Created with Multiplayer in mind but can be played solo
Language
English
Level Range
Higher levels recommended for solo play and with hirelings
Races
Any
Tricks & Traps
Light
Roleplay
Light
Hack & Slash
Heavy
Classes
Any
Scope
Part of Series
DMNeeded
No DM Required
Single or Multiplayer
Single Player or Multiplayer
Max Character Level
12
Max # Players
04
Min # Players
01
Min Character Level
08
Content Rating
Everyone
Alignments
Any
Hakpak
included
Gameplay Hours
07
Description
A PnP conversion of my fave mods. Your mission is fairly straight forward - to destroy the troublesome Giants and find out who is behind the evil pact that unites the various Giant races. An all out assault on the Hill Giant Steading is just the begining - where else might it lead? I know these mods have been done on the vault before but I wanted to create them in my own way and with HCR rules. Hirelings are available for those short on numbers.
The full series consists of 7 modules.
The next mod in the series "Glacial Rift of the Frost Fiant Jarl" can be found here:
G2 http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Modules.Detail&id=3760
Posted by ra0313 at 2012-02-13 13:51:19 Voted 8.50 on 02/13/12
Solid series. Played the PNP many moons ago, though I do not remember them. Solid hack n slash modules. Each module seems to get progressively better. I appreciate the hard work that went into making these modules. Thanks!
Posted by Mirgalen at 2009-02-08 17:14:20 Voted 5.75 on 02/08/09
Best G1-G3 conversion on the vault. IMHO despite the module flaws Trev did manage to recreate the PnP adventure look and feel.
There is nothing like the AD&D Ranger (Giant slayer) in the 3rd edition. Giants always did hit hard but a Ranger lvl 10 (with the +10 bonus to damage could take one down in 2-3 rounds). I tried to get that feel of David vs Goliath battle by playing a ranger/fighter/WM wielding a couple of kukris (Giants do have an Achille's heal after all). I don't always agree with the reviewers point of view about the conversion but I agree that the serie is barely average. I however had a great fun with my giant slayer and my score does reflect that.
Would be playing the module (starting with G1 all the way to Q1) with two players. Would like to know what is the suggested starting gold for the characters to buy their gear. Should our gear be limited to the vendors in the village and the rest of the module, or is it reccomended creating a character through a charatcter generating mod? When creating a new character in G1 it only gives you 100 gp or so....not much you can buy with that. At the same time I don't want our characters to be to uber with magical items. Couldn't find anything with regards to starting gold/gear.
Thnks.
Posted by urel-ye at 2008-10-24 09:38:39 Voted 8.75 on 10/24/08
Well done. Nice conversion from the old pnp which I've played back in the day. I like what you did with the placeables. When playing with gians a mod should make one feel small and you did fairly well with that. Thanks for the fun.
Posted by shellyuk at 2007-10-28 03:50:16 Voted 8.50 on 10/28/07
i am a bit new at this, after opening the rar file what folder do i extract it to. i know it contains a mod file and a hak file, but when i open the rar it only contains a folder file.
Posted by Astero at 2007-07-05 02:41:39 Voted 8.75 on 07/05/07
I had fun playing this module. I soloed it with a level 12 fighter. The battles were challenging, I didn't feel threatened though. I kept the fellow fighter as my henchman. There's not much of a story telling cause it's mainly a hack and slash module and the dialogs need some work but the way the main quest unfolds, with the discovery of letters, plans, maps and the characters you meet along the way, although sketchy, make your whole mission interesting. I liked the way the module balanced between fighting and giving you some space to catch your breath. I never felt tired or bored.
I also liked the oversized barrels and chests. It made me feel like Alice in wonderland :p. Next stop, chapter 2 :).
Posted by dmalder at 2007-01-28 15:20:04 Voted 10.00
Thanks LeviTosh, I have had posts saying there is too much xps given. Hard to get the balance right for everyone I suppose _________________________ Trev
Posted by LeviTosh at 2007-01-14 23:00:14 Voted 7.00 on 01/14/07
The maps were interesting, and there were plenty of fun battles. Low experience awarded. More use of the journal for the quests would have been great.
