The Space Gamer #44 (February 1981) and Different Worlds #20 (February 1982)
thalmin
Retired game store owner
Have not found either issue yet, but have many more boxes to check. Maybe someday soon (in the geological sense) I'll get my stuff organzed and post a picture of my collection.
Hmmm, I should take a picture (album) of it in its current disorganized state, but that is too scary for ME to face.
Hmmm, I should take a picture (album) of it in its current disorganized state, but that is too scary for ME to face.
HALL OF THE FIRE GIANT KING (TSR);
$5.00 Designed by Gary Gygax. Supplement to AD&D. 16 page 8 1/2" x 11" booklet, published 1978.
This adventure takes the characters into the deadly realm of King Snurre Iron Belly where, in addition to plenty of fire giants, they may encounter mind flayers, an ancient red dragon, about eighty trolls, and plenty of other nasty creatures. There are two dungeon levels along with one level of caverns, and players will soon find that very few of the rooms and caves are unoccupied.
the scenario is well thought out and nicely detailed. DMs will find some intriguing special instructions given for deviously playing several of the intelligent inhabitants of the dungeon. There's also some useful and interesting information on the Drow (dark elves)
This is definitely not an easy dungeon, and since the monsters are quite strong and numerous, players will often be hard put to survive. Many of the monsters could be left out, and this would still have been a challenging adventure.
I advise all DMs who are looking for an exciting, worthwhile adventure for their players to pick this one up. You won't be disappointed.
-Kurt Butterfield
(lifted from pg 32 of Space Gamer #44, all typos probably mine)
$5.00 Designed by Gary Gygax. Supplement to AD&D. 16 page 8 1/2" x 11" booklet, published 1978.
This adventure takes the characters into the deadly realm of King Snurre Iron Belly where, in addition to plenty of fire giants, they may encounter mind flayers, an ancient red dragon, about eighty trolls, and plenty of other nasty creatures. There are two dungeon levels along with one level of caverns, and players will soon find that very few of the rooms and caves are unoccupied.
the scenario is well thought out and nicely detailed. DMs will find some intriguing special instructions given for deviously playing several of the intelligent inhabitants of the dungeon. There's also some useful and interesting information on the Drow (dark elves)
This is definitely not an easy dungeon, and since the monsters are quite strong and numerous, players will often be hard put to survive. Many of the monsters could be left out, and this would still have been a challenging adventure.
I advise all DMs who are looking for an exciting, worthwhile adventure for their players to pick this one up. You won't be disappointed.
-Kurt Butterfield
(lifted from pg 32 of Space Gamer #44, all typos probably mine)
Something I just noticed: The ship on the cover of SG44 and DW 18 are the same ship, drawn from different angles. wierd.
AGAINST THE GIANTS
By Gary Gygax
TSR
$6.00
Reviewed by Anders Swenson
This is a dungeon module G-1-2-3, a volume which combines the first series of TSR dungeon modules under one cover. The present volume consists of a 32-page booklet enclosed in two cardstock folders, one of which serves as the outer cover featuring the usual paintings, with a dungeon floorplan inside, and the other with more floorplans on both sides. The booklet contains the texts of three adventures, the AD&D monster description for the Drow, also appearing in the Fiend FOlio, the description of two spells for AD&D which have not yet been published, and a list of nine available advanced-level characters for AD&D
The text is essentially a reprint of the three G-series adventures under a single cover at a reasonable saving in price. Some changes in layout have been made to eliminate redundant material common to all three of the first modules, and some new drawings have been added to fill gaps left in the pages.
