The Temple of Elemental Evil: The Long-Awaited Sequel | D&D Walkthroughs

hello and welcome to DM it all the show where we talk about D&D books and tabletop gaming history in our last episode we discussed the village of Hamlet that iconic module was the first adventure for a lot of old-school D&D players we recommend you check out that video before this one as we don't have time to do a recap because now we're diving into Hamlet's sequel the Temple of Elemental Evil if you've been paralyzed by a ghoul and you can't click away right now all you need to know from the Hamlet module is that there is an evil temple created to worship the destructive power of the elements the temple is always intended to be the main course to Hamlet's bite-sized appetizer and despite that most AD&D players were familiar with Hamlet a much smaller percentage ended up playing the Temple of Elemental Evil this was because the sequels delayed for around six years before it was finally released most people just weren't willing to wait that long in order to continue their campaigns even though Gygax would have preferred to work on adventures all day his responsibilities that TSR grew with the Indies popularity Gygax soon realized that he would never have the time to finish the Temple of Elemental Evil all by his lonesome so he handed his notes over to Frank mincer his creative adviser mincer at this point had already worked on numerous modules for the RPG a aka the role-playing games association the RPG a was founded in 1980 by mentor himself it was created as a way to organize D&D tournaments with an increased emphasis on role-playing instead of just getting through dungeons the modern equivalent is the D&D adventures leaked by Wizards of the coast Mentzer was also known for creating the third revision of the basic D&D rules in 1984 so it was clear Gygax wasn't handing off writing duties to some nobody Gygax even worked closely with Menzer and the project as a whole is based on Gog axis original campaign notes the temple was released in 1986 as a quote-unquote super adventure this was a new format that would help set the stage for modern adventures modules until this point were typically 35 pages and it would usually take multiple modules to create a full campaign the temple on the other hand was 135 pages and it told an epic narrative all by itself due to its massive scope our video series on the temple is going to be broken into two parts and we still won't be able to cover every aspect in extreme detail for example the first floor of the temple alone is double the size of Hamlet's entire dungeon section the Temple of Elemental Evil was released alongside two other super adventures scourge of the slave Lords and queen of the spiders unlike elemental evil these two books were collection of previously successful modules the modules included in those books already linked together to form a campaign but this was the first time that players could get the whole story in one package the Temple of Elemental Evil is the only member of this trio to be composed a mostly new material Hamlet is the only recycled content and it is essentially the same as the original module outside of some formatting differences these three super adventures formed an official Grayhawk campaign that was run at tournaments the Temple of Elemental Evil served as the intro to this campaign while the queen of spiders was the finale well the temple doesn't invoke the same level of nostalgia as Hamlet it still got a lot of attention over the years probably at least partially because Hamlet is included in this super adventure the Temple of Elemental Evil is often ranked as one of the greatest modules of all time and it received sequels in both the third and fifth edition of D&D it also got adapted into a video game a board game a novel and an expansion for Dungeons & Dragons online outside of the tomb of Horrors has probably gotten the most attention out of any Gygax module and for good reason even if many players never delved its depths it's definitely an iconic adventure [Laughter] [Music] as always this walkthrough will have spoilers for the module if you want to avoid them they should actually skip this video entirely as we've said we'll be sliding up the Temple of Elemental Evil into two videos check out part 2 when it comes out for a spoiler free final thoughts as we venture forth into the temple of Elemental Evil it's important to note the differences in writing styles between the temple and Hamlet nowadays it's common for adventures to include scripted text for the DM to read out loud it helps set the stage as well as establish mood Hamlet was created before scripted text was really a concept so was up to the DM to articulate any location descriptions the gap between Hamlet and the temple was when scripted text became popular but it's also when scripted text became greatly overused this is a downside for the expository scenes as they drag on literally for entire pages these are paragraphs that the DM must read at the players without interruption well it can be prolonged in dull this style works well for describing locations without a creative DM dungeons could end up feeling like an erratic series of encounters rather than actual living environments for the bad guys the Temple of Elemental Evil uses its lengthy descriptions to avoid that trend and make every room feel believable there are numerous things that the party can observe that have no impact on gameplay like enemy arts and crafts projects or abandoned construction assignments a lot of the time though the text is just