In 1978, the first (official) published adventure modules for the AD&D game were released. This was a new thing.

There had been third party D&D adventures before this – Palace of the Vampire Queen in 1976 generally takes the title as the first. And, in 1975, the Blackmoor supplement for OD&D, had included a scenario of Dave Arneson’s design, Temple of the Frog. But for TSR to do it as a stand-alone product? This was new – and a big shift from where some of their designers had wondered, looking at Palace of the Vampire Queen, who would buy it. Wasn’t D&D the game where the point was making up your own adventures?

All of the original AD&D and D&D adventures are loved by people, but – for me – the Giant series of three adventures is special. It has a killer hook – Giants are raiding the lands of men and have to be stopped! And the revelations in the adventures – which would lead to the Descent into the Depths of the Earth are brilliant. But while I love the concept behind the adventures, the execution is spotty. Here is my review of the first part: Steading of the Hill Giant Chieftain. Now, on to a look at the second part!

The Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl suffers in comparison to the other parts of the series. It manages to be deadly – occasionally in a somewhat arbitrary manner – and consists mostly of one combat after another. Of the 51 encounter areas, fully 35 contain monsters of one sort or another, of which only one gives the possibility of proper role-playing and negotiation. There’s nothing as interesting as Obmi in Hall of the Fire Giant King, nor even the slave orcs in Steading of the Hill Giant Chieftain. Instead, you’ve got a very combat-heavy scenario full of challenging environments.

The structure of the map is rather interesting. The top level involves both sides of the rift, but they only meet at the north and south ends. The level below is more traditional in nature – mostly a branching map of large caverns, with only a single loop. Large boulders act as doors – easily moved by the giants, less so by the characters. A character with an 18 strength has a 2 in 6 chance of moving one, with additional Strength 18 characters giving an additional 1 in 6 chance for each one using it. I really wonder how many Strength 18 characters are meant to be present in these games! (At the time, 18 strength scores were exceedingly rare). It’s something that I’d change in play; this is just too punishing.

The goal of the characters is to punish the giants for their raid, so I guess that means exploring every area on the map. In addition, there is a need for intelligence about the reasons for the raids. A few emissaries can be found – from the ogre magi and the cloud giants – who are pursuing alliances with the frost giants to join their raids on the humans. But as to the reasons behind the raids? There’s little to find here – just a magical portal to the Fire Giant lair.

Where in Steading you have the initial reveal of the giants – and the giant lair is full of drunken giants having a party – and in Hall you have the reveal of the drow and some really smart enemies, there’s nothing of that nature here. The Jarl himself has no personality save what is revealed in his chamber’s furnishings.

The adventure gives us the first glimpse of dragons in an official D&D module – two mated white dragons – and woe betide the party that stumbles into their lair unprepared! We also get a ring of wishes, but that is guarded by another fearsome monster. And with a note that if certain magics (like fireball and lightning bolt) are used to defeat the monster, the ice will melt, and the treasure will be lost. This isn’t inspiring writing: magic users already had enough trouble being relevant, and having dangerous encounters where them participating is a mistake? No thank you!

These adventures were first designed for the original D&D system, and while released as AD&D adventures, there are times when they hew to the older ruleset. For instance, it has a sword of giant slaying (a very appropriate item to find!), which has an alignment but does not possess intelligence. This was legal in original D&D, but in AD&D, only swords with intelligence and ego had alignments.

More than anything, G2 is defined by its environment: the icy caverns of the frost giants. This gives rise to some rather deadly mechanics: a 1 in 6 chance of each character slipping on the ledges, which leads to almost-certain death unless the party is roped together (and if they are, there’s still a fair chance the entire party will plummet together to their doom). A misty cavern gives a 2 in 6 chance of slipping, dropping held items, and then a 1 in 4 chance of those items disappearing forever down a crack…

It’s worth noting that this is an eight-page adventure, with the interior cover of the adventure holding the maps.

Now, although I find there are great details in the adventure; overall, it doesn’t thrill me. It’s a more deadly affair than the last – and the fire giants would be more deadly still – but while challenging, some of the challenges just feel too capricious. Fun with the right group, but there’s a lot of fighting to be done.