The acventure begins with an expedition against hill giants. The giants have been raiding human territories, striking with more force and cunning than ever before. The party of adventurers have been sent to explore the stronghold of hte hill giants, with the objective of finding out what the giants are up to, and the secondary goal of causing as much trouble as possible. The steading of the hill giant chief, Nosnra, is a large wooded stockade about 300' x 400'. There are three entrances; the text is unclear whether the doors and gates involved are open or closed, but the intent seems to be that the characters walk straight through the front door past the guards, who are in a drunken stupor. In fact, all of the giants in the compound are partying, most of them in the great hall in the middle of the steading. The adventurers have the option of gaining their objective by sneaking around the two levels of the hill giant fortress and picking up clues without having to encounter about 50 hill giants at once.
The lower level of the steading is a conventional underground dungeon, populated with slaves, guards, and the odd monsters. Some of the slaves are supposed to be in revolt, but the arrangement of the chambers of the dungeon and the relatively small space said to be occupied by the rebels seems unrealistic. The final solution to the hill giant problem may be found in a well-guarded treasure vault inside this dungeon.
The information to be found with the hill giants leadsfar into the snow country to the lair of the frost giants. These nasty creatures live inside a series of caves around a small canyon in the mountains. The frost giants are dispersed into a series of relatively small caves - I would increase the scale on the map fivefold to simulate a place where giants could live comfortably. The party of adventurers again gets to sneak or fight past the giants in the outer works down to the heart of the frost giant complex where signs exist which point th way to yet another station - The hall of the fire giant king.
AGAINST THE GIANTS
By Gary Gygax
TSR
$6.00
Reviewed by Anders Swenson
This is a dungeon module G-1-2-3, a volume which combines the first series of TSR dungeon modules under one cover. The present volume consists of a 32-page booklet enclosed in two cardstock folders, one of which serves as the outer cover featuring the usual paintings, with a dungeon floorplan inside, and the other with more floorplans on both sides. The booklet contains the texts of three adventures, the AD&D monster description for the Drow, also appearing in the Fiend FOlio, the description of two spells for AD&D which have not yet been published, and a list of nine available advanced-level characters for AD&D
The text is essentially a reprint of the three G-series adventures under a single cover at a reasonable saving in price. Some changes in layout have been made to eliminate redundant material common to all three of the first modules, and some new drawings have been added to fill gaps left in the pages.
The acventure begins with an expedition against hill giants. The giants have been raiding human territories, striking with more force and cunning than ever before. The party of adventurers have been sent to explore the stronghold of hte hill giants, with the objective of finding out what the giants are up to, and the secondary goal of causing as much trouble as possible. The steading of the hill giant chief, Nosnra, is a large wooded stockade about 300' x 400'. There are three entrances; the text is unclear whether the doors and gates involved are open or closed, but the intent seems to be that the characters walk straight through the front door past the guards, who are in a drunken stupor. In fact, all of the giants in the compound are partying, most of them in the great hall in the middle of the steading. The adventurers have the option of gaining their objective by sneaking around the two levels of the hill giant fortress and picking up clues without having to encounter about 50 hill giants at once.
The lower level of the steading is a conventional underground dungeon, populated with slaves, guards, and the odd monsters. Some of the slaves are supposed to be in revolt, but the arrangement of the chambers of the dungeon and the relatively small space said to be occupied by the rebels seems unrealistic. The final solution to the hill giant problem may be found in a well-guarded treasure vault inside this dungeon.
The information to be found with the hill giants leadsfar into the snow country to the lair of the frost giants. These nasty creatures live inside a series of caves around a small canyon in the mountains. The frost giants are dispersed into a series of relatively small caves - I would increase the scale on the map fivefold to simulate a place where giants could live comfortably. The party of adventurers again gets to sneak or fight past the giants in the outer works down to the heart of the frost giant complex where signs exist which point th way to yet another station - The hall of the fire giant king.
part II
The fire giants live in a well-constructed dungeon complex inside a volcanic mountain. This is simply a tough nut for the adventurers - the giants are in a place constructed for defense where they can repel a sortie with secondary positions, impromptu barricades, and ambushes. The designer expects this to be a running battle.
