A NEW upload of this and lost nearly 2k views because it needed to have the loud bell removed. And the green glow of Tharizdun surrounding me was too much creepy. Those errors were my fault. I rushed it out - because I'm an idiot. But I fixed it. And I do listen to constructive criticisms! If you have the time to give it another watch I'd REALLY appreciate it! Love you all. Thanks!
Darn. While I listened to the first video yesterday, I was planning to come back and read the comments later. I am pretty sure there were more when I read it than there are now.
Thank you for correcting the bell effect! This is now more impactful and worthy of the dreaming god of oblivion! Let it be written, the stars have aligned and Master Aten has arrived to complete the circle so that He who awaits can now pass through the veil! We await your esoteric findings on the dark pyramid and the future topics prophesied in this passage.
I rushed it out yesterday (due to personal life things) and the greenscreen looked awful too. I lost about 2k views but I'm dedicated to good quality that can be useful for years to come! Thanks!
Now that I have more time, I want to make a more proper comment: I really like these lore consolidation videos and appreciate the effort to gather the data from multiple sources. Thank you for doing these and looking forward to more!
Great video, Aten! Took me a few days to get time to watch it, but great info! I remember seeing this module back in the day, and it could be found for years on the discount racks at various game shops. I admit that the cover art really didn't grab me, so I never picked it up. I recall once finding an open copy and not being at all impressed by the maps either >.
Excellent video as usual. It convinced me to purchased the 1e version and I will convert to Shadowdark. A question; roughly how many hours would a party of five take to complete the adventure?
Thanks and Shadowdark would be 1000% better than 5E conversion. Great choice. As to how long, i'm not the one to ask. My group recently finished the 36 pages of Castle Amber which I turned into a 40 session and roughly 200 hour long campaign. (I went deep into part two) Realistically it's always difficult to tell since everyone runs games differently. Youll need to decide how much of the outdoor exploration you want to incorporate. All or none. Then when they're inside the temple you'll need to decide if youre ok with the PCs never finding the secret level. A fair amount of players never find it so you'll need to decide if youre going to "help" them locate it or even learn of its existence. And if the PCs leave and return the entire dungeon will be organized and ready for them. This isnt an easy adventure unless you as DM decide to ease back.
I watched the first upload, but I'm watching this one too because I appreciate your style! Keep up the good work, and don't forget to give us some more Star Frontiers content!
Thanks! Will do! Later this week is the James Bond RPG then next week is Orcus and my "Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers" video that ties into Star Frontiers.
I like to imagine some Sage living in Greyhawk who has made a comfortable life for themselves collecting all these different versions of the Tharizdun lore. PCs can pay him handsomely, perhaps take on quests for them, while he just strokes his beard and doesn't have any more clue of what is true than the players do. "There are some who say..."
Great video as always Aten, sorry I'm a little late. Been almost feeling like I'm under the influence of the god of madness lately with how busy I've been, I typically create my own deities but I may just have to use Tharizdun sometime to throw my players off. Thanks for all your hard work and dedication. =^_^=
Hello Aten, what is your view on the mad "Elder Elemental Eye" deity whose temple can be found in G3, Hall of the Fire Giant King, is this a manifestation of Tharisdun worshipped by the Drow of House Eilservs and their minions?
Right, I'll be covering that series in the future and Grehawk Grognard covers that specifically. Gygax said (as quoted in this video) the two are different entities. So according to Gygax that was not Tharizdun. However in your own games you could choose to have Tharizdun or even some other entity poses as another entity.
@@welovettrpgs My lore is not all it could be, but to me, the Elder Elemental Eye, Elder Lelemental God, and Thatisdun are just different aspect of the same Chained God
@@Svartalf14 Could be. For a real world example, the Pharaoh Akhenaten said all Egyptian deities were just different aspects of the One true god, establishing the first known monotheistic religion in history.
I think I prefer the pre-retconned story of Tharizdun being deceived by his own dreams. It sounds almost like some sort of universal balancing force acting behind the scenes. Also, Tim Cain is a treasure trove of useful insights, I'm glad you mentioned him! Masterfully researched and presented video, as always. (re-comment for re-upload)
I always loved the original WG4, which I'd purchased as a kid upon release. The entire end encounter in the Black Cyst, with all the puzzle-solving you needed to do to get there and the anticlimax finish, left me with the good kind of frustration, the bits and pieces of compelling lore that made me desperately want to know more. Unfortunately, 1E never went very far with him, and it seems his subsequent history has been quite up-and-down. Which fits, I suppose, with Tharizdun's semi-Lovecraftian nature, where being unknowable mystery is part of what makes him compelling.
