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Pathfinder Adventure Path #94: Ice Tomb of the Giant Queen (Giantslayer 4 of 6) (PFRPG)

3.40/5 (based on 5 ratings)
Pathfinder Adventure Path #94: Ice Tomb of the Giant Queen (Giantslayer 4 of 6) (PFRPG)
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The Ice Queen Cometh!

Following the trail of the Storm Tyrant's armies, the heroes come to a frost giant village that serves as a training camp, led by a frost giant graveknight who issues orders from within an icy crypt. As the heroes engage in guerrilla tactics to weaken the army of giants and disband the camp, they can ally with a red dragon who seeks to infiltrate the village for her own purposes. Once they've broken the ranks of the giants, the heroes venture into a frozen tomb where they must defeat cultists of the Pallid Princess, morbid tomb giants, and undead war machines before engaging in a climactic battle with the giants' fearsome leader!

This volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path continues the Giantslayer Adventure Path and includes:

  • "Ice Tomb of the Giant Queen," a Pathfinder adventure for 10th-level characters, by Jim Groves.
  • A look into some of the most fearsome graveknights in the Inner Sea, by John Compton.
  • Details on some of Golarion's most prominent giant organizations, by Mark Moreland.
  • A tale of shadows and deception in the Pathfinder's Journal, by Clinton J. Boomer.
  • A selection of new monsters in the Giantslayer bestiary, by Benjamin Bruck, Jim Groves, and Thurston Hillman.

Each monthly full-color softcover Pathfinder Adventure Path volume contains an in-depth adventure scenario, stats for several new monsters, and support articles meant to give Game Masters additional material to expand their campaign. Pathfinder Adventure Path volumes use the Open Game License and work with both the Pathfinder RPG and the world's oldest fantasy RPG.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-728-4

"Ice Tomb of the Giant Queen" is sanctioned for use in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. The rules for running this Adventure Path and Chronicle sheet are available as a free download (1.1 MB zip/PDF).

Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:

Hero Lab Online
Fantasy Grounds Virtual Tabletop
Archives of Nethys

Note: This product is part of the Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscription.

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3.40/5 (based on 5 ratings)

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Good adventure, but getting repetitive

3/5 —

Read my full review on Of Dice and Pen.

On the whole, I like Ice Tomb of the Giant Queen quite a bit. My biggest issue with is the repetitive quality it has to it. After two adventures which involve the PCs having to sneak into areas of significantly more powerful forces, it would have been nice for something a little different. I also worry that the next adventure, which puts the PCs up against the fire giants who are training the most élite soldiers for the Storm Tyrant’s army, will be more of the same again. Every adventure path needs a bit of variety to it, and Giantslayer could use a bit more.

Good mix of sandbox and combat

4/5 —

The overall plot of this adventure if straightforward: the PCs know that their main villain is hiding in a remote location; they need to find out where. The first step to get this information is to go check out the training camp of one of the baddie's generals, the giantess Skirkatla. Being the training ground for elite troops of an army, the village will need to be dealt with very carefully. If the PCs think they can just storm into this place and kill them all, they're in for a sad (and untimely) defeat. There is a much more interesting way: sabotage and deception.

The action is split in two very distinct sections. Part 1 is a sandbox, where the PCs keep undermining the troops' confidence and morale until they manage to disband the burgeoning army. Once they succeed, they will be able to proceed to part 2 and access the dungeon where the giantess general lives - or more accurately, dwells.

My rating: 4 stars. It's a pretty balanced module. The first half is very open and rewards player creativity. At the same time, it allows for a wide variety of strategies - including combat, if the characters are so inclined. The dungeon, on the other hand, is a more violent affair. Nonetheless, the creatures found inside are interesting, the theme is coherent throughout and it is atmospheric. The triple theme (giant/undead/cold) provides more resilience against well-prepared groups (unlike - for instance - undead-themed dungeons that may end up being too easy for clerics). This may be a blessing or a curse, depending on your kind of group but it's probably an even threat against just any kind of PC mix. I do like it. I only miss a bit more of social interaction in it. This module is one to try for sure.

Read here my complete review.

I like part 4.

4/5 —

This is written from the perspective of a player. I've not read the module.

