Giants In The Land!

[SHARK]

Greetings!

Giants In The Land!

I like Giants! How many of you use Giants a lot? How have you developed them? I often develop Giants with classes, full range of feats and skills, and sometimes a much more dynamic culture which uses sophisticated tactics, as well as powerful magic. Giants in my own campaigns are often a very terrifying opponent, and can also serve as a powerful threat to the survival of entire kingdoms!

Aside from the 2nd Edition Giant supplement, there hasn’t really been much about Giants. I think this is an oversight, and would like to see it changed. Giants make some of the most flexible and enduring features of any campaign, providing many types of challenges from the mundane but deadly power of the Giants sheer size and might, to the potential powerful magics and awesome weapons of ferocious champions! Great Giant kings sitting upon immense thrones deep in thought on the fate of nations…the Giant remains an inspiring opponent, and on occasion, a potentially very interesting ally or even a friend.

What do you think?

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

 

[Maldur]

Strangely enough in my mind, the images of giant kings and those of dwarven kings are very similar ( besides of the size difference) great halls of stone. rune carvings. large axes, flagons of ale.

very odd.

PS Shark ( or do I have to say Mr shark now ) most people will read this and think: "Will SHARK be writing a giant book for mongoose?" or "SHARK is getting commercial very fast , as he now is promoting his new book allready."

 

[Frosty]

I for one certainly hope that we'll get to peak into SHARKS's brain here on the EN-Boards for years to come.

On giants. Yes I do think it's an oversight. If the DM as much as mentions giants the player's invariably gets filled with awe. Giants makes for the perfect enemy, and the perfect prey for rangers. There are many reasons for a party to go after them. Dwarves and the all ready mentioned rangers can hunt these beasts for 20 levels or more. Remember that trolls are giants too.

Giants are great role-playing. The DM can stand up and shout in a big booming voice or he can play it low. What if a stone giant is trapped, his left leg stuck in a church's cellar and if the PCs doesn't help him he'll starve to death? If they refuse to help, the giant is still a formidable opponent. The church can serve as an impromptu ammo dump or he can snatch PCs with his hands and stuff them into his bag!

When the players are getting cocky any DM worth his salt should have them face giants as the experience will make them more humble.

 

[Yuan-Ti]

Hi, Mr. Shark!

I do have to ask this... are you giving us insights into the projects you are working on for Mongoose (or someone else) or are these still ideas you are tossing about?

Giants: Yes! Giants are great opponents. Many settings avoid mentioning them much, other than to say "here be giants" which should make most DMs pause. If there is a Frost Giant king somewhere, and he has even a couple hundred giant warriors under his command, he ought to be able to make life unpleasant for neighboring races. But this begs the question: What motivates a giant king? If he rules over all the frost giants in the immediate area, does he really want to conquer the neighboring human kingdom? Sure, he might send raids against it to collect treasure for some purpose and to keep his enemies off-balance, but otherwise?

Given their intelligence, and the likelihood they have a grand culture, I definitely advocate giants with class levels. Hill giants might have a number of "regular" giants in the clan, but for the others I would expect lots of class levels. Even non-combatants are likely to have NPC classes. Sage cloud giants? Hell, yes!

Edit: I also think that giants, like the Yuan-Ti, have suffered a bit from being relatively easy opponents in the computer game Icewind Dale. All the more reason to teach some PnP players a lesson or two.

 

[Mark]

I also think that giants, like the Yuan-Ti, have suffered a bit from being relatively easy opponents in the computer game Icewind Dale. All the more reason to teach some PnP players a lesson or two.

Bout time for a little payback, eh?

