G3: Hall of the Fire Giant King marks a dramatic uptick in the number of mustaches appearing in a D&D module, thanks to David Sutherland’s art. The real star of the illustrations, though is Dave Trampier’s woodcut style fire giant – I know it also appeared in the Monster Manual the year before, but here it takes on new life as a near full page image in red ink. It is, in fact, one of my favorite early D&D images. Their intensity (look at the cords of his neck) really comes through, along with their thuggish brutality. I can totally picture how he would move and act if, say, Harryhausen had made a character for his movies based of the drawing.

G3 is the most difficult of the three modules, as King Snurre Iron Belly has built himself a well-defended stronghold in an active volcano full of countless monsters. Most, like the hell hounds and the red dragon, stick to the fire theme. The large number of trolls is a bit weird, though, considering they’re vulnerable to fire, but whatever.

Perhaps most importantly, G3 is the first appearance of the drow, legendary dark elves hinted at in both the Monster Manual and the previous G-modules. The spider worshipers would go on to become the obsession of thousands of D&D players. How many players have tried their hand at playing a drow, drawn in by the allure of their magic items and spell like abilities? They are the game’s most popular villains (and hero, in Drizzt Do’Urden, from R. A. Salvatore’s novels).

I always kind of hated drow. Which is all the more reason we should play D1, Hambone! I hear dark elf backs are the best for stabbing.