The Temple of Elemental Evil

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For the 2003 Atari PC game, see The Temple of Elemental Evil (computer game).
The Temple of Elemental Evil
Code T1–4
Rules Required 1st Ed AD&D
Character Levels 1–8
Campaign Setting Greyhawk
Authors Gary Gygax and Frank Mentzer
First Published 1985
Linked Modules
T1–4 A1–4 GDQ1–7
Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil

The Temple of Elemental Evil is an adventure module for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, set in the game's World of Greyhawk campaign setting. The module was published by TSR, Inc. in 1985 for the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules. It was written by Gary Gygax and Frank Mentzer, and is an expansion of an earlier Gygax module, The Village of Hommlet (TSR, 1979)[1]. The Temple of Elemental Evil is also the title of a related 2001 Thomas M. Reid novel, and the term is used by fans of the setting to refer to the fictional Temple itself.

The Temple of Elemental Evil was ranked the 4th greatest Dungeons & Dragons adventure of all time by Dungeon magazine in 2004, on the 30th anniversary of the Dungeons & Dragons game.

Contents

[edit] The T1-4 modules

These classic, early D&D adventures helped first popularize the World of Greyhawk campaign setting. The T1 Village of Hommlet module begins in the eponymous village, situated near the site of a past battle against evil forces operating from the Temple (see "History of the Temple" below). Adventurers traveling through Hommlet are drawn into a web of conspiracy and deception in the T1 adventure.

The Temple of Elemental Evil was originally intended to bear the module code T2 and serve as a true sequel to T1—The Village of Hommlet. Gygax began writing T2 soon after the publication of T1, but often stopped to work on other products, such as The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (Gygax 1981). The T2 version was never completed, and no module bearing the codes T3 or T4 was ever independently published. Instead, the material for the sequel was combined in 1985 with the original T1 storyline and published as an integrated adventure bearing the module code T1-4.

The T1 standalone module, and thus also the first part of T1-4, culminates at a small ruined castle (called a "moathouse") where forces of the resurrected Temple cult are encountered. In the next section of T1-4, the adventurers move on to the nearby town of Nulb to confront several nefarious opponents, including agents from the Temple. Based on the outcome of these encounters, the player characters can then enter the Temple itself, interact with the many denizens of the dungeons beneath and eventually test their mettle against the leaders of the cult, the demon Zuggtmoy and the demigod Iuz.

The original printings of T1 featured monochrome cover art by David A. Trampier, who also contributed interior art along with David C. Sutherland III. The 1981 and subsequent printings of T1 featured a new color cover painting by Jeff Dee surrounded by a lime green border. The expanded T1-4 book from 1985 features cover art by Keith Parkinson and interior art by Jeff Butler, Clyde Caldwell, Jeff Easley, Larry Elmore, Parkinson, and Trampier.

[edit] Related publications

Although initially written as a stand-alone series, T1-4 was made to dovetail into A1-4 Scourge of the Slave Lords when these two campaigns were revised in 1986 as supermodules. The combined campaign then culminates with the GDQ series, incorporating modules G1-G3 Against the Giants; D1-D3, which introduced D&D fans to Drow elves for the first time; and finally Q-1, Queen of the Demonweb Pits, in which the heroes fight against the spider demon Lolth herself. These last adventures were also combined and republished as a supermodule bearing the code GDQ1-7, Queen of the Spiders.

In 2001, Wizards of the Coast published a novel by Thomas M. Reid also bearing the title The Temple of Elemental Evil. This book was a novelization of the original T1-4 adventure, and featured characters based on those that Reid and his friends had developed while playing the module as part of a Greyhawk campaign in college.

The novel received both positive and negative reviews. One common criticism was that the pacing felt rushed and that entire sections of the original module were not present in the novelization. For example, the characters in the novel do not spend time in the village of Nulb, and the elemental "nodes" from the module's climax are entirely missing from the novel. Reid has subsequently stated that these issues were caused by the 90,000 word limitation Wizards of the Coast enforced for the book, leading him to cut out significant sections of his initial draft.

Wizards of the Coast also published a sequel to the T1-4 adventure in 2001, the 3rd Edition module Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil.

[edit] History of the temple

The temple referenced in the module's title is located in the central Flanaess not far from the city-state of Verbobonc. In 566 CY, forces of evil constructed a small chapel outside the nearby village of Nulb. The chapel was quickly built into a stone temple from which bandits and evil humanoids began to operate with increasing frequency.

In 569 CY, a combined force was sent to destroy the Temple and put an end to the marauding. The army included regular forces from the human kingdoms of Furyondy and Veluna, dwarves from the Lortmil Mountains, gnomes from the Kron Hills, and elven archers and spearmen.

This allied army clashed with a horde of evil men and humanoids, including orcs, ogres and gnolls, at the Battle of Emridy Meadows. The forces of good were victorious and the Horde of Elemental Evil was scattered. The Temple was then besieged and fell within two weeks, although a few of its leaders managed to escape.

The site itself remained, however, and over the following decade rumors of evil presence there persisted. The Viscount of Verbobonc and the Archcleric of Veluna became increasingly concerned, and cooperated to build a small castle in the village of Hommlet to guard against the possibility of the Temple rising again. It is at this point in Greyhawk's history that the events in the T1-4 module occur.

[edit] Computer game

Main article: The Temple of Elemental Evil (computer game)

In 2003 a computer game, The Temple of Elemental Evil, based on the original T1-4 module was released. It was developed by Troika Games and published by Atari. It remains the only D&D related computer game set in the original Greyhawk setting. At the moment, this game is one of the few games the use the D&D 3.5 system (3rd edition revised). It also follows the pen & paper rules quite strictly, and yet it was a commercial failure, suffering from numerous bugs and relatively linear story. However, it still has a sizable fan base and freely available modifications have been created by third parties.


[edit] Other images

Module T1 - The Village of Hommlet (1979) - original monochrome cover

Module T1 - The Village of Hommlet (1981) - revised color cover

The Temple of Elemental Evil (2001 novel)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Lawrence Schick. Heroic Worlds (Prometheus Books, 1991).

[edit] External links