Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants Deep Dive

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In August 2022, Wizards of the Coast held their annual Wizards Presents event. During that time Wizard unveiled a number of upcoming Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition books, with the first book being the heist-themed adventure anthology Keys to the Golden Vault, followed by the player-focused supplement The Book of Many Things, the updated and expanded Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk, and Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse.

One of the additional books mentioned at that time was Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants, which was released on August 15th, 2023 and which you can order now from Amazon or D&D Beyond. (Notably, users who pre-ordered the physical/digital bundle on D&D Beyond were able to access the digital version on August 1st).

So just what can you expect from this new release? Below we take a closer look at what’s inside.

The standard cover and alt cover version of the new sourcebook

What is Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants about?

According to Wizards of the Coast the book is “the definitive tome of giant gameplany in D&D.” It’s also similar to Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons, the 5th edition D&D sourcebook that was published back in October 2021. That book provided players and DMs with an in-depth view of all-things related to dragons, including a number of new races, spells, magic items and adventure ideas.

But while Treasury of Dragons was narrated by the eccentric wizard Fizban of Dragonlance fame, Glory of the Giants is narrated by the legendary D&D wizard Bigby, along with the and giant demigoddess Diancastra.

The book is further broken out into the following chapters:

• Chapter 1: Character Options: This will feature a variety of new player options, including the “path of the giant” Barbarians subclass and two new backgrounds (the Giant Foundling and Rune Carver). Additionally, the chapter will include eight new feats. Notably, some of these elements were previously released and playtested in the “Giant Options” Unearthed Arcana.
• Chapter 2: Giants in Play: This chapter will feature a section on roleplaying giants and expand the lore around giant society, religion and the pantheon of gods (known as the Ordning).
• Chapter 3: Giant Adventures: This section will offer a variety of options and advice for DMs when it comes to running giant-themed encounters, adventures and DnD 5e campaigns.
• Chapter 4: Giant Enclaves: The material presented here offers background information on a variety of giant-themed locations, including several maps and adventure ideas.
• Chapter 5: Giant Treasures: This chapter details 30 unique magic items inspired by the world of giants, including three new artifacts, one of which is associated with the giant god Annam, one of which is associated with Diancastra and Bigby’s Beneficent Bracelet.
• Chapter 6: Bestiary: The final chapter of the book features over 70 new monster stat blocks, including death giants, gargantua, ettin variants, elemental hulks, undead giants and even kaiju. It also includes more details on the giant-based humanoids of Goliaths and Firbolgs.

As with previous D&D sourcebooks, there is also both a standard cover version and an alt cover version of the book.

Who is Bigby?

Bigby first appeared in the the Greyhawk campaign setting back in the 1970s and is one of the oldest characters in the D&D mythology. Originally, Bigby was a character played by noted TSR game designer Robert Kuntz as part of a campaign run by D&D creator Gary Gygax. Eventually Gygax folded Bigby into the larger Greyhawk lore, making him a founding member of the Circle of Eight, a group of powerful archmages dedicated to safeguarding the inhabitants of the world of Oerth.

Over the years, Bigby has appeared in countless game supplements, trading cards and novels, but is perhaps best known for the spell Bigby’s Hand, which allows the summoner to create a massive glowing hand made of pure energy that can be used to attack enemies.

An expert in countless areas of lore from the multiverse, for this upcoming book it seems Bigby will be offering his own unique take on the worlds of giants. One interesting change, however, is that Bigby is no longer a human. Instead, he’s been reincarnated as a gnome after being crushed by a giant (something which will be covered in greater detail in the book).

Giant Lore in One D&D

Giants have been around in Dungeons & Dragons for decades and there remains a large amount of giant lore. Virtually all giants in the game can trace their lineage back to Annam All-Father, the powerful giant god. For D&D 5e there are also dozens of unique types of giants, including:

• True Giants: The most intelligent and noble giants who can trace their lineage back to Annam All-Father and exist at the top of the ordning (the giant’s hierarchy of power):
• Cloud Giants: Typically these giants live in high areas such as mountaintops. Some ancient cloud giants do retain ownership of floating castles which exist high above the clouds.
• Storm Giants: Also known as uverjotens, they are the most powerful and majestic of all giants.
• Fire Giants: Renowned for their skills as master craftsmen and forgers of great weapons.
• Frost Giants: Often found in remote frozen regions, they are also the most vicious of their kind.
• Stone Giants: Reclusive being who prefer to hide in the wilderness and are surprisingly gentle unless provoked.
• Hill Giants: Arguably, the weakest and least intelligent giants, they can be quick to anger and often roam the wilds.
• Mountain Giants: Incredibly strong and known for their cruelty, these creatures dwell in the remote depths of the mountains.

There are also dozens of additional types of giants that have appeared over the years. Most notably, many of these types of giants were front and center as the primary antagonists in the 2016 campaign book The Storm King’s Thunder.

As noted previously, in May 2022, Wizards of the Coast also released the “Giant Options” Unearthed Arcana article, which introduced the giant subclass to 5th edition.

When is Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants coming out?

The book launched on August 15th, 2023. As with other DnD 5e books, however, reviewers and D&D Beyond digital subscribers were able their hands on the materials earlier than that.

If you had pre-ordered the digital-physical bundle via D&D Beyond, you would have been able to access to the digital version of the book on August 1st.

How much is Glory of the Giants?

The standard hardcover book is retailing on Amazon for $59.95 USD. You can also preorder both a digital and print version on D&D Beyond for $59.95 USD. This marks a fairly significant price increase over previous books, which is something Wizards of the Coast has stated they’ll be doing going forward.

Given what we’ve seen with other DnD 5e books, it’s also likely that Wizards of the Coast will release a deluxe version and foil cover version, both of which may have different price points. This may also be one of the last physical print books that players will be able to purchase from Wizards of the Coast, who has said they will no longer be selling copies via their websites (although you can still purchase physical copies from Amazon, local game stores and other retailers).

What other tie-in products will be available?

As part of the launch of Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants, Wizkids has released a new miniature lineup inspired by the book. It’s possible that other products (such as DM screens and tie-in adventures) will also be coming out after launch, although nothing has officially been announced by Wizards of the Coast.

Final Thoughts

You can check out our full review of Bigby Presents: Glory to the Giants and you can pre-order the book now from Amazon or D&D Beyond.

Below, you can also see the reveal video from Wizards of the Coast.

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