Giants Are A Thing

Giants are much more interesting in folklore than in most RPGs. In fact giants are often sadly overlooked in RPGs. Fortunately, there's a way you can change that.

In many TTRPGs, giants have become a simple escalating challenge: bigger and bigger versions  to encounter in tactical fights as your characters progress. A scalable threat, with a side serving of elemental power. Whether shaped by frost, fire, clouds or the lumpy quality of a hill, they just get bigger, in a series of power show-downs. All too often, they have little other presence in the world. They are not usually mysterious, and they certainly are not evocative springboards into otherworldly adventure. 

It is true that, in  many European fairy tales, especially in England, giants are often depicted as being unintelligent, or slow-witted. But that is because their purpose in those stories is to give the hero an opportunity to be clever and quick, almost as if these qualities are what define a hero (rather than any moral compass...?). The hero doesn't win by fighting.  In this way, the stories reflect cultural values and the giant is the larger foe, the seemingly unconquerable enemy who is defeated by cunning.  

And there are plenty of other examples of giants in folklore and mythology that are far more nuanced, interesting and three-dimensional than they are sometimes depicted in TTRPGs. 

There are many examples of individual giants in British folklore that are for more than just a 'scalable threat'. How about the one with the bean stalk? Classic example: he isn't just big. He lives in another world, possibly The Otherworld. Jack can only go there by magical means: magical means, by the way, which seem to be intrinsically tied up with leaving his mother and could possibly be seen as a rite of passage, but also involve a reference to agriculture. Planting crops leads to all the treasures he brings back, which turn out to include music, livestock and commerce (in the form of gold). Late Stone Age, anyone? 

When Jack does get to the other world, not just the giant is super-sized by everything. Its a magical place, connected with the sky. And when Jack returns, he comes back with a magical harp (that sings songs and tells poems and is therefore symbolic of either wisdom and learning or the skill of the bard, or both) and a hen that lays golden eggs. Magical items. 

We see this further dimension, too, in Irish mythology, with Finn McCool defeating the Scottish giant Benandonner by pretending to be his own baby. These giants, may not really be giants in the stories' original forms (see here for further explanation...), but instead 'heroes'. By which I mean heroes in the traditional sense: that of killing loads of your people's enemies. And some of them are also berserkers, who are clearly only giants when they adopt the riastadh, which is a kind of berserk frenzy (that you see Slaine go into in the old 2000AD comics), something like the hulk, but messier. Now that is something we don't see in RPGs very often. I'm NOT suggesting a were-giant though, before a certain well-known publisher of splat books decides there's a small fortune to be made in it. No, I'm NOT. I'm talking about trained, professional warriors who seem absolutely normal until certain conditions are met (such as being pissed off), when they metamorphose into a nine foot tall... man? Like a were-man? No, I don't mean that, I don't...

It would be cool though. A great foe for your fighter.

Another Irish giant is Dryantore, who is a sorcerer. He conjures mist and puts the heroes to sleep. 

Then there's Jack of Irons, from Yorkshire. An undead giant with blackened skin and the decapitated heads of his enemies tied to his belt and, in some versions, I think, his own head strapped to his huge club (or did I imagine that...?). This guy's a ghost, essentially, though whether a ghost of a giant or just a big spook, is unclear. I think both are valid.

A quick note on 'frost giants' of Norse mythology. Or Jotuns as they are properly called. These are not even really 'giants' at all. They are, if anything 'anti-gods', not quite demons, but an alternative to the gods, perhaps chaotic, in opposition to the 'order' the gods bring, but that's a little over simplistic. The Norse gods don't seem that ordered or lawful to me, but then I'm not an early medieval Scandinavian. Jotuns are more similar to the Titans of Greek mythology and there's a good reason for it, but that's for another post... 

And last, but certainly not least, we cannot forget the Nephilim.

