This post will detail the frost giant wrathbringer, the giant Fiend patron bladelock everyone's been waiting for! It will also include variant rules for other warlocks of Kostchtchie, both giant and for other races (just in case your players want to, for some reason, play one!)
Frost Giant Wrathbringer
For frost giants, the Ordning is based on might. The more physically powerful a frost giant is, the higher its standing. For weaker frost giants, this condemns them to a life of subservience. Most frost giants accept their lot in life (and take out their frustrations on smaller foes they can actually defeat), but some look for alternative ways to climb to the top. A few turn towards Vaprak and become frost giant everlasting ones, although not many can stomach (both literally and metaphorically) the process to become one. Others still turn towards the demon lord Kostchtchie, the Prince of Wrath, who grants them more subtle powers in order to overcome their foes and ascend to positions of leadership
A Demon's Dilemma
At first glance, it seems that Kostchtchie would be an obvious fit for a disgruntled frost giant to turn to; his nature and outlook dovetail nicely with much of what is prevalent in frost giant society. But, somewhat surprisingly, it proved far more difficult for the Prince of Wrath to gain a serious foothold within the race. Frost giants, like all of their kin, instinctively understand the workings of the Ordning, and can quickly ascertain when it's being violated. At first, Kostchtchie sent prospective worshipers typical warlock powers; and, while this did allow some few followers to gain control of their settlements, all too often they aroused other frost giants' suspicions and were rapidly dispatched, usually before gaining any significant power. Kostchtchie soon learned from his mistakes, and soon started granting his followers a suite of powers that were more subtle (allowing them to gain power with far less suspicion) and more closely mimicking those of the typical frost giant jarl (for keeping that power once it has been gained).
Warlocks of Wrath
The cult of Kostchtchie is for the most part an underground faith. Most frost giant settlements contain a cultist or two, and rarely do their numbers grow to any significant amount. Sometimes, however, a more substantial cult cell is established, at which point the members begin to plot the overthrow of the current leadership. Using both their innate powers of deception and persuasiveness, as well as the subtle powers gifted to them by the Prince of Wrath, the cult either converts, blackmails, or quietly removes opposition among the remaining populace. Finally, when the time is right, the cult decides to eliminate the current jarl. This is most easily done via an outright challenge, where nascent wrathbringers attempt to bring down the jarls through a combination of their necrotic and weakening powers - the latter especially is seen by the general populace as Thrym stripping the jarls of his blessings. Sometimes, however, the jarl is seen as too powerful to be brought down this way, so the jarl's covert assassination or "disappearance" is arranged. After all, even if the wrathbringer comes under suspicion for being the first to find the jarl's battered body, how could he or she have committed the crime if there is no weapon on their person or nearby? The fact that the murder weapon is safely hidden in an interdimensional space due to the warlock's Pact of the Blade powers is not something that occurs to the typical frost giant in this situation.
Haunted Settlements
Once they take over a frost giant settlement, the wrathbringer rapidly consolidates power through a reign of terror. Any remaining opposition is rapidly converted, killed, driven out, or cowed into subservience. The animated bodies of previous dissenters are object lessons on the futility of resistance. Such settlements are dark and haunted places - undead openly walk the streets, and demons lurk in dark corners, preying on the unsuspecting and weak. Such blighted locations rarely go unnoticed; however, they are notoriously difficult to eradicate. The mere existence of such a place may drive other frost giants to fury, but, given their nature, it is difficult for them, both as individuals and as tribes, to band together for any sort of organized warfare. And even then, the powers of the wrathbringers and their minions are often enough to successfully resist such an attack.
Frost Giant Wrathbringer
Huge giant (frost giant), chaotic evil
Armor Class 16 (patchwork armor)
Hit Points 207 (18d12 + 90)
Speed 40 ft.
