History TabletopGame / QueenOfTheSpiders

** [[Spoiler:As written, the Elder Elemental God cannot be fought or even interacted with except in a very limited (and likely ''very'' bad for the players) way. He mainly serves as a source of power for Eclavdra to replace what she lost when she betrayed Lolth. Gary Gygax originally planned to have him play more of a role in the final module, though.]]

%%* OurTitansAreDifferent: Basically what [[spoiler:Elder Elemental God]] in ''Vault of the Drown'' and [[spoiler:the Primodial]] in ''Revenge of the Giants'' are.

* EnemyMine: In ''Against the Giants'' the party can free various groups of humans and Orcs enslaved by the giants and convince them to join forces against their oppressors. In ''Vault Of the Drow'' [[spoiler: it is possible to end with Loth loyalist helping the party against the Drow aligning themselves with the Elder Elemental God.]] Gygax's original plan for the finale of the module was to let players decide whenever they side with Loth or [[spoiler: Elder Elemental God]].

* GuestStarPartyMember: The hill giants have a dwarven fighter and an elven fighter-mage as prisoners, the frost giants have a storm giantess hostage and the fire giants have a massive drugged titan in their biggest cell. If the party rescues them, they can help the party fight the giants.

* SealedEvilInACan: The Elder Elemental God is trapped in an otherworldly prison. One of Eclavdra's long-term goals is to free him.
* SeriesContinuityError: The first six modules are premised on the fact that Lolth is not the mastermind behind the giant raids. Q1 completely ignores this and retcons it so that Lolth is the BigBad, even though she actually isn't.

!!Queen of the Spiders Provides Examples Of:

* EvilVersusEvil: All over the place - the heroes can convince Orcs to aid them against the Giants, every other faction in the Underdark hates the Drow while still attacking the good guys on sight (except for the Gnomes whom you can talk with), the Drow themselves [[spoiler: are divided between those who serve Loth and Elder Elemental God]] and Gygax's original plan for the finale was to have the heroes be caught between Loth and [[spoiler: said Elder Elemental God]].

* TheManBehindTheMan: Drow are behind the giants [[spoiler: while themselves being pawns of the Elder Elemental God]]. A fact so well known now that the future editions' homages to this adventure also has someone manipulating the giants, be it [[spoiler: ancient dragon]] in ''Storm King's Thunder'' or [[spoiler: a Primordial, effectively recreating the plot of the original but skipping the middle man]] in ''Revenge of the Giants''.
** ''The Liberation of Geoff'' had [[spoiler: an only exception, offering that instead of the Drow, giant attacks from the original module have been lead by a clan of Cloud Giants that subjugated all other giants to its orders.]]
* OurElvesAreDifferent: The series marks the first appearance of the Drow in D&D franchise.

* OurTitansAreDifferent: Basically what [[spoiler: Elder Elemental God]] in ''Vault of the Drown'' and [[spoiler:the Primodial]] in ''Revenge of the Giants'' are.

!Queen of the Spiders Provides Examples Of:

* HealingBoss: The FinalBoss Lolth had the innate ability to cast the Heal spell (which healed almost all damage) on herself three times per day, which made it very difficult for the player party to kill her.

Third Edition paid the tribute to the Drow part of the series with two adventures. ''City of the Spider Queen'', which tied to ''TableTopGame/ForgottenRealms'' novel series ''Literature/WarOfTheSpiderQueen'', was a homage to the D-series. Meanwhile, ''Expedition to the Demonweb Pits'', concerning machinations of Demon Prince Graz'zt against Loth involving player characters, was a tribute to the Q-module. Giants did not get direct homage, but the first level of adventure ''The Forge of Fury'' and adventure ''Sons of Grummsh'' are often seen as [[SpiritualSuccessor Spiritual Successors]] to ''Against the Giants'' in taking the similiar approach to the Orcs.

** Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl''

Third Edition paid the tribute to the Drow part of the series with two adventures. ''City of the Spider Queen'', which tied to ''TableTopGame/ForgottenRealms'' novel series ''Literature/WarOfTheSpiderQueen'', was a homage to the D-series. Meanwhile, ''Expedition to the Demonweb Pits'', concerning machinations of Demon Prince Graz'zt against Loth involving player characters, was a tribute to the Q-module. Giants did not get direct homage, but the first level of adventure ''The Forge of Fury'' is often seen as SpiritualSuccessor to ''Against the Giants'' in its approach to the Orcs.

