D&D (2024) Ranger 2024 is a bigger joke than Ranger 2014:

[Nikosandros]

AD&D 1st edition: giants.

In AD&D 1e the "giant" class for rangers is actually a long list of creatures that goes from kobolds (!) to actual giants. I've never figured why it was called like that (it was there from the original article in Strategic Review).

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

I wonder how many 1e Rangers actually ran into a giant during an adventure? Does anyone know what the most commonly encountered monster type in every edition of D&D was?

If you use the list from Unearthed Arcana, it was hard not to run into a "giant"...

 

[Mind of tempest]

If you use the list from Unearthed Arcana, I was hard not to run into a "giant"...

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what makes a goblin or an orc a giant, how are hyena men giants?

 

[Nikosandros]

what makes a goblin or an orc a giant, how are hyena men giants?

Unknown (at least to me), but the "giant" class has been there from the beginning (see my post above).

 

[M.L. Martin]

In AD&D 1e the "giant" class for rangers is actually a long list of creatures that goes from kobolds (!) to actual giants. I've never figured why it was called like that (it was there from the original article in Strategic Review).

Here's the actual text from Strategic Review Vol 1, Issue 2:

All Rangers gain a special advantage when fighting against monsters of the Giant Class (Kobolds - Giants). For each level they have gained they add +1 to their damage die against these creatures, so a 1st LevelRanger adds +1, a 2nd Level +2, and so on.

It may go back to the OD&D books or the Chainmail Fantasy Supplement.

 

[Corinnguard]

Unknown (at least to me), but the "giant" class has been there from the beginning (see my post above).

I am glad that PF1 made Giant into a Subtype.

 

[Nikosandros]

Here's the actual text from Strategic Review Vol 1, Issue 2:



It may go back to the OD&D books or the Chainmail Fantasy Supplement.

I don't recall seeing the term either in Chainmail or in Monsters & Treasure.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Unknown (at least to me), but the "giant" class has been there from the beginning (see my post above).

Here's the actual text from Strategic Review Vol 1, Issue 2:



It may go back to the OD&D books or the Chainmail Fantasy Supplement.

I am glad that PF1 made Giant into a Subtype.

are they supposed to be a genetic lineage then like saying Archosauria?

 

[Minigiant]

what makes a goblin or an orc a giant, how are hyena men giants?

It was the early days of game design. Clarity wasn't important.

Giant was "an humaniod shaped being that wasnt a human, dwarf, or elf"

 

[Micah Sweet]

The ranger is a wilderness explorer class in a game that doesn't focus on wilderness exploration, what do you expect?

I would recommend the Level Up ranger, built for a game that does have an emphasis on wilderness exploration.