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{{Italic title}}
{{Source
{{Source| fgcolor=|
|name            = ''The Temple of''<br>''Elemental Evil''
image=[[Image:Temple of Elemental Evil00.jpg]]|
|image           = [[Image:Temple of Elemental Evil00.jpg]]
caption=|
|caption         = The cover of ToEE, art by Keith Parkinson.
|type             = Adventure
name=''The Temple of''<br>
|code             = T1-4 (TSR9147)
''Elemental Evil''|
|edition         = First edition
type=Adventure module|
|author           = [[Gary Gygax]] and [[Frank Mentzer]]
code=T1-4|
|editor          = Ed Carmien, Bruce Heard, Harold Johnson, Thad Russell, Steve Winter
edition=first edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons''|
|cover_artist    = Keith Parkinson
author=[[Gary Gygax]] and [[Frank Mentzer]]|
|inter_artist    = Jeff Butler, Clyde Caldwell, Jeff Easley, Larry Elmore, Keith Parkinson, Dave Trampier<br>{{smallcaps|Cartography}}: Dave Sutherland
first published=1985|
|series           = [[The Temple of Elemental Evil|T1-4]], [[Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil]]
series=[[The Temple of Elemental Evil|T1-4]], [[Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil]]|
|publisher        = [[TSR]]
class=Canon
|first published  = 1985
|pages            = 128
|isbn            = 394-54870-1
|class           = Official content
|setting_date    =  
}}
}}
:''This article is about the adventure module. For the Temple itself, see [[Temple of Elemental Evil]]. For other uses, see [[Temple of Elemental Evil (disambiguation)]].


'''''The Temple of Elemental Evil''''' is an adventure module for the ''[[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). ''The Temple of Elemental Evil'' is also the title of a related 2001 Thomas M. Reid novel and an Atari computer game. The term is also used to refer to the fictional Temple itself.
:''This article is about the adventure. For the Temple itself, see [[Temple of Elemental Evil]]. For other uses, see [[Temple of Elemental Evil (disambiguation)]].
 
'''''The Temple of Elemental Evil''''' is an adventure for the ''[[World of Greyhawk]]'' campaign setting. The adventure 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 adventure, ''[[The Village of Hommlet]]'' (TSR, 1979). ''The Temple of Elemental Evil'' is also the title of a related 2001 Thomas M. Reid novel and an Atari computer game. The term is also used to refer to the fictional Temple itself.


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


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


The T1 standalone module, and thus also the first part of T1-4, culminates at a ruined moathouse where agents secretly plan to re-enter the Temple and free the demoness [[Zuggtmoy]], who is imprisoned therein. In the next section of T1-4, the adventurers move on to the nearby village 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 to interact with its many denziens and test their mettle against Zuggtmoy herself.
The T1 standalone adventure, and thus also the first part of T1-4, culminates at a ruined moathouse where agents secretly plan to re-enter the Temple and free the demoness [[Zuggtmoy]], who is imprisoned therein. In the next section of T1-4, the adventurers move on to the nearby village 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 to interact with its many denziens and test their mettle against Zuggtmoy herself.


==Publishing history==
==Publishing history==
''The Temple of Elemental Evil'' was originally intended to bear the module code T2 and serve as a true sequel to ''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 Temple of Elemental Evil'' was originally intended to bear the adventure code T2 and serve as a true sequel to ''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 adventure 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 adventure code T1-4.


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.
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.


==Related publications==
==Related publications==
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.  
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 adventure 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.
The novel received both positive and negative reviews. One common criticism was that the pacing felt rushed and that entire sections of the original adventure 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 adventure'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 third Edition module ''[[Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil]]''.
Wizards of the Coast also published a sequel to the T1-4 adventure in 2001, the third edition adventure ''[[Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil]]''.


==Computer game==
==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 (third 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.
In 2003 a computer game, ''The Temple of Elemental Evil'', based on the original T1-4 adventure 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 (third 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.


==Bibliography==
== References ==
=== Notes ===
<references group="note" />
=== Citations ===
<references />
=== Bibliography ===
*Cain, Tim. ''[[The Temple of Elemental Evil (computer game)|The Temple of Elemental Evil]]''. New York: Atari, 2003.
*Cain, Tim. ''[[The Temple of Elemental Evil (computer game)|The Temple of Elemental Evil]]''. New York: Atari, 2003.
*[[Cook, Monte]]. ''[[Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil]]''. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2001.
*[[Cook, Monte]]. ''[[Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil]]''. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2001.
*[[Gygax, E. Gary]]. "More 'Meat' for [[Greyhawk]]." ''[[Dragon (magazine)|Dragon]]'' #55. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1981.
*[[Gygax, E. Gary]]. "More 'Meat' for [[Greyhawk]]." ''[[Dragon (magazine)|Dragon]]'' #55. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1981.
*-----. ''[[The Village of Hommlet]]''. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1979.
:———. ''[[The Village of Hommlet]]''. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1979.
 
*[[Gygax, E. Gary]], and [[Frank Mentzer]]. ''[[The Temple of Elemental Evil]]''. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1985.
*[[Gygax, E. Gary]], and [[Frank Mentzer]]. ''[[The Temple of Elemental Evil]]''. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1985.
*[[Erik Mona]], [[James Jacobs]], et al. "The 30 Greatest D&D Adventures of All Time." ''[[Dungeon]]'' #116. 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.
*[[Reid, Thomas M.]] ''[[The Temple of Elemental Evil (novel)|The Temple of Elemental Evil]]''. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2001.
*[[Reid, Thomas M.]] ''[[The Temple of Elemental Evil (novel)|The Temple of Elemental Evil]]''. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2001.