Fifth Edition took a similar approach to Second and Fourth, with two separated modules set in the Forgotten Realms - ''Storm King's Thunder'' focusing on giants attempts to impress their gods by destroying "smallfolk" cities and ''Out of the Abyss'' dealing with an escape from the Underdark while it is being invaded by who's who of the [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Demon Princes]]. It has also reprinted original ''Against the Giants'' as one of the "seven deadliest dungeons" in sourcebook ''Tales From The Yawning Portal'', with guidelines how to adapt the adventure to ''Greyhawk'', ''Forgotten Realms'', ''TableTopGame/{{Dragonlance}}'' and ''TableTopGame/{{Eberron}}''.

The [[OurGiantsAreBigger giants of different types]] have descended in bands upon the human kingdoms, bringing death and destruction to every city and town on their way. The failure to protect the wealth and lives of their subjects becomes a disgrace to ruling class and so the band of accomplished adventurers, player characters, is hired to take the fight back to the giants, invade or infiltrate their strongholds and slay their leaders. However, over the course of this quest, the adventurers discover [[TheManBehindTheMan far more sinister forces have been behind the attacks]]. They must then venture deep BeneathTheEarth into the realm called the Underdark to confront the evil [[OurElvesAreBetter Drow]] and finally even challenge their cruel goddess - Loth, [[TitleDrop Queen of the Spiders]].

* OurElvesAreBetter: The series marks the first appearance of the Drow in D&D franchise.

The series is often considered a follow-up to ''TabletopGame/TheTempleOfElementalEvil'' and an earlier module series ''A - Aerie of the Slave Lords'' has even been re-balanced in a compilation ''Scourge Of The Slave Lords'' to fill the level gap between the two.

The series has received a set of homages and tributes in further editions of the game. While always firmly set in Gygax world of ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}'', Second Edition reboot of the G series for D&D 25th Anniversary, ''Against the Giants: The Liberation of Geoff'' links it even further, adding series of connected adventures in Grand Duchy Of Geoff to expand the story, serving as a sort of prequel 'and' a sequel. It offered an alternative option for a villain behind Giants' attacks [[spiler: a renegade clan of Cloud Giants]], allowing the story to be played as standalone, without the Underdark modules. Underdark meanwhile has been reintroduced in a module ''the Night Below'', set up to carry the player characters from very beginnings to higher levels, homaging the original supermodule by giving the party a surface threat that later turns out to have a source in the Underdark, but its surface part felt closer to ''Temple of Elemental Evil'' than ''Against the Giants''. ''Dungeon Magazine'' adventure ''City of the Ghouls'' was intended for higher levels, introducing a new threat to the Underdark and while it throws nods to the D series, it went on to establish a legacy and series of sequels and homages on its own.

The series has received a set of homages and tributes in further editions of the game. While always firmly set in Gygax world of ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}'', Second Edition reboot of the G series for D&D 25th Anniversary, ''Against the Giants: The Liberation of Geoff'' links it even further, adding series of connected adventures in Grand Duchy Of Geoff to expand the story, serving as a sort of prequel. it also offered an alternative option for a villain behind Giants' attacks, allowing the story to be played as standalone, without the Underdark modules. Underdark has been reintroduced in a module ''the Night Below'', set up to carry the player characters from very beginnings to higher levels, homaging the original supermodule by giving the party a surface threat that later turns out to have a source in the Underdark, but its surface part felt closer to ''Temple of Elemental Evil'' than ''Against the Giants''. ''Dungeon Magazine'' adventure ''City of the Ghouls'' was intended for higher levels, introducing a new threat to the Underdark and while it throws nods to the D series, it went on to establish a legacy and series of sequels and homages on its own.

The series has received a set of homages and tributes in further editions of the game. While always firmly set in Gygax world of ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}'', Second Edition reboot of the G series for D&D 25th Anniversary, ''Against the Giants: The Liberation of Geoff'' links it even further, adding series of connected adventures in Grand Duchy Of Geoff to expand the story.

