DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS: RETURN TO THE TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL

By: James T. Voelpel
Date: Friday, September 07, 2001

In the heady days of the 1980s, hair was big, heavy metal was alive, and DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS modules were at your local gaming store every week. For those who know nothing about role-playing games, modules are adventures for Dungeon Masters to run a gaggle of nacho-swilling players through on a Saturday afternoon. These adventures usually came in a small 30-page book and were part of a grander storyline involving two, three, or more modules.

As the '90s came around, TSR - the original company behind DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS - had almost eliminated the module as a basis for adventuring, opting for the more lucrative source book. Instead of $7.99 for an adventure, you had to shell out $39.99 for a hardcover book detailing some large area of one of TSR's fantasy worlds; it was up to the Dungeon Master to craft an adventure or campaign from these books. Granted, this left more of an area open for creativity, but for those who wanted to crack open a beer then a book and attempt to kill their friends, you were out of luck. Ironically, TSR went bankrupt, and Wizards of the Coast (the people that brought you the MAGIC: THE GATHERING card game) bought them out. Wizards was a company founded by D&D players, and they understood what was wrong with the grand father of role-playing games. Last year they released the critically acclaimed DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS 3rd EDITION (or D&D 3E for short) and it was an immediate smash hit. Now to hearken back to those halcyon days of the '80s, Wizards has been releasing the "Return To" series of modules, where the creators of D&D 3E revisit the more famous modules of the past in their own twisted way.

For those who played DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS, the insidiously deadly VILLAGE OF HOMMLET and its sequel, TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL, were often favorites. Many a favorite Dwarven warrior or Elven thief met their doom in these adventures. Now Monte Cook has crafted an adventure that is as deadly as its predecessor, but with a far-reaching storyline to hold players and Dungeon Masters alike. RETURN TO THE TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL uses the background of its famous ancestors and expands it ten-fold. No longer is this just a "kill the monster, get the treasure" enterprise - role-playing and problem solving are just as important.

Set in the fantasy world of GREYHAWK, the adventure can be tailored to any fantasy world with few modifications. The module is big; stating that characters can advance from 4th to 14th level, at over 188 pages plus maps, this is more of a long-term campaign. Cook has put in almost every variable imaginable, but the book is light on artwork. The only color parts of the book are the detailed maps in the back, although why the maps are in color while the rest of the book is in black and white is anybody's guess. The cost of this module is not the $7.99 that you remember; it weighs in at $29.99, a lot of money for a non-hardcover gaming book, and that will probably scare away some customers.

Monte Cook has put together an excellent adventure in RETURN TO THE TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL, albeit a pricey one. The module will take any once-a-week D&D campaign at least a year to complete, but the cost is still prohibitive. Wizards of the Coast would have been better off tacking on ten dollars and making it a hardcover. But if you can eat the cost, the wealth of information and adventure on the village of Hommlet and its most famous scary temple is worth it.

RETURN TO THE TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL

Grade: B-

Author(s): Monte Cook

Publisher: Wizards of the Coast

Price: $29.99