Today Wizards of the Coast announced their newest adventure storyline: Storm King’s Thunder. This will take the form of an all new 256 page adventure book, set to release on September 5th for $49.95. The adventure will take players back to the Forgotten Realms, where giants have risen from their strongholds to wreak havoc across the Sword Coast. It has also been hinted that the storyline may crossover with that of Tyranny of Dragons, exploring the ancient rivalry between dragons and giants.
Hill giants are stealing all the grain and livestock they can while stone giants have been scouring settlements that have been around forever. Fire giants are press-ganging the smallfolk into the desert, while frost giant longships have been pillaging along the Sword Coast. Even the elusive cloud giants have been witnessed, their wondrous floating cities appearing above Waterdeep and Baldur’s Gate. Where is the storm giant King Hekaton, who is tasked with keeping order among the giants?
The book is shaping up to have some interesting new mechanics and options for both players and DMs. Players will advance from levels 1 – 11 and as they grow in power, they will also grow in size, eventually transforming into giants that may one day rival the Storm King himself. The adventure also introduces rune magic, a new magic item system and treasure option for players.
Ancient and Powerful, Rune magic is an ancient practice that allows giants, and anyone else who masters the runes of power, to grant magical properties to an object by scribing a rune on to it. People who use runes are called runecasters
Runes are at their strongest when scribed into objects that difficult or dangerous to acquire. Exotic, rare, and expensive objects can channel greater magic from a rune, but to truly empower a rune, a runecaster must seek the bones of powerful monsters, rare and valuable treasures, and materials found only in deadly dungeons or the outer planes to produce the rune’s most powerful effects.
But there is danger in working with runes. The giants have cataloged some of the interactions between runes and various objects, but many more remain undiscovered, and unexpected results have been known to produce catastrophic effects.
Though some of Wizard’s earlier 5th edition adventures received lukewarm receptions, their last two adventure books, Out of the Abyss and Curse of Strahd, were both critically acclaimed. Here’s to hoping they continue the winning streak with another amazing tale that highlights the incredible depth of lore and setting detail they’ve worked for decades to create.
Here’s the link for official product page.