Third Edition paid the tribute to the Drow part of the series with adventures ''Expedition to Demonweb Pits'' and ''City of the Spider Queen'', which both tied to ''TableTopGame/ForgottenRealms'' novel series ''Literature/WarOfTheSpiderQueen''. Giants did not get direct homage, but the first level of adventure ''The Forge of Fury'' is often seen as SpiritualSuccessor to ''Against the Giants'' in its approach to the Orcs.

Fifth Edition took a similar approach, with two separated modules set in the Forgotten Realms - ''Storm King's Thunder'' focusing on giants attempts to impress their gods by destroying "smallfolk" cities and ''Out of the Abyss'' dealing with an escape from the Underdark while it is being invaded by who's who of the [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Demon Princes]]. It has also reprinted original ''Against the Giants'' as one of the "seven deadliest dungeons" in sourcebook ''Tales From The Yawning Portal'', with guidelines how to adapt the adventure to ''Greyhawk'', ''Forgotten Realms'', ''TableTopGame/{{Dragonlance}}'' and ''TableTopGame/{{Eberron}}''.

** While that last bit never got to materialize, it was still homaged by throwbacks to the module in future editions, be it a Drow outpost attacked by forces of Orcus in ''Demon Queen's Enclave'' or have other Demon Princes wreck the Underdark and figt one another as well as the Drow or the PCs in ''Out of the Abyss''.

Creator/GaryGygax's "supermodule", often considered his best creation and voted the greatest ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' adventure of all time by the Dungeon Magazine, ''Queen of the Spiders'' is a long campaign consisting of two entire series of linked modules, ''G - Giants'' and ''D - Drow'', with standalone Q module, ''Queen of the Demonweb Pits'', as the epic finale of the saga. They bear historical markings on the history of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' as the first introduction to the Drow and also first peek into the Abyss - the hell-like dimension of infinite layers ruled by demon lords, out of which Loth was just one of the many. The Giants series is considered extremely deadly, but not in the tricky ''TabletopGame/TombOfHorrors'' kind of way but because it takes a realistic approach to the giants. Instead of waiting for the players in their rooms, the giants can be easily alarmed and storm to defend their home, making a careless party quickly overrun by hordes of huge enemies. The Drow series is enjoyed for introducing the new setting in Underdark and making the Drow a terrifying group of enemies that consist of a challenge even to the experienced players.

* '''Q1 - Queen of the Demonweb Pits'''

Fourth Edition has released two unconnected adventures set in ''TabletopGame/NentirVale'' setting. ''The Demon Queen's Enclave'' focused on navigating a Drow outpost currently besieged by forces of [[OrcusOnHisThrone Orcus]] and ''Revenge Of The Giants'' being a direct homage to ''Against the Giants''.

Fifth Edition took a similar approach, with two separated modules set in the Forgotten Realms - ''Storm King's Thunder'' focusing on giants attempts to impress their gods by destroying "smallfolk" cities and ''Out of the Abyss'' dealing with an escape from the Underdark while it is being invaded by who's who of the [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Demon Princes]]. It has also reprinted original ''Against the Giants'' as one of the "seven deadliest dungeons" in sourcebook ''Tales From The Yawning Portal'', with guidelines how to adapt the adventure to ''Greyhawk'', ''Forgotten Realms'', ''TableTopGame/{{Dragonlance}}'' and ''TableTopGame/{{Eberron}}''.

Creator/GaryGygax's "supermodule", often considered his most famous creation and voted the greatest ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' adventure of all time by the Dungeon Magazine, ''Queen of the Spiders'' is a long campaign consisting of two entire series of linked modules, ''G - Giants'' and ''D - Drow'', with standalone Q module, ''Queen of the Demonweb Pits'', as the epic finale of the saga. They bear historical markings on the history of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' as the first introduction to the Drow and also first peek into the Abyss - the hell-like dimension of infinite layers ruled by demon lords, out of which Loth was just one of the many. The Giants series is considered extremely deadly, but not in the tricky ''TabletopGame/TombOfHorrors'' kind of way but because it takes a realistic approach to the giants. Instead of waiting for the players in their rooms, the giants can be easily alarmed and storm to defend their home, making a careless party quickly overrun by hordes of huge enemies. The Drow series is enjoyed for introducing the new setting in Underdark and making the Drow a terrifying group of enemies that consist of a challenge even to the experienced players.