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42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
This adventure is a monster., October 2, 2009
This review is from: Revenge of the Giants: A 4th Edition D&D Super Adventure (D&D Adventure) (Hardcover)
This item previously had a shipping issue, causing a different item to be shipped. This has been resolved.
I was waiting for this adventure to become available ever since I saw it listed here. I'm not an avid 4e fan, but I'm willing to give it the occasional chance when a decent adventure comes out. Most of the WotC offerings haven't grabbed my attention, but this one gained my interest. I received my copy and thumbed through it that night.
This adventure is a 160 page hardcover. The page stock isn't too robust, but it should hold up fine with usual wear. The adventure itself is for 5 characters of level 12 to 18.
The book is split into two sections. The first section is 25 pages and is divided into adventure background, a map with some detail of the homebase city, a few adventure hooks to get the players started (with XP or item rewards for completing the one you select), new creatures (mostly giants) and some magic items. The other main section is divided into nine parts that make up the adventure itself. They consist in total of over 50 separate encounters at the nine different locations ranging from getting acquainted with and defending the homebase city, to infiltration or assault missions, to 13 or so skill challenges involving diplomacy, research or treasure hunting. A number of random encounters are also dispersed about to provide some in-between combat and keep the XP flowing while the characters travel back and forth between the city and their next destination. Finally, there is a two-sided poster battlemat - one side depicting the location of the final battle, the other detailing a few other locations (seemingly chosen at random).
There is a lot for players to do in this adventure. A little over half of the encounters involve giants of course, but thankfully their abilities aren't just limited to hitting the characters with big weapons or throwing and catching rocks. There are plenty of other creature types to fight as well, and only a few locations that the characters visit focus heavily on giants, so players and DMs need not be too concerned about giant encounter overload until they visit those areas. The layout is well done and the encounter maps are attractively rendered. Treasure appears to be distributed according to the recommended DMG amounts, although where characters will trade their newfound wealth will have to be up to the DM. Also, the characters may fall behind a bit on their gear if they fail to complete some crucial quests.
I can't comment much on the correctness of the stat blocks, balance, or the fun factor of the fights themselves, since I don't play 4e too often. But this is definitely a meaty adventure that will provide a lot of action for players. It pays homage to the old giant adventures of long ago (G 1-3) and even features a very significant NPC from old DnD lore that longtime fans will recognize. As for the writing, I have yet to find the writing style for 4e to be very evocative. But like most adventure material, how it plays really depends on the DM and the players. It certainly would have been nice to feel more entertained as I read through it, though. Another complaint is that a number of the encounters refer to stat blocks that exist elsewhere in the book, making those encounters less convenient to run. The wandering encounters will require you to refer to the Monster Manual 1 and 2 as well.
Be warned, this adventure will put a mild demand on the DM to make sense of the transitions between some areas for your players, unless your group is content to just play it as one encounter after the other. For example, getting your players to the first encounter may require a little finesse. Later, a hazard drops the characters into a cavern that has passages leading off in several directions but doesn't detail the path back to the upper area at all. Expect more of these.
To go along with this review, I have to comment on WotC's support of this adventure on their website. They offer a map gallery featuring most of the maps in the encounters in the book, but they still have all the labels and secrets on them, making them near useless for those of us who like to print out scaled battlemats or use them for online gaming. I requested labelless maps on their forums, and only a week later, they removed the viewable preview maps and locked them all away into their DDI subscription service. So minus a point on WotC for that. Don't hold your breath waiting to get complete support for the online side of 4e gameplay. Hopefully WotC will come around soon.
In the meantime, this adventure should satisfy the combat hungry part of the 4e crowd and provide enough variety in challenges and combat to keep it from becoming too monotonous. Time for me to start prepping this monster for online play.
I was hesitant to give the adventure 4 stars, but 3 didn't seem like enough. If you're looking for a 4e adventure that gives you a solid taste of what 4e is like, Revenge of the Giants should answer many questions. It isn't high art by any stretch, nor does it make for a very entertaining read (due in part to the "delve" format, where some narrative elements are detailed in the one or two page encounter spreads instead of being blended with the rest of the narrative content), but it makes very liberal use of many 4e aspects without trying too hard to showcase any of them. Regular players of 4e should enjoy this longer published adventure that offers 5 or more levels of play before it ends.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Fun, Giant Proportions!!, December 12, 2009
This review is from: Revenge of the Giants: A 4th Edition D&D Super Adventure (D&D Adventure) (Hardcover)
First, when you look at the overall rating for this product, realize that at least two other reviewers rated module based on thier service experience with Amazon, not on the product itself. This is really not fair to the Revenge of the Giants and makes one wonder how much higher the overall rating would be (if those reviewers rated the product based on it's merits, rather then a poor purchasing experience with Amazon).
