The giants are officially out of their cave, as Wizards of the Coast reveals a slew of new information about the upcoming D&D book, Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants. According to a D&DBeyond post from May 23, this is a sourcebook that goes hard on DnD monsters, with over a third of the book dedicated to their lore and DnD stats. However, player options are looking pretty slim. Three DnD classes saw new subclasses in early playtests, but only the Barbarian 5e gets a new Primal Path.
Bigby Presents looks like it’ll do what Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons did for DnD dragons. Wizards says to expect plenty of giant lore, as well as thematic DnD magic items, DM adventure hooks, and monsters. While there aren’t many subclass options, players will also gain two new DnD backgrounds and eight fresh 5e feats. Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants is due to release on August 15.
D&D fans who follow the Unearthed Arcana playtests have been expecting some giant content for a while. The ‘Giant Options’ playtest from May 2022 showed off ten feats and three subclasses. It’s not clear which of the eight feats made the cut, but we know the Runecraft DnD Wizard and Circle of the Primeval DnD Druid won’t be making an appearance anytime soon. We could have had Druids summoning behemoths and Wizards casting runes for a range of buffs, but no more (for now, at least).
That leaves us with the Path of the Giant Barbarian. D&DBeyond hasn’t shared too many details on the subclass yet, but we know from the playtest material this tanky thug will have big Thor energy.
The early version was perfect for a God of Thunder DnD character build: choose lightning damage as the extra you can add to attacks, then throw your weapon and wait for it to automatically return to your hand after hitting. You could even add Rage Damage to thrown attacks, in case you wanted to try that ‘Get Help’ schtick from Thor: Ragnarok.
Of course, won’t know how much of the playtest material has remained until we get our hands on Glory of the Giants. Players on D&DBeyond who pre-order a digital copy can get early access from August 1, so it won’t be too long before we can weigh up the Giant Barbarian against the current best Barbarian subclasses 5e. The book is currently available for pre-order from $59.95 (£48.33). This will go up to $69.95 (£56.39) after the pre-order window closes, as Glory of the Giants marks the start of a price increase for all physical DnD books.