D&D General did giants ever get the spotlight?

[Voadam]

you got a link so I can read the lore?

The Diamond Throne is a 96 page setting book.

It is the backdrop of the Arcana Unearthed d20 era alternate 3e D&D rule set (alternate races and classes) and the Arcana Evolved set which advances the setting timeline to have the dragons return for conflict with the giant's empire.

I think it is also part of the 5e Ptolus kickstarter but I am not positive.

 

[Malmuria]

Planescape's Planes of Chaos had info on the Elves-Giants dynamic in Arborea and Ysgard, and I think this was discussed in Volo's and Mordenkainen's as well.

 

[Zaukrie]

This thread really makes me want to create a setting where "puny humans and their ilk" are like ants among a war between giants and dragons, and the goal is to merely survive in case the war ever ends.....Or something like that.

 

[Voadam]

Just for history perspective

1e's first modules were the giants trilogy which were compiled in G1-3 Against the Giants.

2e had the silver anniversary Against the Giants The Liberation of Geoff big adventure set in Greyhawk and the sourcebook FOR7 Giantcraft for giants in the Forgotten Realms along with a corresponding trilogy of novels.

Basic D&D had an adventure anthology of short encounters with a strong giant theme in AC10 Bestiary Dragons and Giants.

3.5 had the Eberron's Xendrik continent sourcebook where giants were huge in the history and a big presence as a currently degenerate fallen race.

4e giants were big in the comsology on the Elemental Primordial side where it went Primordials created titans created giants created dwarves. In the Dawn War against the gods the giants were on the side of the Primordials. 4e also had the big adventure Revenge of the Giants.

5e has Storm King's Thunder.

There was also things like giant entries in monster manuals and giant deity lore throughout the editions.

1e D&D also had a 3rd party giants sourcebook by Mayfair Games called Giants, Pathfinder had a whole giants adventure path, and in the d20 era there were a number of giants sourcebooks and lore.

 

[Aldarc]

The Diamond Throne is a 96 page setting book.

It is the backdrop of the Arcana Unearthed d20 era alternate 3e D&D rule set (alternate races and classes) and the Arcana Evolved set which advances the setting timeline to have the dragons return for conflict with the giant's empire.

I think it is also part of the 5e Ptolus kickstarter but I am not positive.

Diamond Throne / Arcana Evolved received a Kickstarter for the Cypher System. Here Be Dragons may do one for 5e but first Cypher.

 

[Mind of tempest]

This thread really makes me want to create a setting where "puny humans and their ilk" are like ants among a war between giants and dragons, and the goal is to merely survive in case the war ever ends.....Or something like that.

maybe one is on the back burner like a cold war over a world far vaster than ours, with the dragons having proxies in the form of kobolds and Dragonborn who are good for building and armies.
I would personally rebuild the giants they are kinda dull and need to be bigger and more fantastic.
have the three types of dragon work together if strained.
humans are natural and are on many sides.
no idea on giant's proxies maybe a custom job?
also, a couple of other sides to get the background really running.

 

[dave2008]

what are primordials?

In @jgsugden 's homebrew or do you mean in D&D lore?

 

[Mind of tempest]

In @jgsugden 's homebrew or do you mean in D&D lore?

both ideally?

 

[dave2008]

both ideally?

I can't answer for their homebrew, but I can give you the standard D&D lore.

Primordials as a "type" came about in 4e (there term was used loosely before to refer to various entities). In 4e the primordials were elemental entities of massive size and incredible power. They created the prime, shadow fell, and fey wild planes (the shadow fell and fey wild were bits cast off when they made the prime). The also created the titans, which in turned created the giants (which are lesser versions of the titans, so you have a type of titan for each type of giant), which in turn created dwarves. Primordials ruled the elemental chaos and after the gods started messing with the prime, went to war with the gods. The primordials were generally more powerful (it took Moradin, Pelor, and Bahamut together to imprison Mual-Tar the Thunder Serpent), but less organized than the gods. The gods and their servants eventually defeated the primordials and their servants. There is a lot more lore, and nuance, than that, but it is a general overview.

In 5e, Primordials are still a thing, but it is not clear if they hold the same significance they did in 4e. I think it is intentionally vague.

 

[Sithlord]

I play in a setting where planes overlap. But i do alot with giants. You can get to this world by passing between two mountains. And there are lots of them that settled in our world. So there are lots of territory disputes and cattle raids. And of course there are cloud giant cities.. on clouds (I know real original). I still use 1E/2E themes for cloud giants where they are pretty much all a minimum of 10th level mages or priests. So they are a force to be reckoned with as well as a source of knowledge. My storm giants are also typically very high level bards. Frost and fire giants are typically very skilled soldiers and smiths with siege weapons. Hill giants, well they are my orcs for giants. Ogres are not related to giants, they are unseelie. They can vary in size from 7 feet tall to 30 feet tall. No one knows why some grow bigger than others. Green Trolls are an abomination. They are cursed for offending the gods. Rock trolls are somewhat different. They can be allies or foes. They are territorial and don’t organize as well. Thunder damage is a rock trolls weakness and not fire or acid. Back to giants. They don’t like the gods much. And they can rival a gods avatar. My gods are much weaker. Now when I say a giant can rival a god. I mean the giant equivalent of a high level fighter. A dozen fire giants can take an avatar. I don’t use the Norse pantheon, but there are borrowed ideas. The giants would surrender if they didn’t have a chance.