In any case, the fire giants live in a three level complex cut into the hot and living rock of the volcano. The scale of the map again seems to be too small - if the ten foot squares were increased to twenty feet a lot of things would make more sense. The fire giants mostly live on the top level, which opens out to the surface.
The second level is a storehouse and an armory. It also contains a chapel where mysterious black elves worship strange gods.
The third level is a cave complex given over to an unbelievable assortment of tough monsters - the usual condominium of creatures common to dungeon hopping. The end of this level is a river of fire which leacs to caves yet deeper under the earth, which are described in the D - series of adventures.
These are the first adventures published as modules by TSR and the reprinting shows the progress that has occurred since they first appeared. First of all, the standards for adventure length have expanded considerably, so that a single product now contains the material previously considered adequate for three booklets. The text has problems which the later books have avoided - the individual room descriptions have no consistent format, and important monsters can be literally lost in the middle of a paragraph between descriptions of loot and room contents. As noted, the flaw of making the scale of the maps much too small is made again by the publisher along with the bad habit of letting the lower levels degenerate into a random monster mix.
However, this series of adventures has many strong points which outweigh the flaws noted above. First is the theme of a plot which must be followed step by step back to its source. Second is the attempt at a realistic treatment of the giants' living places - except for the problems I have already mentioned, the plans for the various giant forts are realistic and reasonable. Finally, the text is well-written and pleasing to read.
Against the Giants is a solid adventure. If you use published scenarios in your campaign, and you have somehow missed the first publication of these adventures, this would be a worthwhile purchase.
The fire giants live in a well-constructed dungeon complex inside a volcanic mountain. This is simply a tough nut for the adventurers - the giants are in a place constructed for defense where they can repel a sortie with secondary positions, impromptu barricades, and ambushes. The designer expects this to be a running battle.
In any case, the fire giants live in a three level complex cut into the hot and living rock of the volcano. The scale of the map again seems to be too small - if the ten foot squares were increased to twenty feet a lot of things would make more sense. The fire giants mostly live on the top level, which opens out to the surface.
The second level is a storehouse and an armory. It also contains a chapel where mysterious black elves worship strange gods.
The third level is a cave complex given over to an unbelievable assortment of tough monsters - the usual condominium of creatures common to dungeon hopping. The end of this level is a river of fire which leacs to caves yet deeper under the earth, which are described in the D - series of adventures.
These are the first adventures published as modules by TSR and the reprinting shows the progress that has occurred since they first appeared. First of all, the standards for adventure length have expanded considerably, so that a single product now contains the material previously considered adequate for three booklets. The text has problems which the later books have avoided - the individual room descriptions have no consistent format, and important monsters can be literally lost in the middle of a paragraph between descriptions of loot and room contents. As noted, the flaw of making the scale of the maps much too small is made again by the publisher along with the bad habit of letting the lower levels degenerate into a random monster mix.
However, this series of adventures has many strong points which outweigh the flaws noted above. First is the theme of a plot which must be followed step by step back to its source. Second is the attempt at a realistic treatment of the giants' living places - except for the problems I have already mentioned, the plans for the various giant forts are realistic and reasonable. Finally, the text is well-written and pleasing to read.
Against the Giants is a solid adventure. If you use published scenarios in your campaign, and you have somehow missed the first publication of these adventures, this would be a worthwhile purchase.
BOZ
Creature Cataloguer
Awesome! And I was just coming back to check on the page because we were going to put AtG up for FA now, good timing! Take a look at see what the article is looking like already!
Well Allan, a transcription like that would be pretty cool, and a scan would be equally nice, but "interesting snippets" would also suffice. I'll leave it up to however you want to handle it!
And I was just coming back to check on the page because we were going to put AtG up for FA now, good timing! Take a look at see what the article is looking like already!Well Allan, a transcription like that would be pretty cool, and a scan would be equally nice, but "interesting snippets" would also suffice.
I'll leave it up to however you want to handle it!
