the Jester
Legend
One of the best of the classic dungeon crawls. I have played, run and converted it at various points over the years; it was always fun no matter which side of the screen I was on!
The Temple of Elemental Evil - your experiences?
- Thread starter Quasqueton
- Start date
Loved Temple. Players were scarce when I played it - I played the whole party of eight characters. That was a silly attempt at gaming and the game quickly fell apart, believe it or not.
When I ran it, years later, it was the beginning of the most satisfying game campaign I ever had. The characters grew and changed through their interactions with the townsfolk, the brutal trial-by-fire of the moathouse, and their exploration of the countryside (lots of side quests thrown in for good measure).
When they got into the temple proper and started to realize the scope of the thing, I could see it dawning on them. After that first foray, they headed back to town and bought tents, blankets, etc., and moved in to the dungeon. It was the first time any of the players had thought about such a thing, and for some reason it was a transformative experience.
More character growth in the behind-enemy-lines atmosphere as they lived in the dungeon for what must have been months. They set up secret places to hole up, spied on the bad guys, used the priests' nature against them, dressed up as followers, formulated plans by candlelight, and executed some pretty manuevers against those elementals.
The party made a name for itself during that time, which made our next mega-module (Egg of the Phoenix) that much more interesting as they started to hobnob with the upper-crust.
Sure, Temple (and certainly Egg of the Phoenix) was a flawed creation, but it was fun. And for us, that's what it was all about.
When I ran it, years later, it was the beginning of the most satisfying game campaign I ever had. The characters grew and changed through their interactions with the townsfolk, the brutal trial-by-fire of the moathouse, and their exploration of the countryside (lots of side quests thrown in for good measure).
When they got into the temple proper and started to realize the scope of the thing, I could see it dawning on them. After that first foray, they headed back to town and bought tents, blankets, etc., and moved in to the dungeon. It was the first time any of the players had thought about such a thing, and for some reason it was a transformative experience.
More character growth in the behind-enemy-lines atmosphere as they lived in the dungeon for what must have been months. They set up secret places to hole up, spied on the bad guys, used the priests' nature against them, dressed up as followers, formulated plans by candlelight, and executed some pretty manuevers against those elementals.
The party made a name for itself during that time, which made our next mega-module (Egg of the Phoenix) that much more interesting as they started to hobnob with the upper-crust.
Sure, Temple (and certainly Egg of the Phoenix) was a flawed creation, but it was fun. And for us, that's what it was all about.
KRT
First Post
I ran and played this module a few times and each time was different. Sometimes the goal was to get to the big baddy with as few diversions as possible. Marine style operation, quick insertion and fast exit after accomplishing the mission. Other times it was the total explore. I prefered the quick strike or focused missions as the others tended to defeat us through shear inertia. I have recently run Return to ToEE and it was a strike mission with the characters loaded up with potions, wands, and scrolls (of their own making). The managed to defeat the outer ring in 24 hours of in game time before the good army arrived to take over. "Good job PCs, we'll take it from here." Although the PCs wandered off with all the elemental keys planning to either sell them to the Dwarves or restock and try to do the inner fane in one outing. As every melee round was accounted for i.e. the characters had to move fast to accomplish what they did, they left untold thousands of gold pieces of loot lying around as they raced on to the next fight. They would only loot while the clerics were busy healing people. About 10 rounds of single move and use a wand. The looters would spend about 4 rounds looting and then run to catch up and maybe get a cure or 2. They started as 6th level and progressed to 10th and it took about a year and a half of play.
jodyjohnson
Adventurer
Our group is currently about halfway through it and it is the center piece of our plot. Not that most of the campaign has been in it.
Basically, they met Thrommel (and Lareth) before he was kidnapped.
Around the time Thrommel's party disappeared, the group explored Baltron's Beacon and had a run in with Leptor (aka Falrinth) while he was searching the tower.
After clearing the Black Flame cult's/Baltron's treasuries they were sent to investigate whether the Slave Lords were responsible for Thrommel's disappearance.
They dismantled the Slave Lord's empire, rescued many slaves and looted enough to provide for many years. They did not find Thrommel and no clues to his location. The slave lord that did know escaped (Mordrammo is serving in the Main temple currently).
