“Giants of the Star Forge” is free to claim on DnD Beyond. Find more reviews on my website and YouTube channel.

Support my work by using my affiliate links and pledging via Patreon.

Designed by: Patrick Renie, James Wyatt

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe “Giants of the Star Forge” is the first time an original adventure from Wizards of the Coast, inspired by a new official 5e book release, has appeared exclusively on D&D Beyond. The book is Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants, a sourcebook with new class options, monsters, and tables.

The adventure is “Giants of the Star Forge,” a 16th level one-shot that’s inspired by the new content from Glory of the Giants. And it’s pretty darn good!

“Giants of the Star Forge is designed as a tier 3 one-shot adventure that should take between three and four hours (which is total crap, the boss fights alone are easily 60+ minutes each).

The plot is drawn from a single story seed idea from Glory of the Giants – “a fire giant captures a renowned Humanoid smith.”

The giant, Brimskarda, has fallen on tough times. In order to restore her place in the Ordning, she kidnaps the famous smith Theldin, forcing him to help complete her ultimate work, a giant-size war machine. The machine is being constructed inside a crater in a mountain, where a fallen star has been converted into a forge.

Several adventure hooks are available, but most involve wanting to rescue the smith. Environmentally-conscious characters may care about the broken runestone at the forge, which is causing the lake to turn acidic and pose a serious danger to the area.

Halfway up the mountain the party meets a clan of friendly firbolg wanderers at Fireside Monastery. The firbolgs can bestow some helpful information on the Star Forge situation, as well as the recently displaced adult red dragon that she kicked out to take over the forge.

Interested party members can engage in a variety of fun-looking mini-games with the firbolgs, earning some potions and possibly some helpful allies in the challenges ahead.

The Fireside contests include rope-climbing, lava-running, and waterfall-meditation. This is level 16, so they all feature high-DCs and some fun complications, such as avalanches and burning oil.

When the party reaches the crater’s edge, they spot a group of fire giants keeping the dragon at bay. They have several intriguing options on how to deal with this situation, including sneaking past them, distracting them with their firbolg allies, or defeating the giants and parleying with the dragon.

The dragon, Akaanvaerd, is a huge jerk, which I love. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” and if the party plays their cards right, they could gain the dragon as a wonderfully untrustworthy ally.

On the flip side, if things go sour (or the players avoid him) the DM now gains a dragon in their back pocket that they could drop in at any time!

fire giant of evil fireThe Star Forge crater is a large map dominated by an acid lake. The forge lies in the middle past a perilously broken bridge.

Props to the designers for avoiding the trope of volcanoes and rivers of lava when fire giants are involved. The acid lake may be even worse, as the fumes alone force a nasty CON save.

The party can battle some cinder hulks to gain Rings of Acid Resistance, and survive an attack by acid elementals (reflavored air elementals) before a mini-boss fight with Brimskarda’s sister, a fire-slinging fire giant of Evil Fire.

The dungeon crawl is almost entirely combat-based, with the added challenge of the acid lake. The broken runestone near the forge can be repaired (or replaced, if they find it) to help diminish the acid damage, but a failed check could result in the acid becoming even worse!

Brimskarda herself is a CR 18 Fire Giant Forgecaller. She lacks Legendary Actions but is otherwise an impressive boss villain statblock, featuring three melee attacks and an AOE heat metal ability, all in one multiattack action. She can also unleash a wave of restraining magma, and give herself smoky half-cover using a bonus action.

I’m loving these new statblocks from Glory of the Giants! Most are giant variants, but they are way, way more interesting than the standard giant statblocks from the Player’s Handbook, featuring AOE attacks, saving throws, and explosive death bursts, all without resorting to spells (take that you counterspelling bastards!).

In the end, the party can rescue Theldin and destroy the almost-finished war machine, which is exactly when I would have the dragon show up to claim his trophy, daring a heavily-wounded party into challenging him.

Fifth edition players are absolutely starved for high-level content, and thankfully “Giants of the Star Forge” is a solid little adventure. There’s not much story here, but for a short-ish quest, it gets the job done and checks all the boxes for a complete, and memorable, D&D adventure.

Pros:

  • The acid-filled star forge is a memorable adventure location.
  • Awesome new giant statblocks from Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants.
  • Red Dragon is a fun wild card for the DM.

Cons:

  • Dyson Logos map lacks color.

The Verdict: A 16th level one-shot is a rare treat, and “Giants of the Star Forge” provides a compelling adventure with suitably awesome creatures and a challenging location worthy of Tier 3 play.

Find more reviews on my website and YouTube channel.

Support my work by using my affiliate links and pledging via Patreon.