the first watch through I kept checking my phone and PC for what was pinging away till I realized what it was, didn't make it a bad vid at all, but the second watch through is much better, thanks
It is worth noting that the Shard of Evil existed prior to the 4e retcons, although its origins and the scope of its involvement were much more mysterious and the clear-cut answers were buried _deep_ in the lore. There was a lot of circumstantial evidence suggesting it may have been what the yugoloths as called the Heart of Darkness and used to create evil outsiders as a concept and may have played a role in the creation of both the Abyss and Baator, playing into some grand conspiracy with the Blood War being the yugoloths playing everyone against each other towards some unclear grand goal. The Grey Wastes of Hades seemed to have a _much_ bigger, secret role in the origins and true goals of evil. Then they got retconned into knockoff demons, Asmodeus and Pazuzu ended up absorbing the grand puppet master role, and Tharizdun become second fiddle to Asmodeus. While him being used to kick off the evil planes was reasonably consistent with established lore, the details of it were a massive downgrade from a true Omnicidal Maniac to little more than an Assimilation Plot. Had they maintained Tharizdun as a genuine Omnicidal Maniac, it would have worked a lot better. The whole viral ruby motif was cool, though. I personally speculate the Sapphire Eidolon (Magic of Incarnum) was its counterpart to the alignment of Law as the crystallized manifestation of the alignment's quintessence, described as an impossibly perfect sphere in contrast to the chaotic, viral shape of the ruby Shard of Evil. And while far more speculative, the higher layers of the Abyss's opposite, The Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia, reference diamond... amusingly, this could suggest the final alignment crystal to be a chaos emerald. Lmao.
I own the Goodman Games Adventures Reincarnated Dark Tower. I haven't used it yet but it's great. I'm not sure there's a connection between it and Lost Temple of Tharizdun but I could be wrong.
haha I've been all Howard Hughes for years! Naw, the greenscreen was messed up (was bothering me) and I had some complaints about the bell sound. After sleeping on it, I felt the bell complaints were valid and I want this video to be useful for a long time.
I've disliked the more recent lore intently, simply because the mere presence of Tharizdun makes so many other things moot. A "Ultimate BBEG of the Universe" works in fiction, but in RP it's just a little bit much. Meanwhile, the Lovecraftian madness is more than handled by the Obaryths and Slaad Lords, the "evil from beyond time" by Baernaloths, the oh-so-bad imprisoned evil with unlimited options in Pandemonium and Carceri, and so on - and having a single being literally create the Abyss is just stupid, a result of 4e trying to force the Greyhawk pantheon as the official pantheon (and this had actually started in 3.0 and 3.5 if you looked closely enough). Design with an agenda - regardless of what that agenda is - is bad design.
Sorry to do this to you but about that black shadow with glowing ember eyes that hovers over you, staring intensely, in most of your videos... it's pretty distracting and I usually click off from your vids because of it
![เปิดใจ "อาจารย์เบียร์ คนตื่นธรรม" อดีตเคยสุดทุกทาง ถ้าใช้หนี้หมดไปบวชแน่ l [Nickynachat]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IxeE0xVhy08/mqdefault.jpg)
A NEW upload of this and lost nearly 2k views because it needed to have the loud bell removed. And the green glow of Tharizdun surrounding me was too much creepy. Those errors were my fault. I rushed it out - because I'm an idiot. But I fixed it. And I do listen to constructive criticisms! If you have the time to give it another watch I'd REALLY appreciate it! Love you all. Thanks!
Darn. While I listened to the first video yesterday, I was planning to come back and read the comments later. I am pretty sure there were more when I read it than there are now.
@@nevisysbryd7450 There were a bunch yes! Maybe by tomorrow there will be more!
Glad to see you back online. ❤
Thanks!
there, iz done!
Thank you for correcting the bell effect! This is now more impactful and worthy of the dreaming god of oblivion! Let it be written, the stars have aligned and Master Aten has arrived to complete the circle so that He who awaits can now pass through the veil! We await your esoteric findings on the dark pyramid and the future topics prophesied in this passage.
I rushed it out yesterday (due to personal life things) and the greenscreen looked awful too. I lost about 2k views but I'm dedicated to good quality that can be useful for years to come! Thanks!
A thorough and lovingly detailed of the greatest villain in any campaign setting, ever, and another smash hit! Nice job, Aten!
Thank You!!
Given the backstory on the module's production, Tharizdun sounds kinda like Gary saying, "There, it's done!"
Fun video! I really like the deep dives into the original adventures and lore that grabbed our brains as kids and made this a lifelong hobby.
Thanks!
