The Most Striking Elements of Temple of Elemental Evil

As many of you probably have heard, one of the most damaging disasters occurred in the southeast of the United States recently -- and no, I'm not talking about the Call of Duty: WWII beta.

Hurricane Irma put much of Tampa Bay (where I live) out of commission for both electricity and internet for a week or more, and so my newest video has taken a big hit in its wake.

I am mostly done with the script now and have gotten a lot of footage together, so I should be able to record the voiceover and master/edit that in the coming days. My original scheduled release for this video was going to be Saturday, but considering how far along I am that is going to be a very tight turnaround -- one which I will likely not be able to pull off.

I have always found quality reaches further and impacts more than quantity of content, and I hope you will agree.

My current project is of course the 2nd episode of the Three Trials of Troika, this time exploring the underexposed flawed gem, The Temple of Elemental Evil. This is a very interesting title that is both compelling if you're a fan of Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 Edition and both frustratingly obtuse and difficult if you're not. It's not Troika's strongest or memorable game but it's a unique title that is worthy of being remembered and analysis.

Here is a snippet of my newest video's script. Enjoy.

In many ways, Temple of Elemental Evil is Baldur’s Gate 2.0. Shedding the attempt at realtime combat of BG and Troika’s previous game, Arcanum. Temple is laser-focused on bringing a true-to-life tabletop gaming experience to the computer desktop. As someone who’s played and hosted games of D&D 3.5 for years, I found Temple intriguing at first, but as I got into the mechanics of the game, studied its deep character creation and got a hold of its combat. I was stunned. This is likely the most accurate depiction of tabletop game rules in a computer game. Ever.

Everything down to the turn mechanics like move actions, standard actions and full actions, to the eccentricities of spellcasting, limited spells per day and the intricate nature and specificity of each ability, to the incredibly deep but complicated combat mechanics. Seriously -- it’s all there! 5-foot-step, casting defensively, feint, saving throws, attribute damage, dice-based rolls, attacks of opportunity, and so on and so on.

If that all seems like gibberish, it’s because it is. Hardcore Dungeons & Dragons lingo and mechanics that are found almost nowhere in RPGs today. The game does feature a brief tutorial to get your head around the basics of the interface, but I pity the person walking into Temple of Elemental Evil without thorough experience with the rules the game is based on. You will be attacked out of turn and question why, one-shot and bleed out in your first ever battle, wonder why clerics can only cast heal once per day, and many, many other frustrations along the way. 

The only real concession I could see Troika made was the removal of tiles from the game, instead relying on actual feet as distance as clearly defined in the pen and paper game’s rules, so you could argue it’s even an improvement. The one thing notably missing in the game though, is mercy.

From its very first battle onward, this is a desperate struggle for survival. The unwary could easily get a total party kill in their first fight, the odds are almost always against you, and there is no human Dungeon Master to bargain or plead with. Just you, the rules and the dice rolls. I was taken aback by how punishing the difficulty of this game was, and as a fairly seasoned classic game player I could only imagine the culture shock someone hopping over from Dragon Age or Mass Effect would experience.

For a D&D veteran though, you will forget you are playing an imitation. This IS Dungeons and Dragons -- for better or worse.

Carefully arranging your party members so your fighter will take the hits, precisely placing a fireball circle to catch a group of your enemies in the flames, summoning familiars and monsters to aid your cause, and setting up the perfect sneak attack to surprise unsuspecting bandits with.

You will praise the stars when you land a critical hit, but you will curse your screen when an arrow knocks your wizard unconscious in one hit, are grappled incessantly by giant toads, or fail a saving throw for the umpteenth time. But the rules are rules, and hate them at times and in a way, love them when the system curb-stomps you incessantly.