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<blockquote data-quote="Demetrios1453" data-source="post: 6960676" data-attributes="member: 6801060"><p>Hello all! This thread will be used for a project I've been working on to create more giant elite types for the game.</p><p></p><p>First, some background on why I believe we need more giant variants in the game. As you know, the 5e <em>Monster Manual</em>, while definitely giving a lot of background on giants in general and each of the main six subtypes in particular, only gave us stat blocks for the base version of all six types. This is understandable - there is only so much room in the MM and a lot of stuff that needed to go in there. So, when <em>Storm King's Thunder</em> and <em>Volo's Guide to Monsters</em> were announced (especially after it was revealed that giants would be covered in the latter), I assumed that we would have plenty of stat blocks for advanced giants and giant leaders in both of them. But, now that they have been published, the results were a little disappointing.</p><p></p><p>For SKT, it was pretty much a total failure (for new giant types - the adventure itself is a lot of fun) - despite being an adventure focused on giants, and having leaders of each type being primary antagonists/protagonists, there were no stat blocks at all for new giant variants, or even for important giant NPCs (which could be re-skinned as general giant elites if necessary). In fact, in the entire book, only <em>four</em> giants have a higher CR than the base type, a frost giant (Harshnag, an NPC ally, CR 9 mainly due to equipment) and three cloud giants (Zephyros, the NPC who can transport the party in his flying castle, CR 13 due to spells and equipment; Countess Sansuri, the main cloud giant antagonist, CR 11 due to spells; and Thullen, Sansuri's brother, CR 10 again due to spells). All the remaining giants in the book, even the leaders, don't have updated CRs, having for the most part just extra hit points and a couple of minor (often cosmetic) changes to differentiate them from the ordinary giants of their types. This is really surprising, and even disappointing, that an adventure dedicated to giants should have so few variants with higher CRs...</p><p></p><p>VGtM is, on the other hand, somewhat better, though still somewhat disappointing. It does have six new higher-CR giant variants, one for each giant subtype. And, for the most part, they are interesting and usable variants. However, they are all rather niche in tone, and none of them can really be considered "leader" types for each race (other than the frost giant everlasting one, which, as detailed in the book, would be a relatively rare occurrence). While the cloud, fire, and hill giant variants might be encountered (if somewhat rarely) in regular settlements, the stone and storm giant variants function outside of normal giant society and would likely be encountered on their own and not in the company of other giants. So, while VGtM does add some interesting giant variants, if you are looking for leaders (either for warbands or for settlements) or other "typical" elites in giant society, for the most part you are not going to find them...</p><p></p><p>So, as a result, I've started to work on a suite of twelve giant elite types to make a more well-rounded society for all the giant subtypes. There will be two for each subtype, except for hill giants (who have one) and frost giants (who have three). I'm also including a few variant blocks that can be added to either the base giant types or (for the most part) elites without changing the CR. A disclaimer: I am new to 5e monster creation (which is significantly more difficult than 3.x monster creation), so feel free to point out any errors or mistakes I've made, or to make suggestions for improvements. I also won't be posting all of them at once - I have the hill giant variants ready, and I'll post the others as I actually stat out the ideas I have for the rest.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Giants done so far:</p><p></p><p><strong>Hill Giant Chief (CR 8)</strong></p><p><strong><strong><strong><strong>Stone Giant Thane (CR 11)</strong></strong></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Stone Giant Runecarver (CR 9)</strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Frost Giant Reaver (CR 10)</strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Frost Giant Jarl (CR 12)</strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Frost Giant Wrathbringer (CR 11)</strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Giant Skeleton (CR 4)</strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Giant Zombie (CR 5)</strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Fire Giant Pyromancer (CR 11)</strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Fire Giant Duke (CR 13) Revised (CR 14)</strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Cloud Giant Shaman (CR 12)</strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Cloud Giant Count (CR 14) Revised (CR 16)</strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Cloud Giant Oathguard (CR 13)</strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Storm Giant Omen-Reader (CR 15)</strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Fire Giant Forgemaster (CR 12)</strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Storm Giant Stalker (CR 16)</strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Storm Giant King (CR 19)</strong></strong></p><p><strong>Hill Giant Skirmisher (CR 6)</strong></p><p><strong>Hill Giant Sourbreath (CR 6)</strong></p><p><strong><strong>Stone Giant Rock Fist (CR 9)</strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Cloud Giant Mist Assassin (CR 11)</strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Fire Giant Mechanist (CR 11)</strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Hell Hound Defender (CR 3)</strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Frost Giant Cambion (CR 10)</strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Frost Giant Skald (CR 9)</strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>The Giant Emperor (CR 27)</strong></strong></p><p></p><p>Coming Soon:</p><p>The Giant Paragons (?)