Line 57: Line 62:
{{External link disclaimer}}
{{External link disclaimer}}
* ''[http://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/modpages/t.html T1 - The Village of Hommlet]'' at The Acaeum.
* ''[http://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/modpages/t.html T1 - The Village of Hommlet]'' at The Acaeum.
* ''[http://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/modpages/super.html Supermodules]'' at The Acaeum (includes information on T1-4, A1-4, and GDQ1-7).
* ''[http://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/modpages/super.html Superadventures]'' at The Acaeum (includes information on T1-4, A1-4, and GDQ1-7).


* ''[http://home.flash.net/~brenfrow/dd1/t1-alt.htm The Village of Hommlet]'' at the TSR Archive.
* ''[http://home.flash.net/~brenfrow/dd1/t1-alt.htm The Village of Hommlet]'' at the TSR Archive.
Line 64: Line 69:
* ''[http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=showbook&bookid=2760 The Village of Hommlet]'' at Pen & Paper.
* ''[http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=showbook&bookid=2760 The Village of Hommlet]'' at Pen & Paper.
* ''[http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=showbook&bookid=2050 The Temple of Elemental Evil]'' at Pen & Paper.
* ''[http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=showbook&bookid=2050 The Temple of Elemental Evil]'' at Pen & Paper.
{{index|title=Temple of Elemental Evil}}


 
[[Category:Adventures]]
[[Category:Canonical sources|Temple of Elemental Evil]]{{index}}
[[Category:Canonical sources|Temple of Elemental Evil]]

Latest revision as of 11:01, 18 December 2024

Greyhawk Source
The Temple of
Elemental Evil
The cover of ToEE, art by Keith Parkinson.
Type: Adventure
Code/Abbreviation: T1-4 (TSR9147)
Edition: First edition
Author(s): Gary Gygax and Frank Mentzer
Editor(s): Ed Carmien, Bruce Heard, Harold Johnson, Thad Russell, Steve Winter
Cover Artist(s): Keith Parkinson
Interior Artist(s): Jeff Butler, Clyde Caldwell, Jeff Easley, Larry Elmore, Keith Parkinson, Dave Trampier
Cartography: Dave Sutherland
Series: T1-4, Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil
Publisher: TSR
First Published: 1985
Pages: 128
ISBN: 394-54870-1
Class: Official content
This article is about the adventure. For the Temple itself, see Temple of Elemental Evil. For other uses, see Temple of Elemental Evil (disambiguation).

The Temple of Elemental Evil is an adventure for the World of Greyhawk campaign setting. The adventure 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 adventure, The Village of Hommlet (TSR, 1979). The Temple of Elemental Evil is also the title of a related 2001 Thomas M. Reid novel and an Atari computer game. The term is also used to refer to the fictional Temple itself.

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

Plot

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

The T1 standalone adventure, and thus also the first part of T1-4, culminates at a ruined moathouse where agents secretly plan to re-enter the Temple and free the demoness Zuggtmoy, who is imprisoned therein. In the next section of T1-4, the adventurers move on to the nearby village 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 to interact with its many denziens and test their mettle against Zuggtmoy herself.

Publishing history

The Temple of Elemental Evil was originally intended to bear the adventure code T2 and serve as a true sequel to 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 adventure 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 adventure code T1-4.

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.

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 adventure 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 adventure 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 adventure'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 third edition adventure Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil.

Computer game

In 2003 a computer game, The Temple of Elemental Evil, based on the original T1-4 adventure 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 (third 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.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

———. The Village of Hommlet. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1979.

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.

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

Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil Adventure Located in: Verbobonc, Dragon magazine #292 95
Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil Adventure Located in: Verbobonc, Living Greyhawk Journal #4 2
Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil (D&D 3.0e) Adventure Located in: Verbobonc, Caves of Ancient Secrets: RttToEE Web Enhancement, D&D 3.0e 1, 11
Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil (D&D 3.0e) Adventure Located in: Verbobonc, Dragon magazine #347 34
Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil (D&D 3.0e) Adventure Located in: Verbobonc, Dragon magazine #356 18
Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil (D&D 3.0e) Adventure Located in: Verbobonc, Into The Unknown: The Dungeon Survival Handbook, D&D 4e 111
T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil Adventure Located in: Verbobonc, Dragon magazine #200 69-71
T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil Adventure Located in: Verbobonc, Dragon magazine #212 19, 20
T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil Adventure Located in: Verbobonc, Dragon magazine #347 34
T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil Adventure Located in: Verbobonc, Into The Unknown: The Dungeon Survival Handbook, D&D 4e 111
T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil Adventure Located in: Verbobonc, From the Ashes: Atlas of the Flanaess 73
T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil Adventure Located in: Verbobonc, GDQ1-7 Queen of the Spiders 3, 5
T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil Adventure Located in: Verbobonc, Living Greyhawk, Living Onnwal Gazetteer, D&D 3.5e 5
T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil Adventure Located in: Verbobonc, Manual of the Planes, AD&D 1e 3
T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil Adventure Located in: Verbobonc, Return of the Eight 56
T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil Adventure Located in: Verbobonc, Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, D&D 3.0e 3
T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil Adventure Located in: Verbobonc, WG8 Fate of Istus 69, 93
T2 Temple of Elemental Evil Adventure Located in: Verbobonc, Dragon magazine #037 11
T2 Temple of Elemental Evil Adventure Located in: Verbobonc, Dragon magazine #055 17
T2 Temple of Elemental Evil Adventure Located in: Verbobonc, Dragon magazine #059 6
Temple of Elemental Evil Building Reference SEE Elemental Evil, Temple of
The Temple of Elemental Evil - Greyhawk Classics Book 4 Publication Novel, Into The Unknown: The Dungeon Survival Handbook, D&D 4e 111
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