Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Against the Giants: Campaign Journal
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="cthulhu42" data-source="post: 7391737" data-attributes="member: 6792361"><p>Session 18</p><p></p><p>We begin the session with the the party recovering from their fight with the dragon. Thoradin begins healing rituals while Edran scours the loot. He soon finds the tooth and picks through the magic to be found via his wand of detect magic. </p><p></p><p> Thoradin casts a second ritual healing and Sai begins to cast a ritual Tiny Hut. Thoradin has time to finish. Sai does not. </p><p></p><p> The first thing they notice is a slow moving ooze of lava entering the cavern and spreading. It is slow but sure, and soon enough the entire cave floor will be covered. Soon afterwards, King Snurre makes his apperance, walking without care through the lava, flanked by a pair of fire giants and followed by a fire giant dreadnought. Before them run four hell hounds. Snurre has arrived for his final attempt to slay these interlopers. </p><p></p><p> Thoradin calls out a warning to them to flee and be happy to retain their worthless lives, but Snurre is caught between the heroes and his drow overlords. For him there will be no retreat. </p><p></p><p> The hell hounds and the two fire giants charge and the battle is on. </p><p></p><p> The hell hounds get off one or two good shots, but they are no match for the party. Laurali's lightning strikes and Sai's Ice Storms wipe them out. Krote closes with Snurre as the rest of the party focus on the fire giants and the dreadnought. But backup soon arrives for the giants in the form of fie elite drow warriors. They walk through the lava unhurt and proceed to harrie the party with crossbows and swords. Fortunately for the heroes they are still under the effect of Thoradin's Hero's Feast, making them immune to the drow's poison. </p><p></p><p> Back and forth the battle rages. At one point Sai Polymorphs one of the firte giants into a turtle. Things are looking good as the second fire giant falls, even though Krote is taking a hell of a beating. </p><p></p><p> And then Eclavdra arrives. She appears as if from thin air in the chamber, along with another lesser drow priestess. But there is not just one Eclavdra, but rather five of them! </p><p></p><p> The lesser priestess casts an Insect Plague while Eclavdra hits Sai with a Harm. Eclavdra follows that with a Flame Strike which knocks Sai out. </p><p></p><p> The polymorphed giant returns to his true form, but is quickly killed. </p><p></p><p> All through the cavern the battle rages. Thoradin does his best to keep his friends on his feet and he almost loses his own life, falling unconscious in the area of another Insect Plague, but Selendra is there to pour a potion down him. </p><p></p><p> Laurali swings through the illusionary Eclavdra's, trying to find the right one. Snurre takes Krote down to a single hit point, but the tough barbarian refuses to go down, and between he and Edran they finally slay the mighty fire giant king. </p><p></p><p> Snurre is dead. His lieutenants are dead. The dreadnought is dead. But the party is barely hanging on even as they finally figure out who is the true Eclavdra. They surround her, but her drow warriors come to her aid. Down goes Edran, then Farrah, then Krote. Eclavdra uses a spell to seemingly teleport away. The remaining drow are severely wounded but they are determined to die for the glory of Lolth and take as many of the surface dwellers with them. They stab down on the unconscious forms of Edran and Farrah, killing both of them outright. Then Laurali is there, her mighty axe swinging. Swiftly she cuts down the last of the drow. </p><p></p><p> With two of their members dead and Thoradin without even a Revivify to aid them, and the lava still slowly but steadily encroaching, they know they must get out. Sai begins to cast Teleportation Circle while the rest of them gather their dead and scoop as much treasure as they can into their bag of holding. </p><p></p><p> Feeling the heat of the lava as it oozes toward them, Sai finally completes his spell. With a last look at the last lair of the giants, they step through, teleporting to Maldrave. </p><p></p><p> It is Harvester 17, 3:30 am</p><p></p><p></p><p> Post Session Notes: Thus ends our run through of Against the Giants. Obviously I cut the final level somewhat short, but I could tell that my group has been suffering a bit of giant fatigue for the past few sessions. It took us eighteen weeks to get through the thing, and frankly, I was getting a little sick of giants as well. </p><p></p><p> Also, I figured it would be a good time for a final boss fight. Snurre and Eclavdra, finally going head to head against the heroes that had been causing them so much grief. Plus, the party had taken the tooth from it's guardian, and Eclavdra could not have that. I liked the idea of having hert dam up the lava river that runs through the NW section of the lair, effectively flooding the lair. This also put a clock on the last battle, as well as forcing them to use magic to escape. It was only through good fortune that Sai had a single 5th level slot left and a prepared Teleportation Circle available to use. Had that not been the case, or if Sai had been killed, it might very well have been a TPK. </p><p></p><p> Speaking of good fortune, the fact that Thoradin randomly chose that day's morning to cast Hero's Feast was probably the difference between success and failure. It made them immune to the