Love it or hate it, it exists. I'm wondering how well this particular adventure module has been received? Did any of you have some good points about it? Were you hoping that Monte Cook would have done a good job?
A mega-module from the 3rd edition. A very rich adventure that I converted for the 5th edition. The main adversary is Tharyzdun, who disguises himself as the Elder Elemental Eye. No Iuz, Lolth and Zuggtmoy.
Many dangerous adversaries: dragons, half-dragons, half-elementals, aboleth, mind flayer, beholder, IMIX. Many new magic items, Domain of Madness, the Doomdreamer subclass. Of course, an adventure for those who love dungeons. And Monte Cook is a Greyhawk expert.
You probably shouldn't play T1-4 before this adventure. There are too many NPCs from T1-4.
The first dragon seems too powerful for the beginning of the adventure.
Vampire Thrommel? He could be made into a blackguard instead.
Love it or hate it, it exists. I'm wondering how well this particular adventure module has been received? Did any of you have some good points about it? Were you hoping that Monte Cook would have done a good job?
Sorry I can't comment substantively: I've never owned, read, or played it. Docjacques's summary, however, sounds interesting although it sounds like it provokes / requires a DM to decide the relationship between Tharizdun, the EEG / EEE, and possibly other Far Realms entities . . .
Sorry, I wasn't clear. In T1-4, Iuz, Zuggtmoy, and even Lolth were involved in the construction and operation of the temple. In the RttToEE, there is only Tharizdun, no EEG, and an EEE behind which Tharizdun hides. Although they are identical, Tharizdun and the EEE do not grant access to the same domains to their followers. The apocalyptic aspect is therefore more prominent in the RttToEE, while T1-4 is more of an attempt to outflank Iuz's enemies.
Just about the only usable part of it is the future-state Hommlet.
The adventure itself is awful, and the retconed combining of the Elder Elemental God with Tharizdun is not only unnecessarily reductive (and divisive), but completely goes against Gary's conception, leans into the "everything is either Vecna or Tharizdun" trope that was the bane of that era, and lessened the impact of the EEG in general.
...Monte wrote good modules even though I don't like his use of Tharizdun and EEG...
-Yeah, I would just ignore the Tharizdun thing.
I was a little disappointed that the demographic profile for Hommlet was the generic "mixed" ratio from the DMG i.e. 79% human, etc. Lame and unimaginative. I can imagine elves and gnomes emigrating to Hommlet, but that was a bit over the top.
vestcoat wrote:
...My main gripe is what Docjacques pointed out: too many NPC's from the 1st module...
-Well, for the citizens of Hommlet, you'd expect a lot of them would still be around, 12 or so years later. However, it might require to modifications:
--The leatherworker in T1 gets replaced by a gnome (exact same building) without an explanation? Where'd he go?
--The Cuthbertine teamster and his sons, who were rightly suspicious of the traders in T1, are now described as racial bigots in RttToEE. The two characteristics are not mutually exclusive, but the fact that he was right about the traders might give credibility to his later, false suspicions, and should have been pointed out.
--Terjon is "an adventurer at heart" who spends 1/4th of his time adventuring, but is still 6th level 12 years later?
--IMC, Spugnoir bit the dust, as did all the other "adventurer" NPCs living at the Welcome Wench, for one reason or another. Cook shifted Spugnoir's alignment from CN to NG, but that's plausible.
--The tailor is still there, but apparently lost his ****-kicking skills with thrown knives and the crossbow, which is amissed opportunity, since fets make D&D 3 is tailor made for tricking out 0 level types.
--The brewery moved. Why? And what's with this Thaenai Sevensong, who apparently came out of nowhere?
--I didn't like Gundigoot losing his fighter levels to become a 6th level commoner. I can see that he may have gained some levels in the meantime, but since he was presumably proficient with a sword, ringmail armor, and shield back in the 570s, and he was the Hommlet Militia Company's senior NCO, and still had enough feats and/or skill points to run one of the most renowned inns in the Flannaess, he should have at least one level in something other than Commoner. FWIW, I'd make Gundigoot a Expert1/Fighter 1 for T1 (the level in Expert came first, with all those skill points), and a Exp3/Ftr1 for RttToEE. Also, Gundigoot had a CON score of 18 in the 570s. He wouldn't be as tough 12 years later, but he suddently has a weak heart? What happened?
Not only that, but RttToEE describes the Inn of the Welcome Wench opening "soon after" the Battle of Emridy Meadows (first sentence, building #4), but both RttToEE and the original T1 state that the 'Unused Secret Room" in the cellar was used as a meeting room/HQ for the resistance "when evil held sway". Maybe the building already existed, with a diffeent use (perhaps a residence) whose owner allowed the cellar to be used as an HQ, but it didn't become a inn until after the TEE's fall? Or maybe the inn opened in the brief period of time that the battle was over but "evil [still] held sway" in Hommlet? Or maybe it was already an inn, but under different management, with a different name? (OK, Monte Cook slipped up, but I'd like to square the circle). I'd go with the building starting as a farmhouse, or better yet, a stockyard or stable, and Gundigoot expanding it to a full inn in 569-570? Or perhaps he was an outsider?
"Seeing the potential for growth and the serenity of the area, a retired soldier who fought in the Battle of Emridy Meadows [Gundigoot] brought his wife and his life’s savings to Hommlet to purchase the rest house and turn it into the best inn the area had ever known..."
I'm also not fond of the inflitration events in Hommlet, but the players have time to prevent them (it's still early 579 IMC)!
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