The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun

Greyhawk Source

The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun
Type:	Adventure module
Code/Abbreviation:	WG4 or TSR9065
Edition:	AD&D 1e
Author(s):	Gary Gygax
Cover Artist(s):	Karen Nelson
Series:	S4, WG series
First Published:	October 1982
Pages:	32
ISBN:	0-88038-002-0
Class:	Officially published material

The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun is an adventure for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, set in the World of Greyhawk campaign setting. The module bears the code WG4 and was published by TSR, Inc. in 1982 for the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules. Because it is one of the WG modules, it is a module intended for the World of Greyhawk campaign setting.

The adventure is a loosely connected sequel to module S4. It is a combined wilderness and dungeon adventure set in the Southern Yatil Mountains focused on a temple dedicated to the evil and insane Greyhawk god Tharizdun. The module was written by Gary Gygax with artwork by Karen Nelson.

Plot summary

The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun starts with an incident from S4 The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. The PCs discover the temple while trailing a gang of norkers from the caverns. The PCs search hazardous mountain passes to find the lair of the monsters inside the temple. The adventurers are drawn into the story by a gnomish community and travel to the temple. After battling their way in, the PCs explore the temple chambers, which contain mundane creatures and new monsters from the Fiend Folio (1e). This segment of the module is similar to many other of TSR's AD&D dungeon crawls including those of the S1-S4 series which precedes this module.

During their exploration, the characters may reach the chambers of the temple in which religious rituals were performed, and risk insanity and death as they contact remnants of the worship of the imprisoned god Tharizdun. To progress further the characters must enact portions of the rituals of worship of Tharizdun, traveling into a dark and freezing underground subtemple, and magically opening an inner sanctum called the "Black Cyst." Having advanced this far the characters are likely to be driven insane, killed outright, or permanently trapped within the underground temple.

Theme

The thematic elements of nightmare and insanity, which are introduced when the PCs are exposed to the evil influence of Tharizdun's temple, bring Lovecraftian horror to Dungeons & Dragons, and not for the first time. The concept of a trapped, malevolent god, intent upon the destruction of all that is, harkens to the dark and insane Great Old Ones of H.P. Lovecraft's fiction. In his comprehensive article on the topic of Lovecraftian influence on D&D, "The Shadow Over D&D", James Jacobs says of The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun and Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, "Tharizdun[...] obviously owes his pedigree to Lovecraft."

Reception

Jim Bambra reviewed The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun for White Dwarf, and gave it 9 out of 10 overall. Bambra noted that "The Temple is brought to life excellently and contains plenty for players to think about, gaining entry requires good tactical play and an imaginative approach is needed to fathom out the Temple's hidden secrets."

Lawrence Schick, in his 1991 book Heroic Worlds, criticized the module's cover as "the worst cover of any TSR AD&D module, a morass of colored blobs."

The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun was ranked the 23rd greatest Dungeons & Dragons adventure of all time by Dungeon magazine in 2004, for their celebration of the 30th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons.

Other recognition

A copy of The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun is held in the collection of the Strong National Museum of Play (object 110.1944).

Publication history

The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun was written by Gary Gygax and published by TSR in 1982 as a 32-page booklet with two outer folders. It was given the code WG4 (World of Greyhawk #4), although adventures WG1, WG2 and WG3 did not exist. (The Village of Hommlet and its sequel Temple of Elemental Evil were originally to be given the codes WG1 and WG2, but instead were designated T1 and T2. Likewise Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth was originally designated WG3, but eventually was published as S4.) Gygax wanted to produce the adventure quickly, and to save time used freelance artist Karen Nelson to produce the module's art rather than waiting for TSR's design department. The adventure is a loosely connected sequel to module S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, and can be used with or without it. It is a combined wilderness and dungeon adventure set in the Southern Yatil Mountains, focused on a temple dedicated to the evil and insane Greyhawk god Tharizdun. A future work was promised to develop the plot from this adventure further, but was never published.

Contents

Blurb

"This special module is a combined wilderness and dungeon adventure scenario. It contains background information, referee's notes, encounter keys, outdoor and dungeon level maps, and new monsters and treasures. While it is designed to interface with THE LOST CAVERNS OF TSOJCANTH, this module is capable of standing alone. Likewise, while it is played within the Greyhawk Campaign, it can easily be adapted to play in any individual campaign which employs the ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS^TM game system"

Art

• Karen Nelson: Griffin^(p.7), Heraldry of the Rotting Eye Tribe^(p.9), Littered Quarter^(p.13), Quaal's Feather Token^(p.15), Writhing columns^(p.18), Norker^(p.21), Annis^(p.31), Bead of Force^(p.32), Grell^(Backcover)

