G1-2-3: Against the Giants is a 1st edition AD&D adventure, for 4-9 player characters of levels 8 to 12. It is a compilation of the three earlier modules in the G (Giant) Series: G1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, G2 The Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl, and G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King. New art was added but only superficial changes were made to the text and layout.
A novel of the same name and based on these modules was written for the Greyhawk Classics.
The modules in this series were converted to 2nd Edition AD&D in Against the Giants: Liberation of Geoff, which uses these modules and added content for an adventure set in a later giant attack.
A 4th Edition D&D series, based on the same plot and with extra details was written for Dungeon Magazines. See individual modules in the Giant series for more information.
This module was converted to 5th Edition D&D in the Yawning Portal.
This compilation was reused in the GDQ1-7: Queen of the Spiders compilation, which was designed to follow on from T1-4: Temple of Elemental Evil and A1-4: Against the Slave Lords.
Additional modules, such as the Dungeon Magazine #006 The House of The Brothers, which involves fog giants, can be used to expand this series or the GDQ1-7 series.
Blurb[]
1e AD&D:
"This material was originally published as three separate adventures; G1 (STEADING OF THE HILL GIANT CHIEF), G2 (THE GLACIAL RIFT OF THE FROST GIANT JARL), and G3 (HALL OF THE FIRE GIANT KING). Contained herein are referee notes, background information, maps, and exploration keys for three complete adventures using the ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ™ rules. This module can be used alone or as the first in a series of adventures that includes Dungeon Modules D1-2 (DESCENT INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE EARTH), D3 (VAULT OF THE DROW), and Q1 (QUEEN OF THE DEMONWEB PITS)."
5e D&D:
"The three linked adventures that make up Against the Giants were created and originally released in 1978, during the time when Gary Gygax was still writing the Player's Handbook for the original AD&D game. Despite being (in a sense) older than the game itself, these adventures continue to hold a special place in the hearts and memories of D&D players of all ages. The compilation of Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl, and Hall of the Fire Giant King was published in 1981 as Against the Giants. The version presented here is designed to be undertaken by characters of 11th level."
Index[]
For an index of the individual 1e AD&D modules, please see their respective pages. In the 1e AD&D Against the Giants module G1 takes place between pages 2-8, G2 between 9-15, and G3 16-29. Included below is an index of art (titles in italics are new art pieces included in the G1-2-3 compilation), and creature, item and spell stats included at the end.
5e D&D's version of Against the Giants will be indexed as normal.
Art[]
1e AD&D:[]
The original modules were all illustrated by Trampier and Sutherland alone. The compilation includes new artists.
- David C. Sutherland III: Cloak Room(p.3), Adventurers in a Cave (p.11), Adventurers vs The Kennel Keeper (p.21), Drow Cleric(p.25)
- David A. Trampier: Kitchen(p.5), Remorhaz(p.12), Trolls(p.25)
- Jeff Dee: Adventurers vs Ice Toad(p.1), Crystalbrittle(p.31)
- David S. LaForce: Adventurers in the Snow(p.9), Fire Giants (p.13)
- Erol Otis: The Steading(p.2), Hellfurnances(p.16)
- Bill Willingham: Kennel Cave(p.15)
- Trampier or Sutherland: Carrion Crawlers(p.7), Chief's Treasure Room(p.8), Treasure(p.19), Captured Theif(p.23), Drow Fighters*(p.30)
*The image of the drow fighters on page 30 was a remade version of the drow fighters from G3 page 15.
Many images by Sutherland and Trampier done for the original modules didn't make it to the compilation, including:G1: Interior (p.2), G2: Climbing Adventurer(p.2-Sutherland?), Adventuring Gear(p.3-Sutherland?), Jarl's Trophy Hall(p.7-Trampier?), G3: Drow using atlatl by Sutherland(p.16) and the Fire Giant by Trampier(maps) as well as the art for the back covers for all three modules.
5e D&D:[]
Hill Giant Feast (p.170), The Keeper (p.173), Carrion Crawler (p.176), The Steading (p.178), Frozen Half-elf(p.182), Remorhaz (p.185), Jarl's Trophy Hall (p.188), King Snurre (p.193), Obmi(p.196), Eclavdra (p.205), Hellfurnances (p.206)
Characters (5e D&D):[]
- Boldo (p.202)
- Brazzemal (p.207),
- Eclavdra (p.170,205)
- Estia (Unnamed in the original) (p.189,206)
- Frupy (p.194)
- Grugnur (p.179,188-189,206)
- Grutha (Unnamed in Original) (p.169-170)
- Nedylene (p.209)
- Nosnra, Chief of the Hill Giants. Fights as a Frost Giant. (p.166-167)
- Obmi (p.196)
- Snurre (p.193)
Creatures (5e D&D):[]
Below is an index of creatures as the appear in the 5th Edition D&D version of the module, in Tales from the Yawning Portal. Many creatures also used stats from weaker or stronger creatures to reflect stronger and weaker versions of the same creatures. For some creatures the names of the original creatures was kept, but a different creatures statistics were used.
