Mountain Giant
by Mischa E GelmanHeight - 1' per Hit Die
Weight (d6) - 1-2 thin
3-4 normal
5-6 fat
| XP | AC | HP | Damage Weapon/Hand/Boulder |
MV | Boulder Range | |
| Tyke | -600,000 | 8 | 3d8 | 1d8/1d6 /1d4 | 90' (30') | 30/60/ 120 |
| Youth | -598,000 | 6 | 5d8 | 1d10/1d8 /1d4 | 120' (40') | 40/80/ 160 |
| -580,000 | 5 | 7d8 | 1d10/1d8 /1d6 | 150' (50') | 40/80/ 160 | |
| Teenager | -540,000 | 4 | 8d8 | 2d10/3d6 /2d6 | 150' (50') | 60/120/240 |
| -460,000 | 3 | 9d8 | 3d10/2d10/2d8 | 150' (50') | 60/120/240 | |
| Young Adult | -320,000 | 2 | 10d8 | 4d10/4d6 /3d6 | 150' (50') | 90/180/360 |
| -180,000 | 1 | 11d8 | 4d10/4d6 /3d6 | 150' (50') | 90/180/360 | |
| Normal Monster | 0 | 0 | 12d8 | 5d10/3d10/4d6 | 150' (50') | 100/200/400 |
| Level 1 | 180,000 | 0 | 13d8 | 5d10/3d10/4d6 | 150' (50') | 100/200/400 |
| Level 2 | 360,000 | 0 | 14d8 | 5d10/3d10/4d6 | 150' (50') | 100/200/400 |
| Level 3 | 540,000 | 0 | 15d8 | 5d10/3d10/4d6 | 150' (50') | 100/200/400 |
| Level 4 | 720,000 | 0 | 16d8 | 5d10/3d10/4d6 | 150' (50') | 100/200/400 |
| Level 5 | 900,000 | 0 | 17d8 | 5d10/3d10/4d6 | 150' (50') | 100/200/400 |
| Level 6 | 0 | 18d8 | 5d10/3d10/4d6 | 150' (50') | 100/200/400 | |
| Level 7 | 1,350,000 | 0 | 19d8 | 5d10/3d10/4d6 | 150' (50') | 100/200/400 |
| Level 8 | 1,600,000 | 0 | 20d8 | 5d10/3d10/4d6 | 150' (50') | 100/200/400 |
| Level 9 | 1,900,000 | 0 | 21d8 | 5d10/3d10/4d6 | 150' (50') | 100/200/400 |
| Level 10 | 2,200,000 | -1 | 22d8 | 5d10/3d10/4d6 | 150' (50') | 100/200/400 |
| Level 11 | 2,500,000 | -1 | 23d8 | 5d10/3d10/4d6 | 150' (50') | 100/200/400 |
| Level 12 | 3,000,000 | -2 | 23d8 | 5d10/3d10/4d6 | 150' (50') | 100/200/400 |
| Max level - 12 |
Damage assumes ownership of a sword or club - the cost for such weapons, non-magical, is 100 GP per d10 of damage, but every mountain giant can start with a normal-sized human sword and use it till they become a teen. Buying future weapons is his or her responsibility. Magical giant-sized weapons are fairly rare, and a giant's punch and boulder attacks cannot hurt creatures who are only damaged by silver or magical weapons.
AC similarly is a base level, and giants (esp. younger) often wear armour. Cost is ten times that of human-sized armour, even for starting giants, as they are differently proportioned.
Attack - as per monster of same HD Fight Options gained at level 9, with 2 attacks becoming available at level 10 and 3 attacks at level 12.
Weapon Proficiencies - if weapon proficiencies are used - basic in all
weapons as base, four additional skills at normal monster (but cannot
surpass expert in any weapon), one more at levels 3, 6, 9 and 12 and one
more every 200,000 XP thereafter. Giant weapon damages do not correlate
obviously with human WP charts. I thought of several ways to handle this:
1)Ignore Weapon Proficiencies. A max-level giant will get 3 attacks with
an average damage per hit of 27, making them comparable to a max-level
mystic or fighter (with GM in sword+5) who each get 4 attacks for 20
points per hit.