Characters

• Groog, Mountain giant leader of the temple forces.^(p.4,16,27)
• Gwaylar, Laird of Gnome Vale and Uvalnoniz Clan^(p.3)
• An unnamed noble from the Kettish Family Aldeen^(p.20)
• Teldroll Storis, a mountain dwarf fighter/thief 9/10^(p.20)
• Wongas, the last High Priest of Tharizdun, now a Coffer Corpse^(p.26)

Creatures

• Aarakocra^(p.6-7)
• Annis^(p.15,31)
• Bear^(p.5)
• Boar^(p.5-6)
• Boggart^(p.23,31)
• Brown Mold^(p.19)
• Caryatd Column^(p.26)
• Coffer Corpse^(p.26)
• Dragon, Brass^{(p.7 Mentioned)}
• Dwarf^(p.20)
• Ear Seekers^(p.25)
• Giant, Hill^{(p.5-6,10,12,14)}
• Giant, Mountain^(p.12-13,16)
• Gnoll^{(p.11-12,18,22)}
• Gnome^(p.3)
• Grell ^(p.25)
• Griffon^(p.7)
• Guardian Daemon^(p.25)
• Human^(p.20)
• Lamia^(p.7-8)
• Leucrotta^(p.7)
• Lion, Mountain^(p.6)
• Lynx, Giant^(p.6)
• Meazel^(p.27)
• Norker^{(p.5-6,10-12,14-15,18,20-21)}
• Ogre^{(p.5-6,10,12,16-17,20-22)}
• Orc^(p.8)
  • Half-Orc/Hobgoblin^(p.8)
• Otyugh^(p.24)
• Shadow Demon^(p.28)
• Spider, Huge^(p.22)
• Stag, Giant^(p.6)
• Stunjelly^(p.24)
• Troll^{(p.5-6,10-12,15,20)}
• Troll, Giant^(p.12,19)
• Wolf^(p.5-6)
• Wolf, Dire^(p.17)

Items

• Wand of Force- a wand that can be used as a sword and to cast Wall of Force and Bigby's Forceful Hand.^(p.32)
• Bead of Force- a bead that can be used to cause damage and trap creatures within a sphere^(p.32)

Locations

• Ket^(p.6)
• Perrenland^(p.6)
• Yatils
  • Gnome Vale^(p.3)

Organizations

• Family Aldeen, Ketite prisoners found in cell^(p.20)
• Jagged Knife Clan, orcs^(p.8)
  • Rotting Eye Tribe^(p.8)
• Uvalnoniz Clan, gnomes^(p.3)

Appendix

Trivia

The original players of this campaign were Luke Gygax, Mike Olson, Sonny Savage, Richard Kuntz, and Mitch Preston, with Gary Gygax as Dungeon Master.^(p.30)

External links

Disclaimer:Any lore presented through the following links does not necessarily adhere to established officially published content, and the views expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the editors of this wiki.

• World of Greyhawk Series (WG4 - 12) at The Acaeum
• The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun at the TSR Archive
• Articles: RPGGeek, RPG.Net, DriveThruRPG, Acaeum, TSR Archive
• Reviews: Merric's Musings, GreyhawkGrognard, Grognardia, SwordsandStichery
• Think Pieces: LordoftheGreenDragons, Greytalkarchives,
• Forum Posts: RPG.Net- Expanding/Salvaging The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun, (1st/Second ed) Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, Temple of Tharizdun, Wilderness Adventure, Enworld- Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun- your experiences? Dragonsfoot- Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun

References

Bibliography

• Bambra, Jim. "Open Box." White Dwarf #44. London: Games Workshop, 1983.
• Gygax, Gary. The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1982.
• Jacobs, James. "The Shadow Over D&D: Lovecraft's Influence on Dungeons & Dragons." Dragon #324. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2004.
• Erik Mona, James Jacobs, et al. "The 30 Greatest D&D Adventures of All Time." Dungeon #116. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2004.

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Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index

The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.

Topic	Type	Description	Product	Page/Card/Image
The Forgotten temple	Adventure	Located in: Great Kingdom,	The Rod of Seven Parts: Reference Cards
WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun	Adventure	Located in: Yatils,	Dragon magazine #059	6
WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun	Adventure	Located in: Yatils,	Dragon magazine #241	95
WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun	Adventure	Located in: Yatils,	Dungeon magazine #041	57
WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun	Adventure	Located in: Yatils,	From the Ashes: Atlas of the Flanaess	73
WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun	Adventure	Located in: Yatils,	Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, D&D 3.0e	3
WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun	Adventure	Located in: Yatils,	WG5 Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure	16
WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun	Adventure	Located in: Yatils,	World of Greyhawk boxed set (1983)	40