So some friends and I are starting yet another party, and we're looking for a good (preferably GREAT) adventure in which to run a 3.5 game. I keep hearing people talk about Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil as one of the all-time greats. In that regard, I have a few questions.
1: The only format in which I can find the original Temple of Elemental Evil is a video game. Was it ever published in a playable 3.5 format?
2: Do I have to have knowledge of the original Temple of Elemental Evil to REALLY enjoy the Return?
3: Just how good IS Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil?
Thanks in advance guys!
So some friends and I are starting yet another party, and we're looking for a good (preferably GREAT) adventure in which to run a 3.5 game. I keep hearing people talk about Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil as one of the all-time greats. In that regard, I have a few questions.
1: The only format in which I can find the original Temple of Elemental Evil is a video game. Was it ever published in a playable 3.5 format?
2: Do I have to have knowledge of the original Temple of Elemental Evil to REALLY enjoy the Return?
3: Just how good IS Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil?
Thanks in advance guys!
1) If you look around you can find conversions of the original Temple. I believe you can find it at EnWorld, for example (I think that's where my conversion came from).
2) Knowledge of the events discussed in Return will be found in the original Temple module. With adaptation, anything works, but the original module is a great read for its time (and even now, IMHO). Some of the characters you met in the original Temple are still around in the Return-and now more powerful and more evil than ever. That said, you don't need to play through the original to appreciate the Return-but it might help (I've never played the Return, only the original). So I'd say yes to your question.
3) As noted, can't answer this one. Read it, not too bad. But I put the original Temple on a high pedestal, so beating that one is hard.
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I DM'd this one in 46 sessions over the course of two years. We didn't even finish the whole thing (didn't go after the main bosses, just the main threat).
From a DM standpoint, I found the material to be very static. I would have liked to see more detail of how places reinforce and a schedule of events after PC's invade and retreat. Not having that kind of information really made it difficult for me to imagine how the various locations respond to the PC's. If you like taking base material and adding a lot more to it, then it's a worthwhile venture. Also, the main artifacts are handled ok, but the gems for them were handled badly (unless your players are too weary from all the fighting to want to look for them).
On the plus side, at first the Crater Ridge Mines seemed like just an overcomplex series of hallways and rooms, but as I studied it, I found that it's actually split up into distinct sections that made it easier to conceptualize. There are a LOT of NPC's detailed in the appendix. It would have been nice to have their stats close to the rooms where they are encountered, but of course that would make it harder to move them around if you like running a more dynamic setting.
To answer your questions:
1. Not officially, look for conversions
2. Not really, my player didn't know anything about Temple and he liked Return. *pats self on back*
3. It has its moments, but for me it was just ok. Since it was my first real experience with 3.x, I found the rules showcasing themselves more than the adventure.
You can probably get more info here: Monte Cook's RttToEE forum in addition to 3.5 conversion materials.
Recommended additional sources include Libris Mortis and Book of Vile Darkness for more ideas on what to do with the various bad guys.
Not to shoot down RttToEE, but I have also read through Red Hand of Doom, and frankly that was the first published 3.x adventure that I read and actually felt excited to run, partly from its presentation but also the vast variety of everything the campaign involves.
So some friends and I are starting yet another party, and we're looking for a good (preferably GREAT) adventure in which to run a 3.5 game. I keep hearing people talk about Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil as one of the all-time greats. In that regard, I have a few questions.
1: The only format in which I can find the original Temple of Elemental Evil is a video game. Was it ever published in a playable 3.5 format?
2: Do I have to have knowledge of the original Temple of Elemental Evil to REALLY enjoy the Return?
3: Just how good IS Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil?
Thanks in advance guys!
My group found the Return to moudle to be one of the best modules they ever went through. It took 75 game session (we play slowly, lots of roleplaying, use miniatures, and the PCs returned to Greyhawk City a lot). The module can be a bit tedius if your not use to mega-dungeons however (its very long).