dragon's fear ability as well as the drow's poison. Had that not been the case things might have gone very differently. </p><p></p><p> As it was, Edran died and so did Farrah, so it was a decidedly hard fight. </p><p></p><p> Some thoughts about the module: Overall I enjoyed running this classic, and I think my group dug it too, although we're now all pretty sick to death of giants. Giants are big bags of HP and they pack a hell of a whollop. Their lack of magic was pretty evident though, and the party not having to worry overly much about spell attacks made things a bit easier, if a bit predictable. </p><p></p><p> If I have any advice for DM's considering running this module it would be this: Ambush, ambush, ambush! Once the giants get wind of the party, have them gather at a good spot with plenty of room to move about, and hit the PC's with serious numbers. </p><p></p><p> The NPC's in this module can be fairly interesting, and several of them have found their places as semi-permanent members of the party, while others have become hated enemies. The Oni, the Rakshasa, and Obmi are all on the party's hit list. </p><p></p><p> Last but not least: Grapple! It won't keep a PC from attacking, but I was able to seriously screw up a few PC plans by havingg the giants grapple them. In fact, I probably didn't use it enough myself. In that last battle they could have easily nabbed a PC and tossed him into the lava. </p><p></p><p> The module suggests that the PC's should level up about three times over the course of this adventure. My group leveled four times (11 to 15). They started out with only four party members to split xp between, but as they progressed and picked up NPC combatants along the way, the xp got a little thinner as it was divided among them all. Definitely give the NPCs an xp cut. If I hadn't done so my group would probably be 16th or even 17th level now. </p><p></p><p> There's a LOT of magic items in this module and a LOT of monetary treasure. I played it “as is” with only a few exceptions. Personally, I'm not too worried about it, but other DM's might be, so I suggest an in depth read through to really inventory all that lewt. </p><p></p><p> I'm glad I ran this adventure, and this 5e version was a serviceable one, with a few exceptions (I sure wish they'd have resized it for 5e giants), but most of the problems were easy fixes. You do have to put some thought into it to elevate this from an old school hack n slash grind, but as a setting for your story there are enough interesting NPCs to do that. </p><p></p><p> One last note, as I mentioned before, I buffed every single creature in this module to max hit points. This absolutely made for a longer experience. I'm guessing we could have run this thing in about 12 to 14 sessions had not the battles been so tough due to very healthy giants that took a long time to put down before they put a serious hurt on the PC's and used up a lot of their resources. </p><p></p><p> I give Against The Giants three and a half stars.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="cthulhu42, post: 7391737, member: 6792361"] Session 18 We begin the session with the the party recovering from their fight with the dragon. Thoradin begins healing rituals while Edran scours the loot. He soon finds the tooth and picks through the magic to be found via his wand of detect magic. Thoradin casts a second ritual healing and Sai begins to cast a ritual Tiny Hut. Thoradin has time to finish. Sai does not. The first thing they notice is a slow moving ooze of lava entering the cavern and spreading. It is slow but sure, and soon enough the entire cave floor will be covered. Soon afterwards, King Snurre makes his apperance, walking without care through the lava, flanked by a pair of fire giants and followed by a fire giant dreadnought. Before them run four hell hounds. Snurre has arrived for his final attempt to slay these interlopers. Thoradin calls out a warning to them to flee and be happy to retain their worthless lives, but Snurre is caught between the heroes and his drow overlords. For him there will be no retreat. The hell hounds and the two fire giants charge and the battle is on. The hell hounds get off one or two good shots, but they are no match for the party. Laurali's lightning strikes and Sai's Ice Storms wipe them out. Krote closes with Snurre as the rest of the party focus on the fire giants and the dreadnought. But backup soon arrives for the giants in the form of fie elite drow warriors. They walk through the lava unhurt and proceed to harrie the party with crossbows and swords. Fortunately for the heroes they are still under the effect of Thoradin's Hero's Feast, making them immune to the drow's poison. Back and forth the battle rages. At one point Sai Polymorphs one of the firte giants into a turtle. Things are looking good as the second fire giant falls, even though Krote is taking a hell of a beating. And then Eclavdra arrives. She appears as if from thin air in the chamber, along with another lesser drow priestess. But there is not just one Eclavdra, but rather five of them! The lesser priestess casts an Insect Plague while Eclavdra hits Sai with a Harm. Eclavdra follows that with a Flame Strike which knocks Sai out. The polymorphed giant returns to his true form, but is quickly killed. All through the cavern the battle rages. Thoradin does his best to keep his friends on his feet and he almost loses his own life, falling unconscious in the area of another Insect Plague, but Selendra is there to pour a potion down him. Laurali