The cut-to-the-chase version of the Nephilim story is this: angels/angelic beings saw how hot mortal women were and decided to come down to earth to get some. Women, that is. They seductively seduced the women and 'begat' children. Who were giants. Nephilim. there is some debate about the meaning of that word and I've seen is translated as meaning 'fallen', from the Greek. That doesn't make sense to me as it was their fathers who came down to earth, not them. Apparently it could also mean giant in Aramaic, so I'm guessing that's probably on the money. Anyway, what works for me here is the connection between giants and the mystical. They are not just a random, mortal breed of human-like thing, they are the offspring of a forbidden supernatural relationship. 

But it gets better (at least, in terms of engaging story, not in terms of humanistic treatment of 'other'...). Because God was so annoyed by the whole situation, not to mention that the Nephilim had started eating people and stealing food and acting like all carry on, that he had a flood to get rid of them. And that is why there was a flood. Only they don't die. They drown, yes, and they die physically, but their spirits linger. Nowhere to go, you see. So they hang around on post-diluvial earth, causing trouble, and because they have no proper place and they don't know what to do with themselves, one of the things they do with themselves is put themselves inside other people... 

In other words, they become demons.

When a person in the biblical world (according to this version of the story), gets possessed by a demon, that's  the displaced spirit of a dead giant-offspring of a rebellious Angel. Which explains why demons might be in your world, without being summoned. It connects lore and current world issues and it makes demons, giants and angels ALL more interesting. In my opinion anyway. 

Its probably been done in fiction somewhere. Some of these themes definitely appear in John Gwynne's Blood And Bone trilogy (which is awesome, by the way). 

Look I'm not saying you have to accept this as gospel or anything... I'm saying this is what happens in one of the versions of this story. And I think its cool because it means things can be tied together by players or by you and when player characters meet a Giant, that's a little piece of world lore, stomping around. And when they meet someone Possessed, likewise. 

Another way of making Giants more present in your world is to tie them to more magical ingredients. Giants need to be more mystical. And what better way to make stuff mystical than to make it about... skulls!

What if Giant skulls are magical and can empower magical spells? In whatever genre. Or can be used to animate the undead, because they bridge the gap between the natural and supernatural worlds? Or if giant-size femurs just make better magic staffs because they channel arcane power more readily? Maybe giant bone dust, not chalk, is what needs to be used to draw a pentagon. Or if the teeth, when sown, and the correct incantation uttered, become animate skeletons?

It's your game and its your world, but don't miss out on the possibilities for making Giants much cooler than they sometimes appear in well-used splat-books. 

Yiks

 Yiks resemble baboon-sized arthropods, or larger, with chitinous exoskeletons. Hell, maybe they are actually arthropods. They look a like bugs with body armour and powerful mandibles. They don't spin webs and they don't tend to live in the dark, dank places that many types of giant spider favour (although there is nothing wrong with placing them there, if that's what you like), and they don't tend to be venomous, although of course there could be species or sub-species I don't know about. Greater Yik are the size of a 

They do, however, dwell in numbers, like clans, and they are intelligent. Clans can range in size from a dozen to fifty or so, perhaps even more, although they will be spaced out across their territory, and a party of adventurers are more likely to encounter a scouting party of 1-6 than large numbers. At least the first time. If an individual escapes such a confrontation, it will return with larger numbers. Usually as many again plus 1d8. 

And did I mention that they're smart? There is no doubt about this: yiks are clever in the way they go about engaging with those that enter their territory and cause harm to their kin. If they know where you are, they will consider their options before assaulting your position. If they charge headlong, in one unit, consider yourself lucky. This is a false charge: they intend for you to run away, preferably out of their territory altogether. The use this tactic mostly when intruders are still on the fringes of their hunting grounds and a direct exit is available. otherwise, if they con

They would prefer to steal supplies and equipment than to go toe-to-toe with an armoured fighter. But they set a trap if they can, lead you into traps built by others, or just steal all your rations while you're asleep. They will try to take advantage of wounded parties and even steal weapons, just to leave them less well equipped when the attack finally does come. 

Yiks don't bear humans (or any other race) any ill will. They're just trying to get by. But in the jungles and forests they tend to inhabit, there's a lot of competition for food. That said, if they can see an advantage in allying with a party of humans, they are capable of doing so. And just as capable for betraying them later.

