v 1.01 changelog:
-The Hag in the troll fens now drops her eye on death.
-Fixed dialog bugs with Rufus and Canoness Y�dey convos.
-Either method of completing �Spies among us� now correctly mark the quest as completed.
The Temple of Elemental Evil Revisited is my own take on Gygax's classic pen and paper module.
It�s impossible to imagine the mod being produced without Troika�s The Temple of Elemental Evil. There aren�t many games were I was so bitterly divided between the things I liked about the game and the things I disliked. As much as I enjoyed the combat system, I found the actual encounters simplistic and repetitive and as much as I liked the idea of a huge, balkanized pentagon-sized fortress filled with bugbears, the lack of storytelling left me cold. The Temple of Elemental Evil Revisited is my own little attempt to create a game with the basic ToEE set-up that a) gives the player choices about how he/she wants to deal with the temple, b) has an enjoyable story without railroading the player into it and c) has gameplay that people enjoy.
There are a lot of different elements that I had to weigh to try to make all of this happen, but I�m pleased with the final result. The three basic principles that I tried to keep in mind in design were to keep try to design encounters that would take advantage of the ruleset, to allow choices about the progression of the plot and to make the player feel involved in the story of the temple, both in terms of exposition and background and in terms of some connection to the PC.
There are also a number of things that I�ve changed from the original module (and by extension from Troika�s very faithful remake), some of these are minor (It�s set in Forgotten Realms, not Greyhawk, the geography of the temple has changed), some aren�t (Lareth and Lolth�) and I�m certain that many loyal fans aren�t going to like the changes (particularly since Gary Gygax died yesterday, I�m writing this on 3/5/08). To those people, I�d just like to say that I understand. Please give the module a try anyway; you might find something you like.
Difficult to give you such a low score as you obviously put a lot of efforts in this. But you made some very drastic and unpopular design choices. I agree that there are too many mods out there where you can find uber equipment too easily. But in your case, is going to the other extreme (no items at all available) really realistic since you state that this mod is based in Forgotten Realms where a 3rd level Cleric can brew potions ? I agree also that too many mods are combat XP oriented only. Again, is going to an extreme (no XP at all) a good choice ? One of the reason of playing DnD is to have character progressing, gaining new skills and change tactics over time. In your mod, not having access to that means to keep doing the same things over and over and over again. Really it has some great potential, but I feel I?m hitting a tennis ball against a wall. It?s challenging at first, but redundant after 6 hours.
Posted by crichton at 2008-08-2513:51:13
No worries, ;)
Posted by crichton at 2008-08-2214:55:50
I haven't done any testing in multiplayer; I don't know of anything that won't work with it, but if you actually remove the companions using the party roster (as opposed to just ignoring them) that might break some convos.
Posted by Big at 2008-08-2205:53:06
It seems companions are required by this mod. Is it possible to play it multiplayer?
Posted by ericdoman at 2008-08-0813:29:44
First question is how this is up as a new module? As I can remember it being available before I think it had 1 vote of a 6 and a few comments. What changes have taken place having played upto a certain point again can't see too many? There is the option to craft equipment but I could not find any magician table. Had the necessary ingredients to make +1 weapons. But again for crafting certain items eg +1d6 fire you have to be a caster level of 10? The problem I had first time as I could not enter lizards village, on top of no xp etc. Now we decided to kill Lareth and go back to Rufus. He tells us to see Black Jay and Elmo, we do. Anyway somewhere we find out about a Capt Tolub before enterning Nulb. Also Merloc comes up with the idea to let the lizard's have Nulb. As the leader I decide that we shall have to wait and see. Visit Otis and Mother Screng, who tell me that I must gain the trust of Tolub before a meeting. Again nothing was mentioned about this? So I go and see Tolub and there are 2 options, 1 To Leave and 2 To follow Merloc's idea and kill him. I can only do 2. Lizards now in control go back to Hommlett where Screng, Otis and Elmo aren't very happy and end of conversations with them. I have mentioned this before I would always give a minimum of a 7 for every mod I play due to the huge amount of respect and admiration for the author's, ie their free time. But will not vote on this module. Once more disappointed with this module. The only reason I played it is that there is nothing else to play. I have tried probably 3 times to enjoy it but I am sorry this was my final attempt at a game that tries to be different in some ways but fails to deliver in too many other ways. For the record I have played most if not all 2 hour+ NWN2 modules and I believe about 160 NWN modues, some of the latter would only give xp for completing a quest. It is such a shame as TOEE was my favourite PnP module for DMing
Posted by Ettore at 2008-08-0713:11:04
just last question you need this for Avatar or is good on companions too?
Posted by crichton at 2008-08-0710:33:45
@Ettore It's pretty easy for a rogue (most rogues have both anyway), a bard, a sorcerer or a wizard could also do it, or anyone with able learner. At level 8, a skill you have maxed will have 11 ranks, if you have a fourteen in the attribute, that'll give you a total score of 13, but even if you only have an 8 in the attribute, that'll give you 10 ranks, so don't worry about attributes unless you're spreading your skills out, worry about skill ranks.
Posted by Ettore at 2008-08-0710:25:05
mm ....appraise is an intelligence ability, diplomacy a charisma one, I think only a bard could have such ability if well buffed
Posted by crichton at 2008-08-0709:56:10
I've uploaded version 1.01, but the vault still hasn't posted it. When it's posted, the filename will be ToEE Revisited 1_01.zip. @Ettore: If I remember it correctly, you need 10 Appraise (including CHA modifier) and 5 diplomacy (including CHA modifier).
Posted by Ettore at 2008-08-0622:54:12
Sorry to say this: I used 1.01 version, regot queen hag quest , killed her and no eye still. For the secret store question I asked with paladin buffed at 15 diplomatic 0 appraise no effect. I suppose i need to do otehr things before I could see it or it is a bug as i dont see how an avaatr no bard could have mor ethen 15 diplomatic ability.
10 - A Masterpiece, Genuinely Groundbreaking 9 - Outstanding, a Must Have 8 - Excellent, Recommended to Anyone 7 - Very Good, Deserves a Look 6 - Good, Qualified Recommendation 5 - Fair, Solid yet Unremarkable 4 - Some Merit, Requires Improvements 3 - Poor Execution, Potential Unrealized 2 - Very Little Appeal 1 - Not Recommended to Anyone
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