Anyone run Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil?

[Schmoe]

Hey all. I joined because I just found that these forums are still active, and it appears to actually be an active 3E/3.5E community! I'm currently running RttToEE. The group I have going through it is large (8 players, plus a cohort), and somewhat over-leveled (average lvl 7, only recently reached the Crater Ridge Mines). That being said, we're all still having fun. I also have some house rules about NPC CRs that help keep things a little more challenging.

Has anyone else here run through RttToEE? Interested in comparing notes?

[Quertus]

Welcome to the Playground!

Yes, it's an active 3E/3.5E community (and so much more). :smallwink:

I'm pretty sure I was a Player in a RttToEE game - not sure if that helps you much.

IIRC, we recognized and ignored the source of infinite XP. And took a… "overstaffed" party through, as well.

[Schmoe]

Welcome to the Playground!

Yes, it's an active 3E/3.5E community (and so much more). :smallwink:

I'm pretty sure I was a Player in a RttToEE game - not sure if that helps you much.

IIRC, we recognized and ignored the source of infinite XP. And took a… "overstaffed" party through, as well.

Awesome, thanks for the welcome!

I'm definitely interested in hearing your impressions of the adventure as a player. Did you actually finish the whole thing (it's very long)!? My players just reached the CRM. How did that play out for your group? Any recommendations?

Finally, how was it with an "overstaffed" party? Do you wish the DM had ramped up the encounters, or was it just as much fun curb-stomping the opponents?

[smetzger]

Hey all. I joined because I just found that these forums are still active, and it appears to actually be an active 3E/3.5E community! I'm currently running RttToEE. The group I have going through it is large (8 players, plus a cohort), and somewhat over-leveled (average lvl 7, only recently reached the Crater Ridge Mines). That being said, we're all still having fun. I also have some house rules about NPC CRs that help keep things a little more challenging.

Has anyone else here run through RttToEE? Interested in comparing notes?

I have run it 3 times. Forum looks pretty dead
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/okayyourturn/return-to-the-temple-of-elemental-evil-f12/index-s25.html

Looks like only the 3.5 conversion, FAQ, and errata links work...
http://www.zansforcans.net/v35/

That is a large group. Easiest way to accommodate I would up the number of mooks by 50-75%, then give the names creatures +1 hit, + 1 damage, +1 saves and they take one additional hit before they are dropped. That's the quick and dirty way to make it a bit more challenging.

[Schmoe]

I have run it 3 times. Forum looks pretty dead
<snip forum link>

Looks like only the 3.5 conversion, FAQ, and errata links work...
<snip links>



Interesting. I didn't know about that forum. It's definitely dead, but I'll poke around a bit for ideas. Thanks!

I'm amazed that you've run it 3 times! My group just wiped out the main gate and was approached by the Earth Temple. After watching the slaughter from a safe distance, the Earth Temple thinks they are working on behalf of the Fire Temple, because of all the fireballs the party used, so they asked the group to take tribute to Tessimon as a sign of peace between the temples.

Because of some backstory prior to the adventure, it would tie more closely to my campaign if the Doomdreamers have opened the Earth Node and awakened Ogremoch, so I plan to switch up from the Fire Node to the Earth Node, if the group ever gets that far. Otherwise I'm playing it pretty much by the book.

How were the CRM for your groups? Any particular sticking points or things I should look out for?


That is a large group. Easiest way to accommodate I would up the number of mooks by 50-75%, then give the names creatures +1 hit, + 1 damage, +1 saves and they take one additional hit before they are dropped. That's the quick and dirty way to make it a bit more challenging.

I definitely bumped up the number of mooks. I don't remember exactly, but somewhere in that range. That also leads me to mention that I'm running this all over Roll20, so I've had to create some maps for the CRM. I basically just go in and add a bunch of mook tokens, so I don't know exactly how much I've added. It's actually pretty interesting to use Roll20. When you do that, you can see how empty some of the areas actually are. As for the NPCs, I've basically re-worked them all. It was a lot of work, but then again, I kind of enjoy building NPCs, so it was fine. I have a house rule that NPCs with PC class levels have a CR = 3/4 of their levels, and NPC class levels have CR = 1/2 level, rather than CR = level or level - 1 respectively, so a lot of the NPCs gained a level or two without changing their CR. That also means that the party won't level up quite as fast, so I'm kind of expecting them to reach a point where the encounters are more appropriate for their party without as much intervention.

It also doesn't hurt that the party aren't brilliant tacticians, so a lower encounter level works just fine :)

Edit: Also, apparently I can't quote someone else's link until I have 10 posts. So, I had to trim the URLs.

[smetzger]

Some ideas from the RttToEE boards...

1) After they defeat 2 or 3 temples have Varachan send an Imp. Imp appears and says he has a message for the party...
"You have a friend in the outer fane. If you get that far I can offer assistance. Kill the messenger, it can't be trusted. V."

2) You can send the Assassin's (area#16 inner fane) with an Invisible Stalker after the party. Maybe once they defeat a 3rd Temple. This could be one of the few times the bad guys strike when the good guys feel safe. When they are holed up in a nearby town or somehwere in the CRM that feel safe.

3) It will take a long time for XP attrition to kick in and your party is lower level, probably not until the CRM is completely dealt with. They will also struggle with enough treasure to keep up with WBL.

4) Thrommel - Possible to roleplay him as redeamable. I think there is a statue or a bust somewhere in the CRM. This could be of Thrommel. Point it out to players that it seems familiar. They can then research the person and find out Thrommel's back story. Maybe even find and aged Jolen that didn't really die. I substituted Romeo & Juliet for Thromel and Jolen. She had never really died. He just thought she had.

5) Small orc tribe can be played as friendly. They know about the 'demon that cannot be killed', D'Gran, and can warn the party.

6) Funny interesting things that happened.
Exactly one of the mooks lived one time to not only use his potion once but also picked up one of his dead buddies potions. The guy survived an attack from a Dire Bear, 9th level Wildshaped Druid, and two attacks from a 9th level Rogue. Party started to actually root for the guy after he drank his first potion.

One group did not kill the Stone Golem. They just ran through the room. When they couldn't figure out how to permanently kill D'Gran. They dragged his body to the Dwarven Temple where the Stone Golem would perpetually beat D'Gran into a pulp whenever he regenerated enough to start moving.

Remember all the Clerics are a little bit crazy. Come up with some personalities for them that will shine through during combat. For example: the masochist that laughs when injured or dieing.

[Quertus]

Awesome, thanks for the welcome!

I'm definitely interested in hearing your impressions of the adventure as a player. Did you actually finish the whole thing (it's very long)!? My players just reached the CRM. How did that play out for your group? Any recommendations?

Finally, how was it with an "overstaffed" party? Do you wish the DM had ramped up the encounters, or was it just as much fun curb-stomping the opponents?

Ah, if I'm remembering correctly (darn senility)
We did finish the module.
Being overstaffed meant that we were under leveled.
But it was OK - we (mostly) roflstomp'd them anyway, and has a jolly good time doing so.


I'm technically not sure if the GM ramped anything up, as I've not read the module (and wouldn't remember specific numbers at this point anyway should I read it now).

But… let's check: 3.0 module, Iron Golem, DR 50/+3?