Revenge of the Giants is really a very well put together product from Wizards in thier 4e line. The encounters are very well constructed and have a good deal of variety to them (not every encounter is against giants). For the benifit of any potential players reading this review, I am not going to give away any exact details/spoilers, but for DMs, suffice it to say that I was very pleased not only with the encounter design (as far as the mechanics of the encounters go), but also with the "intangibles"...the presentation, the themes and the feels of individual encounters. A great number of these encounters setup to be very memorable indeed.
DMs be warned, this is not a straight-foward, linear adventure. There are multiple routes and options that are going to be open to the characters shortly after the adventure begins, and the order in which they want to tackle these options is totally up to the players. Additionally, there are a number of encounters that are designed to be "dropped" in at certain key point or "when the DM feels" so as the DM, you have to be on your toes. You have to be prepared. And this is not a bad thing. It gives the module and very "open" and unpredictable feel to it. Yes, starting point "A" still winds up at ending point "Z", but the path you take to get there can be very different among different gaming groups. Lazy DMs may want to skip this one, but you creative types, that love dynamic well designed adventures, I think you'll be pleased.
The story itself is pretty epic in proportions, yet easily adaptable to most fantasy worlds (if you use a homebrew setting). Once you get your prep work done though, and kick the adventure off, the Revenge of the Giants is just chock full of fun, challenging and exciting encounters, and in no way short on action.
You and your players should love this one!
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Our group played this, and liked it. It took us 3 DM's and 5 months, March 18, 2010
This review is from: Revenge of the Giants: A 4th Edition D&D Super Adventure (D&D Adventure) (Hardcover)
Review for players:
The adventure is long and epic. We switched DM's twice. I was one of them. In the hands of a good DM this adventure gives you everything you can expect from a paragon tier module. It makes the players feel special and has lots of room for your own campaign (PC backgrounds, the world, etc.)
Review for DM's (spoilers!)
We generally found the adventure to be a good frame to work with, but it requires some modifications. The PC's go from 12th level to 17th level. Even if you play it as a one-shot like we did, the PC's are going to develop their personalities, and it's essential to tie their backgrounds and special desires into the plot. Otherwise it can feel like a series of encounters the PC's don't connect with.
Also, don't be shy to release information about the villain's plans to the PC's so they get a better understanding of the conspiracy. Otherwise, if you leave them in the dark too much, the group can lose a lot of steam. The module doesn't really give a lot of hints. We used a wandering minstrel gnome "war-reporter" wo provided comic relief and information. Monsters talk, and sometimes (on Frostspire Island) were willing to avoid combat.
It's crucial to give the PC's the feeling that the enemy is getting more and more aware and wary of their involvement, and it doesn't hurt to show their fear occasionally, especially after the party destroys terrifying mythical creatures on Frostspire Island.
The weakest NPC, storywise, is Breven Foss. The module gives no hints whatsoever about his origin and true intentions. In an ongoing campaign, I would simply replace him with a past villain who survived earlier attacks.
Obanar is the central NPC on the PC's side. I didn't like the hook the adventure presented to get the PC's involved. The travelling Torrian searching for heroes is really weak. I recommend to create a sense of decadence among the supporting governments, perhaps a political movement that says "let's get rid of this expensive useless Argent", while Obanar is desperately trying to warn the world about the looming threat. Only the PC's listen. Etc.
Argent and Obanar seem a little weird. I would recommend to explain better why this city has been abandoned for so long and why Obanar doesn't have the slightest clue about what's going on in the world. Not very believable, given that he later becomes such an important source of information.
The Frostspire Island chapter is very well written and I encourage you to play out the three giant fractions and their attempt to get the PC's help them destroy a rival fraction. It opens up a lot of fun opportunities for double and triple treason. If you are short on time I recommend to cut out the whole undead part.
Flamefall Tower has some nice encounters. The Bone Naga incident has the potential of a TPK.
Magic Items: The book suggests to hand out certain items fabricated by Obanar. It's better to ask players for their wish list, and give them an item their want, and simply reflavor them as Argent's implements etc. Make sure that the players get the appropriate amount of treasure per level.
Overall, the adventure is highly recommended.
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