The Let's Play Archive

Temple of Elemental Evil

by Bobbin Threadbare

Thanks! We like it too.Why not check out some similar LPs from our recommendations?
What would you like to tag this LP as?
Tag

Original Thread: Let's Play D&D 3.5 the Video Game (Temple of Elemental Evil)

 

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 4.0 6.1 if you were wondering/wanted to play along at home.

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


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 friendTindeck
Part 2: In which a gargoyle is slain and many gems are hadTindeck
Part 3: In which the party thinks with portals and is punished utterly for itTindeck
Part 4: In which Snakey is sacrificed and all involved are punishedTindeck
Part 5: In which a Hallway of Doom is discoveredTindeck
Part 6: In which vats and liches explode kind ofTindeck
Part 7: In which pits are crossed and mold frozenTindeck
Part 8: In which RandomNinja is a giant asshole and Xander doesn't helpTindeck
Part 9: In which the party finds a huge-ass roomTindeck
Part 10: In which an entirely avoidable combat happensTindeck
Part 11: Ending ATindeck
Part 12: Ending BTindeck

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.
Archive Index