WotC Do Half Giants jump the shark?

[Lanefan]

This is between NPC’s, suggested by PC’s as a joke, but taken seriously by the NPC’s.

Not directly a sex thing - what happens offstage between NPC’s won’t be seen no matter what it is. Like I said - “Downton & Dragons”, as in Downton Abbey like roleplaying in the downtime between adventures. PC’s helping VERY unlikely NPC’s find their way to each other, in this case.

The basic question: is human / giant romance ridiculous, or not?

“Jump the shark” is when a TV series gets so outlandish and ridiculous, it gets canceled. See TV Tropes if you’re not familiar with the term.

With “wait, aren’t half giants a thing somewhere” implying that such romance has perhaps happened. Or maybe not, since apparently it’s (only?) Dark Sun that had them, but with a “it’s magic, not birds & bees” explanation.

Voted "no opinion" but that's not quite true, it's just the closest option.

For me, if the character wants to have an affair with a Giant it's fine - let it play out. However - and this is where the "Half-Giant" piece becomes an issue - you need to decide whether Humans and Giants can interbreed should things gets that far.

In my setting, they cannot.

 

[pukunui]

The basic question: is human / giant romance ridiculous, or not?

There’s a whole sub genre of fiction out there involving regular-sized human men being romantic with giant-sized women. I won’t provide any links as they’re mostly NSFW but rest assured, it’s not any more ridiculous than, say, giant fire-breathing flying lizards!

 

[Scribe]

Goliath's and Half-Giants are a thing so...

"A God/Wizard did it." unless you want to get weird.

 

[TwoSix]

There’s a whole sub genre of fiction out there involving regular-sized human men being romantic with giant-sized women. I won’t provide any links as they’re mostly NSFW but rest assured, it’s not any more ridiculous than, say, giant fire-breathing flying lizards!

That such things exist is absolutely crushing.

 

[Scribe]

That such things exist is absolutely crushing.

 

[haakon1]

There’s a whole sub genre of fiction out there involving regular-sized human men being romantic with giant-sized women. I won’t provide any links as they’re mostly NSFW but rest assured, it’s not any more ridiculous than, say, giant fire-breathing flying lizards!

I did not know that. And yet, not surprising.

I believe The Simpson’s had an episode where Burns gets an early VR headset and complains the only content is dragons, and all the dragons want to do is have sex.

Thus always was mankind, I suppose.

 

[haakon1]

This campaign is on email, with players I know from real life outside gaming. It’s been going since 1998, but 2 of the 3 players in this subgroup have “only” been with the group 2-3 years of real life (a month of game time).

The young cloud giantess, Fulith, went into the walled village with nobles and the PC’s, to see a famous bard play tonight.

The other 4 Cloud Giants went to the woods to set up camp. They allied with the PC’s to escape the Temple of Elemental Evil’s Air Node, and this village is the first civilization seen since the escape.

It’s a rainy summer day - Midsummer is tomorrow - on a river island walled village, with a bridge to farmland and forests.

Deiter, the PC male human fighter/enchanter who teased the young cloud giantess that the young human lord might be interested in her, has volunteered to the giant queen to chaperone Fulith and escort her to the giant camp after the concert.

They are all - PC’s and NPC’s Fulith, young Lord Godwin, his widowed mother Lady Sonya, and various servants - at the Manor House. Fulith crawled to get in and was sitting on the floor, away from the adults, whispering and giggling with Godwin.

Saur, the PC female human rogue, and Ashrem, the PC male human cleric - Ashrem was an outcast from the TOEE cult and is an obvious heel - took up Lady Sonya’s gift of hand me down noble’s outfits for the concert. (Because they think they can sell them tomorrow when they get to a city.)

Deiter has been distracted by a long conversation with Lady Sonya.

No one paid attention when Fulith and Godwin departed for the garden, in the rain. They’ve been out there 45 minutes by themselves. I’ve noted a few times that they went. No PC has so much as looked out the window.

The giants are planning to leave for the mountains in the morning, and Fulith and 2 of the 3 PC’s (not Ashrem) plan to go with them.

So, I guess in a few months game time, when the Cloud Giants have a new cloud castle, the Queen will notice Fulith is in a family way, and new stories will spin out, probably including Deiter being frightened but it actually all working out. I suspect Fulith and Godwin will marry, for “Yes, and …” keeping the story spinning on reasons.

If everyone remains friends, the PC’s (including the rest of the party that was separated in the escape) might, I suppose, use the Cloud Castle to explore distant parts of Oerth.

 

[howandwhy99]

Gary wrote something about including half-elves in the game but not wanting anything more, lest it get ridiculous. I think this was before 1/2-orcs. Maybe he really was pulling on the popularity of Lord of the Rings?

I think a common practice among simulation D&D designers is to ask "where did this come from?" What are some of the races origins? What about the monsters? Are there progenitor races walking around? Are hobgoblins half-human? Tolkien's goblin-men?

Do a chart. Add some stats or histories to the races. Feel better when stuff like this happens.

Then you you can introduce that PC in your campaign to a byblow of a drunken night in the hill giant's prison: "Schreck".

 

[Bill Zebub]

The phrase "jumped the shark" has jumped the shark.