1. I have the original temple but never used it. I have only heard good things about it. I am unaware of any conversion.
2. No, you do not have to have knowledge of the original temple to use the Return to version. Like I said, I own, but never read the original. The beginning of the Return to module links historic things together real well. They make a lot of updates between the two modules, but again, you won't know the difference.
3. As I said, it was one of the best dungeons we ever did, and I have DMed a pretty fair amount of modules.
Hope you try it!
By the way, I don't know if you picked it up yet, it is out of print but I'm certain you could find it online if you looked.
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So some friends and I are starting yet another party, and we're looking for a good (preferably GREAT) adventure in which to run a 3.5 game. I keep hearing people talk about Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil as one of the all-time greats. In that regard, I have a few questions.
1: The only format in which I can find the original Temple of Elemental Evil is a video game. Was it ever published in a playable 3.5 format?
2: Do I have to have knowledge of the original Temple of Elemental Evil to REALLY enjoy the Return?
3: Just how good IS Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil?
Thanks in advance guys!
1. Don't know, but there are answers above.
2. It helps for context, but not especially for actual game play. I bought the original after reading and playing the second, and it was kind of nice to see how they fitted together, but it wasn't a big deal.
3. It depends. In the beginning there is a bit of interaction with people in Hommlet, and then in another village closer to the big evil lair. But it is really a very big dungeon hack, especially in the latter three quarters. It is very site based, and one dungeon is absolutely immense (and forms the majority of the book). If big long dungeon explorations are not your thing, it might be better to look for something else. On the plus side, the dungeon ecologies are quite coherent, so it makes sense, and the villains are quite interesting and flavourful and the puzzle and plot aspects make it more than a find-the-monster-kill-it-take-its-stuff module. Some of the fights - especially to get into the lair in the first place, are good fun (and tough). But I have tried it twice and never completed it - partly circumstance, but also the fact that we got bogged down in the big dungeon. But I don't like big dungeons, and maybe you and your players do, so take what I say with a pinch of salt.
So some friends and I are starting yet another party, and we're looking for a good (preferably GREAT) adventure in which to run a 3.5 game. I keep hearing people talk about Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil as one of the all-time greats. In that regard, I have a few questions.
1: The only format in which I can find the original Temple of Elemental Evil is a video game. Was it ever published in a playable 3.5 format?
2: Do I have to have knowledge of the original Temple of Elemental Evil to REALLY enjoy the Return?
3: Just how good IS Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil?
Thanks in advance guys!
1) No, it was never published in 3.5 format, but most of the encounters work just as easily (for my group, anyway). There's one or two encounters that I modified, as the monsters in said encounters were super-powerful.
2) The ToEE computer game was fun, but it does take a few liberties with the characters (Prince Thrommel is, for example, not a CG Fighter, but is in fact a LG paladin)... Fragarach (his sword) is another thing altogether, but I'll only get into that if you really want to. Also, the Citadel/Circle of Eight did not exist during the first rise of the temple. There's not a lot of discrepancy though. I'd say you probably have enough knowledge to get a good deal of enjoyment out of it, though.
3) My players quite liked the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, as much of the older ToEE stuff is referenced, and they were able to say "I remember that". I also ran it with another group at the university, all of whom did not have previous experience with it, and they still had a blast. I'd say it's one of the better pre-generated adventures I've ever run. I highly recommend it. However, I am a Greyhawk geek, and that may be biasing me a bit.
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1. No, but converting it wouldn't be difficult or particularly time-consuming.
2. Not really. Having said that, it is definitely worth it to get a PDF and read through it, just to get a feel for the material. For example, my old PCs found and rescued Thrommel, so that was changed in RttToEE.
3. It is very, very good. I made a ton of side treks when I DMed it (more stuff in the ruins of the Old Temple, two separate satelite temples, an adaption of the old Lost temple of Tharizdun and the WotC web enhancement) and also made the Outer Temple more dynamic, but it stands up well on its own. It has some great locations, and the villains are supremely creepy. Only complaint is that 95% of the action takes place underground - mixing it up a bit would have been good. Also, get a copy of the Book of vile darkness for extra-nasty NPCs.