Why is the ground shaking at Wizards of the Coast? The giants are coming.
This month, Wizards of the Coast released their latest D&D campaign sourcebook, Storm King’s ThunderIt’s the talk of every bar from Waterdeep to The Shining Lands. After the Weird Of The UnderdarkThe gothic horror of campaign Curse Of Strahd, it’s good to see D&D get back to a more classic flavored adventure with a straight up storyline featuring giants of all stripes and some dragons.
Some readers may remember the giant adventure models from the late 70s.Glacial Rifts of the Frost Giant Jarl. The following are some examples of how to get started: Hall of the Fire Giant Kings) and its Drow and Demonweb sequels. Storm King’s Thunder This is not a retelling of these adventures or a sequel, but a brand new story in the Forgotten Realms Campaign setting
After years of a semblance order in the giantish community, things have suddenly gone haywire. Hill giants are destroying farms and villages. Fire giants are driving the “small folk” to the desert. Frost giants are plundering the coasts. What’s going on?
The strict pecking orders of giants that kept order have been dissolved, and now every giant clan is for themselves. This is causing havoc throughout the rest of the globe.
If the small folk are to survive, they must investigate, explore, and fight to restore order… and perhaps discover a mysterious force behind these goings on.
This is a pretty strong adventure hook.
This is a book that technically has adventures for characters of all levels, but it’s really more for those who are starting at the fifth level. The first chapter contains a series of missions and tasks that players can complete to reach the fifth level. This isn’t a bait-and-switch move. This allows players who have just completed a lower-level adventure module, such as Lost Mine of phandelver, to jump straight into the Storm King’s Thunder storyline.
Because Storm King’s Thunder It offers a system that awards leveling through milestones, rather than counting experience points. This allows for a more streamlined progression.
(Reviewer’s unsolicited opinions: I’m not quite sure how I feel regarding this “milestone” thing. However, I must admit that grinding monsters in a stale dungeon can be a bit exhausting for those at higher levels. Personally, I’d try to adopt both, which is not difficult. Storm King’s Thunder).
The book has 256 pages and includes many full color maps, illustrations and at least three double page spreads. WotC does it again with stunning work. With the introductory mission for levels 1-5 there are twelve chapters and four appendices.
A flowchart is a very useful feature for a DM who is trying to keep track.
Wizards of the Coast offers some of the materials on the Dungeon Masters Guild site for free. Check out the website. here You can also find this mission in the Fantasy Grounds virtual tabletop format. This mission is available in the Fantasy Grounds tabletop virtual format.
Amazon offers it for a much lower price than the official price of $49.95. I always encourage you to support your local game store. It may cost more, but the local game store offers more in terms of community and gaming space.
The storyline is well-developed, with plenty of opportunities for players. Expect to battle every type of true giant and explore castles, storm-lashed coastlines, frosty mountains, etc. There are more than a dozen new magical items to find, as well as at least one real artifact.
Not to spoil too much, but players may not only interact with giants in the game, but they may also become giants themselves.
It’s a tasty campaign.
Do you have any criticisms to make?
Maybe a few.
One, it’s two Forgotten Realms setting. Maybe I’m resentful because I’m old. Greyhawk Wizards of the Coast would do well to remember that there are many other campaign settings which have large fan bases. I’ve heard several people wish for more Dragonlance settings.
Another criticism is that campaign sourcebooks are more expensive than module booklets, which are cheaper, though shorter and less glamourous. For a lot of us, $50 is a lot to plop down all at once for any kind of game (and not all reviewers get free advance copies, *cough, cough*).
That said, in thinking back to the days when I bought the individual modules for the Giants, Drow, and Demonweb series, they all added up to around $50–which was worth a lot more in 1980. These pamphlet-like books didn’t have the same beautiful artwork as today’s hardcover books.
Take note–a lot of these sourcebooks eventually become officially available in PDF format at a cheaper price.
The material is dense. There is a lot of ground to cover–which may seem daunting to some DMs, but Wizards of the Coast tries to make things as organized as possible in an effort to keep DMs from getting lost. It helps that the campaign has a linear structure (with some side-trips available). This prevents the DM from going crazy with the unpredictable nature of an open sandbox.
Oh, hey, speaking of driving DMs nuts… you know what is also nice about this campaign? No new player prestige classes, spells, or abilities. They’ve included rune magic but that’s it. It is creeping feature-itis that has plagued past editions of D&D. It’s nice to see the old school sensibilities.
There is a great edition of Storm King’s Thunder Roll20 is a system that allows you to play games. They have really gone all out with the beautifully rendered maps, dynamic lighting effects, medallions, and more. You can access all the NPCs, monsters, the text of the book and the artwork. The price is $49.95 like the hardcover, but the effort that went into the book makes it worth it.
It’s a good book for anyone, even if they’re not a campaign DM or player. You can use a variety of NPCs and traps in your own adventures.
It’s a buy that is recommended. As someone who has been disappointed in the past by some of D&D’s campaign offerings, I heartily approve of this one and think you’ll be in for a pleasant and hugely epic experience.
Cheers!
Unrelated Additional News Three weeks ago our son John Eric Reilly Teehan was born. He’s a smart, big boy. He shows a great deal of promise. I’ve started my own “dad blog” on DearJackrabbit.com. Please stop by when you can. You don’t need to tell me what a great kid our child is. But I wouldn’t be surprised if you couldn’t help yourself.
He is pretty awesome