Now that I have more time, I want to make a more proper comment: I really like these lore consolidation videos and appreciate the effort to gather the data from multiple sources. Thank you for doing these and looking forward to more!
Thanks!
Love this stuff. Tharizdun is one of my favorite evil gods to use as a source of problems for my adventurers.
Chef kiss, again I guess! 😅 Keep it up!
Thank you 😋
what a great wander through D&D history
Thank You!
One of the first and greatest threats. Thanks for this video.
Glad you enjoyed it
Once again a wonderful review.
Thanks!
Great video! Thanks! Keep these up!
Thanks!
Well done Aten, another video full of inspiration. May I suggest a 'deep dive' into Greyhawk's hero god Kyuss; his origins and cult. Thank you.
Great suggestion! Sons of Kyuss are long favorite of mine.
Great video, Aten! Took me a few days to get time to watch it, but great info!
I remember seeing this module back in the day, and it could be found for years on the discount racks at various game shops. I admit that the cover art really didn't grab me, so I never picked it up. I recall once finding an open copy and not being at all impressed by the maps either >.
Glad it was helpful!
Excellent video as usual. It convinced me to purchased the 1e version and I will convert to Shadowdark. A question; roughly how many hours would a party of five take to complete the adventure?
Thanks and Shadowdark would be 1000% better than 5E conversion. Great choice. As to how long, i'm not the one to ask. My group recently finished the 36 pages of Castle Amber which I turned into a 40 session and roughly 200 hour long campaign. (I went deep into part two) Realistically it's always difficult to tell since everyone runs games differently. Youll need to decide how much of the outdoor exploration you want to incorporate. All or none. Then when they're inside the temple you'll need to decide if youre ok with the PCs never finding the secret level. A fair amount of players never find it so you'll need to decide if youre going to "help" them locate it or even learn of its existence. And if the PCs leave and return the entire dungeon will be organized and ready for them. This isnt an easy adventure unless you as DM decide to ease back.
One of my favorite modules from the 80s! Fantastic overview - your work is consistently stellar. Thank you, Aten
Thanks!
I watched the first upload, but I'm watching this one too because I appreciate your style! Keep up the good work, and don't forget to give us some more Star Frontiers content!
Thanks! Will do! Later this week is the James Bond RPG then next week is Orcus and my "Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers" video that ties into Star Frontiers.
I like to imagine some Sage living in Greyhawk who has made a comfortable life for themselves collecting all these different versions of the Tharizdun lore. PCs can pay him handsomely, perhaps take on quests for them, while he just strokes his beard and doesn't have any more clue of what is true than the players do.
"There are some who say..."
Unhappy with the audio quality, the Elder God Of Eternal Darkness commands his human familiar to re-upload.
He was literally causing me to have terrible nightmares!
Great video as always Aten, sorry I'm a little late. Been almost feeling like I'm under the influence of the god of madness lately with how busy I've been, I typically create my own deities but I may just have to use Tharizdun sometime to throw my players off. Thanks for all your hard work and dedication. =^_^=
Thanks! No need to apologize!
I watched a second time. Thanks for the share!!
Thank You!!
I didn't see the first one but the quality on this video is great.
Thanks! Most people didnt mind the previous one but it was off just enough that I knew I wouldnt be happy unless I fixed it.
Hello Aten, what is your view on the mad "Elder Elemental Eye" deity whose temple can be found in G3, Hall of the Fire Giant King, is this a manifestation of Tharisdun worshipped by the Drow of House Eilservs and their minions?
Right, I'll be covering that series in the future and Grehawk Grognard covers that specifically. Gygax said (as quoted in this video) the two are different entities. So according to Gygax that was not Tharizdun. However in your own games you could choose to have Tharizdun or even some other entity poses as another entity.
@@welovettrpgs My lore is not all it could be, but to me, the Elder Elemental Eye, Elder Lelemental God, and Thatisdun are just different aspect of the same Chained God
@@Svartalf14 Could be. For a real world example, the Pharaoh Akhenaten said all Egyptian deities were just different aspects of the One true god, establishing the first known monotheistic religion in history.
I think I prefer the pre-retconned story of Tharizdun being deceived by his own dreams. It sounds almost like some sort of universal balancing force acting behind the scenes.
Also, Tim Cain is a treasure trove of useful insights, I'm glad you mentioned him!
Masterfully researched and presented video, as always.
(re-comment for re-upload)
Thanks!
Wow! I had no idea this module was basically completed in a month! :-) Cool trivia!