I very much enjoyed this module. I don't know if it's typical for this, but my GM just laid out the isometric map of the entire area, and said, "This is what you see when you use Overland Flight to get a bird's eye view. There is nothing set in stone about what you must do, so... ask questions and try stuff." And then we did. We invented whatever we felt might work. At one point, I unleashed about 40 earth elementals just for the chaos of it. That kind of thing would never be possible (or fun) in tight dungeon corridors, but here in an open area, the elementals could Earth Glide unseen and make a mess of things. The GM figured out how that might affect the area, and we got some credit for inventiveness, and then moved on to other fun ideas.

Basically, the whole module (except the end) is pretty much just an idea factory. Think things up, try 'em.

If anything is a weakness of the module, I would say it is the open-ended gameplay itself, which I've just praised! Why? Because with an unfair or unbending GM, this becomes an exercise in futility. A bad GM might freeze up in such an open-ended game, perhaps saying "That didn't work," to anything other than combat. However, for the game I'm in, the GM accepts creative ideas. So we tested a LOT of things. Some worked, some didn't. It was a good experience.

Also, if you ever wanted your character to feel heroic, one nice thing about this module is that there are a LOT of helpless captives you might be able to rescue. I don't mean, "There are a dozen captives, placed in random locations." Instead, I mean, "There are maybe hundreds of captives, and you will likely see dozens killed, but you will also free scores and scores of them." We ended up mapping out an escape route for the freed slaves, and just exploring the surrounding wilderness to figure out the safest route to civilization was an enjoyable self-imposed mini-quest. Nothing in the module mandates that you save everyone. Your mission is actually to do something else. So we just saved people because we wanted to, and the module made it possible, and enjoyable.

Overall, I'd say that modules 1 & 4 in this adventure path have really been enjoyable for me. If you're feeling creative, this module might be right up your alley.

Sabotage and crypts

3/5 —

This time we move onwards to the next giants in the line and frost is all around this one.

I liked the sabotage mechanics in this one and it gets creative players an outlet to try out things on these giants. Though most of the encounters in the camps are quite easy if you just use the basic bestiary giants. There's a few NPC:s you can talk to but your players are probably used to just fighting their way through everything at this point.

I liked that the crypt gave some variety to the encounters and the final fight in this is well though out. As in the previous part there's some nice parts but mostly its just mediocre mayhem with different giants in the mix.

Sandbox Giant Slaying in the Snow

3/5 —

This is one of the better modules of the series. Let me start by breaking this down into a pros and cons framework:

Pros:
-Sandbox design which allows for a lot of creative solutions to resolving the challenges. My players found many clever and creative ways to deal with this part.
-Interesting environment. I like the cold and undead which owes a few nods to Game of Thrones.
-There is a scene at the front of the module which can have some RP and story implications later in the story.
-There are fun stories around the NPCs that the party can encounter, however its quite tricky to figure out ways by which these can be revealed.

Cons
-Too few NPCs for the party to speak with. This is a problem with Giantslayer in general but this module is not as bad as some of the others.
-The encounters were not particularly challenging with the exception of the final boss fight which was very creative.
- There is a serious lack of maps for some of the encounters. This proved rather frustrating.

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Dark Archive
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Deathknights, frost giants, and Uragotha!
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Irnk, Dead-Eye's Prodigal wrote:

Amiri is lookin' kind of...

<<

>>

Cheeky, don't you think?

I'll let myself out...

well she is getting.....

<.<
>.>

Her A$$ Kicked!
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 4

Topic change to product content!

DeciusNero wrote:
Deathknights, frost giants, and Uragotha!

Yes, yes, yes, all this and much much more!

Obviously I have to keep my mouth shut, but there is a wide range of enemy types besides traditional giants. I wasn't sure of the articles and who the authors were, so I am pleased to see the team of authors who join me!
Paizo Employee Developer
3 people marked this as a favorite.

Yeah, helluva cast in this one.
Sovereign Court Senior Developer
5 people marked this as a favorite.

I think this has frost giants in it. I like frost giants.
Quote:
Bah, blatant sexualisation of females! Horrid! At least there are no nipples exposed...

Huh, I thought it was historical fact that female combatants of several civilizations historically wore loose / lighter armor in favor of higher mobility? In fact I think many male combatants also did that (Spartans and Roman Centurions to name a few though I might be wrong on both of those).

Quote:
I think this has frost giants in it. I like frost giants.

