[Review] G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King (AD&D); Entry of the Gods into Valhalla

[Adventure]
G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King (1978)
Gary Gygax (TSR Games)
Lvl 9-10

Fucking spoilers. If you plan on playing G3, do so. Then read this.

Of all the legendary modules penned by the masterful hand of E. Gary Gygax, the G series is among the foremost. G3 shows us why. I often gripe that 10+ level DnD or ‘epic’ DnD is still something of a terra incognita and how could it be otherwise, when all the motions of the epic adventure are pale imitations of the power of G3.

The gloves come off. After two giant strongholds the module expects the party to be a lean-mean-giant-killing-machine and conducts itself accordingly. No sleeping Giants or convenient holes in the security of the place. The first Giant Guard is behind a fucking tapestry and fighting will immediately attract reinforcements. Doors require giant strength to open. The halls of the Fire Giant King Snurre Iron Belly are carved from an extinct volcano. Hallways are cyclopean affairs of braziers, obsidian and brass. In every way, G3 dwarfs its predecessors. An ultimate test.

If it was only a giant lair it would still be a superlative effort. Three levels, two floors and the caverns beneath, make for numerous sessions of giant murder. NPCs leap out at the player. The hideous Hag-like Queen asks the heroes to prostrate themselves before her (it does not end well). A torturer and an executioner make use of a great pit and an iron maiden to fight their foes. Prison cells under the fortress proper are filled with prisoners that can be freed to various ends (a fucking Titan, among them). There are fallback positions, ambushes, immense treasure vaults with several thousand poison traps that can only be found with careful interrogation or very precise searching. Some NPCs are reluctant allies, others are cunning foes. All the chieftains that survived the previous adventures are amassed here, to join in the assault, a monstrously powerful ensemble of opponents. Dozens and dozens of fire giants, trolls, ettins, hell hounds. Illusionary walls. This is the real deal.

Had it only been that, it would have been grand, but G3 does something more. The mysterious antagonist behind the Giant attacks is revealed, and its revelation is among the truly epic. With the first and legendary appearance of the Drow, the dark elves that launched a thousand terrible novels and an obsession that would last for decades. The drow are the first true appearance of the ‘Epic’ opponent, not merely in ability, though they are terrible beyond all other mortal foes, endowed with magic resistance, spell-like abilities, numerous magical artifacts empowered by the eldritch radiance of their underground realm, paralyzing poisons, cloaks of woven spider silk and all manner of strange, and terrible new magic items, it is not only their physical power that is terrifying. Rather, the appearance of the Drow heralds in a changing of the perspective, it is a terrible revelation that the world the PCs thought they knew and were masters of is but a thin coat of varnish over a churning, hellish, alien realm below the earth, where all manner of unknown and unthinkable horrors cavort in blasphemous congress. Their power is such that they cannot exist in the known world, and thus it brings with it a realization that the world of the PCs is much larger than previously thought.

These drow represent far more than a mere earthly power. The dark hints of an unearthly, chthonic power, ancient beyond mortal reckoning, that show up throughout the series are fully realized on the second level of G3.  

Something squamous and eldritch approaches…

The Lovecraftian theme is applied without directly borrowing from Lovecraft’s work, and praise the gods. This entire area is lethal, enigmatic, and menacing in a profoundly alien fashion, lit by unearthly swirling witch-light and painted in lurid hues of olive, violet and midnight black. While it is certainly possible to gain a terrible boon from Tharizdun by offering up a living captive to the Elder Elemental Eye in the triangular stone, the main purpose of this area is to exude a palpable, otherworldly menace. Drow as an almost lovecraftian elder race, paying homage to ancient powers of the earth, is compelling in a way the more high-fantified Forgotten-Realms Drow simply were not.  

There is a third level, and though it is certainly not without its tricks and flourishes (only Gygax would put two fire lizards, THEN an illusion of a dragon concealing a Gorgon before following up with an actual Dragon), nor its compelling set-pieces [1], most of the caverns seem to contain all but random monsters inexplicably living in close harmony in flagrant violation of the principles of Gygaxian naturalism we known and love and amounts to little more then the top ten hits from the underground monster chart. I understand this is perhaps meant as a foreshadowing of the fantastical underworld realm that would, praise the gods, be fully realized in the superlative D1 & 2 but it lacks the focus and intensity of the first two floors. There are encounters that would be little more then a speedbump for a party that has just prevailed against dozens and dozens of giants, drow elves, wererats and other such miscreants.

It goes without saying this adventure is HARD, with tough, resourceful, well-prepared opponents armed with weaponry both known and unfamiliar. The greater Tentacle Rod in particular is likely to leave a permanent scar on the minds of the poor saps that suffer its loathsome caress, and dear god the AC on Eclavadra is fucking nuts. If you are planning on doing the whole series, G3 is going to be the first REAL roadblock and the opportunities for player death are numerous and varied.

Treasure, jesus do I still cover treasure at this point? Gygax standard, which is spectacular, magical shit, hundreds of thousands of coins, objects de art, mindflayer puzzle boxes that only an int 18 can open and almost all new equipment for the drow. The idea of Drow equipment functioning as a type of magical conductor, empowered by ambient radiance but lacking enchantments of themselves, is a good way of balancing what would otherwise be an obscene amount of magic swords and chainmail, and having them dissipate when they are struck by sunlight is a particularly nice touch, very faery-like. As is so often the case, it is not the trope itself that is poorly conceived, but its over-use that will quickly lead to nausea and irritation. There’s the occasional ultra-obscure treasure hoard to beggar-kings-with that I am starting to grow increasingly fond of. The existence of such caches introduces an interesting wrench in the dungeon-bashing procedures, forcing players to go far beyond scorch-and-burn tactics. Instead a cat-and-mouse game of divination, charm spells, interrogations and reluctant negotiation which is far more volatile and potentially interesting.

G3 is a fucking beast of a module, sure to put hair on the chest and steel in the heart of any band of would-be epic adventurers that attempt to overcome its legions of well-organized and formidable defenders. D20 once published a supplement known as the ‘Epic level handbook’, which was meant to support adventures at above the 20^th level (and was pretty silly). G3 well illustrates that at 10^th level, you should be performing heroics that are spun from the stuff of legends. Put on ‘Painkiller’ by Judas Priest, have your character’s wills made out, memorize Cone of Cold and Ice Storm as often as possible, and prepare yourself for some truly epic giant extermination.

*****  
[1] I am and always will be a slut for a good lava river, complete with cavorting salamanders