Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants Review

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Can Wizards of the Coast deliver a giant-sized dose of adventure with this new D&D supplement?

Giants have long been a staple when it comes to the world of Dungeons & Dragons, with these larger-than-life creatures dating back to the earliest editions of the game. And while there have been attempts to flesh out the lore of giantkind (including most recently the D&D 5e campaign book Storm King’s Thunder), for the most part giants been largely relegated to the role of brainless monsters who hurl boulders and occasionally stomp adventurers into jelly.

Wizards of the Coast’s latest supplement, Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants, however, seeks to change all that, presenting a range of materials for players and dungeon masters alike that paints giants as complex, nuanced and fascinating creatures. The book was released on August 15th, 2023, and you can order it now from Amazon or D&D Beyond.

So is Glory of the Giants a genuine dose of fee-fi-fo-fun or is it a gargantuan flop? Read our review to find out. (Full disclosure: we received both a physical and digital copy of the book from Wizards of the Coast for the purposes of this review).

Table of Contents

What is the book about?

How is the book broken out?

What’s the art and design like?

What are the different covers to the book?

How much is the book?

Pros and Cons

Final Review Score

What is Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants about?

Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants is a game supplement for Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition that’s designed to fully flesh out the world of giants. In terms of the overall structure, tone and materials, the book follows a similar format to Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons, the 2021 publication that provided players and Dungeon Masters with new races, spells, magic items and adventure hooks inspired by the world of dragons.

But while Treasury of Dragons was narrated by the eccentric wizard Fizban the Fabulous (of Dragonlance fame), Glory of the Giants is narrated by the legendary D&D wizard Bigby, who was previously a human from the world of Greyhawk, but in this book has killed by a giant and later reincarnated as a gnome.

Player-focused content makes up a relatively small portion of the overall book and includes:

• 1 new giant-related 5e subclass (the Path of the Giant for Barbarians)
• 2 new giant-related backgrounds (the Giant Foundling and Rune Carver)
• 8 new giant-related feats
• 27 new magic items (including several legendary artifacts)

Dungeon Master content makes up the vast majority of the books and includes:

• Tips on world building, giant lore and adventure hooks inspired by giant lore
• 18 adventure locations, each of which includes maps and detailed descriptions
• 71 new giant-related monsters of various types and Challenge Ratings

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What are the chapters of Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants?

The book comes in at 192 pages total, which is a little on the light side compared to other D&D 5e products (Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons clocked in at 224 pages). The chapters themselves are as follows:

• Diancastra’s Saga (Introduction): Includes an epic poem about the Giant Goddess Diancastra (who features heavily in the book), along with an introduction written by Bigby himself, a definition on what actually makes a giant, and a brief overview of how giants appear in D&D worlds (specifically the Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Dragonlance and Eberron)
• Chapter 1: Character Creation: This chapter is geared towards players and includes the new “Path of the Giant” Barbarian subclass as well as two new backgrounds: the Giant Foundling and Rune Carver. Additionally, the chapter includes eight new feats: Rune Shaper, Strike of the Giants, Ember of the Fire Giant, Fury of the Frost Giant, Guile of the Cloud Giant, Keeness of the Stone Giant, Soul of the Storm Giant and Vigor of the Hill Giant
• Chapter 2: Giants in Play: This chapter is intended for Dungeon Masters and features a section on how to roleplay giant NPCs, a description of the hierarchy of giants (known as the Ordning), as well as their various gods, social structures and organizations.
• Chapter 3: Giant Adventures: This chapter is also geared towards Dungeon Masters and includes advice and ideas for running giant encounters (including a variety of random tables), as well as how to develop adventures and campaigns focused on giant lore.
• Chapter 4: Giant Enclaves: This chapter is also intended for DMs and presents a series of 18 unique locations (known as “enclaves”) that are either created by giants, controlled by them, or otherwise related to giants and their magic. Each section contains a map of the enclave, a description of its various features, and adventure hooks with advice on how to integrate them into a campaign.
• Chapter 5: Giant Treasures: This chapter is for DMs only and details unique giant-themed treasures. This includes a section on “Giant Bags” (with tables to determine the contents of a giant’s bag), the “Relics of Giant Realms” (detailing valuable treasures from ancient giant civilizations) and “Magic Items” (with 27 magic items associated with giants).
• Chapter 6: Bestiary: This DM-focused chapter features 71 new monster stat blocks. The monsters themselves are broken out in categories that include the extended giant family, cultists, magic-using giants, giant variations, elemental hulks, undead giants, gigantic animals, humanoid giant kin, and other related creatures. Tables at the end of the chapter also list monsters by giant kind, challenge rating and creature type.
• Appendix: The book also includes a brief appendix that includes concept art developed during the creation of the book, as well as a complete list of adventure hooks outlined as a random table.

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What’s the art and design like?

As with almost all of the Wizards of the Coast D&D fifth edition books, the artwork here is incredibly well done. Everything from the layout to the interior art is beautifully put together and really captures what makes giants so cool. While controversy around AI generated artwork is starting to appear in the RPG industry, the artists WotC employees on projects like Glory of the Giants show that there’s definitely something to be said about the human touch.

One of the most unique aspects is also the inclusion of Enclave maps. They’re incredibly well done and have an old school OSR feel to them.

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What are the different covers for Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants?

Currently, Wizards of the Coast has two different versions of the book: a standard cover and a special edition cover.

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How much is Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants?

On Amazon the book is currently listed for $59.95. On D&D Beyond the digital and physical bundle is going for $59.95. Notably this is a significant increase over the cost of previous books, which Wizards of the Coast has attributed to inflation and the rising costs of printing.

Notably, D&D Beyond has also released a free 16th-level one-shot entitled Giants of the Star Forge, which is designed to supplement the materials presented in Glory of the Giants.

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Pros and Cons

There’s a lot to love with Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants. Yet the book isn’t without a few issues, especially when you compare it to Fizbans’ Treasury of Dragons. Below we break out what works and what doesn’t when it comes the materials.

Pros

• The lore is fantastic and the book does a great job of presenting giants as more than just mindless monsters
• The giant enclaves are beautifully designed and can easily be dropped into just about any adventure or campaign
• The new backgrounds, subclasses and feats offer some juicy, giant-sized options for players
• The magic items and monsters are fantastic, and offer a ton of options for DMs

Cons

•  At 192 pages in length the book is 32 pages shorter than Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons
• No new spells or races were included (which is something we did see in Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons)
• The book includes only one sub-class (Fizban’s included two, which seems like a bit of miss on WotC’s part)
• The price tag is much higher than comparable supplements

Final Review Score

Ultimately, Glory of the Giants is absolutely worth picking up. It includes a ton of content for DMs, some interesting player options, and is beautifully illustrated and designed. It’s proof that when it comes to Dungeons & Dragons, sometimes bigger really is better.

You can order Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants now from your local game store, book store, D&D Beyond or Amazon.

18 out of 20.

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