German AD&D superfan and podcast host Settembrini (who already had me on his show a couple-three years back) recently completed a two-year-long run through the famous/infamous Temple of Elemental Evil module and in celebration of that invited me back onto the show for a long (too long?) discursive conversation about all things TOEE - its history, its merits and flaws, and both of of experienced playing through it. I had fun recording it but cant vouch for how entertaining listening to it will be for anyone not as deeply into the weeds of this stuff as the two of us. But hey, all you have to lose by listening is a few hours of your life! Check it out here: https://pesa-nexus.de/2025/09/02/episode-63-english-the-temple-of-elemental-evil-w-trent-smith/
As someone who is DEEPLY into the weeds, and who loves ZBR (well, the episodes in English, anyway), I can't wait to give this a listen. TOEE is one of those "kinda'" classic adventures that I've never run (or run through) other than T1, and thus continues to hold a masochistic fascination for Yours Truly.
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All right, just finished listening. Really good stuff, Trent. You guys actually make me want to dig it out and run it for MY home group.
ReplyDeleteFascinating stuff about the Gygax's evolving concept of the game; and the "soft reboot" of his Greyhawk campaign in light of Tekumel. I was unaware of this timeline (or these influences) but it makes a ton of sense. It echoes a lot of my own (evolving) conclusions over the last few years. That is to say: I get it, because I went through it. Not that I EVER ran a gonzo, funhouse megadungeon-style campaign (despite running some funhouse adventures, my campaigns have never been like that...), but because I've come to understand how important the world building (and taking the world building seriously) IS. Tekumel may have switched on the light for Gygax, but his ability to communicate the knowledge was somewhat less-than-effective...because of which, it's taken some of us 20+ or 30+ years to figure out.
[few folks have the leisure to play as much as Gary did back in the 70s]
Anyway, thanks for a good podcast listen. Best wishes with Brink of Calamity!
Thanks for coming over, it was great fun and we even got cut short.
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