fully details the evil Elemental Nodes, and provides fifth edition updates of many original magic items, monsters, and spells. This is a fully playable mega-dungeon and mini-campaign—many hours of classic-style adventure await you!​

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

GG does publish new adventures. This line serves a very different purpose. These are large, heavy, hardbound and expensive books. Really not the greatest form factor for running at the table, especially since the bulk of the books are just printing often several versions of the originals. I buy these more to read and browse. They are nice table books and bookshelf eye candy. These are great books if you like the history of the game. I have them shelved together with Art & Arcana.

This line is kind of nutty, as it's marrying together the people who want exhaustive histories of old TSR modules with people who want 5E conversions. And quite often, the people who don't want one have no interest in the other. But it's likely the only way that a historical record product like this could be commercially viable.

But all the weird decisions about these books -- including them being doorstops that aren't super user-friendly at the table (although they do have bound-in bookmarks, which is always a nice help) -- stem from the fact that the 5E conversion doesn't appear to be the primary goal for Goodman.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

If I had to pick my favorite 1e adventure, it'd be T1.

Goodman Games doing Temple of Elemental Evil is a vast increase in scope here. Of the 1e adventures, I'd say this, Queen of the Spiders, and the Slavers series are the closest to the modern campaign-length modules from Wizards.

Man, getting a 5E Homlett and moathouse alone is going to be great. (My groups played T1 so many times that we were no longer interested in the Temple of Elemental Evil when that finally came out.)

 

[darjr]

Now that’s been said spider queen series does make more sense than Desert does.

 

[Parmandur]

Now that’s been said spider queen series does make more sense than Desert does.

Yeah, that could fit Goodman's style well: and with Out of the Abyss in print five years on, WotC might not want to go there themselves.

 

[darjr]

Or if Temple spikes sales in Princes they might welcome it.

 

[Parmandur]

Or if Temple spikes sales in Princes they might welcome it.

Goodman is assuming the financial risk, so I'm sure WotC is loving the success and the license fee results. Question is, what are they planning to re-release in-house, and what's on Goodman's list?

 

[darjr]

Many would like to know!

 

[darjr]

I do think that these have complemented WotC releases in, sometimes weird, ways.

For instance Isle of Dread a Ghosts of Saltmarsh. Even if the timing is a little off.

 

[Parmandur]

I do think that these have complemented WotC releases in, sometimes weird, ways.

For instance Isle of Dread a Ghosts of Saltmarsh. Even if the timing is a little off.

I feel 100% confident that was on purpose, given that Ghosts of Saltmarsh made the concious decision to include Mystara information for "you can set this campaign here" that fit precisely with what is in the Goodman Gazeeter. Really dovetails well as a mid-high level endcap to a Saltmarsh based campaign.

 

[darjr]

I agree and I think there will be more of that.