Giants: How big should they be in an a Fantasy RPG?

[catsclaw227]

Geez, I was just making a joke. Some things are too obvious to require errata, aren't they?

I agree, but you never know! When you have people quoting RAW as the end all to D&D gaming then I bet there are players that would try to take advantage of it.

 

[frankthedm]

Geez, I was just making a joke. Some things are too obvious to require errata, aren't they?

Some people cling to literal wordings for every advantage they can.

 

[WizarDru]

OK.. off topic here a moment... I read this one other time and prayed to the RPG gods that this got errata'd. Does anyone know about this? You can't sunder a huge shield sitting in front of you because you can't make the attack against the wielder? This is like some twisted Escher rule.

If that were what the rules said, it would be pretty goofy. However, they don't say that, so we're square. The target of the Sunder doesn't have total cover...the target of the sunder is providing total cover to someone else. In fact, the defender takes a -2 on the Sunder check because he's using a tower shield, effectively making it EASIER to initiate a sunder. Of course, it's also much harder than a normal shield, so it balances out.

 

[Endur]

Personally, as a GM, when I get the chance to pick between a Huge Giant and a Large Giant, I always pick the Huge Giant. Half-Ogres, Ogres, and powerful build medium creatures are all sort of large ... but huge is different. When you place a Huge mini on the table, all of the player's eyes bug out.

My Efreeti like using their enlarge self spell to make themselves look bigger too.

 

[Conaill]

The target of the Sunder doesn't have total cover...the target of the sunder is providing total cover to someone else. In fact, the defender takes a -2 on the Sunder check because he's using a tower shield, effectively making it EASIER to initiate a sunder.

That would be the common-sense interpretation, right. But not exactly what the RAW says...

Shield, Tower: "you can instead use it as total cover, though you must give up your attacks to do so."

Total Cover: "You can’t make an attack against a target that has total cover."

Sunder: "Step 1 Attack of Opportunity. You provoke an attack of opportunity from the target whose weapon or shield you are trying to sunder."

It's pretty clear that "the target" of the Sunder is the person holding the item. And that person has full cover, so cannot be targeted by a Sunder. Just like you can't sunder the sword of someone who is hiding behind a wall. D&D doesn't really have any special rule sto say what happens when you have full cover but your equipment doesn't - even if it's the equipment that actually provides the cover.


Of course, and sane DM will agree that a tower shield should be open to a Sunder. (In fact, the guy cowering behind the tower shield shouldn't even get an AoO, because the attacker is considered to have full cover as well.) The D&D FAQ doesn't cover this explicitly, however, there is this interesting passage under Grapple and Snatch Attacks:

Grapple and Snatch Attacks: Total cover from a tower shield blocks such attacks (the foe just can’t get hold of you). The foe could, however grab the shield.

Screw the RAW. I'd much rather use common sense!

 

[frankthedm]

Personally, as a GM, when I get the chance to pick between a Huge Giant and a Large Giant, I always pick the Huge Giant. Half-Ogres, Ogres, and powerful build medium creatures are all sort of large ... but huge is different. When you place a Huge mini on the table, all of the player's eyes bug out.

Now that's a Giant!

My Efreeti like using their enlarge self spell to make themselves look bigger too.

Efreeti are the only ones who have that "Enlarge Monster" trick in all of the core rules.

 

[Umbran]

It's pretty clear that "the target" of the Sunder is the person holding the item. And that person has full cover, so cannot be targeted by a Sunder. Just like you can't sunder the sword of someone who is hiding behind a wall. D&D doesn't really have any special rule sto say what happens when you have full cover but your equipment doesn't - even if it's the equipment that actually provides the cover.

I'd say the target has a choice - either they are willing to move the shield to help protect it, or they aren't. In the former case, sunder is possible. In the latter case, the shield is effectively "unattended", and the appropriate rules apply.

 

[Felix]

I like giants the way they are... with one exception.

Stone Giants. I dig the idea that these guys don't go around reproducing like usual giants, but instead are only somewhat removed from an elemental. So they are born from rock, don't reproduce, don't have any real society, and don't ever really stop growing.

And the best Stone Giant ever?

"They look like big, good, strong hands, don't they? I always thought that's what they were..."

 

[Raduin711]

In my campaign world, based off of norse mythology, giants actually come from another plane where... what do you know... everything is bigger. Thus eliminating that troublesome question of... how does it eat?

Evil giants occasionally leave Jotunheim to go to Midgard where they can pick on things smaller than they are.

 

[Delta]

Dangit, here I am participating in the thread resurrection.

I recently house-ruled that my Hill and Stone Giants are Large, everybody else Huge.