Introduction
Oh, Troika. Troika, Troika, Troika. Back in the day, a company named Black Isle was known for creating good, solid, intelligent RPG’s, such as Fallout and Planescape: Torment. Then Interplay went mad and killed it. Twice. The first time caused it to Regenerate into Troika, while the Third Doctor wound up being Obsidian Entertainment. Sadly, while Troika continued to make good, intelligent RPG’s, they apparently forgot to bring any decent coders with them, and each of the three Troika games was released as an unplayable mess. Obsidian may get some flak for bugs, too, but trust me, their games are at least Newtonian solids compared to Troika. However, by being good, intelligent games, Troika’s catalogue was picked up by the modding community and fan patches were released for each, greatly improving the experience. For ToEE, the Circle of Eight site has done wonders, and I’m currently using the site-based package patch
The Temple of Elemental Evil is the second Troika game and the most faithful adaptation of a pen and paper RPG to a video game I’ve ever come across. There’s still something lost in the translation, mind you, but playing ToEE taught me some things about the game system I never knew about, and that’s got to count for something. The Temple of Elemental Evil is a computer RPG adaptation of a D&D 3.5 module which is itself an adaptation of a 1st edition D&D module. The game takes place in Grayhawk, the original setting of D&D, but that’s hardly important. ToEE is pretty light on plot aside from some vague “go kill the Evil Elemental Prince of Something (or free it, whatev’)” objective that only appears a third of the way into the game. It’s basically a linear sandbox, as odd as that sounds.
Still, for all that, the game is pretty fun, and it shows why third edition D&D did so much to revive the franchise after TSR basically dug itself into a grave. You might find my approach…unorthodox, but I’d say it’s appropriate for all that.
Oh, and one last thing: NO EDITION WARS. This means you may discuss game mechanics within their own context regardless of system, you may praise or critique game mechanics within their own context, you may discuss the history of any game system, and you may share stories about your experiences with any game system (although D&D would definitely be more on-topic), but you may NOT compare game mechanics between systems, favorably or unfavorably, and you may NOT insult any game system or edition regardless of how well it’s deserved. Except for FATAL. That one deserves all the scorn you can muster. While there may be reason to carry on the arguments about edition changes, this is not the place to do so. Thank you for your cooperation.
P. S. if you don’t know much about 3.5 rules, they are both free and online. Here, have an intro movie:
Table of Contents
- Session 1: Character Creation
- Session 2: Because Level 1 Sucks
- Session 3 part 1: Where Everybody Knows Your Name
- Session 3 Part 2: You Just Can’t Find Good Help Anymore
- Session 4 Part 1: Family Feuds
- Session 4 Part 2: Of Busywork and Fetch Questsk Obscura
- Session 5 Part 1: Poor Planning Pays Off
- Session 5 Part 2: Come to Rainbow Rock! *Clap* *Clap*
- Session 7: What Good’s a House in a Moat?
- Session 8: Meaty Bags of XP
- Session 9: Right in the Face
- Session 10: Bipped in the Nulb
- Session 11: More than One Way to Skin a Magic Item
- Session 12: Fun Starts at Fifth
- Session 13: Tonight There’s Gonna Be a Jail Break
- Session 14: The Casualties of War
- Session 15: It’s Okay Because They’re Evil
- Session 16: Putting Out the Fire
- Session 17: Collect All Four!
- Session 18: A Long Time Coming
- Session 19: Kingdom of the Golden Skull
- Session 20: The Bugbear Bonanza
- Session 21: With Special Guest Stars!
- Session 22 Part 1: Nodes and Nonsense
- Session 22 Part 2: Equal Parts Hilarity and Bullshit
Tomb of Horrors Pre-Game Concept Test Tutorial Session
| Part 1: | Youtube | (Polsy) | Blip (Polsy) |
| Part 2: | Youtube | (Polsy) | Blip (Polsy) |
Tomb of Horrors Session 1
| Part 1: | Youtube | (Polsy) | Blip (Polsy) |
| Part 2: | Youtube | (Polsy) | Blip (Polsy) |
| Part 3: | Youtube | (Polsy) | Blip (Polsy) |
| Part 4: | Youtube | (Polsy) | Blip (Polsy) |
Tomb of Horrors Session 2 (video capture failed, so audio only)
| Part 1: In which three chests are discovered and Doc Strange makes a new friend | Tindeck |
| Part 2: In which a gargoyle is slain and many gems are had | Tindeck |
| Part 3: In which the party thinks with portals and is punished utterly for it | Tindeck |
| Part 4: In which Snakey is sacrificed and all involved are punished | Tindeck |
| Part 5: In which a Hallway of Doom is discovered | Tindeck |
| Part 6: In which vats and liches explode kind of | Tindeck |
| Part 7: In which pits are crossed and mold frozen | Tindeck |
| Part 8: In which RandomNinja is a giant asshole and Xander doesn't help | Tindeck |
| Part 9: In which the party finds a huge-ass room | Tindeck |
| Part 10: In which an entirely avoidable combat happens | Tindeck |
| Part 11: Ending A | Tindeck |
| Part 12: Ending B | Tindeck |
The Rogue's Gallery
(With thanks to radintorov)
The GM named Bob, he's the one running this campaign. He doesn't get a portrait because he's supposed to be narrating, except when he's playing an NPC.
Garrett (human multiclass Rogue/Ranger)
played by Suzie (multiclass Otaku Artist/DM's Girlfriend), Bob's girlfriend. The "new guy" of the group, but learned the ropes during a solo campaign. Fortunately for the others, she took the Defend Group from DM class options instead of the other way around.Hammerdown Hardboot (dwarven Wizard)
played by Hal (Ass Kicker). He likes playing as a dwarf and like most of the group prefers the game aspect of RPGs (as in killing stuff and looting it). He's also a cop.Big McLargeHuge (gnome Barbarian)
played by William (Lurker (Apatheticer)). He played in the previous campaign mostly because he had nothing better to do and didn't want to spend time with his "crazy girlfriend". He's not a roleplayer by any means, and has been known to sleep during exposition and town exploration. Oh, and he's gay.Josephus (half-elf Bard)
played by Paul (Roleplayer). Unlike the majority of the group, he tries to act and think in-character. Has played female characters previously, to his fellow gamers' chagrin.Alistor Keystone (dwarven Cleric)
played by Lewis (Powergamer). Player knowledgeable in various role-playing games and (mainly) their rules. He spent some time studying in Germany.Alex, another gamer rather than roleplayer. Moved away so he won't be playing with the group.