After years of retirement and fief building they were summoned after an adventuring band exploring the Moathouse flushed Lareth from the dungeons below.
Since Lareth was wearing ToEE vestments they deduced Thrommel was likely in the ToEE.
Excursion 1:
The party assembled in Hommlet and trekked to ToEE bypassing Nulb (they were 12-13th gestalt).
I placed the backdoor area on the map and the party noted its importance. So basically they entered on level 3. They captured his bodyguard but Leptor/Falrinth escaped.
After defeating 'Scorpp the fomorian's band and several other souped up challenges they retreated from the Marilith guarding the west stairs to Level 4. They bailed out the back door only to have Lareth and a large force of bandits and gnolls blocking the way. Lareth got captured and his force slain.
The two prisoners were returned to Hommlet but Lareth escaped with a Word of Recall.
Excursion 2:
The party returned prepared to take on a Marilith. This time they entered by the Temple gates and descended through level 1 straight to level 2. A Find the Path lead them through the Air Temple (Elder Air, Vrock, high priest, numerous Gnoll and Bugbears) and down through 'Scorpp land' to Leptor (Falrinth). Giants were clearing out the dead but they were quickly dispatched. The marilith had moved to guard the Wizard's quarters but she fell to a banishment. This time Leptor (Falrinth) was captured and his knowledge found.
They discovered that the wizard was searching for the artifact which was hidden at the Tomb of Horrors when the Temple was sacked (by a Black Fire cultist turned EE cultist). The teleporter at Baltron's Beacon went to the ToH but Leptor had never found the key. Interogation also revealed that although he didn't know the exact location, Leptor suspected that it was on Level 3. Either the commander or the Gatekeeper would know. They also discovered notes to fill in the details of the artifact and its destruction.
The party foolishly tried to camp in the wizard's study and was assailed by a large force of Trolls, Giants, and Bugbears. They fought them off and decided to retreat.
Excursion 3:
The forces of the temple had been severely depleted and the remaining 4 temples went into turtle mode. Only the Fire, Water, Earth, and Main temple could be defended.
The party returned to Level 3 unopposed and confronted the Gatekeeper-a Glabrezu. He told them Dr. Evil style that 2 doors held certain death, 1 nothing, and 1 the Prince. He then gloated about killing them. The party pretty much spanked him and the 4 vrock serving as Keymasters.
After fighting the shadows and Nightwalker, plus the Banshee (MMII version) they found the Prince after finding every other room on the level. Mission accomplished.
Currently on downtime before heading to the ToH and then presumedly back into the ToEE to explore the supercharged Nodes before confronting the Queen of Fungi (thankfully statted in Dragon). 15th.
After months of down time, an intercepted message to the ToEE says that a band has found the ToH and is preparing to enter. News also arrives that Robilar is also lurking around the ToEE and given his penchant for freeing imprisoned beings time is running out.
1. Cleared out many of the repetitive rooms or combined them into mass battles.
2. Offered the back door as an option allowing them to mostly skip Level 1 & Level 2.
3. The wizards area had maps and much plot info to prevent a lot of flailing around blindly. Including info on the artifact, the demon, the nodes, and general maps of the temple.
4. Battles on level 3 cleared much of the opposition on Level 4
5. Warned the group that the dungeon was massive (313 encounter areas) and needed goal based exploration/interogation not 'clean it out' style. They still did 'clean it out' style but at least only did it on level 3.
6. Changed the map scale to 20' per square for 3.5 spacing and more wide open fight areas.
7. 3.5 trap finding and magic detection allow them to avoid many of the traps.
So far I've enjoyed it. Especially trying to keep the flavor of the encounters while boosting the creature/challenges.
Basically, they met Thrommel (and Lareth) before he was kidnapped.
Around the time Thrommel's party disappeared, the group explored Baltron's Beacon and had a run in with Leptor (aka Falrinth) while he was searching the tower.
After clearing the Black Flame cult's/Baltron's treasuries they were sent to investigate whether the Slave Lords were responsible for Thrommel's disappearance.