Posted by dmalder at 2006-11-13 14:33:32 Voted 10.00
My players have just finished the mod (again) and though they lost a life in one of the encounters you mention, they won through. Please bear in mind that the mod was intended for multi player but can be played solo by taking a higher level character. The party that has just finished the mod were: 10th level cleric, 10th level mage, 10th level fighter (ranger) and one of the NPCs they met on route (fighter). The areas you speak of were certainly tough but not overly so for the party mentioned. Solo players should be well stocked in healing potions and be around 14th level or even higher. _________________________ Trev
Posted by dmalder at 2006-11-13 01:09:08 Voted 10.00
You are rather cryptic with the problem area/creatures though I think I know where you are talking about. My players are heading into the mod for a another go, having completed it once. Since my players are in effect bug detectors (they play the first version of the mods, uncover bugs and I fix them before posting them on the vault). So I will be coming to the areas you speak of over the next few weeks and I will have a look at the challenge rating then. As you say though the encounter is optional so should not prevent you finishing the mod anyway. _________________________ Trev
Posted by Mirgalen at 2006-11-11 07:56:23 Voted 5.75 on 02/08/09
Played the PnP version as a Magician as part of our Friday Greyhawk Campaign that was way back. I understand what Trev was trying to do here and would have probably done pretty much the same myself if the name of the game was "make it as close as possible to the original material".
I like the hugeness of the areas and items (chests) in this case. Yet the conversion did not work for me. Perhaps it is not as single player friendly as it may seems.
I tried it once, cleared everything and returned home without any clue.
This time I took a couple of lvl 12/13 dwarves (both pure fighters) in and managed to find the key passages. Yet, I cannot complete the module. In one area you face a couple of creatures with 18+ AB and they smash the two dwarves in no time. This is still OK because that encounter is optional. The real trouble is to get to the "final room" you need to defeat four creatures with 18+ AB and w/o spoiling too much, let's just say that they can kill both characters before you can get close to them (my character has a lot of HP btw with 23 CON).
Not sure if it was like that in the PnP version or if these encounters are poorly scaled by Bioware AI but there is no way we can defeat these beasts.
Note: I did not try it with two henchmen.
Posted by dmalder at 2006-10-14 10:21:08 Voted 10.00
Hi Twar_Blackshire
Thanks for giving it a whirl and thanks for the vote (always appreciated by us builders!)
Most of the bugs you mention were in fact repaired though I could not say for certain that any of my mods are guaranteed to be 100% bug free - though I do strive for that. I can say for certain that the mods improve as you go through the series (as did my scripting) :) _________________________ Trev
Posted by Twar_Blackshire at 2006-10-13 02:11:23 Voted 8.25 on 10/13/06
Just finished the module and I did enjoy it, however there were some definate things which caused me some grief. Now it must be said that I downloaded this a while back so I'm not sure if you had updated this since I got it so if my 'bug research' is old news..forgive me (smiles).
***SPOILERS***
Lizard shaman keeps giving me bastard sword and exp. every time I talk to him after killing dragons.
Orc quest- saved orcs then they left north...when I went from the south halls to the north halls I appeared among all the orcs and got 'stuck'. I had to kill the orcs I just 'saved' to get through to complete them mission. Plus the orc that asked me to save the orcish slaves didn't respond to the orcs being killed by me or that they had been saved by me either.
No experience for finishing the quest was dissapointing for me.
References to Middle-Earth made me laugh...(I'm sure Gary Gygax would love it!)
Teleportion device didn't work (probably my fault, as I automatically used it on myself which seems logical.)
Spelling errors always catch my eye...as well as others...fixing them only makes ANY mod better.
Otherwise I did enjoy it, and if these fixes were in place I would have gladly voted higher. I know mods take a lot of work to make as I just finished my own and posted it on the vault. Thanks for the fun. I'll try your G2 now. No hard feelings, I don't mean to rag on you...
Posted by dmalder at 2006-09-05 14:41:15 Voted 10.00
JonnyP
Thanks for your support - my mods are built primarily for my ex PnP players, and I doubt that they would disagree with your thoughts at all. We have tried 'Role playing' via text heavy mods and hated them (most were Hall of Fame mods too!).
We/they much prefer 'role playing' by deeds, with a great deal of emphasis on action and adventure.
As for changing encounters, I also agree with you, that these mods are just conversions of fondly remembered PnP mods (our favourites). I reckon more posts would have been posted along the lines of "nothing like the PnP versions" if I had changed things, seems you can't win. If however you play all 7 mods of the story then it may be of interest that I have added an 8th mod of my own making. 'Lolths revenge" continues the story but I have had a free hand with what I wanted to do (a purely optional mod) _________________________ Trev
Posted by JonnyP at 2006-07-24 06:55:24 Voted 9.50 on 07/24/06
It's a pure PnP conversion of a classic hack and slash module in which you fight a LOT of Giants... so what did you expect? The designer would imho have been totally wrong to change the encounters so that you meet a greater variety of creatures, as then it would not be a true rendition!
This is a very good conversion of the 1st in one of the all-time-great series of original modules. The Hardcore rules add spice to the adventure, and the scaling of the rooms to Giant Size is excellent.
If you are looking for an adventure filled with fiddly sub quests and endless chatter it's not for you. However if you want a well executed trip down memory lane with lots of combat and treasure, and a challenging level of difficulty then this is perfect.