I always loved the original WG4, which I'd purchased as a kid upon release. The entire end encounter in the Black Cyst, with all the puzzle-solving you needed to do to get there and the anticlimax finish, left me with the good kind of frustration, the bits and pieces of compelling lore that made me desperately want to know more. Unfortunately, 1E never went very far with him, and it seems his subsequent history has been quite up-and-down. Which fits, I suppose, with Tharizdun's semi-Lovecraftian nature, where being unknowable mystery is part of what makes him compelling.
the first watch through I kept checking my phone and PC for what was pinging away till I realized what it was, didn't make it a bad vid at all, but the second watch through is much better, thanks
Thanks!
Oh, it's Deja Vu all over again... once more... but better! 😄
I sure hope so! I shoudnt have rushed it out yesterday!
Tharizdun's is my favorite deity in D&D.
And you are his favorite disciple!
It is worth noting that the Shard of Evil existed prior to the 4e retcons, although its origins and the scope of its involvement were much more mysterious and the clear-cut answers were buried _deep_ in the lore. There was a lot of circumstantial evidence suggesting it may have been what the yugoloths as called the Heart of Darkness and used to create evil outsiders as a concept and may have played a role in the creation of both the Abyss and Baator, playing into some grand conspiracy with the Blood War being the yugoloths playing everyone against each other towards some unclear grand goal. The Grey Wastes of Hades seemed to have a _much_ bigger, secret role in the origins and true goals of evil.
Then they got retconned into knockoff demons, Asmodeus and Pazuzu ended up absorbing the grand puppet master role, and Tharizdun become second fiddle to Asmodeus. While him being used to kick off the evil planes was reasonably consistent with established lore, the details of it were a massive downgrade from a true Omnicidal Maniac to little more than an Assimilation Plot. Had they maintained Tharizdun as a genuine Omnicidal Maniac, it would have worked a lot better.
The whole viral ruby motif was cool, though. I personally speculate the Sapphire Eidolon (Magic of Incarnum) was its counterpart to the alignment of Law as the crystallized manifestation of the alignment's quintessence, described as an impossibly perfect sphere in contrast to the chaotic, viral shape of the ruby Shard of Evil. And while far more speculative, the higher layers of the Abyss's opposite, The Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia, reference diamond... amusingly, this could suggest the final alignment crystal to be a chaos emerald. Lmao.
Here for you...
Thank You!!!
It’s interesting how much greyhawk dna is in Exandria. I wonder what Matt Mercers childhood setting of choice was lol
Hello, OP. I've been working in a small OSR with several tweaks. I want to offer it to you as prove of my kinship.
Please do
My contact email is on channel description
@@welovettrpgs Sent. Be as much destructive with your critics as needed, pal. Spell section still needing to be completed yet.
i re read and its quite odd
meatgrinder with weak humanoids
i ran twice and nobody found the secret level
Now I'm curiius how you feel about dark tower. It was publish 2 year before.and already had a more coherent design.
I own the Goodman Games Adventures Reincarnated Dark Tower. I haven't used it yet but it's great. I'm not sure there's a connection between it and Lost Temple of Tharizdun but I could be wrong.
what if a god seeking to destroy the order of the universe already succeeded but doesn't realize it?
I don't get it. the last video was Five Star without a doubt. You ok, Brother? You not going all Howard Hughes on us are you?
haha I've been all Howard Hughes for years! Naw, the greenscreen was messed up (was bothering me) and I had some complaints about the bell sound. After sleeping on it, I felt the bell complaints were valid and I want this video to be useful for a long time.
@@welovettrpgs Word. That I didn't catch any of that just shows how much I enjoyed the essay.
I've disliked the more recent lore intently, simply because the mere presence of Tharizdun makes so many other things moot. A "Ultimate BBEG of the Universe" works in fiction, but in RP it's just a little bit much. Meanwhile, the Lovecraftian madness is more than handled by the Obaryths and Slaad Lords, the "evil from beyond time" by Baernaloths, the oh-so-bad imprisoned evil with unlimited options in Pandemonium and Carceri, and so on - and having a single being literally create the Abyss is just stupid, a result of 4e trying to force the Greyhawk pantheon as the official pantheon (and this had actually started in 3.0 and 3.5 if you looked closely enough). Design with an agenda - regardless of what that agenda is - is bad design.
I think you'll like how I've been handling him. I'll focus on that with my BBEG pyramid video (as shown in this video)
@@welovettrpgs Definitely something to look forward to, you've consistently got some of the best content.
Sorry to do this to you but about that black shadow with glowing ember eyes that hovers over you, staring intensely, in most of your videos... it's pretty distracting and I usually click off from your vids because of it
Shh! You'll make it mad! I still have to live with it!