STR 23 (+6) DEX 11 (+0) CON 21 (+5) INT 9 (-1) WIS 10 (+0) CHA 18 (+4)
Saving Throws Con +9, Wis +4, Cha +8
Skills Athletics +10, Deception +8, Perception +4, Persuasion +8
Damage Immunities cold, slashing damage from nonmagical attacks not made from silvered weapons
Senses passive Perception 14
Languages Giant, Abyssal
Challenge 11 (7,200 XP)
Innate Spellcasting. The giant's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma. It can innately cast the following spells (spell save DC 16), requiring no material components:
At will: disguise self, false life, levitate (self only), speak with dead
1/day each: create undead *, finger of death
*Besides the types of undead that can be typically be created by this spell, the giant can change the corpses of Huge humanoids into Huge-sized skeletons.
Spellcasting. The giant is a 13th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 16, +8 to hit with spell attacks). It has the following warlock spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): chill touch, eldritch blast, mage hand, minor illusion
1st - 5th level (3 5th level slots): arms of Hadar, cone of cold**, crown of madness, dimension door, fear, hex, hold person, hunger of Hadar, ice storm**, invisibility, vampiric touch
**Due to his innately cold nature, Kostchtchie grants certain cold spells instead of fire spells as part of his expanded spell list. See below.
Dark One's Own Luck (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). When the giant makes an ability check or a saving throw, it can add a d10 to the roll. It can do this after the roll is made but before any of the roll's effects occur.
Actions
Multiattack. The giant makes two maul attacks.
Maul. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 27 (6d6 + 6) bludgeoning damage plus 7 (1d6 + 4) necrotic damage, plus an additional 3 (1d6) necrotic damage if the target is also the target of the giant's hex spell. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw or be weakened and deal only half damage with weapon attacks that use Strength for one minute. A creature affected by this effect can make another Constitution saving throw at the end of each of its turns. On a successful saving throw, the effect ends for it.
Rock Ranged Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, range 60/240 ft., one target. Hit: 28 (4d10 + 6) bludgeoning damage.
Variant: Frost Giant Cultist of Kostchtchie
Kostchtchie, the Demon Lord of Wrath, often has cultists in frost giant settlements. In normal settlements, these cults are a secretive cabal; but in those where the cult has effected a takeover and a wrathbringer openly rules, they form the political elite, serving as the wrathbringer jarl's sub-commanders.
A frost giant cultist of Kostchtchie uses the same statistics as a normal frost giant, with the following modifications:
It has a Charisma score of 14 (+2), a Charisma saving throw of +5, a Deception skill of +5, and a Persuasion skill of +5. It also gains the Innate Spellcasting and Spellcasting features as below:
Innate Spellcasting. The giant's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma. It can innately cast the following spells (spell save DC 13), requiring no material components:
At will: disguise self
Spellcasting. The giant is a 3rd-level spellcaster that uses Charisma as its spellcasting ability (spell save DC 13, +5 to hit with spell attacks). The giant has the following warlock spells prepared:
Cantrips (At will): chill touch, minor illusion
1st - 2nd level (2 2nd level slots): crown of madness, hex, hold person, invisibility
Cultists of Kostchtchie often use mauls instead of greataxes; if so, they do 27 (6d6 + 6) bludgeoning damage with their melee attacks, plus 3 (1d6) necrotic damage if the target is also the target of their hex spell.
Non-giant cultists of Kostchtchie
A non-giant cultist of Kostchtchie would simply be a warlock with Pact of the Blade (favoring mauls) and a Fiend patron. However, since Kostchtchie favors cold over fire, the Fiend Expanded Spell list would have the following alterations:
fog cloud for burning hands
gust of wind for scorching ray
sleet storm for fireball
ice storm for wall of fire
cone of cold for flame strike
Now I never want to type "Kostchtchie" ever again! Coming up next, a bit of a detour - since the cultists of the Prince of Wrath can create giant skeletons and zombies, and the Monster Manual lacks entries for them, I'll be detailing some undead giants before we continue on to fire giants!