Yik #2d3 AC 15 HD 3 Bite 1d8 Nat 19 Blade Trauma

Str14 Dex16 Con12 Int4 Perc12 Will10 Cha4 Luck5,

Climb Norm. 

Greater Yik #1d4 AC 16 HD 4 Bite 1d8+1 Nat 19 Blade Trauma

Str16 Dex16 Con14 Int6 Perc14 Will10 Cha4 Luck8, 

Climb Norm. 

Brood Mother Yik #1d2 AC 18 HD 8 Bite 2d6+2 Nat 19 Blade Trauma

Str18 Dex16 Con16 Int8 Perc16 Will15 Cha6 Luck10,

Climb Norm. 

Frog Lord

The Frog Lord bites but does not devour. He finds mail armour difficult to digest and anyway, his taste runs more to giant insects that to mammal flesh. Instead, he hurls intruders to his grotto against the cavern wall, breaking bones and tearing flesh and leaving their bodies to bleed and feed his parlour.

You may survive if you can crawl away. You may bind your wounds and mend your armour. You may slink off into the shadows or rise to arms and fight again. But beware the new moon and the first rays of a new crescent, for they will have power over you now, and your flesh will crawl and shift, your blood run cool, and when the ponds and streams of your homeland echo with the throb of amphibian throngs, you will hear them. You will hear them calling and you will itch for the feel of cold mud on your skin.

FROG LORD #1 AC 16 HD 4 Bite 1d12 and Tongue (Close range, dragged into Melee + Grabbed, Str contest resists, no action) 

Nat 19 Grabbed in teeth and shaken and flung: 2d6 on Toad’s turn, then thrown at nearby wall for 1d6.

S18 D12 C17 I3 P10 W14 Ch5 L7, Leap Close. Reac 2-5 Combative 6-8 Hungry 9-12 Languid.

Frog Lords are 9 ft behemoths, fat amphibians with lumpy skin, a great, toothy maw, and an evil intelligence. Their colouration runs the gamut of sickly greens and yellows and some exude a toxin onto the surface of their skin . When a victim survives the bite of a Frog Lord, they undergo a transformation on the next New Moon. Roll 1d3:

1: No physical transformation takes place, at least not externally, but the victim loses all sense of their humanity and retreats into wetland or at least muddy areas, submerging themselves as far as possibly in the cold slime and behaving, to all intents and purposes, like a frog. 

2: The victim transforms into a frog-like humanoid, gains the tongue attack of the Frog Lord and a bite attack. Can also leap anywhere within Far range as a move and leap over obstacles. Their bite can also pass on batrianthropy (a word I made up - shape-changing into a frog), if the victim fails a Luck (Con) save (each time bitten) but the victim always adopts the characteristics of 1, above.

3: The victim is transformed into a Giant Toad (ToA 201) with 3 HD and Bite 1d10.

The Carcajou

 

Carcajou haunt the high and the cold places, the places with snow for whatever reason, where others struggle to eek out a living and where forests grow stunted for the lack of northern sunlight. They prey on karibou and any other herbivores that venture into their territory, but also other warm-blooded mammals; humans and demi-humans have been known to fall foul of the carcajou. The Carcajou don't understand what the fuss is about. Its not like they're cannibals. That only happens in extreme circumstances.

Many human lords have tried to recruit the carcajou to their cause. Many have discovered they cannot afford to feed them.

The carcajou are stocky, powerful and ferocious-looking warrior-folk, that usually stand no higher than 5,6, with long, thick, brown, oily fur and short but powerful claws on big hands and feet.

Life expectancy 40 - 50 yr.

They make good barbarians, fighters and rangers.

Their diet is varied and opportunistic, including small mammals, birds' eggs, berries, and carrion, which they are adept at tearing with their strong jaws and a specialized upper molar. 

They are well-suited for cold conditions, with the ability to find food even from frozen carcasses. 

Powerful Build: Advantage on all saves relating to Strength and Constitution.

Lack charm: disadvantage on Charisma based saves and checks.

Natural Armour: (thick fur): +1 AC

Frenzied Bloodlust: When they become Wounded, Carcajou gain an additional free attack. This resets when they are no longer Wounded.

Scent: gain advantage on Perception if scent is present.

