Just another Gary Gygax quote from enworld concerning #toee
As for Q1 , Ask Dave Sutherland and Brian Blume about that. It was taken out of my hands by the latter when Sutherland discovered the
"Demonweb" pattern in a hand towel and talked Brian into using it as the main theme for the concluding module. I had no creative control over it.
I had hoped to get to the Elder Elemental god in a sequal to the ToEE, but...
Bah,
Based on what Gary Gygax said and my #toee investigations, I think the idea would have been 2 different routes to get to the end game.
FIRST WAY
Giant series G1 G2 G3 then drow series
D1 D2 D3
Can not get to Q1 (Gary's version) unless you get to level 4 of Temple of Elemental Evil and accidentally release the Elder Elemental God to get the 4 elemental keys to unlock the way to Q1 (Gary's version)
Seems like the end of D3 would just plop you down at level 4 of Temple of Elemental Evil and then somehow go on to Q1.
SECOND WAY
T1 Vilage of Hommlet
The Ruined Moathouse
Fight through 3 levels of the Temple of Elemental Evil
Then you get to level 4, accidentally release the Elder Elemental God to get the 4 elemental keys to unlock the way to Q1 (Gary's version)
Another quote from Gary Gygax from enworld,
Ciao John!
Dave brought into the TSR offices, then at 723 Williams St., a towel that had a marvelous design that was perfect as a demonweb, so that's how
he got into the project for creating the Q1 module. My outline for the whole was for a demi-plane outside of the Abyss, a great spiderweb with
encounters at junctions along the way to the center, Lolth's abode there in the middle. The PCs would need to gather pieces of an artifact based
on the four elements in the web in order to be able to face the demoness and send her packing back to the abyss. Of course, that would have
called back the Elder Elemental God from his place of banishment...
Being far too busy at the time to oversee the project, and as Brian Blume thought Dave's work great, I gritted my teeth and went on.
Cheers,
Gary
Going back to my theory that Temple of Elemental Evil is suppose to be Lolth and the Elder Elemental God... Does it sound crazy? Well, hah! Gary Gygax confirmed it himself in an enworld thread. ScottG asked him about the Lolth Platinum Egg and Gary replied
As you note, the shapes were repeated in the ToEE as I did intend to tie the latter into the series. Lolth was to be connected to the temple, she
the key to activation of that which would remove the imprisoning bonds from the Elder Elemental God. Of course that would have been by
unintended consequences of her actions when the PCs discovered her.
Hoiw it was all to operate was something I never did get fleshed out. This was to happen in the lower levels of the temple, the development of
which I never got around to because of my work out on the West Coast. Spending time trying to get a D&D-based film
Another clue that the Temple of Elemental Evil was suppose to have a more Drow Lolth connection is I believe the bottom level of the temple was suppose to be in the shape of a spider with a human face, like Lolth is depicted in Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits.
Another clue that may indicate that the Temple of Elemental Evil was linked to the Drow series and the Eldar Elemental God.
In G3, there is this passage
"If the drum is beaten, the chimes rung, and the triangle struck while the altar is changed, a glowing golden eye will swim into view from the stone's writhing center." and "If a second summoning of this Elder Elemental God is made within the same day, it will act as follows (d 12):"
Now compare the symbols on the chests of the warriors on the original cover of T1 The Village of Hommlet.
I have mentioned before that I have a theory that the Temple of Elemental Evil was originally suppose to be more about Drow and Tharizdun. I was reading ToEE again, and in the clue passage, the players are given a rhyme in a dream.
"The Two united, in the past,
a Place to build, and spells to cast.
Their power grew, and took the land
and people round, as they had planned.
A key without a lock they made
of gold and gems, and overlaid"
"Many now have gone to die
in water, flame, in earth, or sky.
They did not bear the key of old
that must be found-the orb of gold."
And if you read through D3 the Vault of the Drow, there is this curious passage.
"If Lolth flees, or is slain in her current form, a silvery (platinum) egg will be revealed."
"In the egg are an iron pyramid, a silver sphere, a bronze star of eight points, and a cube of pale blue crystal."
This is a similar description in ToEE
"These corridors lead to permanent magical gates, each marked by a corresponding shape already seen in the upper dungeon levels -- a circle for air, triangle for earth, square for water, and the eight-pointed fire symbol."
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The Temple of Elemental Evil: A Classic Greyhawk Adventure is now available on Steam! Originally developed by Troika Games and released in 2003, this beloved adaptation of the iconic, genre-defining DUNGEONS & DRAGONS module returns for a new generation of adventurers. Built on the 3.5 edition ruleset, The Temple of Elemental Evil challenges players to delve into the infamous dungeon, confront sinister monsters and cultists, and navigate the deadly rivalries of four elemental factions locked in...
For an adventure I never played, and probably will never play, I have spent an inordinate amount of time going over Temple of Elemental Evil. I made a color coded version of the map to show the area of influence of different factions operating in the temple.
In my revision, I am contemplating removing so many humanoid monster encounters. The bugbears in particular are numerous. I feel the dungeon lacks more "Elemental" motifs. I would put in magic circles that have bound some elementals. Throw in some mephits.
Also, since the Drow are involved, I think it should have some classic spiders encounters and made some mix of Elemental enhanced spider encounters.
Instead of zgmty, the imprisoned god is the Elder Elemental God, as referenced in the Giant/Drow series of adventures.
There would still be some fungus encounters. The dungeon sorely lacks food sources and as I have mentioned many times before, there are no bathrooms. All those bugbears and no bathrooms, whew....
Went back and tried to implement "The Spider" for the lower level of Temple of Elemental Evil, but re-use the existing map more.
So the first map is the residency of the two factions. To connect it more with the Against the Giants and Drow series, the two factions would be the two of the houses of the underground Drow city of Erelhei-Cinlu. Tormtor, Eilservs, Everhate, Noquar, Despana, Aleval, Kilsek, Godeep.
I would say one would have to be Eilservs, who are described as recently changing to worship the Eldar Elemental God.
randomwizard
D3