The Inside Scoop on Gaming

If anyone could please take the time to e-mail me with an explanation of why, lo those 25 years ago, TSR decided that the first published "module" for their new Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game would not be for beginners but instead be a death-fest for upper mid-range characters, I would greatly appreciate that.

The new Against the Giants, part of TSR's 25th Anniversary celebration, is split into two parts: a re-presentation of the original 3 modules (as they were called back in the day) and an all new section with new material that continues on the whole giants theme. I feel like I should give more background to the product but frankly, does anyone out there not know what "Against the Giants" was about? If you've never played an RPG the name alone should pretty much give it away. The original 3 adventures were a foray into the residences of hill giants, frost giants, and fire giants respectively. They are all quite neat in terms of visualization for the players and DM, what with the frost giants living in a glacier and the fire giants in a volcano. Neat stuff, that.

Like I said before though, these are death fest adventures. Giants tend to have a mega-ton of hit points and lots of very deadly pets around. I played through this when I was knee-high to a tadpole when I knew not the joy of true RPGing and just power gamed my grubby little hands off. We waded through the giants in a couple hours. I think we called ourselves the "Living Howitzers" or something. Fireballs to the left of me, ice storms on the right, here I am stuck in the middle with all that treasure. This leaves me with an important question; could anyone survive these romps without serious power-gaming? The great strategists of our time would look at the situation and probably say, after deep pontification, "I'm not going in there, nooooooo sir!" Then they would scratch themselves, maybe, Napoleon would have at least.

Luckily the new material is not so bad in terms of toughness. It ain't easy by far, but I could see a party succeeding through clever strategy and thinking before wading into confrontations. The scenarios revolve around the country of Geoff, a small nation in the setting of Greyhawk. Geoff was invaded by Giants about a decade ago, and the invaders have now become the masters, subjugating the local population and keeping a tyrannical hold over things. Various sites in Geoff are described, giving a much greater sense of variety than one would think possible given the nature of the player's opposition. I mean, there's only so much you can do with giants.

Writer Sean Reynolds has seen around this problem however, sprinkling some fun personalities and circumstances for the players to deal with in the various scenarios. It's not just "Find out how many there are and kill 'em." Examples include an ancient elven town currently occupied by a shadow dragon, a frost giant mountain dwelling where the giants have multiple heads, and a city where the human slaves might be more willing to attack any potential rescuers than to join them. There's much more to this new material than a straight hack and slash, allowing for some serious role-playing opportunities and intelligent fighting.

There is very little artwork in the new section but what little can be found is of very high quality. I tend to think that the artwork adds a great deal to the product, setting a mood and encouraging creative play, certainly more than simple eye candy. The artwork here is successful in sparking my thoughts, but there just isn't enough. The original adventures are very sparse in terms of reprinted artwork, but probably worth it simply for the fact that a Trampier shot of a remhoraz eating an adventurer is given. Look closely and you cann see little (I assume) halfling feet sliding down the gullet of the creature. Gruesome, yet so good! There's an Erol Otus piece too, just a picture of the fire giant's lair (amounting too a fiery mountain in pen and ink) but worth mentioning because Otus is like unto a god. Between Trampier, Otus, Roslof, Willingham, and Dee we were a bunch of spoiled brats taking wonderful artwork for granted.

One last request: explain to me why TSR no longer uses multiple artists on a single product. The variety was great. Down with uniformity!

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Against the Giants: Liberation of Geoff
Author: Sean Reynolds (with Gary Gygax) Category: game Company/Publisher: TSR Line: AD&D Page count: 96 pages Capsule Review by Steve Pickios on 09/08/99. Genre tags: Fantasy	If anyone could please take the time to e-mail me with an explanation of why, lo those 25 years ago, TSR decided that the first published "module" for their new Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game would not be for beginners but instead be a death-fest for upper mid-range characters, I would greatly appreciate that. The new Against the Giants, part of TSR's 25th Anniversary celebration, is split into two parts: a re-presentation of the original 3 modules (as they were called back in the day) and an all new section with new material that continues on the whole giants theme. I feel like I should give more background to the product but frankly, does anyone out there not know what "Against the Giants" was about? If you've never played an RPG the name alone should pretty much give it away. The original 3 adventures were a foray into the residences of hill giants, frost giants, and fire giants respectively. They are all quite neat in terms of visualization for the players and DM, what with the frost giants living in a glacier and the fire giants in a volcano. Neat stuff, that. Like I said before though, these are death fest adventures. Giants tend to have a mega-ton of hit points and lots of very deadly pets around. I played through this when I was knee-high to a tadpole when I knew not the joy of true RPGing and just power gamed my grubby little hands off. We waded through the giants in a couple hours. I think we called ourselves the "Living Howitzers" or something. Fireballs to the left of me, ice storms on the right, here I am stuck in the middle with all that treasure. This leaves me with an important question; could anyone survive these romps without serious power-gaming? The great strategists of our time would look at the situation and probably say, after deep pontification, "I'm not going in there, nooooooo sir!" Then they would scratch themselves, maybe, Napoleon would have at least. Luckily the new material is not so bad in terms of toughness. It ain't easy by far, but I could see a party succeeding through clever strategy and thinking before wading into confrontations. The scenarios revolve around the country of Geoff, a small nation in the setting of Greyhawk. Geoff was invaded by Giants about a decade ago, and the invaders have now become the masters, subjugating the local population and keeping a tyrannical hold over things. Various sites in Geoff are described, giving a much greater sense of variety than one would think possible given the nature of the player's opposition. I mean, there's only so much you can do with giants. Writer Sean Reynolds has seen around this problem however, sprinkling some fun personalities and circumstances for the players to deal with in the various scenarios. It's not just "Find out how many there are and kill 'em." Examples include an ancient elven town currently occupied by a shadow dragon, a frost giant mountain dwelling where the giants have multiple heads, and a city where the human slaves might be more willing to attack any potential rescuers than to join them. There's much more to this new material than a straight hack and slash, allowing for some serious role-playing opportunities and intelligent fighting. There is very little artwork in the new section but what little can be found is of very high quality. I tend to think that the artwork adds a great deal to the product, setting a mood and encouraging creative play, certainly more than simple eye candy. The artwork here is successful in sparking my thoughts, but there just isn't enough. The original adventures are very sparse in terms of reprinted artwork, but probably worth it simply for the fact that a Trampier shot of a remhoraz eating an adventurer is given. Look closely and you cann see little (I assume) halfling feet sliding down the gullet of the creature. Gruesome, yet so good! There's an Erol Otus piece too, just a picture of the fire giant's lair (amounting too a fiery mountain in pen and ink) but worth mentioning because Otus is like unto a god. Between Trampier, Otus, Roslof, Willingham, and Dee we were a bunch of spoiled brats taking wonderful artwork for granted. One last request: explain to me why TSR no longer uses multiple artists on a single product. The variety was great. Down with uniformity! Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Against the Giants: Liberation of Geoff