needlessly counting out how many barrels and coat hooks are in each room yet even when the descriptions are excessive they unexpectedly add a lot of atmosphere in tension with so much detail it's impossible to immediately determine what is or isn't important as well as what is or isn't dangerous the transition from the Hamlet portion of the book the Temple of Elemental evil begins with the nearby village of Knoll as we mentioned in our hamlet review Nova's a neighboring town that serves as a haven for low-lives it's a filthy smelly place with aging buildings made of cheap wood it's too poor and run down to even attract the attention of local governments which is why it's been allowed to fester until now it's an interesting locale that set a module in but there unfortunately isn't enough to it nope feels super bare-bones compared to its more intricate cousin Hamlet only four buildings are described in any comprehensive manner with the expectation being that the DM will fill in the rest it's not uncommon for early D&D towns to feel unfinished but nope is still better than most villages from this era no but at least as a map to use as a starting point even if most of the buildings are empty but that doesn't stop no from feeling like a letdown it's a shame because a shady and rundown community has a lot of potential for colorful locales happenings and NPCs know naturally invites the players to interact with it in a way that the humble village of hamlet really didn't but the location no does set up an interesting tactical question for the players though the Temple of Elemental evils right outside of town making know of a convenient resting point between dungeon visits but also a questionable home base do the players spend a full day heading to Hamlet and back risking random encounters or do they take their chances in no the town doesn't contain a lot of spies for the Temple of Elemental evil but it is overrun with potential thieves the party will easily be one of the richest groups within nope and they'll only become bigger targets over time luckily for them not everyone in no biz a threat though notice the town blacksmith is actually the brother of Elmo from Hamlet Elmo was secretly an undercover Rangers serving the nearby city of verba bonk Otis is also an undercover operative but he serves the city of Valona instead as a level 10 Ranger Lord the blacksmith is one of the few marked locations in Nome along with the in the tavern and the herb shop ian is run by temple spies while the tavern is run by pirates the herb shop is run by two old rude and ugly ladies named mother skrang and her Oda this pair is legitimately old rude and ugly but their identities are faked in reality her Oda is an ally of ODIs namer files and mother spring is actually canon Asiya day today is the head of the Saint Cuthbert Church in Hamlet but has also been assigned an undercover mission by the city of Valona these undercover voluma agents will request Horseman's for Hamlet if things turn dire but they'll hesitate to actually join with the party Otis is the only spy willing to venture into the temple at all and it would only be for a limited amount of time the spies are supposedly afraid of blowing their cover too early but their time limit is really so the party doesn't rely too much on these high-level NPCs [Laughter] [Music] after the party has seen everything nope has to offer they can finally move on to the Temple of Elemental Evil the most important thing to note about this dungeon are the factions there are ton of different factions working against each other within the Temple of Elemental evil but the most prominent ones are based on the actual elements fire water earth and air each have different high priests and they're all scheming against each other to become the leader of the lesser temple with the greater temple serving under the final boss of the dungeon it might seem weird that the elemental priests can never really take full control of the temple of Elemental Evil but the purpose of the greater temple below will become more obvious in our second video the lesser temple is currently run by the water high priest who tries his best to sow chaos amongst the other temples the fire a high priests used to be in charge but he has lost a lot of standing after the Temple of Elemental Evil suffered its first major defeat a decade prior well earth is technically the lowest in the pecking order it's really the air temple that's in the most dire straits only a single air priest remains live after all the temple infighting all of these priests are literally evil people and they aren't playing a game of polite politics the temple leaders plan to wipe out the members of their rival factions and they'll take whatever allies they can muster towards the plan this is an important aspect of the Temple of Elemental evil because players aren't really expected to hack and slash their way through this dungeon the temple is more like an intricate and hostile underground town rather than a video game dungeon that must be cleared floor by floor the temple factions are more like tools to be used by the party rather than goals to be conquered the party can use the elementals civil war to their advantage or they can simply sneak past everyone altogether the real objective becomes learning more about the temple and the most efficient way to destroy it in fact the difficulty will quickly ramp up if the party goes on a mindless killing spree the dungeon is meant for levels 1 through 8 but even high-level characters who have difficulty hacking and slashing their way to the end