Me too, I wish we'd get stats for a female frost giant jarl who is a powerful arctic druid with the arctic terrain domain. Enter SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED! ;) :D

Berselius wrote:
Quote:
I think this has frost giants in it. I like frost giants.
Me too, I wish we'd get stats for a female frost giant jarl who is a powerful arctic druid with the arctic terrain domain. Enter SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED! ;) :D

Well, if you insist... ;)

Quote:
Well, if you insist... ;)

I should probably clarify: I'm hoping for stats for a female frost giant jarl who is a powerful arctic druid with the arctic terrain domain and who is NOT A GRAVEKNIGHT or ANY OTHER FORM OF UNDEAD.

Graveknights are great. I can't wait to see this one, and find out who and what the most dangerous Graveknights in Golarion currently are.

I'd love to see stuff for the still loyal servants of Thassilon written down, maybe some guys out of the more monstrous races, like Orcs, drow, urdefhan. You know the real nasties. I'd also like to see a graveknight that breaks the mold, maybe one devoted to Gorum (like my own pc eventually became, wholly evil but a battlefrenzied mad dog) instead of the pallid princess.
3 people marked this as a favorite.
Berselius wrote:
While we're on the subject of fan suggested changes, please consider giving the party a chance to ally with a Silver Dragon instead the Red Dragon.

... and in proving the adage about some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time, I'm perfectly happy with the way the alliances have been going. Easy choices are easy, and generally boring to me.

The "silver dragon alliance" in WotR was probably one of the most epic things I've seen done in a TTRPG, and I'm very content to leave its laurels in peace.

... on the other hand, if you have a potential silver dragon alliance in the upcoming evil AP, I would laugh and laugh and laugh in great appreciation for the "be careful what you wish for" execution :)

-TimD
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 4
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Not to change the subject, but folks should really take a look at the Campaign Map Folio. It has my isomorphic which has been beautifully redrawn!

When people get the adventure, I can't stress enough how useful I feel this will be! And to staff: I am just floored by how magnificent this came out.

Product Image

Product link: Go here

What are the monster in this ?
Dark Archive

So anyone have there copy of this yet?

So what are the monsters?

I'm more interested in the graveknight section honestly.

Can anyone give a bit of a spoiler on the Tomb Giants ?
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 4
nighttree wrote:

Can anyone give a bit of a spoiler on the Tomb Giants ?

What do you want to know?

(I may mention the monsters too.)
Jim Groves wrote:
nighttree wrote:

Can anyone give a bit of a spoiler on the Tomb Giants ?

What do you want to know?

(I may mention the monsters too.)

Are they a new race of giant ? or are they simply existing giants that have become undead of some type....and if so, how are they described as looking and coming into being ?

Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 4
nighttree wrote:

Are they a new race of giant ? or are they simply existing giants that have become undead of some type....and if so, how are they described as looking and coming into being ?

Tomb Giants

Your question was kinda tricky. They are a new race of giant, but they are a corruption of another type of giant, specifically taigia giants. A certain runelord may be involved. They are not undead, but have neat necromatic powers.

Other creatures:

Living Effigy- a Huge construct
Thremindyr - cold air elementals with some unusual tricks
Indarugants - true undead giants
Birelus - strange nature and animalistic outsiders (CN)
Jim Groves wrote:

Tomb Giants

Your question was kinda tricky. They are a new race of giant, but they are a corruption of another type of giant, specifically taigia giants. A certain runelord may be involved. They are not undead, but have neat necromatic powers.

EXCELLENT...one of my favorite Wayne Reynolds pics ever was the Death Giant....hopefully these guy's are something similar ;)

Thanks muchly...

Can you give more info on the Birelus?
Shadow Lodge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
1 person marked this as a favorite.
xavier c wrote:
Can you give more info on the Birelus?

They were inspired by this famous piece of cave art.

They're an incorporeal creature, kind of like an animate dream. They can enter and possess humans or animals. Humans they possess gain animalistic features (greater animal aspect), while animals they possess gain humanoid features (anthropomorphic animal).
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 4
2 people marked this as a favorite.
xavier c wrote:
Can you give more info on the Birelus?

They come from a time when humanity did not live apart from nature, and in fact appealed to spirits of nature for intercession when life was cruel. These creatures are a humanoid embodiment of nature manifesting as humanoid.