Good old fashioned fun.
Posted by Kenrae at 2006-06-29 11:56:13 Voted 6.00 on 06/29/06
Oops, those comments were mine.
Posted by Anonymous ( 83.50.xxx.xxx ) at 2006-06-29 11:55:14
Sorry, but this module bored me.
Since it's a hack&slash module, I didn't expect too mucho dialogue or story. But I did expect interesting combats. Fighting the same monsters again and again isn't my idea of fun. And since neither the story nor the NPC interaction kept me hooked on it, I've decided I won't continue with the next modules.
Posted by dmalder at 2006-05-07 16:26:54 Voted 10.00
Thats hardcore rules Im afraid, you can only rest after 12 hours (8 if you have a bedroll) if my memory serves me.
The time can be altered should you wish by opening the mod in the toolset and changing the time in the "hc_defaults" script _________________________ Trev
Posted by Scott ( 69.0.xxx.xxx ) at 2006-05-06 21:56:54
I need help! I am used to resting to regain spells. For some reason I cannot rest in this mod to regain spells. It keeps telling my my character is not tired yet. How do I regain spells?
Thanks. I just remembered a bit late that I once opened another module via the toolset to find out how to get a custom item I'd missed due to bugs. Should be fine, therefore. As to my character being too powerful, it was only a Druid level 5/(PRC PNP)Shifter class level 7. Since that fits the c.12th level PC Fighter-type requirement (I seem to recall) you had suggested for the mod, I can only assume that having a PRC Shifter class somehow caused problems. Anyway, as far as I can see, all I have to do is add 2 levels artificially by the end of the Fire Giant module, and I'll be able to play the 2 Kuo-Toa modules at the 14th level required(ie Druid level 5/PNP PRC Shifter level 9).
Posted by dmalder at 2006-04-14 15:52:45 Voted 10.00
Hi SherlockHolmes
With a name like that I am suprised you missed one of the main tasks lol - to return with the head of the Hill giant chief (main hall, top level). You need his head and the proof of his involvement in the attacks (the map) to complete the quest (and mod)
The xps for killing creatures is based on the challenge. If you are more than 6 levels above the cr of the creature you don;t get the xps (HCR rules). I have compensated for this by giving xps for the quests being completed and in certain places when you reach a certain point in the mods. There are no cheat codes but if someone joined you as a DM he could create an instance of the head from the custom items.
Hope that helps- and thanks for your kind comments. _________________________ Trev
I've finished the module seemingly, having got the map of the Frost Giant location, and the Journal has noted this, and implied that all I have to do now is go and report to Lord Tarragon. I've done so, and all I'm allowed to say to him is that I need further supplies, so I can't seem to complete the module. I've done everything else, I've explored both levels of the Hill Giant Steading, the watchtower, killed the two white dragons etc. but can't finish the module. Is there some cheat-code I can use to get Tarragon to respond and complete the quest? If there isn't, how many experience points etc.(if any) do I get for completing the module? Mysteriously the module gives no XP bonus for killing any monsters, so I would assume that I simply rise by 1 level of experience for completing the module- correct?
Is there anything else I need to do, such as get a minor item, not mentioned previously etc. All I want is to have enough continuity between this module and the next G2 Frost Giant module. By the way, this was a truly excellent module, on a par with the U1-3 Saltmarsh mods, and the Blackguard module - even though it's scope is not the same as the latter module, it appears equally authentic in its details(shame about the minor middle-earth reference, though)
Posted by johnm at 2006-04-09 00:40:47 Voted 9.25 on 04/09/06
You did a great job Trev. My team had a blast playing G1 and we are looking forward to playing G2 next.
Posted by bibs2 at 2006-03-19 16:00:28 Voted 8.00 on 03/19/06
Not a bad start though I wish there were more descriptions
Posted by NFLed at 2006-02-19 20:35:02 Voted 8.00 on 02/19/06
Fairly good hack and slash. I finished all 3 and it was an enjoyable series.
Posted by fabgrass at 2006-01-10 03:11:06 Voted 8.00 on 01/10/06
Good conversion of the module. Some small bugs or mistakes, in completing quests. A dwarf asked me a key, I had it (I think) but he didn't found them during conversation. _________________________ FabGrass
Posted by wycked at 2005-12-07 07:19:07 Voted 6.50 on 12/07/05
I'm sorry, I found it a little boring. Maybe it would have been more fun if I knew the PnP game. I would have wished for more side quests, more interesting NPCs and henchies, better dialogs etc. etc. And some of the areas were way too big and empty.
Posted by dmalder at 2005-11-22 10:59:33 Voted 10.00
Thanks Majere4, good luck with them frosties lol _________________________ Trev
Site
at 2012-02-13 13:51:19
at 2007-01-28 15:20:04
