Publication:Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl

[  Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl]

System: Dungeons and Dragons 1e Levels: 8 – 12  Author: Gary Gygax  Publisher: TSR  Publication Date: 1978  Format: Paperback  Page Count: 12

Product Blurb Giants have been raiding the lands of men in large bands, with giants of different sorts in these marauding groups. Death and destruction have been laid heavily upon every place these monsters have visited. A party of the bravest and most powerful adventurers has been assembled and given the charge to punish the miscreant giants. This text is quoted from promotion material. Text and images are copyrighted by the original publisher.

Plot Summary

This module starts in one of two ways. If the players have finished Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, they have been transported to the glacial rift via the magic chain. They will know that they are searching for some force behind the giant alliance. If the players are starting with Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl, then they have been hired by nobles to destroy the frost giants. Either way, a safe, hidden cave is easily found for a base of operations.

As in Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, the bulk of this adventure takes place in two locations: an upper area consisting of caves and the rift floor, and a lower area consisting of natural caverns. In the upper area there are ice caves, barracks, and a dome of ice. These are inhabited by yeti, frost giants, ogres, and winter wolves. The dome of ice houses a remorhaz. In the lower area there are caverns that house the servants, serve as a prison, and contain the Jarl Grugnur and emissaries who have come to meet with him. The main inhabitants are frost giants and ogres. The prison contains an attractive storm giantess. There are also polar bears; pets of the jarl. After defeating the jarl, the adventurers have a chance to pull an iron lever which will transport them near to Snurre's hall from Hall of the Fire Giant King.

Publication History

Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl, and Hall of the Fire Giant King were written by Gary Gygax. In 1978, Steading of the Hill Giant Chief became the first adventure module published by TSR. Gygax wrote them to take a break between writing the original Monster Manual (1977) and Player's Handbook (1978). The covers for Steading and Hall featured drawings by David C. Sutherland III. David A. Trampier drew the Glacial Rift cover. Against the Giants's cover features a painting by Bill Willingham. Interior art was provided by David A. Trampier, Jeff Dee, David S. LaForce and Erol Otus.

The "Giant" modules were set in the Greyhawk campaign setting, and formed the lead-in to an overall campaign that then continued on an odyssey into the Underdark. These adventures included the "Drow" series of modules, Descent into the Depths of the Earth, Shrine of the Kuo-Toa, and Vault of the Drow. The campaign finally culminated with module Queen of the Demonweb Pits. Steading and Glacial Rift were eight pages long, while Hall was 16 pages in length, and each featured an outer folder. The omnibus collection combination module Against the Giants was 32 pages long, and featured two outer folders. Against the Giants was revised and reprinted in the 128-page supermodule Queen of the Spiders in 1986 in combination with the three "Drow" series modules, and Queen of the Demonweb Pits. Hall of the Fire Giant King marked the first time that Dungeons & Dragons players encountered the drow; game statistics for the drow first appear in the module, although drow are mentioned in the 1977 edition of the Monster Manual. At the time these modules were released, each Dungeons & Dragons module was marked with an alphanumeric code indicating the series to which it belonged. The earlier modules have module codes G1, G2, and G3 respectively, and the combined module's code is G1–3. The "G" in the module code represents the first letter in the word "giant". The Original TSR Product Codes for these 3 modules are 9016, 9017, and 9018 respectively. Released in 1999 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of TSR, Against the Giants: The Liberation of Geoff provided a set of adventuring materials that expanded on the original three modules. 1999 also featured a reprinting of the three modules made available in the Dungeons & Dragons Silver Anniversary Collector's Edition boxed set, with slight modifications to make it distinguishable from the original (for collecting purposes).

The concepts and characters from Against the Giants have made appearances in other media. It was made into a novel of the same name by Ru Emerson for the Greyhawk Classics series. In May 2006, Wizards of the Coast's website released new versions of the maps for the Hill Giant Stronghold. In July 2006, they released new maps for the Fire Giant Hall. In 2004, Wizards of the Coast released a miniature figure of the eponymous King Snurre from Hall of the Fire Giant King, and in 2007, they released a large Frost Giant Jarl miniature inspired by Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl. In 2009, Wizards released the super-adventure Revenge of the Giants, an homage to Against the Giants, for the game's fourth edition. In 2012, Wizards re-released each module in Dungeon Magazine issues 197-200, updated for Fourth Edition by Chris Perkins, including a new fourth adventure, Warrens of the Stone Giant Thane.[citation needed] In 2017, Wizards re-released Against the Giants updated to 5th Edition rules as part of the Tales from the Yawning Portal collection.

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