They're pretty interesting. Incorporeal. Capable of possession—because they're spirits. But not undead. Kinda playing with animism but not exactly going there. Got antler horns!
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 4
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Ah, my esteemed colleague is here to speak for himself!
5 people marked this as a favorite.

There is no clearer way to send the message that this product is not for women than to make the female character into a sex object at the expense of her effectiveness as an adventurer.

Lingerie has a really crappy armor class, and it is even stupider while fighting frost giants in the snow. What this says is that female fighters are only important for the sexual thrills they can offer, and that they don't get to be depicted as real fighters with real adventuring gear. Because they're only there to look sexy and be rewards for the real heroes. Eg, the male readers.

Gimping the intelligence, effectiveness and equipment of female characters so that guys can have fantasy fanservice is a pretty strong message about who this publication - and this hobby - is supposed to be for. Not okay. Not even remotely cool.

Seriously. I expected better from Paizo. This is not that. This is a slap in the face to all the women in the hobby who are being shown how little they matter as customers.
Dark Archive
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Runelord Info!

Graveknight Article:
A new Runelord gets mentioned in the Graveknight article! Goparlis was the Runelord of Gluttony before Zutha; he wasn't a Graveknight, but he's involved in the backstory of one.

While i'm disappointed to learn that there are again no mythology monsters in this giant AP (where is the guy that did all the mythology monsters from the Serpent Skull and Jade Regent AP's???) , i'm kinda interested in the Thremindyr and Birelus, as they sound awesome.

I kinda hope the Indarugants is based on a myth giant.

Constructs are never my favorites, and Living Effigy? Why on earth did D&D turn an Effigy in an awsome fire spirit that possesses creatures and burn them from the inside out? At that point it was my favorite creature in Monster Manual 2, but now I don't understand it as most Effigy are constructs.
Dark Archive
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Stuck in "confirmation limbo", but I'm looking forward to these Birelus fellows.
Silver Crusade Contributor
Lord Gadigan wrote:

Runelord Info!

** spoiler omitted **

I don't think this is his first mention, actually. I have to go do some checking, but I think he was involved in the creation of the gluttonous Sword of Sin.

If not that, maybe something else. Let me check some sources. ^_^

EDIT: Having checked the story of Ungarato, the link may be more direct, what with graveknights and such. I'll have to leave the rest until I have this book, though...
Shadow Lodge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
Myth Lord wrote:
I kinda hope the Indarugants is based on a myth giant.

They are not.

They are however inspired by Ötzi the Iceman and the terrible curse that is said to claim the lives of those who come into contact with him.

What is an easy translation of the word Effigy?

That word is for some reason very difficult to understand for me (A non native English speaker)

Can somebody translate that word in easy English?

Myth Lord: try synonyms?
Silver Crusade Contributor
DM Sothal wrote:

Myth Lord: try synonyms?

Linked. You need an = instead of a :. ^_^

Shadow Lodge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
Myth Lord wrote:

What is an easy translation of the word Effigy?

That word is for some reason very difficult to understand for me (A non native English speaker)

Can somebody translate that word in easy English?

An effigy is a three dimensional likeness of a specific individual. It's a bit more complicated than that, but that boils down the gist of it.

The term is most often used nowadays in the expression "to burn someone in effigy", which refers to the practice of constructing a likeness of someone you don't like out of wood/straw and burning it. This is where that Monster Manual 2 monster gets its schtick.

However, not all effigies are meant to be burned. Frex, certain kinds of funeral statues are refered to as effigies.
Silver Crusade Contributor

Based on what I'm gathering about the themes of the bestiary, a wicker man might be the kind of "effigy" they're referring to. ^_^
Kalindlara wrote:
DM Sothal wrote:

Myth Lord: try synonyms?

Linked. You need an = instead of a :. ^_^

Damn... I used to know that.

Thanks!
Shadow Lodge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
Kalindlara wrote:
Based on what I'm gathering about the themes of the bestiary, a wicker man might be the kind of "effigy" they're referring to. ^_^

The Living Effigy in this Bestiary is a Huge stone head that harbors the spirit/essence of a deceased chieftain or shaman. I've only glanced over it, but it looks pretty cool. It can teleport at will, but only when no one (above Int 2) is looking.

