I am prepping to be the DM of a TOEE campaign. The Orb of Golden Death is unclear. What happens with the Orb once the gems are placed in it that allows Zuggtmoy to be more easily defeated? I don't see the purpose of the gems as far as fighting Zugg goes. Am I missing something?
D&D 1E Need info please --- Temple of Elemental Evil
- Thread starter fatrap
- Start date
aco175
Legend
I see this site has a long description of things.
This is the final bit about destroying the thing.
Destroying the Orb:
The Death Orb can only be destroyed if all of its gems are properly inset. It must then be subjected to the following effects, in quick succession and in the proper order: a wind of 50 or more mph force; the strike of a maul made from a solid piece of granite; a very hot flame (1,000 degrees R); and immersion in very cold water (32 degrees F.). The procedure causes the Orb to shatter, which causes the Elemental Nodes and the Greater Temple (Dungeon Level Four, area 417) to collapse, and the dungeon levels above as well. Zuggtmoy takes 111 points of physical damage, is unable to use any powers for four days, and cannot leave her own Abyssal Plane for 40 years. luz, having less invested in the Death Orb, merely loses the services of evil elemental creatures for four years.
This is the final bit about destroying the thing.
Destroying the Orb:
The Death Orb can only be destroyed if all of its gems are properly inset. It must then be subjected to the following effects, in quick succession and in the proper order: a wind of 50 or more mph force; the strike of a maul made from a solid piece of granite; a very hot flame (1,000 degrees R); and immersion in very cold water (32 degrees F.). The procedure causes the Orb to shatter, which causes the Elemental Nodes and the Greater Temple (Dungeon Level Four, area 417) to collapse, and the dungeon levels above as well. Zuggtmoy takes 111 points of physical damage, is unable to use any powers for four days, and cannot leave her own Abyssal Plane for 40 years. luz, having less invested in the Death Orb, merely loses the services of evil elemental creatures for four years.
Having the orb only sorta helps the party against Zuggtmoy and Iuz. They can't directly harm whoever has the orb, but whoever has it is somewhat cooperative towards them, and of course if they do give the orb to Zuggtmoy, they're instantly turned into a thrall. Destroying the orb takes half of her hit points.
The idea is really to keep her away from it. The Orb is what powers the elemental nodes and makes whoever has it likely the real master of Elemental Evil, which is kind of the big theme - Iuz, Zuggtmoy, and maybe Lolth, are all trying to get the skull and the gems. Destroying the orb isn't likely just due to the requirements to do it.
The thing is that as with a lot of 1e modules, there's no real outright reason to seek the Orb. There's no real outright reason to go into the Elemental nodes. There's no real outright reason to fight Zuggtmoy. The basic gist is that without the party, there's a chance she might be freed. Or she might not because there's so much infighting in the Temple. There's no throughline in the module that says "The reason you are in the Temple is to do X." There's a lot of potential reasons to go in there. But because the reasons are not laid out at the beginning, there's a lot of stuff in the module that don't make sense if you're thinking in terms of a plot.
The idea is really to keep her away from it. The Orb is what powers the elemental nodes and makes whoever has it likely the real master of Elemental Evil, which is kind of the big theme - Iuz, Zuggtmoy, and maybe Lolth, are all trying to get the skull and the gems. Destroying the orb isn't likely just due to the requirements to do it.
The thing is that as with a lot of 1e modules, there's no real outright reason to seek the Orb. There's no real outright reason to go into the Elemental nodes. There's no real outright reason to fight Zuggtmoy. The basic gist is that without the party, there's a chance she might be freed. Or she might not because there's so much infighting in the Temple. There's no throughline in the module that says "The reason you are in the Temple is to do X." There's a lot of potential reasons to go in there. But because the reasons are not laid out at the beginning, there's a lot of stuff in the module that don't make sense if you're thinking in terms of a plot.
Destroying the Orb takes half her HP. Yes. However, (1) then the party can't get back into her prison, and (2) the party won't know all the specific steps to destroy it, and (3) when the Orb is destroyed, so are the levels in the Temple, at least 3 & 4, so Zugg cannot be engaged after that. Am I misunderstanding something?
The exact requirements for destroying the orb are not trivial and not really described in the module in a way that the PCs can easily discover the information and the PCs aren’t high enough level to cast something like Legend Lore unless they contact an NPC who can. It’s not really likely that they will find out how to destroy it.
Actually, they are. The exact requirements are described in the module, but the players would never get that info. BTW we are talking about 1e.
That’s what I said - they are not described in a way the PCs will easily find them. I know it’s 1e.
Back to your original question, you are correct. There is no purpose to the gems with regards to fighting Zuggtmoy.
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