The Temple of Elemental Evil Designer Diary: The Labor Of Love by Rick Maffei My work on Original Adventures Reincarnated #6 started, as projects of this type often do, with what I call the “homework” phase. Before I began writing, I read my brand-new, print-on-demand copy of The Temple of Elemental Evil from cover to cover. (Alas, I knew my original venerable copies—I own two—wouldn’t stand up to the repeated handling.) I then unearthed and read lots of related material: Monte Cook’s Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, Gary Gygax’s write-ups of Iuz and St. Cuthbert in the Dragon Magazine #67 article “The Deities & Demigods of the World of Greyhawk,” and information about the Temple’s geographic area. Beyond gathering information, this stage was also about steeping myself deep in the old-school vibe. For me, keeping the adventure true to its roots was a sacred task. I already knew module T1-4 very well and had run the adventure for at least two player groups over the years, but part of the joy in re-reading older adventures is finding those little surprises and good bits, and this adventure was no exception. Parts of the adventure showed its age—such as a cursed no-save magic item that could instantly slay its wearer—but I was delighted in the strength of the background material and adventure atmosphere. And the adventure contains so many wonderful encounter areas! As I read through the work, I also made a mental note of just how many spells and magic items hadn’t survived the evolution from 1E to 5E; it was a surprisingly large number. Many monsters had also not made the journey to the latest edition of the game. My work was cut out for me. My writing phase started slow at first (which is usual for me) but soon I got into that happy rhythm that every author knows and loves. Part of the reorganization of the adventure involved breaking down room descriptions into the familiar order of presentation used by 5E, but in this case that order helped me keep all the details in line. As I went along, I carefully noted the various clerics and villains and kept a running hierarchy of the bad guys for later reference. Slowly, but surely, rooms were written up and old magical treasures brought back to life. By...