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Temple of Elemental Evil Isn't Too Long — You're Running the Village Wrong

Tenkar's Tavern

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Temple of Elemental Evil isn't too long — most tables run the Village of Hommlet wrong, and T1-4 falls apart from there. In 2026 the complaint about Gygax and Mentzer's AD&D mega-module is still the page count, but the module gates the moathouse briefing behind a village council meeting on page 21, and pages 7 through 20 are where the party earns the money, the ally and the reason to go in.
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Hommlet is the first adventure in T1-4, not the lobby. The trading post is run by a 10th-level thief and a 7th-level assassin who report on your party to a brigand courier working for the Temple, and who sell plain water as holy water. The village drunk at the Inn of the Welcome Wench is a 4th-level ranger who works for a suit of chain and a big axe. And the full story of the moathouse only comes out of the town council — if the party asks for the meeting. This is how to run the village so the dungeon means something when the party finally walks in.

0:00 The line on page twenty-one
1:47 Where T1-4 actually spends its opening
2:43 The module makes your party broke on purpose
3:54 Area 13 — the shop that reports on you
5:24 Plain water sold as holy water
6:25 Area 2 — the drunk who is a fourth-level ranger
8:29 The free hires who plan to kill you
9:46 The council meeting that unlocks the moathouse
10:49 Eight seats you have to earn
12:07 Session one — run the village cold
13:17 Session two — make them ask for the briefing
14:15 The challenge for your next session

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20 Comments

@TenkarsTavern Creator 2 weeks ago Pinned

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HOMMLET IN TWO SESSIONS — index card version
1. Session one is the village. No moathouse map on the table.
2. Reaction roll every villager. Keep two columns: who talks to the party, who reports on the party. Rannos Davl and Gremag (area 13) live in column two permanently.
3. Charge full price. 110% at the trading post, 25% on anything they sell back. Dormitory a silver a night, private rooms 1–5 gp. They should want chain mail they can't afford.
4. Holy water bought at the trading post is plain water. Let them find out the hard way.
5. Elmo (area 2) costs chain armor and a big axe. He's a 4th-level ranger with 41 hp. They only meet him if they talk to farmers.
6. Everyone at the inn says yes. Zert is a Temple spy. Kobort and Turuko plan to rob them on the way home. Let one of them come along.
7. The moathouse briefing comes from the town council, and only if the party asks for the meeting. Elder, Jaroo, Terjon, the militia captain, Ostler, Mytch, Burne, Rufus.
8. Burne wants a third. Rufus won't move for less than 20%.
What was the first thing your party did in Hommlet that came back to bite them? 🍺

@SteveBonario 12 days ago

When T1 appeared in 1980 it was still the era of "go to the dungeon, kill stuff, take their money (money = xp), search for magic items, level up". It was not an era when interacting with NPCs to determine their motivations was common. (Look to the available modules of that era -- D1-3, G1-3, S1-2, and B1 -- all but B1 originated from tournaments, so the focus was dungeon exploration and survival (which could be scored more easily for competitive play by measuring treasure gained, hp left, party members left, number of encounters overcome, etc.).

T1 was so different, many of us younger players (I was 15 in 1980) lacked the chops and real-world lived experience to understand the social side of an adventure. Even by 1985 when T1-4 came out, I ran it with a set of pre-gens for by a group primarily of 20-something men and their focus remained "find the dungeon, explore, get treasure, level up"). AD&D did not always reward or incentivize social play, or information-gathering play.

Gygax did something different and special with T1 and Hommlet. Even the village map was a masterpiece (imho) by Dave Trampier -- the houses and roads and terrain illustration made it feel real and lived in, and Trampier's artwork -- cover to cover -- was stunning. It's only with 40+ years of hindsight that your analysis makes total sense to me.

@DoctorJohnSmith9 2 weeks ago

I've played D&D for over 40 years, and to my shame I've never read or even held a copy of Temple in my hands. It was cool to learn a little about it. Thanks, Tenkar. 🤘

And that Elmo impression...gave me a good chuckle. 😉

@Andaeson 7 days ago

Appreciate the suggestion on the note taking conversation columns, good advice. I've been keeping notes on all the NPCs and what they've seen and what they report (even what they hear from others).

@michaelgotthardt4727 2 weeks ago

My paty got so paranoid of Hommlet, they left and took their chances in the wild...good times

@DanPeacock 2 weeks ago

I feel like it is more of a campaign setting than a module. I had the module back when the mega book first came out. I wish I knew then what I know now.

@dreg347 2 weeks ago

Impressed by this overview of the Council vs the Moathouse with the unusual suspects! Great work!@#!

@kl13024 2 weeks ago

thx for the reminders about better playing and better DMing

@Jon-l2f2n 2 weeks ago

41 years of playing and dming. Love your channel. Have all my bx, 1st e and some 3.5 and Pathfinder. Also tsr marvel super heroes, star frontiers and star wars, and warhammer

@trevynlane85 2 weeks ago

Yea, there is a lot of drama to be had in cities.

@rathbaster 2 weeks ago

I never ran this back in the day....but it sounds like something I'll want to run now (and would make a perfect conversion to Shadowdark :) )

@AlexHimera 2 weeks ago

This is honestly the video I didn't know I needed, but it really is. I've run seven sessions so far, and the dungeon was only in one of them—the rest of the time I kept my friends stuck in the village. Even though it was fun, they said it felt like a farmer simulator, even though I'd promised them fantasy with monsters in a cave. Now, half a year later, I'm running a game again in a couple of days, and over these past six months, I've learned so much from your channel. Let's see what I've learned!) Wishing you good health and prosperity, DM.

@ScottTeel-s4k 2 weeks ago (edited)

Oooh, sneaky first trap! Skip the village and you are in trouble! I'm guessing the duo Gygax wrote the module for usually skipped the RP part and went straight to Murder-Hoboing in the Temple.

@fleetcenturion 2 weeks ago

FYI: The "S" in "viscount" is silent!

@paulberry5750 2 weeks ago

The Gold Piece/Buck stops with the DM. Pacing is everything. If players think their valuable free time is being wasted then they skedaddle .

@praxistallyogarro 2 weeks ago

👍Nice tips thank you. No matter how much people love "The Temple of Elemental Evil" I have never seen anyone love it as much as @3orcs, his expansion and detailing of Hommlet and the environs is beyond imagining and borders on sublime madness.

@vaughngifford7192 2 weeks ago (edited)

Random first edition fact of the day:

The fearsome red dragon flies at 8 mph outdoors.

A car doing 75 MPH has a first edition movement rate of 220".

@SilverBardiche 2 weeks ago

It's too long only when it's played on Youtube. I played in it twice many eras ago and we never finished it because the group stopped the game, both times.

@australo88 2 weeks ago

Lots of great lessons for players, but not exactly a hot start to get beginning players hooked if playing as an intro module. Unless that relief of wealth you mentioned is a bandit encounter right before arriving in town.