Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants begins with a poem written by Bigby about a giant demigoddess named Diancastra, the daughter of Annam the All-Father, progenitor of the Giants. An epic poem details her role in the saga of giants, and sets a thematic tone for the book. Throughout the supplement, Bigby adds colorful commentary to flesh out the informational voice written by Makenzie de Armas, Dan Dillon, Ben Petrisor, and Jason Tondro.

Giants are referred to as a creature type, as listed in the Monster Manual, and are mythological descendants of Annam. This includes fomorians, death giants, trolls and ogres, cyclopes, and ettins as well as goliaths and firbolgs.

There are six chapters in this 192-page, full-color supplement.

Chapter 1: Character Creation – Geared for players, introduces giant-related options for character development. Includes 1 barbarian subclass, 2 backgrounds, 8 feats, and multiple story hooks to flesh out a character’s backstory. The Rune Carver Background, which includes the Rune Shaper feat, looked interesting and useful.

Chapter 2: Giants in Play – Customized for DMs, fleshes out giants and setting for use in a campaign. Giants organize themselves into a social ranking system called the “Ordning,” may follow a god or become a cultist, have families and settlements, and may be part of an organization called Hidden Rune, Stewards of the Eternal Throne, or the Worldroot Circle. This chapter also includes tables to roll on for suggested behaviors, names, and several adventure hooks.

Chapter 3: Giant Adventures – DMs will find tools and rules for encounters, adventures, and campaigns. The chapter breaks down each type of game element and how to incorporate giants by offering suggestions for tiers of play. Multiple tables are found in this chapter for encounters, adventure hooks, assignments for the players, and world-shattering events.

Chapter 4: Giant Enclaves – This is a setting-rich chapter with maps pinpointing locations of giants. Features unique to each environment are highlighted (including magic) and sample maps are provided for Annam’s Cradle, Ashen Grotto, Dream’s Reach, Endless Rockslide, Forest Crystal, Forsaken Deep, Gale Eye’s Tower, Grolantor’s Larder, and several others. Maps are available on D&D Beyond when you unlock this supplement, and in VTT on Roll 20.

Chapter 5: Giant Treasures – Loot, magic items, and treasures adventurers can find when tracking down giants are contained in this chapter. There are several tables describing the contents of the bags different types of giants carry along with magic items and relics that include the Lash of Immolation and the Prehistoric Figurines of Wondrous Power.

Chapter 6: Bestiary – Write-ups and stat blocks for giants that can be dropped into a game may be found here. Like Chapter 4, this is a meaty section with several options for CR 1/2 to 22 giant-related creatures arranged alphabetically. Types included are aberrations, beasts, a celestial, constructs, elementals, fey, fiends, giants, humanoids, monstrosities, an ooze, and the undead.

Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants provides information for DMs keen on including giants in their campaign; players won’t find this supplement as useful for character creation given the limited options. The worldbuilding elements can be read by either players or the DM and contextualize giant culture while highlighting mysteries that have yet to be explored.

The list price for Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants is $59.95 and debuts August 15, 2023 wherever books are sold. Both a standard and alternate cover are available.

A review copy of Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants was provided to FlamesRising.com by Wizards of the Coast. This review was written by Allie Brooks and has been published with the author’s permission.

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