What would make a stne giants’ castle special

What would make a stne giants’ castle special

What would be different, besides the raw size, in a giants castle than a human castle?

Ive never designed a giant lair before, so I am struggling for ideas.

Maybe one large stone wall in the castle interior could contain a life-sized "mural" carving of a scene with multiple stone giants (or maybe a "hall of ancestral kings" of something), only some of them are really just indentations for a stone giant to stand inside and hide in plain sight, blending right into the rest of the wall carvings. The PCs might walk right past the "carvings" and get a surprise when a few of them step "out" of the wall and attack them from behind.

Johnathan

I'd start with things that Stone giants can do that Humans can't.
So things like rock fall traps, or traps involving stone. Pits a giant could walk over to avoid, but are too big for humans. Where would a stone giant build a castle, got to be a mountain top. So how do you get to it? How would Stone giants defend a castle and what would they be defending it against? Answer that and that should give you a few ideas.
Who are the Stone giants friends with, and are they visiting?
Hope that helps.

These stone giants live just beyond the edge of a slowly expanding human kingdom. They were almost allies of the kingdom once, a hundred years ago. Recently a new contact was made, but hasn’t gone well. The human group tried to steal something they felt was rightfully theirs from the giants, and were taken prisoner. The PCs, if they arrive here via the expected plotline, will be looking for the missing group of humans. So they may approach diplomatically, not knowing about the theft, or they may come in weapons drawn. I never know! I intend the giants to be an impressive group, but if the pcs do try to rescue the prisoners, they should have some hope of success. The main foe of the giants is a young red dragon who has recently arrived in the area.

Okay.

Many castles have light siege engines in various forms, catapults and such, as a means to damage siege towers and the like.

A Stone Giant's castle might have such things, but they're more likely to be scorpion (a sort of javelin thrower) than catapult. First, because giants are catapults. second, because attacking giants can catch catapult stones. Trebochet type catapults have a very long range, and can fling hordes of darts and similar pointed objects.

Expect to see kegs of flamable stuff, about the size of throwing boulders, to be lit and hurled or launched.

As for location, mountain top fortresses sound neat, but you have to be able to bring in supplies to feed the place, so hilltops and high ground work, but true mountain tops don't.

Use a deep chasm in place of a moat. Harder to "swim", and far better thematically.

Facing a dragon? Consider huge nets made of chain, packed to be loaded into a treb', to entangle a Dragon's wings and bring him down. He flies fast, but is anything but nimble in the air, so hitting him isn't as hopeless as it might seem. He isn't a Nightfury after all .

As long as he stays in the air the giants can't beat him. He can straff and run, and retreat as soon as he starts taking any real damage. If he lands though, and they can close to melee range, he's done. So make the Dragon smart enough to know this.

Also, remember that the Dragon's lair should be a secret. The giants don't know. I mean, if they did then they'd mount an expedition to go after him there, where he's likely to be on the ground, and less likely to run and abandon his treasure.

So make the Dragon sneaky. He always retreats in the same direction, but then drops to a lower altitude , "below radar", and changes direction to the real home. He may even change direction several times, in case he's seen by others.

Also remember that Dragons have Blind Sense as well as Low Light and/or Darkvision. Ranged weapons are only as good as the weilder's eyes. The Dragon knows where the castle is, but the defenders don't know when or from where the Dragon is coming.

I'm talking about the Dragon because it's a possible means to resolve other problems: Party helps with Dragon, good relationships are restored.

Gilladian said:

These stone giants live just beyond the edge of a slowly expanding human kingdom. They were almost allies of the kingdom once, a hundred years ago. Recently a new contact was made, but hasn’t gone well. The human group tried to steal something they felt was rightfully theirs from the giants, and were taken prisoner. The PCs, if they arrive here via the expected plotline, will be looking for the missing group of humans. So they may approach diplomatically, not knowing about the theft, or they may come in weapons drawn. I never know! I intend the giants to be an impressive group, but if the pcs do try to rescue the prisoners, they should have some hope of success. The main foe of the giants is a young red dragon who has recently arrived in the area.

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I'd say rather than a castle make it a fortress on the side of a mountain, or maybe underneath a spur. Maybe some towers at odd angles with various weapons.
Main entrance is underneath so they can drop rocks on anybody they don't like the look of. And maybe a secondary way in through the mountain.

Thanks, there are some great tips here. My intent was that the PCs could negotiate with either or both the giants and the dragon, who are not YET open enemies.