Giant Kingdoms!

[SHARK]

Greetings!

I like Giants. I must say though, that while having giants being super-abundant would pose significant problems in campaign structure, having them always be rare, and on the downside so to speak, can also be limiting. For example,

(1) I use Frost Giants as quasi-medieval kingdom builders, like Norse barbarians, with heavy Norman influences. I have several fairly sophisticated Frost Giant Kingdoms that rule over human barbarian populations, rather like Norman overlords. Imagine Frost Giant Dragon Ships! I also have them build large stone castles, and cloak them in enchanted mist. The halls of the Frost Giants are guarded by packs of Winter Wolves, and the Frost Giants keep herds of Aurochs, and ride Wooly Mammoths, and Wooly Rhinos.

(2) I use Fire Giants like maniacal Roman emperors, who seek to build sophisticated fortified cities, with powerful forces of Fire Giant Infantry that march over their enemies. The Fire Giants have complex political arrangements, and engage in vast networks of trade and military alliances.

(3) Often at odds with the Fire Giants, I use Cloud Giants to develop sophisticated cultures like the Myceneans, Dorians, and Classical Greeks. They have phalanxes, and sophisticated schools of philosophy, as well as universities, and fine craftsmanship. The Cloud Giants are also daring and heroic explorers, travelling in great ships in search of adventure, or on occasion, travelling in floating castles of marble and silver, floating high in the clouds.

How have you used giants in your campaigns?

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

 

[Crothian]

I have a country, rather large country, of giants. I don't use the traditional hill, frost, fire etc. I use the basic stats as part of the caste system. Not to much has been defined about them, as the PCs never seem to want venture into their lands.

The country is ruled by spellcasting giants, based of the Titan. The used to have a slave population of Nodwa and Calwa (canine races). I only have 13 greater gods in the world, everyone worships the same group. The giants are no different. THere are literally hundreds of demi-gods, many also not defined. I define things as them become important to the campaign.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I mostly use Frost Gaints in my game as the ice age was their time and they are trying to bring it back. They mostly still hold power in the far north and raid during the winter months.

 

[kamosa]

I've often used stone giants as fine craftsmen and builders of grand structures. Need a pyramid or grand cathedral, call the stone giants.

I give them a belief system that incorporates building these structures into their understanding of glory and honor. They believe that they gain lasting fame through the creation of landmarks. They view them as the only part of their life that will live on past their death.

I play them as honorable, spiritual and with a quiet dignity.

I use this belief system as one of the reasons for the fantastic, but not practical, architecture in a fantasy world. In this world view, the more out landish and ornate a structure, the longer it will be remebered by the living.

Just my two cents

 

[Cheiromancer]

Bump! (to resurrect some fine old SHARK threads)

 

[Agback]

G'day

Last time I made use of giants was in a campaign set in Europe in AD 1122, and run under DragonQuest. The racial situation was roughly as follows:

This will be a DragonQuest campaign set in Europe in 1122 AD. At this time the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of Germany (Holy Roman Empire) are of little account, and practical rulership in Europe is in the hands of the great vassals of the Crown in each Kingdom. In France the Duke of Aquitaine and the Duke of Normandy, the Count of Brittany, the Count of Toulouse, the Count of Flanders, the Count of Artois, the Count of Blois and Champagne, and the Count of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine are practically sovereign princes.

For the purposes of this campaign, it will be supposed that there are dwarves living in the Alps and Carpathians, and speaking German. The Welsh, Bretons, and Basques will be DQ elves, speaking Elvish, a non-IndoEuropean tongue. The Magyars, Bulgars, and Finns will be orcs, speaking dialects of orcish, another non-IE language. Cloud giants live in Russia, frost giants in Scandinavia. The Irish are stone giants, and the black people of sub-saharan African are fire giants. Norse, Erse, Russian, and Ethiopic are related languages of the Giantish family. Halfings need not apply.

For campaign convenience, the linguistic situation will be simplified. The Romance languages of northern Italy, southern France, and northern Iberia will be considered dialects of a single language, called ‘Latina Rustica’ (rustic latin). The Frankish of northern France and Latin itself will be considered separate but related languages. All the German dialects will be treated as dialects of a single language, except for English which will be a separate but related language. Of these, only Latin is customarily written. Other languages that might be significant include Arabic, Greek, and Elvish, all of which are written, and Orcish and Slavic (which are not).

Regards,


Agback

 

[FormerlyCevalic]

I have one country of giants in my campaign. It's actually a mountain kingdom, with stone giants being the main giant race. There are some from each of the different types of giants of course, in the kingdom. It's ruled by cloud giants, that have castles atop the clouds that line the mountain range. The only reason this kingdom hasn't expanded is that to the north there is a large section of land ruled by a dragon council. They constantly battle the giants attempts to expand their empire. On the other side of the mountain range, the giants face the dragons allies, an empire of good aligned, extremely miltant orcs. They've been fending off the giants for about two hundred years, and are currently at a stalemate.