swings through the illusionary Eclavdra's, trying to find the right one. Snurre takes Krote down to a single hit point, but the tough barbarian refuses to go down, and between he and Edran they finally slay the mighty fire giant king. Snurre is dead. His lieutenants are dead. The dreadnought is dead. But the party is barely hanging on even as they finally figure out who is the true Eclavdra. They surround her, but her drow warriors come to her aid. Down goes Edran, then Farrah, then Krote. Eclavdra uses a spell to seemingly teleport away. The remaining drow are severely wounded but they are determined to die for the glory of Lolth and take as many of the surface dwellers with them. They stab down on the unconscious forms of Edran and Farrah, killing both of them outright. Then Laurali is there, her mighty axe swinging. Swiftly she cuts down the last of the drow. With two of their members dead and Thoradin without even a Revivify to aid them, and the lava still slowly but steadily encroaching, they know they must get out. Sai begins to cast Teleportation Circle while the rest of them gather their dead and scoop as much treasure as they can into their bag of holding. Feeling the heat of the lava as it oozes toward them, Sai finally completes his spell. With a last look at the last lair of the giants, they step through, teleporting to Maldrave. It is Harvester 17, 3:30 am Post Session Notes: Thus ends our run through of Against the Giants. Obviously I cut the final level somewhat short, but I could tell that my group has been suffering a bit of giant fatigue for the past few sessions. It took us eighteen weeks to get through the thing, and frankly, I was getting a little sick of giants as well. Also, I figured it would be a good time for a final boss fight. Snurre and Eclavdra, finally going head to head against the heroes that had been causing them so much grief. Plus, the party had taken the tooth from it's guardian, and Eclavdra could not have that. I liked the idea of having hert dam up the lava river that runs through the NW section of the lair, effectively flooding the lair. This also put a clock on the last battle, as well as forcing them to use magic to escape. It was only through good fortune that Sai had a single 5th level slot left and a prepared Teleportation Circle available to use. Had that not been the case, or if Sai had been killed, it might very well have been a TPK. Speaking of good fortune, the fact that Thoradin randomly chose that day's morning to cast Hero's Feast was probably the difference between success and failure. It made them immune to the dragon's fear ability as well as the drow's poison. Had that not been the case things might have gone very differently. As it was, Edran died and so did Farrah, so it was a decidedly hard fight. Some thoughts about the module: Overall I enjoyed running this classic, and I think my group dug it too, although we're now all pretty sick to death of giants. Giants are big bags of HP and they pack a hell of a whollop. Their lack of magic was pretty evident though, and the party not having to worry overly much about spell attacks made things a bit easier, if a bit predictable. If I have any advice for DM's considering running this module it would be this: Ambush, ambush, ambush! Once the giants get wind of the party, have them gather at a good spot with plenty of room to move about, and hit the PC's with serious numbers. The NPC's in this module can be fairly interesting, and several of them have found their places as semi-permanent members of the party, while others have become hated enemies. The Oni, the Rakshasa, and Obmi are all on the party's hit list. Last but not least: Grapple! It won't keep a PC from attacking, but I was able to seriously screw up a few PC plans by havingg the giants grapple them. In fact, I probably didn't use it enough myself. In that last battle they could have easily nabbed a PC and tossed him into the lava. The module suggests that the PC's should level up about three times over the course of this adventure. My group leveled four times (11 to 15). They started out with only four party members to split xp between, but as they progressed and picked up NPC combatants along the way, the xp got a little thinner as it was divided among them all. Definitely give the NPCs an xp cut. If I hadn't done so my group would probably be 16th or even 17th level now. There's a LOT of magic items in this module and a LOT of monetary treasure. I played it “as is” with only a few exceptions. Personally, I'm not too worried about it, but other DM's might be, so I suggest an in depth read through to really inventory all that lewt. I'm glad I ran this adventure, and this 5e version was a serviceable one, with a few exceptions (I sure wish they'd have resized it for 5e giants), but most of the problems were easy fixes. You do have to put some thought into it to elevate this from an old school hack n slash grind, but as a setting for your story there are enough interesting NPCs to do that. One last note, as I mentioned before, I buffed every single creature in this module to max hit points. This absolutely made for a longer experience. I'm guessing we could have run this thing in about 12 to 14 sessions had not the battles been so tough due to very healthy giants that took a long time to put down before they put a serious hurt on the PC's and used up a lot of their resources. I give Against The Giants three and a half stars. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Against the Giants: Campaign Journal
Top