Giants & Giantborn

Giants are ancient, storied beings of the realm, standing impossibly tall with nearly immeasurable ages that span whole eras. Said to be descended from a melding of the titans and primordial elementals, giants are masters of extensively powerful primal magic, once worshiped as gods by the Druids of many a circle. Now they stand as rarities in the world, often kept to ancient sites of powerful nature, beheld by their ancient religious caste system.
Meanwhile, Giantborn are beings descended from Giants such as Firbolg and Goliaths, the former being touched and biologically changed by the magic of the Feywild, while the latter are born strictly from the intermingling of giant and mortal blood.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Giants are humanoid with two arms and two legs, though there have been many recordings of mutations such as having two heads or more than one arm.

Biological Traits

Goliaths born from different giants have different secondary abilities listed below, replacing the Stone's Endurance and Mountain Born abilities from the traditional "Stone Giant" Goliath:

• Fire's Wrath: Born from a Fire Giant, you have Resistance to Fire Damage and once per long rest, when you are hit by a successful melee attack within 10 feet, you can use your Reaction to cause the enemy to automatically suffer an amount of fire damage equal to 1d12 plus your Constitution.
• Storm's Clout: Born from a Storm Giant, you have Resistance to Thunder Damage and once per long rest, can call a thunderous boom as a Bonus Action that reaches out to 10 feet radius centered on you. All within the radius suffer thunder damage equal to 1d12 plus your Constitution and are knocked back 5 feet.
• Cloud's Dexterity: Born from a Cloud Giant, you have Resistance to Lightning Damage, and once per long rest when you suffer damage, you may use your Reaction to reduce the damage by 1d12 plus your Constitution, and teleport to a space up to 30 feet from your original position.
• Hill's Resilience: Born from a Hill Giant, you gain an extra amount of HP equal to your character level and have Resistance to Poison Damage.
• Frost's Rage: Born from a Frost Giant, you have Resistance to Cold Damage, and once per long rest, you can coat yourself in icy frost as a Reaction to suffering damage, giving yourself a +5 bonus to your AC until the end of your turn.

Genetics and Reproduction

Giants reproduce sexually.

Growth Rate & Stages

Giant growth stages are relatively unknown, though they are said to live just as long if not longer than dragons, lasting thousands upon thousands of years.

Additional Information

Social Structure

The Giants keep an ancient order of unity and organization of their races, known as the Ordning. It gives each giant its place in the hierarchy and provides them with their distinct purpose and role in giant society.

• Storm & Cloud Giants: Storm and Cloud Giants stand as the rulers and diplomats of the giants, standing the tallest and wielding the most natural power. They serve to guide and protect the other giants and ensure that they properly fulfill their role within the Ordning. Storm and Cloud Giants slowly fade into the sky when they pass on.
• Stone & Fire Giants: Stone and Fire Giants stand as the respective miners and forgers of Giant weapons, tools, and other things required by the tribes. Fire Giant steel is the strongest and more magically open weaponry ever known, being masters of runic magic and runic infusion into their weapons and items. Stone Giants mine and sift through the ore, as well as protect Giants from all manner of subterranean threat. As Fire Giants get older, they begin to lose their form and slowly turn into walking piles of ash and smoke, unable to retain a physical form due to their loss of durability and solid shape. Stone giants slowly begin to be consumed by their stony outsides, eventually become pure rocky shapes and statues once they pass on, melding into the nearby landscape.
• Frost & Sea Giants: Frost Giants and Sea Giants were the respective protectors of the north and sea, the latter fishing and protecting the coast from invading seafaring enemies, while the former served as the strongest warriors on the cold fronts of the northlands. Frost Giants are monstrously known for their durability and their resilience to most climates due to being able to keep cool in warm climates or resist cold in cold climates. Sea Giants and Frost Giants also deteriorate upon old age.
• Hill & Marsh Giants: Hill Giants and Marsh Giants served as the farmers and gatherers of the Ordning, working to make sure that they could cultivate the land and feed all of the tribal numbers. These two giant types appear the most similar to humans and simply pass on and deteriorate upon old age.

Facial characteristics

Giants tend to have wide noses and thick foreheads, and their limbs are sometimes too long when compared to their bodies.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Giants can be found in any habitat, their subtype often based on the environment they call home. Storm giants reside within traveling storms, fire giants dwell within volcanoes etc.

Average Intelligence

Giant intellect varies based on the type of giant, but most are capable of holding a simple conversation to discussing complicated philosophical ideas.

Scientific Name

Firbolg

Lifespan

1000+ Years

Average Height

12' to 26'

Average Weight

Unknown

Average Physique

Giants are immeasurably strong and resilient, their hide sometimes making for the strongest armor and their essence often used for magical items.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Giant markings tend to differ based on the type of giant. Below are some listed giant subtypes and their characteristics:

• Storm Giants have lavender to dark grey skin matching the clouds they rest upon, the lightning within causing their eyes and bodies to glow translucently based on their mood.
• Cloud Giants have a near incorporeal form that can only be touched if they allow it to be. Otherwise, their hair is whispy like mist and they can hover and fly with their exceedingly thin forms.
• Fire Giants are stocky with a fire glowing behind their eyes. Their skin is tough and rock-like with small cracks revealing their true, glowing, lava-like skin underneath.
• Frost Giants have thick cold skin and ice-like hard-formed beards, their bodies thick and well-stocked to battle against the winter.
• Stone Giants have rock-like growths spreading across their cheekbones, chins, joints, and other extremities. This allows them to keep good camouflage and some can even travel through or across the stone they reside by.
• Sea Giants have blue skin and gills, allowing them to swim underwater for an unlimited amount of time. They often wrestle whales and haunt the ocean floor, though they can come and breathe upon the surface, resting at the coast.
• Marsh Giants have green skin and gills similar to Sea Giants, often wearing seaweed and using large bogs to hide in and ambush their prey. Marsh Giants can stay still for so long creatures can form nests in the grime that grows upon them. Their breath is also believed to be poisonous.
• Sand Giants have the same color as the sand of the deserts they live in, and are lithe and thin to keep quick with skin strong enough to endure shredding sandstorms. They also have a nictitating membrane to defend against sand and dirt, allowing them to travel with the storms to use as cover and defense.
• Hill Giants are the most normal-looking, having skin and hair with little other additional traits to make note of.
• Shadow Giants are formed of whispy shadow, their forms shrouded in the stuff hiding their bulked, terrifying forms. Their eyes also glow a pale, lifeless white.

There are also subtypes of giants who stand smaller than normal giants but taller than other mortals:

• Firbolg: These are giants who have communed with or reside within the Feywild, aligning themselves with the Elves to produce these offspring that are specifically attuned to primal magic. As such, they have long ears and bovine appearances that differ them from common giants, but while this is the most commonly found version, there are others that expand upon the look with appearances such as sheep, rhino, tapirs, oxen, deer, hippos, and even equestrian.
• Goliaths: These are half-giants born of mortals and giants who have either copulated or had a magical mixture of bloodlines, giving them tremendous size and attributes based on their giant's parentage.