there are two main entrances into the temple one is the ruined watchtower nearby if the party just charges through here they'll immediately engage in an unfavorable bro against 26 fighters and if the party does manage to turn the tide of battle the enemy leader will activate a trap rocks will fall on top of the party and everyone will be stunned as well as blinded by the resulting dust the party reward for surviving or bypassing this fight is access to the enemy leaders xscape tunnel this tunnel has a secret entrance of the temples third floor so the party successfully unlocks this route they can basically speedrun this dungeon in a matter of hours we'll discuss that more in our second video but for the sake of our walkthrough we'll take the more conventional approach that means ignoring this broken tower and using the temples main entrance instead if our heroes try the front doors they likely won't be able to use them as they've been magically sealed by the forces of good the massive bronze doors are inscribed with runes that will force approaching characters to make a saving thrill if party members fail the saving throw they will actively avoid these runes forever being unable to get physically close to them this effect remains even when they encounter similar ruins deeper within the temple there are numerous sealed doors like this and the heroes will have to make a saving throw each time even if the party manages to resist this effect the doors will still require superhuman strength to open and if the heroes do manage to force their way through the doors will be destroyed as soon as they are breached well it might sound like an awesome moment for the party it's kind of not great because these doors are meant to seal in the final boss if the party goes on to destroy the three other seals they will accidentally release the evil out into the world to gain entry to the temple it is better for the party to break one of the neighboring smaller a doors the top floor of the temple itself will be completely devoid of scripted encounters while there are random battles they mostly occur at night if the party risks camping out and sleeping here aside from that this chapel area is mostly here to build atmosphere in the dim quiet the party will find several altars that were clearly used for torture and ritual sacrifice the wall art glorify these and other horrific acts that the temple forces have committed a throne made a basal sits all the way in the back of the temple resting on different colored tiles this is clearly a puzzle of some sort but the party will probably not be able to solve it until much later for now the heroes should descend down to the dungeon levels there are two staircases on the side that lead to the first floor dungeon and a larger central staircase that leads to the second floor yep the party can skip the entire first floor if they wanted in general this is a rather nonlinear dungeon and there are numerous paths the party can take as the party explores the first dungeon level they will eventually notice a common complaint about this adventure for a dungeon called the Temple of Elemental evil there is not much elemental evil going on this dungeon incorporates some elemental features but it's not what many people would consider an elemental dungeon you can also remove the elemental theme entirely from this adventure and it would only change a handful of rooms things get more elementally towards the end of the dungeon but even those parts are not mandatory for completing this adventure this fact might be a good or bad thing depending on your point of view elemental dungeons are kind of cliche nowadays thanks to the popularity of franchises like Zelda and Final Fantasy so the temple is unique in regards to its elemental restraint but that unfortunately also makes it a fairly standard D&D adventure at least in terms of its monsters as well as the environmental trappings the floor with the earth temple for example feels like an expanded version of the moat house dungeon it even has a similar progression with the party fighting undead at the start before moving on to humanoid soldiers near the end in general this floor is mostly made up of ghouls Knolls and humans the main selling point for this adventure shouldn't be the idea of an elemental dungeon but rather the amount of detail that Gygax and Mentzer provided this applies not only to the environments but also the enemies for example the dungeon rooms on this floor are close enough that fight in one room can easily alert nearby enemies but every room reacts differently to the scuffles they here some will have a man ready to alert other nearby rooms who will then join in or prepare their defenses other modules around this era would often just suggest playing the villains in a smart and believable way but the Temple of Elemental evil gives actual notes to different enemy tactics the temple even recruits new members over time as long as their faction leaders are alive there are also noticeable chains of command throughout the dungeon for almost every group even the ghouls are led by more intelligent ghouls known as guests and even the gas are bullied by a pair of larger guests there are a few oddities though like a pair of harpies that formed a symbiotic relationship with the nearby ghouls the Arby's charm characters well the ghouls run in and tag-team any potential victims but for the most part the unique monsters they appear in more limited quantities are usually pets and prisoners for the dungeon factions these include creatures such as al bears umber Hulk's and hydras