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## D&D Classics: Temple of Elemental Evil

A sinister force, long thought destroyed, stirs from the black hole that
spawned it. Like an ebony darkness it prowls the land and safety is but an
illusion, for it watches from every shadow and ponders possibilities.

What began years ago, with the introduction of the players to the quiet
village of Hommlet and the amazing lands of Greyhawk, at last is complete.
Here is the long-awaited campaign adventure, featuring the ruins of the Temple
of Elemental Evil, where a great evil broods and grows beneath its blasted
stones. This is your chance to drive it back and scatter its force again.

This product includes the village of Hommlet, the filthy shire of Nulb, and
reveals the ruins of the Temple of Elemental Evil and the labyrinths that lie
beneath, a warren of darkness. And beyond these ruins, even more is revealed.

For the first time, this product provides a complete campaign adventure, which
will take beginning characters from 1st all the way to 8th level and possibly
beyond! Hours of adventuring await you!

Product History

T1-4: The Temple of Elemental Evil(1985), by Gary Gygax and Frank Mentzer, was
published in August 1985 as part of what might have been AD&D’s biggest year
ever for the publication of majorbooks.

The Long Wait. The first part of this mega-adventure was published years
earlier as T1: “The Village of Hommlet”(1979). That adventure into Hommlet’s
Moathouse set up an expedition to the Temple itself, and the expectation was
that TSR would publish what was being called “T2: The Temple of Elemental
Evil” just a short time later. Unfortunately, as early as 1980, Gygax reported
that the adventure was delayed. It would in fact be six years after “Hommlet”
before the Temple finally appeared.

Part of the problem was with Gygax’s design of the Temple itself. He’d run it
as his house campaign mainly to explore ideas about random dungeon generation.
However, he didn’t feel that the random dungeon he’d created was appropriate
for a published adventure, so he thought it would have to be redone. Tension
over this work probably increased when T1: “Village of Hommlet” received
considerable critical acclaim. Now, Gygax had to both recreate the Temple and
do it at a level of quality that matched its already well-regarded
predecessor.

The other problem was Gygax’s role at TSR. From 1979 onward, he was
increasingly doing business development and management, leaving him less room
for creativity. He recognized this by creating a Design department, but he
wasn’t willing to turn the Temple over to them — so it sat and waited (not
unlike the Temple in the adventure itself). The likelihood of Hommlet’s
successor being produced decreased even more in 1982, when Gygax was
effectively exiled to the West Coast by the Blume brothers.

The “Do or Die” Year. In 1984, TSR, then under the Blume brothers, took a hard
stumble, and Gygax came rushing back. Returning to TSR, he found the company a
million and a half dollars in debt. To help correct the deficit and get TSR
back on his feet, Gygax proposed five major releases – four of which would
bear his name as a creator. T1-4: The Temple of Elemental Evilwas one of these
five projects.

The Format. Temple was published as a “super module,” a format used for the
first time a month earlier by Lankhmar: City of Adventures(1985). The 128-page
book was 2 to 4 times the size of any of TSR’s adventures to date, and it also
included a 16-page map book that a GM could use to easily cross-reference
locations with details. The format would continue to be used in the years
afterward for TSR’s most prestigious adventure releases.

The Adventure Continues. Templeforms the start of a major Greyhawk adventure
path, which continues in two more super modules, A1-4: Scourge of the Slave
Lords(1986) and GDQ1-7: Queen of the Spiders(1986). Though connected, they
weren’t as closely knit as the adventure paths later created from their ashes
by Paizo in the pages of Dungeon.

Ironically, you can probably trace the origins of adventure paths back to the
original GDQ adventures (1978-1980). However, the new “TAGDQ path” formed a
much more extended campaign of the sort that had originated with TSR’s own
Dragonlance saga (1984-1986) and DGP’s “Grand Tour” for Traveller(1985-1989).

About the Creators. “The Village of Hommlet” was entirely the creation of Gary
Gygax. He also gave Frank Mentzer what has been described as “200-300 pages of
notes” on the Temple; from that source, Mentzer created the finished
adventure. While Mentzer was working on Temple, he was one of the major
designers at TSR. He was right in the middle of producing the BECMI edition of
Basic D&D (1983-1986), and he’d already been picked to lead the work on AD&D
Second Edition. As it happens, Mentzer never got to work on 2e; instead, he
joined Gygax in forming New Infinities Productions in October 1986.

Converted by: Mike Wilson

Released on June 18, 2019. Designed for Fantasy Grounds version 3.3.7 and
higher.

Requires: An active subscription or a one time purchase of a Fantasy Grounds
Full or Ultimate license and a one time purchase of the 2E ruleset.

Fantasy Grounds – D&D Classics: Temple of Elemental Evil (1E)