- Ape (p.172-173)
- Beetle, Giant Fire (p.207)
- Black Pudding (p.185)
- Bear, Cave ( Uses Polar Bear Stats) (p.168)
- Bear, Polar (p.187)
- Bugbear (p.173,175)
- Carrion Crawler (p.172,177)
- Centaur (p.201)
- Chimera (p.196)
- Dragon, Red (p.207)
- Dragon, White (p.185)
- Drow (p.199,205,207-209)
- Dwarf (p.175,181,196)
- Elf (p.173,181,201)
- Empryean (p.202)
- Ettin (p.192,199)
- Giant, Cloud (p.167,170,192)
- Giant, Fire (p.175,185,187,192-194,197-202,206-207)
- Giant Frost (p.181-183,185-188,192,199,206)
- Giant, Hill (p.167-173,175,183,187,199)
- Giant Stone (p.167,170,177,183,192,199)
- Giant, Storm (p.187)
- Gnoll (p.192,196,201,206)
- Gorgon (p.207)
- Gray Ooze (p.208)
- Half-Elf (p.182)
- Hell Hound (p.192-194,198,207)
- Human(p.174,181,187,201)
- Hydra (p.195)
- Lizard, Giant (p.172,176)
- Lycanthrope, Wererat (p.199,202)
- Manticore (p.177)
- Mind flayer/Illithid (p.208)
- Ogre (p.167,170-171,181-182,185-187)
- Oni (p.186)
- Orc (p.167,171-173,175-176)
- Orog (p.176)
- Rakshasa (p.198)
- Remorhaz (p.195)
- Snake, Poisonous (p.194-195)
- Snow Leopard (Uses Tiger Stats) (p.183)
- Toad, Giant Ice (p.183,186, 235- First appearance in 5e)
- Troglodyte(p.176)
- Troll (p.199,206-208)
- Weasel, Giant (p.194)
- Wight (p.173)
- Wolf, Dire (p.167)
- Wolf, Winter (p.181,185,188)
- Yeti (p.181,183)
Items (5e D&D):[]
- Waythe, a sentient greatsword owned by a Cloud Giant (Unnamed in original)(p.229)
Locations:[]
In the original 1st Edition AD&D version of the module, the only location set in Greyhawk mentioned was the Ulsprue Mountains(G1-2-3: p.26), that two cloud giant nobles had come from. In the 5th Edition D&D version of the module, this mention was removed in order to make the module generic to any setting, and instead mentions that if set in Greyhawk the giants might be attacking Geoff or Sterich from the Crystalmists, The Jotens, or the Barrier Peaks (YP:p.165).
Appendix[]
Behind the Scenes[]
The Dragon #019: The Battle for Snurre's Hall. A review of the modules as played during the 1978 Origins Tournament, and a retelling of how that group managed to complete the series with no party members lost.
Dragon+ #11: Return to the Steading is a short story that blends 5th Editions Storm Kings Thunder, a similar module set in Forgotten Realm's Faerun, with elements from G1-2-3 Against the Giants. It follows Chief Nosnra's son, Ocras, returning to the steading after it had been claimed by the adventurers, led by the tiefling thief Garret hoping to use Ocras' knowledge to rob the place.
Dragon+ #13: Art: Against the Giants. Details how the art for the 5th Edition, Yawning Portal, version of Against the Giants was made.
Differences between 1e and 5e versions: Along with necessary changes such as rules and creature statistics, a few changes were made including the removal of the pregenerated tournament characters (included in 1e's G1 and G1-2-3) and the addition of names to wives of the Hill Giant Chief and Frost Giant Jarl. This is not the first time they'd been renamed, with 4e's Dungeon Magazine versions of the modules G1 and G2 naming the Hill Giant and Frost Giant wife Morzul and Svarhilda respectively.
External Links[]
Articles: RPGGeek, RPG.Net, Acaeum, DriveThruRPG
References[]
- CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0
Against the Giants. Great Library of Greyhawk, GreyhawkOnline.com. (view authors)