They dismantled the Slave Lord's empire, rescued many slaves and looted enough to provide for many years. They did not find Thrommel and no clues to his location. The slave lord that did know escaped (Mordrammo is serving in the Main temple currently).
After years of retirement and fief building they were summoned after an adventuring band exploring the Moathouse flushed Lareth from the dungeons below.
Since Lareth was wearing ToEE vestments they deduced Thrommel was likely in the ToEE.
Excursion 1:
The party assembled in Hommlet and trekked to ToEE bypassing Nulb (they were 12-13th gestalt).
I placed the backdoor area on the map and the party noted its importance. So basically they entered on level 3. They captured his bodyguard but Leptor/Falrinth escaped.
After defeating 'Scorpp the fomorian's band and several other souped up challenges they retreated from the Marilith guarding the west stairs to Level 4. They bailed out the back door only to have Lareth and a large force of bandits and gnolls blocking the way. Lareth got captured and his force slain.
The two prisoners were returned to Hommlet but Lareth escaped with a Word of Recall.
Excursion 2:
The party returned prepared to take on a Marilith. This time they entered by the Temple gates and descended through level 1 straight to level 2. A Find the Path lead them through the Air Temple (Elder Air, Vrock, high priest, numerous Gnoll and Bugbears) and down through 'Scorpp land' to Leptor (Falrinth). Giants were clearing out the dead but they were quickly dispatched. The marilith had moved to guard the Wizard's quarters but she fell to a banishment. This time Leptor (Falrinth) was captured and his knowledge found.
They discovered that the wizard was searching for the artifact which was hidden at the Tomb of Horrors when the Temple was sacked (by a Black Fire cultist turned EE cultist). The teleporter at Baltron's Beacon went to the ToH but Leptor had never found the key. Interogation also revealed that although he didn't know the exact location, Leptor suspected that it was on Level 3. Either the commander or the Gatekeeper would know. They also discovered notes to fill in the details of the artifact and its destruction.
The party foolishly tried to camp in the wizard's study and was assailed by a large force of Trolls, Giants, and Bugbears. They fought them off and decided to retreat.
Excursion 3:
The forces of the temple had been severely depleted and the remaining 4 temples went into turtle mode. Only the Fire, Water, Earth, and Main temple could be defended.
The party returned to Level 3 unopposed and confronted the Gatekeeper-a Glabrezu. He told them Dr. Evil style that 2 doors held certain death, 1 nothing, and 1 the Prince. He then gloated about killing them. The party pretty much spanked him and the 4 vrock serving as Keymasters.
After fighting the shadows and Nightwalker, plus the Banshee (MMII version) they found the Prince after finding every other room on the level. Mission accomplished.
Currently on downtime before heading to the ToH and then presumedly back into the ToEE to explore the supercharged Nodes before confronting the Queen of Fungi (thankfully statted in Dragon). 15th.
After months of down time, an intercepted message to the ToEE says that a band has found the ToH and is preparing to enter. News also arrives that Robilar is also lurking around the ToEE and given his penchant for freeing imprisoned beings time is running out.
1. Cleared out many of the repetitive rooms or combined them into mass battles.
2. Offered the back door as an option allowing them to mostly skip Level 1 & Level 2.
3. The wizards area had maps and much plot info to prevent a lot of flailing around blindly. Including info on the artifact, the demon, the nodes, and general maps of the temple.
4. Battles on level 3 cleared much of the opposition on Level 4
5. Warned the group that the dungeon was massive (313 encounter areas) and needed goal based exploration/interogation not 'clean it out' style. They still did 'clean it out' style but at least only did it on level 3.
6. Changed the map scale to 20' per square for 3.5 spacing and more wide open fight areas.
7. 3.5 trap finding and magic detection allow them to avoid many of the traps.
So far I've enjoyed it. Especially trying to keep the flavor of the encounters while boosting the creature/challenges.
Last edited:
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
rossik
Explorer
Psion said:
oh, thanks!
is this book still easy to find in bookstores? i mean, in old books bookstores...
actually, is there a good bokstore to buy (online) these classic d&d books?
(another thing: whats an ubber?
ps: i just got a new group...but they hate adventures where u have to draw a map
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