if the party frees any of these abused animals the creatures were luckily just go on a violent rampage out of hunger or anger the party would be better served seeking out the more intelligent humanoid prisoners instead the party receives bonus experience for freeing these people and they can even recruit some of the prisoners to their side the earth temple is at the end of this floor and is the first place for the party we'll get some actual elemental action note that these quote-unquote temples are more like shrines rather than the gargantuan elemental temples were used to in video games these shrines also don't do much to invoke their respective elements outside of using the proper colors and imagery the earth temple goes the extra mile though as it's actually cave like enclosure composed of rock and dirt even the lighting in this area is produced by growing lichen your temple will be empty as the elemental high priests are often found instead inside their personal chambers each elemental type will have a sacrificial altar that typically contains some treasure as well as some traps the earth altar looks like a stone Step Pyramid and approaching it will cause earth elementals to rise from the nearby dirt these earth elementals are basically level 16 and the party will need +2 magic weapons to even hit them the good news is that these sentient stones will not fight the party directly instead they'll act like robots and start patrolling the area and set patterns so the party will be given a chance to flee because they'll probably die if they get too greedy the only real way a level 8 party can bypass these elementals is for someone to wear the robes of the temple high priest the robes allow the wearer to command the earth elementals but the elementals will not be able to leave the earth area which is probably for the best as well know that if you give the player an overpowered weapon they will use it to ruin your campaign [Laughter] [Music] the second floor contains the fire air and water temples yeah earth is the lowest in the hierarchy but it's the only temple to get a floor all to itself the upside is that this floor is more lavish compared to the previous one in general the rooms only get more ornate as the party heads deeper into the dungeon besides the fancy surroundings this floor also has the advantage of being patrolled by much beefier opponents such as trolls and bugbears since trolls are such strong characters in D&D all the temples are fighting for their allegiance the troll chieftain has no loyalty to any temple and he'll even join the party if they seem formidable enough but like most evil allies the troll will turn on the heroes as soon as they show any weakness the chieftain also has limited authority over the trolls since they've all been rude away by the different temple factions it's probably a better idea for the party to win over the bugbear chieftain instead but bears are not as strong as trolls but they're much more unified the party can recruit almost all the bug bears on this floor if they provide enough coin to their chieftain this is the floor that lives up to the concept of Elemental Evil the most but it's mainly due to the amount of Elemental temples here as well as the various traps within them the fire temple will mount a booming voice for any visitors who approach the altar in an incorrect manner the voice will likely alert the nearby priests and initiate combat near the altar is a fire pit with magical flames they're almost impossible to extinguish once the fire is gone the party will still need to spend some time sifting through the coals they will be rewarded for their efforts though when they find a magical locked box inside the box the players will find a +3 frost brand but reaching for it will activate a magical sight trap this trap will immediately cut off any hands reaching for the sword and it will likely destroy the sword itself ah good old Gygax the air temples less sadistic but more straight-up deadly if the player disturbs the extremely valuable brassieres on the air alter the brassieres will begin to spear out smoke if the heroes avoid choking to death after 10 rounds they will then be teleported to the air elemental plane this is a dimension suitable only for are elementals so the party will inevitably die due to the heavy winds and debris as bad as that sounds the water temple is the most brutal of all the temples as well as the most weird the design the temple itself is very unique as the rooms are filled with floating green lights they invoke an underwater feel without adding an obnoxious underwater section the temple altar features a pool filled with various offerings from cultists the party will also notice a strange statue to the south that looks like a writhing mass of underwater creatures this statue is actually a juggernaut in disguise and it will attack anyone who tampers with the nearby offerings if you've watched our previous reviews you might remember the juggernaut as an unstoppable steam roller this is the first time the juggernaut has staffs so that players can fight it instead of just wiping - an unbeatable deathtrap well juggernauts are usually portrayed as constructs this one is actually variation on the mimic the mimic being the creature that pretends to be a treasure chest in order to attack unsuspecting adventurers the juggernaut therefore can shape-shift its body to attack with eel heads crab pincers and octopus tentacles like the classic juggernaut this creature can also steamroll characters and deal a crushing amount of damage the good news is that it takes