Silver Crusade Contributor
Benchak the Nightstalker wrote:
Kalindlara wrote:
Based on what I'm gathering about the themes of the bestiary, a wicker man might be the kind of "effigy" they're referring to. ^_^
The Living Effigy in this Bestiary is a Huge stone head that harbors the spirit/essence of a deceased chieftain or shaman. I've only glanced over it, but it looks pretty cool. It can teleport at will, but only when no one (above Int 2) is looking.

Hm. Does it offer opinions on the positive influence of firearms?

Shadow Lodge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Kalindlara wrote:
Benchak the Nightstalker wrote:
Kalindlara wrote:
Based on what I'm gathering about the themes of the bestiary, a wicker man might be the kind of "effigy" they're referring to. ^_^
The Living Effigy in this Bestiary is a Huge stone head that harbors the spirit/essence of a deceased chieftain or shaman. I've only glanced over it, but it looks pretty cool. It can teleport at will, but only when no one (above Int 2) is looking.
Hm. Does it offer opinions on the positive influence of firearms?

Along with a negative assessment of male genitalia? One can only assume :)

2 people marked this as a favorite.

Runelord Goparlis was indeed mentioned before this during his wars with Ungarato the dragon master to get the sword of gluttony back. Ungarato, a suitably vicious barbarian warlord, had long despised the Runelord for raiding his people for slaves. Their war continued for years until Goparlis was distracted long enough not to realize Zutha had gained enough power to overthrow him. Zutha made an offer to the warlord, who had by then died and come back as a graveknight. The rest is history.

That animus spirit sounds awesome. I really wish I had thought of that.
Dark Archive

Aha, didn't realize that on Goparlis. Thank you all for the added info!
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
TanithT wrote:
There is no clearer way to send the message that this product is not for women than to make the female character into a sex object at the expense of her effectiveness as an adventurer.

What exactly are you talking about here?

Silver Crusade Contributor
Zaister wrote:
TanithT wrote:
There is no clearer way to send the message that this product is not for women than to make the female character into a sex object at the expense of her effectiveness as an adventurer.
What exactly are you talking about here?

I'm assuming* that it's about Amiri's camera angle on the cover art.

* ^_^

Forget Amiri who's that sexy vixen with the Axe, she looks lively:-D

You don't necessarily have to be a social justice warrior to agree with TanithT's post. Personally, as much as I like attractive female characters I wish Paizo didn't go down to such a schlocky level.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 4
1 person marked this as a favorite.

As the author, I'm going to abstain from the art discussion except to point out one thing.

I'm sure that wasn't requested in the art order. I'm reading this depiction that it was some sort of intentional decision on the part of Paizo, and unless they contradict me—I cannot believe that to be true.

Dealing with artists is different than dealing with authors. We're a whole lot easier to edit.
1 person marked this as a favorite.
TanithT wrote:

There is no clearer way to send the message that this product is not for women than to make the female character into a sex object at the expense of her effectiveness as an adventurer.

Lingerie has a really crappy armor class, and it is even stupider while fighting frost giants in the snow. What this says is that female fighters are only important for the sexual thrills they can offer, and that they don't get to be depicted as real fighters with real adventuring gear. Because they're only there to look sexy and be rewards for the real heroes. Eg, the male readers.

Gimping the intelligence, effectiveness and equipment of female characters so that guys can have fantasy fanservice is a pretty strong message about who this publication - and this hobby - is supposed to be for. Not okay. Not even remotely cool.

Seriously. I expected better from Paizo. This is not that. This is a slap in the face to all the women in the hobby who are being shown how little they matter as customers.

Personally, that artwork won't be so bad once they put a male character on the cover who has an extremely distracting bulge between his legs.

Like I always say, nothing wrong with a little sexual fantasy artwork as long as it's equal on all accounts, and I agree that such artwork is not balanced at all, the entire scale is tilted away from sexual male depictions (and before anyone starts, no, muscle tone and bare chest is not a sexual male depiction, it's a male empowerment depiction as muscles are a display of power, not sexual attraction).

I mean you have female and gay male gamers who are customers, give them something to oogle at too more often.
Silver Crusade Contributor
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Jim Groves wrote:

As the author, I'm going to abstain from the art discussion except to point out one thing.

I'm sure that wasn't requested in the art order. I'm reading this depiction that it was some sort of intentional decision on the part of Paizo, and unless they contradict me—I cannot believe that to be true.

Dealing with artists is different than dealing with authors. We're a whole lot easier to edit.

Carrion Crown's villain agrees with you. ^_^

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