Giants

Giants tower over humans and their kind. They are humanlike in shape, though some have multiple heads (ettins) or deformities (fomorians). The six varieties of true giant are hill giants, stone giants, frost giants, fire giants, cloud giants, and storm giants. Besides these, creatures such as ogres and trolls are giants.

All Giants

Creatures larger than the characters may worry less about complex tactics and just bring sheer force to bear. With this in mind, consider that the massive damage of these attacks might go beyond simple hit points and may damage or destroy armor, shields, weapons, and other objects.

If you want to up the ante, you might offer the player the option of taking the damage or losing one or more of these items. This approach can lead to interesting battlefield scenarios where the characters are huddled under their destroyed items trying to survive the attack or retreat.

Giant weapons may also disrupt the battlefield. Swords the size of trees and hammers the size of boulders can easily cut furrows into the ground or crush intervening terrain. Even simple physical attacks like pounding and stomping might collapse structures or shake the characters off their feet. Navigating a roiling battlefield while being showered with damaging debris will doubtless earn the respect of those suffering such an onslaught.

Smaller, lighter weapons like daggers and javelins might not have the heft needed to penetrate the hide of a giant. Consider reducing or nullifying the damage against giants to only the largest and heaviest weapons. You might simply consider damage reduction for your giants.

Brainier Than Expected

Hill giants have a reputation for being stupid, but nothing stops you from increasing their intelligence, making them capable of strategy, surprise guerrilla tactics, and using sophisticated traps. One idea that comes to mind is dousing the party with something flammable and then raining down large flint rocks on them for explosive results.

scroll to top