The Temple of Elemental Evil

The Temple of Elemental Evil

The cover of The Temple of Elemental Evil, with art by Keith Parkinson. The artwork depicts the Temple during a storm, surrounded by gargoyles.
Code	T1–4
TSR Product Code	9147
Rules required	1st Ed AD&D
Character levels	1–8
Campaign setting	Greyhawk
Authors	Gary Gygax and Frank Mentzer
First published	1985
Linked modules
T1–4 A1–4 GDQ1–7 Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil

The Temple of Elemental Evil is an adventure module for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, set in the game's World of Greyhawk campaign setting. The module was published by TSR, Inc. in 1985 for the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules. It was written by Gary Gygax and Frank Mentzer, and is an expansion of an earlier Gygax module, The Village of Hommlet (TSR, 1979).The Temple of Elemental Evil is also the title of a related 2001 Thomas M. Reid novel and an Atari computer game, and the term is used by fans of the setting to refer to the fictional Temple itself.

The Temple of Elemental Evil was ranked the 4th greatest Dungeons & Dragons adventure of all time by Dungeon magazine in 2004, on the 30th anniversary of the Dungeons & Dragons game.

In the module T1 The Village of Hommlet, the player characters must defeat the raiders in a nearby fort, and thereafter Hommlet can be used as a base for the party's subsequent adventures. The adventure begins in the eponymous village of Hommlet, situated near the site of a past battle against evil forces operating from the Temple. The adventurers travel through Hommlet and are drawn into a web of conspiracy and deception.

The module is recommended for first-level characters, who begin the adventure "weary, weak, and practically void of money". They travel to a town that is supposed to be a great place to earn fortunes, defeat enemy creatures, but also to lose one's life. While the town initially appears warm and hospitable, the characters soon learn that many of its inhabitants are powerful spies for minions of evil.

The T1 adventure stands alone, but also forms the first part of T1-4. In The Temple of Elemental Evil, the characters start off at low level, and after establishing themselves in Hommlet, they gradually work their way through the immense dungeons beneath the Temple, thereby gaining experience. T1 culminates in a ruined moathouse where agents secretly plan to re-enter the Temple and free the demoness Zuggtmoy, imprisoned therein. The Village of Hommlet module has been described as a beginner's scenario, which starts in the village, and leads to a nearby dungeon, while The Temple of Elemental Evil continues the adventure. In the next section, T2, the adventurers move on to the nearby village of Nulb to confront several nefarious opponents, including agents from the Temple. Based on the outcome of these encounters, the player characters can then enter the Temple itself to interact with its many denizens and test their mettle against Zuggtmoy herself.