AD&D1 giants

[Celebrim]

Weren't hill giants only 8 feet tall in 1e? Hardly worthy of the term 'giant,' IMO...

I think you are thinking of Ogres. IIRC, Hill Giants were 12' tall.

 

[Roadkill101]

I used neither option A or B as given in the OP. I always treated the +/- # as a Constitution modifer per HD. Thus for Hill Giants 8HD+1-2 was calculated as 8(HD+2) for tougher Hill Giants and 8(HD+1) for weaker Hill Giants, where HD was a randomly generated number based on the die type used for the hit die (typically the d8, but IIRC there may have been one or two exceptions).

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Weren't hill giants only 8 feet tall in 1e? Hardly worthy of the term 'giant,' IMO...

I believe you are close - I think they were around 9 ft or so. They got boosted up in size for 2E, just like Dragons did.

 

[Celebrim]

I believe you are close - I think they were around 9 ft or so. They got boosted up in size for 2E, just like Dragons did.

Everyone seems to remember something different from me. I don't have my books at hand, but I'm pretty sure that there was a fairly regular progression to the major giants, thrown off only by the inversion of heights in the frost and fire giants.

Hill Giants: 12'
Stone Giants: 14'
Frost Giants: 18'
Fire Giants: 16'
Cloud Giants: 20'
Storm Giants: 22'

Now that you've got my curiousity aroused, I'd appreciate it if someone with a book at hand would settle this before this becomes another animiousity filled 1st edition thread.

 

[Garnfellow]

Everyone seems to remember something different from me. I don't have my books at hand, but I'm pretty sure that there was a fairly regular progression to the major giants, thrown off only by the inversion of heights in the frost and fire giants.

Those heights you list are for the giants as presented in the basic D&D system (Expert set), which were significantly larger than their 1st edition AD&D counterparts. Second edition AD&D, in addition to giving giants more HD, also gave them a height boost:

Hill Giants: 16'
Stone Giants: 18'
Frost Giants: 21'
Fire Giants: 18'
Cloud Giants: 24'
Storm Giants: 26'

 

[Celebrim]

Those heights you list are for the giants as presented in the basic D&D system (Expert set), which were significantly larger than their 1st edition AD&D counterparts. Second edition AD&D, in addition to giving giants more HD, also gave them a height boost.

Aha! That's were I got it. I knew I remembered it from somewhere.

 

[diaglo]

yeah, 1edADnD giants were shorter in comparison.
the true giants were like (iirc)
hill giants(~9') were the shortest then stone(~10'), then fire(~12'), frost (~15'), cloud(18') then storm(~21'), titan (25')

 

[Garnfellow]

yeah, 1edADnD giants were shorter in comparison.
the true giants were like (iirc)
hill giants(~9') were the shortest then stone(~10'), then fire(~12'), frost (~15'), cloud(18') then storm(~21'), titan (25')

You know, I don't think I realized this: 3e kept the 2nd edition HD increases, but shrunk most of the giants back down to 1e heights. Assuming your memory is right, 3e Hill (10-1/2 ft) and stone (12 ft) giants are slightly taller than they were in 1e, but the rest are about the same.

Interestingly, if the 2nd edition heights had been kept, all true giants could have been Huge creatures in 3e. (Hill giants at 16 ft are right on the bubble.)

Me, I like my giants 1e style -- shorter with less HD -- so I can add plenty of class levels and templates on top as needed.

 

[Cabled]

Less giant...giants

I have my MM sitting here with me (1979 printing)

Hill Giant- 10.5' tall
Stone Giant- 12' tall
Frost Giant- 15' tall
Fire Giant- 12' tall
Cloud Giant- 18' tall
Storm Giant- 21' tall

And there ya have it

 

[Garnfellow]

I have my MM sitting here with me (1979 printing)

So the circle is complete: all 3e giants have the same heights they had in 1e.