2)Give giants their own WP charts for different weapons, assuming a gain
of 10-15 points for grand mastery. This now raises them from around 81
points of D per round to 111-126 - quite a bit, but giants are powerful
beings. Since most giants won't reach 12th, this really amounts to 74-84
damage/rnd once they get multiple attacks, which again is fairly
equivalent to other melee-oriented classes.
3)Give giants their own WP charts, assuming a tripling of damage for grand
mastery. This would be way too powerful, but if we remove multiple
attacks and return to the base 1/rnd of the canon, we now have a giant
doing 7d20 or 8d20 per hit, one attack a round, an all-or-nothing affair
really. Average damage would be 72-83, again fairly comparable. Giants
inflict much more pain per hit, but aren't as agile as humans. Sounds
fairly sensible.
This of course is assuming that giants should be comparable. If one
wanted to make them much tougher in melee, feel free to mix and match in
the appropriate manner.
Giants generally live to the age of 400, and young giants enter the outside world to explore usually around age 35. As AC10 explains, males are much more common to become adventurers, but some female mountain giants also become adventurers.
Mountain Giants get a +3 to starting STR and a -1 to DEX. They need a STR of at least 14 to start. A mountain giant's prime requisite is CON.
Starting GP is 3d6 times 10. Most mountain giants adventurers are simply letting off their youthful aggression - if they enjoy the life though, they need not return the peaks and may keep on adventuring.
Savings Throws - as fighter of same HD.
Skills - every mountain giant begins with hunting skill (plus any INT-gained skills) . Upon becoming a teenager, they may take a second skill. At "normal monster" they get 2 more skills. After this, they gain skills at levels 4, 8 and 12, and an additional one with every 300,000 XP thereafter. Popular skills with giants are survival (mountain or forest), nature lore (mountain or forest), tracking, animal training and caving.
Mountain giants suffer the same "scale-penalty" as sea giants, upon reaching teenager status (8 HD). See PC2 for more information on the risk posed by such large creatures in areas designed for smaller beings.
Spell-casters - there are no shamans or wicca among the mountain giants. The magical arts simply foreign to them, given their dwarvish nature. The immortal who created them died off thousands of years ago, leaving them without access to clerical powers, though some still practice the ancient rituals and ceremonies, hoping for his return. Garal Glitterlode has taken pity on the mountain giants who are so closely knit to his people, so does grant shamanic skills to chiefs. Upon getting enough XP for 12th level, a mountain giant must defeat the reigning leader of the area in the biannual celebrations (see AC10, pg. 3) in a no-holds-barred, one-on-one conflict. Given the XP needed to reach such a level, the challenges are rare indeed - and tough. This is because the established leader has access to 10th level shamanic abilities (regardless of WIS). The loser (if still alive) is healed, but is set back to 2,500,000 XP and 11h level and can never attain 12th level.
Relationships with other races - mountain giants do not face aggression from dwarves or gnomes, but neither greets them with familial affection - they would provide assistance in crisis times certainly though, and vice versa. Most other races view mountain giants with hesitant fear, at the least, if not outright aggression.
Giants reside mostly in fairly unexplored regions, like Norwold, but no huge enclaves or societies exist on Mystara. Some live in almost any region of the world though.
Strongholds - At normal monster level, most mountain giants build strongholds, though some continue to adventure. Often a giant couple will be wed at this time, to start their new home together. Costs for stronghold construction are four times the cost for human-sized structures, and no followers are gained. Instead, human adventurers will often come to try to rid the area of its new "monster" residents due to some warped perception of mountain giants as universally evil.
More information on mountain giant culture can be found in AC10 obviously.