Titans: Why are the D&D Titans weaker than the AD&D types?
by MPAClearly it doesn't matter which edition of AD&D you are talking about, they are all more powerful than Boxed set/WoTI immortals.
The Titans were true to the myths in AD&D, esp 1st and 2nd edts. Yet the Box set and later D&D 3, 3.5, 4edt treated them like a special form of Cloud or Storm Giant, albeit much more powerful.
Why did Frank (and Aaron) decide to steer from the myths?
Why did WoTC steer from the previous AD&D stats, to the modified Boxed Sets/WoTI types?
I don't see why the Titans (of AD&D 1st or 2nd) could not have been integrated in the game? It could have made for a good mythic tale about how the immortals came to be? Something that mimicked the Greek tales about how the previous immortals (Old Ones) some how amassed the powers of the Titans and overthrew them.
At best, the titans could have been given the stats of a low ranked Hierarch and at worst a low ranked Eternal.
Or if we used WoTI rules, they could be exalted beings who were demoted to the lowest level of an immortal, but kept their former HD and PP. In other words, since most Titans were primordial representations of concepts. Their HD would resemble that of the Megaliths (eg a lesser titan equals the smallest of the Megaliths in HD or 3000HD!). Megaliths, after all, could be argued to be smaller versions of the Titan Gaea. So in mythic terms, Gaea would have 7900 HD (ie Earth's diameter is just over 7900 miles).
Yes it would seem these beings would be far beyond the ability of the immortals to keep in check. But in the myths, the immortals (gods) imprisoned the Titans in Tartarus. Ergo, this could mean that the Old Ones (if we used them as Mystara's myth) are far more powerful than we imagined, and perhaps they imprisoned them deep in the plane of the Pyts (WoTI pg 124) or a Dimension far more deadly and of a similar name?
I could smell a very good campaign come out of this, even if the Titan was never freed, but was able to send a "lesser" aspects of itself out to cause chaos.
Here's a rough draft proposal of the real Gaea (who was not imprisoned), not the immortal imposter:
Titan, Gaea
Sphere: Matter
Status: Exalted
Power Points: 5000
Anti-Magic: 75%
Armor Class: -5 core (+15 Mantle)
Hit Dice: 7900
Move: Unknown (see Megalith)
Attacks: Earthquakes or Lava Projection
Damage: Lava Projection damage equal to HD
No. Appearing:1
Save As: IM1
Morale: 12+
Treasure Type: Self
Alignment: Lawful
XP Value:N/A