 

[Tonguez]

Giants - giants are wonderful and the true master race

My games always feature at least one giant npc, my favourites being a 9ft tall giant teenager who befriends a human warrior (pc) and a giant monk- Gardener who has established a huge garden on the banks of a major river as his homage to his goddess (the garden was a 'dungeon' which my PCs explored at one point whilst chasing badguys)

IMC Giants were the first rulers of the world created by the gods to help sculpt the planet and put the last touches onncreation. -Thus the LEGENDARY giants (some 100s of feet tall) dug out the lakes and streams, built mountain ranges and leveled plains. These legendary giants fought in the gods-war which tore the One Land asunder and only their descendents remain.

Their descendents remember this and take pride in it but also recognise their folly in their fall from grace and so although young giants may be arrogant and agressive, the older wiser Elders teach patince and tenderness towards the world...

Giants are not unintelligent but do have extremely slow metabolisms and thus mental function - swo it takes a giant a long time to 'get' a joke. As such giants can master magics (mainly Elemental such as the famed Storm giants) but they take a long time to learn its basics

This slow metabolism explains why giants are able to survive without eating everything. Instead they have one large meal (like say two horses) and then sleep as their bodies digest the food. Thus a 10ft giant only eats slightly more than a human but also sleeps a lot longer.
This is also why so many stories about 'sleeping giants' exist

Giants then fit into 4 main groups.

1. The Legendary Giants standing over 25 feet tall (some Legends even speak of 500 ft giants), these are mythical beings even amongst giants and revered as holy 'Ancestors.' Some mountains IMC are said to be Legendary giants fast aleep and covered in stone

2. The Greater Giants: Any giant of 18 -25 feet in height and are recognised as the Lords of giantdom (ie your Giant-Kings). These giants only appear as 'monsters' due to their need to sleep for Weeks at a time and then awake and feed.

3. Minor giants:All giants 9 - 18 ft in height and the great bulk of giant society. Those in the 9 - 11ft range maybe PCs and are only required to sleep 12 hrs per day, 12 -15ft 18hrs and 16 -18ft 24hrs (ie active every other day)

4. The Corrupt (Ogres, trolls, etc) Trolls are feindish and Ogre-kin (includes Ettin, Verbeeg etc) are mutants (congenital mutation) who choose to side with evil during the gods-war and became corrupted by the experience. All Trolls are descendents of the demon-gods of Disease and Insanity. Ogre-kin are under a curse whyby Intelligence is inverse to mutation. So a 'normal looking ogre might have an Int 2 whereas a hunched mutant will have int 6. Intelligent Ogre-magi with Int 16 would be a deformed wormlike creature blind, and limbless

 

[Leopold]

the giants i remeber and love are those of the GDQ series by our favorit EGG. These guys were tough, stubborn, well-armed, well-trained, and really knew their stuff. Those giants are the giants I will remember and play in my campaign should the need arise. Each giant race has it's idiosyncracies (sp) so each will be roleplayed different. I.E. A stone giant does have the same motives and desiers as a verbeeg or hill giant.

 

[d20Dwarf]

Giants need their own Player's Handbook!

That's just what I plan to give them.

Work is already underway on the Monster's Handbook, a Legends & Lairs sourcebook that gives monsters their due. As the title might suggest, it is a book that gives monsters new options, such as new feats, prestige classes, templates, combat tactics and strategies, and more. Each monster type will be covered in depth, with special new rules that make use of each creature type's unique strengths. Look for more information on the book in the next few weeks.

The book is being written by Mike Mearls.

 

[Melkor Lord Of ALL!]

Well, now, that my players reached epic levels, they might face Giants in their full glory, since these beings live for pretty long, average Frost or Fire Giant is going to have at least 5 class levels, and their champions around 15. Sweet, where is The Epic Handbook when you need it?

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

For my campaign, I will use a Soldier/Mercanary Troup, that will primary consists of Giants. I have a Troll Ranger (what? YOu are shooting lasers at me and expect me not to regenerate? What do you think does this little wand, hmm?), a Ettin Fighter, and I will make up some other ones... I am still uncertain if they will be main buddies, or partly good, partly bad. Probably the last. I prefer gray zones...

Mustrum RIdcully