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Demetrios1453, post: 6960676, member: 6801060"] Hello all! This thread will be used for a project I've been working on to create more giant elite types for the game. First, some background on why I believe we need more giant variants in the game. As you know, the 5e [I]Monster Manual[/I], while definitely giving a lot of background on giants in general and each of the main six subtypes in particular, only gave us stat blocks for the base version of all six types. This is understandable - there is only so much room in the MM and a lot of stuff that needed to go in there. So, when [I]Storm King's Thunder[/I] and [I]Volo's Guide to Monsters[/I] were announced (especially after it was revealed that giants would be covered in the latter), I assumed that we would have plenty of stat blocks for advanced giants and giant leaders in both of them. But, now that they have been published, the results were a little disappointing. For SKT, it was pretty much a total failure (for new giant types - the adventure itself is a lot of fun) - despite being an adventure focused on giants, and having leaders of each type being primary antagonists/protagonists, there were no stat blocks at all for new giant variants, or even for important giant NPCs (which could be re-skinned as general giant elites if necessary). In fact, in the entire book, only [I]four[/I] giants have a higher CR than the base type, a frost giant (Harshnag, an NPC ally, CR 9 mainly due to equipment) and three cloud giants (Zephyros, the NPC who can transport the party in his flying castle, CR 13 due to spells and equipment; Countess Sansuri, the main cloud giant antagonist, CR 11 due to spells; and Thullen, Sansuri's brother, CR 10 again due to spells). All the remaining giants in the book, even the leaders, don't have updated CRs, having for the most part just extra hit points and a couple of minor (often cosmetic) changes to differentiate them from the ordinary giants of their types. This is really surprising, and even disappointing, that an adventure dedicated to giants should have so few variants with higher CRs... VGtM is, on the other hand, somewhat better, though still somewhat disappointing. It does have six new higher-CR giant variants, one for each giant subtype. And, for the most part, they are interesting and usable variants. However, they are all rather niche in tone, and none of them can really be considered "leader" types for each race (other than the frost giant everlasting one, which, as detailed in the book, would be a relatively rare occurrence). While the cloud, fire, and hill giant variants might be encountered (if somewhat rarely) in regular settlements, the stone and storm giant variants function outside of normal giant society and would likely be encountered on their own and not in the company of other giants. So, while VGtM does add some interesting giant variants, if you are looking for leaders (either for warbands or for settlements) or other "typical" elites in giant society, for the most part you are not going to find them... So, as a result, I've started to work on a suite of twelve giant elite types to make a more well-rounded society for all the giant subtypes. There will be two for each subtype, except for hill giants (who have one) and frost giants (who have three). I'm also including a few variant blocks that can be added to either the base giant types or (for the most part) elites without changing the CR. A disclaimer: I am new to 5e monster creation (which is significantly more difficult than 3.x monster creation), so feel free to point out any errors or mistakes I've made, or to make suggestions for improvements. I also won't be posting all of them at once - I have the hill giant variants ready, and I'll post the others as I actually stat out the ideas I have for the rest. Giants done so far: [B]Hill Giant Chief (CR 8) [B][B][B]Stone Giant Thane (CR 11)[/B][/B] Stone Giant Runecarver (CR 9) Frost Giant Reaver (CR 10) Frost Giant Jarl (CR 12) Frost Giant Wrathbringer (CR 11) Giant Skeleton (CR 4) Giant Zombie (CR 5) Fire Giant Pyromancer (CR 11) Fire Giant Duke (CR 13) Revised (CR 14) Cloud Giant Shaman (CR 12) Cloud Giant Count (CR 14) Revised (CR 16) Cloud Giant Oathguard (CR 13) Storm Giant Omen-Reader (CR 15) Fire Giant Forgemaster (CR 12) Storm Giant Stalker (CR 16) Storm Giant King (CR 19)[/B] Hill Giant Skirmisher (CR 6) Hill Giant Sourbreath (CR 6) [B]Stone Giant Rock Fist (CR 9) Cloud Giant Mist Assassin (CR 11) Fire Giant Mechanist (CR 11) Hell Hound Defender (CR 3) Frost Giant Cambion (CR 10) Frost Giant Skald (CR 9) The Giant Emperor (CR 27)[/B][/B] Coming Soon: The Giant Paragons (?) [/QUOTE]
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