Firbolgs - A PC Race From VOLO'S GUIDE TO MONSTERS

Interesting. A bit of a departure from depictions in earlier editions. Much more nature oriented...seems they're playing up the fey aspect based on the Celtic origins of the race.

 

[pukunui]

WotC has just posted another preview from Volo's Guide to Monsters, this time the write-up for firbolgs. Get it here! This is an example of one of the monsters-as-PC-races to be found in the book. Be sure to also check out Polygon's six-page preview, the fire giant dreadnoughts, the "lore on giants" preview, and the preface.

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[UngeheuerLich]

I love the fluff and mechanics. They have a powerful invisibility ability and are the first race with +2 wisdom.

 

[flametitan]

I knew they weren't going to diverge from the medium/small paradigm that they've previously set.

It looks like they'll do what they did with goliaths, and simply use powerful build to emulate the large size while still being medium.

 

[One_Shots]

Why put in a race that diverges so significantly from the original other than to pander to nostalgia? Why not create new races or utilise the plethora of other available options if they want to fill a book?

Firbolg have been 10 ft. tall since 1e and in every other edition. They've always been of a large size and, in fact, one of their special abilities has always been to shrink down a size. It's really just absurd to shoehorn them into a medium build so that they'll be a playable race.

 

[Prakriti]

The art took me by surprise, as it looks nothing like the firbolg from 2E, which is the only one I'm familiar with. Luckily, I have no attachment to the firbolg's previous incarnations, and I actually think this looks pretty good.

Interesting wording on Hidden Step, though. It makes you invisible "...until you attack, make a damage roll, or force someone to make a saving throw." This is different from all other invisibility effects. I wonder why.

 

[flametitan]

Interesting wording on Hidden Step, though. It makes you invisible "...until you attack, make a damage roll, or force someone to make a saving throw." This is different from all other invisibility effects. I wonder why.

I'm guessing it's to allow for spells that don't cause you to deal damage to be cast without breaking your invisibility? More of a "Nature will hide you unless you act with harmful intent" invisibility than a "You will be hidden until you do something that will cause you to be noticed" invisibility.

Why put in a race that diverges so significantly from the original other than to pander to nostalgia? Why not create new races or utilise the plethora of other available options if they want to fill a book?

Firbolg have been 10 ft. tall since 1e and in every other edition. They've always been of a large size and, in fact, one of their special abilities has always been to shrink down a size. It's really just absurd to shoehorn them into a medium build so that they'll be a playable race.

I think it's fine. It allows for firbolgs to actually fit in with the standard adventuring party. Even if you have a magical ability to become medium, I assume it was only temporary. There's currently no explicit bonus to being large (All that exist are currently seemingly only something monsters are made with, rather than an innate "being large" bonus.) So all you're doing with large size is limiting what adventures a firbolg can partake in. And *if* the extra damage dice *is* an inherent bonus to being large, then it's probably too much for a racial ability (not to mention it'd probably skew the race towards fighter, when wotc clearly wants Druid.)

Basically it's to bring it in line with more the expectations of a regular adventuring party while still trying to appeal to the audience that would want a firbolg in the first place.

 

[One_Shots]

It allows for firbolgs to actually fit in with the standard adventuring party.

So why have it as a playable race at all then? There are hundreds of other races they could've chosen to make playable. There was no burning need to have firbolgs be a playable race. But to make them one, they had to so radically alter them from their well known and established lineage that they no longer resemble the original which makes the entire exercise pointless other than to play upon nostalgia. They could've simply called it some other thing and made it an entirely new race if they were that keen on introducing another goliath-like race.

 

[Ganymede81]

And people laughed when I suggested Firbolgs would fit in better as a player race as compared to Goliaths.

 

[flametitan]

And people laughed when I suggested Firbolgs would fit in better as a player race as compared to Goliaths.

It helps that the Firbolg was given a unique identity beyond "Tall human," even if it did divert from the original lore, while the Goliath was stuck for the most part with the "Tall competitive people."