a while for the juggernaut to start rolling and as the limited movement speed in the first three rounds of combat it also has a difficult time making turns the juggernaut is not the only strange thing in this room as there are also gargoyles guarding some nearby columns these gargoyles are not real gargoyles or instead zombies wearing magical cloaks these cloaks will eventually make the we're convinced they are real gargoyle and any party member who puts one on turns into a gargoyle for all intents and purposes they will be played by the DM who then decides whether the character flies off or attacks his former friends the only way to free a character wearing the cloak is to basically kill them which is pretty obnoxious considering that characters can excellently destroy the cloaks when the zombies are still wearing them anyway the water temple continues a bit further into the next room once inside the party will see a large pool of water in the center of the floor a fish-like humanoid is chained within the pool and it will telepathically call out to the party for help you will then warn the heroes about a mosaic nearby wall this mosaic depicts the mythical octopus-like monster known as the Kraken and it serves as an alarm system of sorts if any intruder breaches the chamber the Kraken will materialize and attack them at least this is the store according to the humanoid he will insist the party rush to free him as he is the only one who can stop the Kraken in reality the Kraken store is a lie and the fisherman is an illusion this creature mentally contacting the party is actually the pool of water itself the creature is not made of literal water but is something closer to a gelatinous mousse mainly and that it eats by dissolving creatures with its acidic body this monster is incredibly intelligent and it will start mind controlling party members if they are hesitant to play along the characters will then jump into the pool and slowly be digested since this monster is nearly pure liquid it's almost impossible to damage it the party will need water-based spells like lower water and purified water to kill the creature which makes a clever yet extremely deadly boss fight if the party does some exploring on this floor they can come across some other weird rooms first there is the garbage room in case you're wondering how a dungeon disposes of its trash the dungeons waste actually gets eaten by an OT ugh a large creature that looks like a big mouth with legs and tentacles attached these monsters literally enjoy eating feces so they're right at home here the party can also come across a room with marble white floors in a cloudy mirror on the wall two angelic beings appear in this mirror and claim the room is a holy place of refuge they say it was created by the God I use when the temple originally fell this should immediately set off warning bells for anyone that knows anything about I use more on him later the angels claimed they can only appear for a brief time once every seven days and the party must hurry to gain their blessing they want to enchant the party's gear but to do so they will need to unleash a quote-unquote ray of just might no mortal would survive being in the same room as this light so the party needs to drop their gear and step out for a second of course this is just a setup the mirror is actually a magic lens disguising the true nature of the angels the Seraphim are two werewolves in a neighboring room that will quickly snatch up the party's gear as they wait outside they will then snack the now defenseless heroes as they return to the room there's also a prison area on this floor that has a cell block for each elemental type the captives here our future sacrifices for their respective element and the high priests will be furious if these are freed the party can rescue some noble elves here and be given a magic ring this ring will make the wearer friend to all unicorns this ring will also magically disappear if the wearer uses its power to abuse unicorns so it's purely for a character that really loves unicorns the more relevant features of this area though are the prison guards they served none of the elemental temples and only take orders from the lower levels this dungeon floor in general contains several soldiers that claim to serve these lower levels they usually wear black armor and they represent the greater temple faction they ignore any other arrangements that the party might make with the other groups and serve as neutral arbiters for the other factions the greater temple is also the only faction allowed on the floors below that is because the third and fourth floors are where the heroes will begin to uncover the truth behind the temple due to the popularity of Hamlet many people speculated over who created the temple and what lurked within its deepest levels a lot of theories emerged during the five-year delay between releases and some people even home-brewed their own climaxes to this adventure but in the end no one could predict the true nature of the temple nor will look deep beneath its surface [Music] [Music] you

Channel: DM It All

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Keywords: Hommlet, Temple of Elemental Evil, St. Cuthbert, Gary Gygax, Frank Mentzer, Troika Games, DDO, Neverwinter, Princes of the Apocalypse, Moathouse, Nulb, Lareth the Beautiful, Verbobonc, Critical Role, Spoony, Adventure Zone, Dice Camera Action, Lolth, Spider Queen, Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, Greyhawk

Id: WzsxwbWmjAo

Length: 26min 47sec (1607 seconds)

Published: Tue May 28 2019