The Hammer of the Gods was an artifact owned by a tribe called the Norsemen who lived in a network of underground tunnels in the mountainous, frozen north of Canada. The Hammer was stolen by a rival group known as "giants" who hoped to use it to destroy the Norsemen.
On the request of the Norsemen, a group of adventurers confronted the giants to retrieve the artifact. The giants proposed a series of three non-lethal games to decide who should get the Hammer, and claimed that if the adventurers won just one, they would get the Hammer. However, the Norsemen correctly suspected the giants would cheat, and the adventurers not involved with the games instead found the Hammer on their own.
A battle broke out between Norse warriors and the giants but the Norsemen prevailed and the Hammer of the Gods was recovered.
Behind the scenes[]
The Hammer of the Gods was created for an example scenario in Indiana Jones and the Rising Sun called Indiana Jones and the Hammer of the Gods which was designed to assist gamesmastering for West End Games' The World of Indiana Jones roleplaying game.