The Village of Hommlet and Temple of Elemental Evil

[MrHemlocks]

I plan on running a 1e World of Greyhawk campaign. With all the new 1e 'stuff' WotC is reprinting and being that my fondest memories of AD&D are from 1e material I figured why not relive some of the fun I had as a child playing the game. This time with my own children and friends.


I have a question or two before I begin the campaign. If I buy Temple of Elemental Evil, http://www.dndclassics.com/product/...lemental-Evil-(1e)?it=1&filters=0_44711_44711 , does it contain all the information about The Village of Hommlet, http://www.dndclassics.com/product/17067/T1-The-Village-of-Hommlet-(1e)?it=1&filters=0_44711_44711 , ? Or do I need to buy both to get all information about Hommlet?

 

[ExploderWizard]

The Temple file has everything you need for the village and the moathouse adventures. Click on the preview of the product you linked and you will see that Homlett and the moathouse are in the table of contents.

 

[TerraDave]

T1 is in there, but was some detail dropped?

(also, T1, super awesome, T4...more of a mixed bag).

 

[GX.Sigma]

(also, T1, super awesome, T4...more of a mixed bag).

What are the bad parts and what are the good parts? I'm considering running the ToEE for my playtest game--mostly because it has a cool name and interesting concept--and I'm totally fine with cutting out half the module and replacing it with original material.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

What are the bad parts and what are the good parts? I'm considering running the ToEE for my playtest game--mostly because it has a cool name and interesting concept--and I'm totally fine with cutting out half the module and replacing it with original material.

T1 is the good part.

The rest is truly horrid.

Half of it is incomplete - the elemental nodes - and you're supposed to complete them yourself. The parts that have been completed simply feel like yet another randomly-generated dungeon crawl.

No effort at all - other than the title - has been made to make this feel like a place of elemental evil. In terms of the published product, it's just a dungeon crawl with a good title. It certainly wasn't worth waiting for when you consider it was about five years between when it was announced and when it was published.

And, yes, I am a D&D heretic for holding these opinions.

 

[Bullgrit]

I must interject in here: The Temple of Elemental Evil is one of my top three favorite D&D adventures of all time. It is the quintessential D&D dungeon adventure. And it does include the full T1 The Village of Hommlet module.

Bullgrit

 

[orangefruitbat]

and a 3rd option?

Ok, so how does TOEE (1st edition) compare to RtTTOE (3rd edition). Obviously, the two modules use different stats, but in terms of plot, characters, areas, is one better or worse than the other?

I must interject in here: The Temple of Elemental Evil is one of my top three favorite D&D adventures of all time. It is the quintessential D&D dungeon adventure. And it does include the full T1 The Village of Hommlet module.

Bullgrit

 

[dagger]

I am running T1-4 right now in 1e with my group, they have almost sacked the top level of the Temple. I have played the Return in 3e several years ago and its ok, it just draaaaags on.

 

[billd91]

I thought T1-4, while needing a lot of editing work and being by far the worst of the Super Modules TSR published (like the Desert of Desolation, Aseries, and G series), was still better than the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. At least the background text made you feel T1-4 was Greyhawkish, plus it had T1 in it. RttToEE didn't even feel like it was a fit with Greyhawk. It was even more of a hodge-podge of pointless combat than T1-4, and that's saying a lot.

 

[dagger]

I am running T1-4 in FR (grey box) for what its worth.