Gluttonous: Carcajou cannot let potential food go unassessed for edibility; that includes almost any carcass they come across. Such potential food items do include humans except among individuals acclimatised to human company. The habit requires a fairly thorough assessment by sight and smell, eating as much as can be eaten at a sitting (raw), taking what can be carried and hiding the rest for ‘on the way back’. This is a compulsion and attempting to ignore it will lead to an inability to sleep. Sleep is impossible  until a course of action is taken that will lead to the compulsion being fulfilled. This negates all the usual benefits of sleep, including natural healing. E.g. on passing a potentially edible carcass, a carcajou won't sleep until they decide to go back and check it. After that point, they can sleep until they reach it. If it is gone, they now cannot sleep until they find it. If they do find it they must assess it and deal with it immediately. If they cannot find it because it has been moved they must determine what happened to it and if it has been eaten, the issue is resolved. If not, GM's discretion. 

Most carcajou cannot ride horses, as the mounts bolt, and most carcajou would rather eat a horse anyway. Carcajou Rangers can get round this by making their horse their animal companion. Some clans breed their own ponies, that are not skittish around them. These are tough mounts but give no warning when Carcajou are nearby.

 

Shokan's Place

Shokan's Place is a tavern in Jackdog Town.

The building is ramshackle, with a reed thatched roof, though it does not leak or let in drafts. Windows are small and made of pig-hide just thin enough to let in a little light in the daytime, when the door is normally left open. The windows have mismatched shutters. There is no chimney - smoke disappears through the roof. Tables were all built by Shokan, with the largest made of the bed of the wagon he arrived on (the axles of which were used in the roof). 

The bar is five metres long and carved with an intricate abstract design. The wood was stolen from a temple during a raid on an indigenous (elf) settlement and a cartographer can discern a map to the Hidden Valley, on a suitably difficult skill test.

There are seven stools and Shokan always insists one stay empty. He loses his shit if it is used and a spare not provided.

Shokan serves two types of beer: an ale and a dwarf-recipe stout. Also a couple of spirits and an over-sweet liquor he calls 'Tongues' because you can speak any language while drinking it (effect ends when the alcohol wears off).

Also serves cold meats, nuts, dried berries, apples, trail biscuits, candles, flint and steel kits, and other small, useful items.

 Shokan

Level 4 Fighter.

A big but not the biggest, tells stories of his times in the gladiatorial pit and carefully cultivates his reputation and 'aura' (mainly to encourage a peaceful bar). Quick thinker, smarter than many, knows his customers even if he doesn't respect them. Only leaves the bar to sleep, eat and haggle for supplies. 

Modifiers (+1) to Str, Con, Wis. 

Skills include gambling, intimidate, knowledge of the local area, notice, persuade, anything to do with business.

Gear includes a sword, an old vest of armour (scale or something similar), a cudgel,  a dagger, a cloak of concealment and smart clothes. 

Barkeeps

Roll some d6: Afternoon: 1d6; Evening 2d6; Festivals, Holy Days and Weekends, 3d6.

1. Jormykr.  Big northman, overly friendly. dark auburn hair, eyes the blue of a northern sky. A veteran. Left arm badly scarred, doesn't like to talk about it.

2. El. An elf woman. Folk say she was pulled from a burning house by her human foster parents.  They don't say they were the ones that set the fire. 

3. Cyanitis. A huge man with a permanent idiot expression and a living giant reptile-bat embedded in his chest and shoulder, which does all the talking. 

4. Kanuta. A quiet-spoken and serious woman who arrived in town as a slave but everyone has forgotten. Including, it seems, her owner.

5. Face. Stocky male who never takes the sack off that he wears over his head. Funny, its only got one eye-hole. In the middle...

6. Growler.  A wolf hound. left behind by a guest, years ago. 

Regulars  

Roll d6 to see how many are in at any given time.

1. The Mercenary: Krantzia, disinherited noble daughter of a powerful southern house; one arm is inhumanly hairy, the result of a witch's curse.

2. The Outlaw: Sandholm; everyone knows what he is but he is tolerated amongst the town folk (if not by the soldiery of the nearby fort) as he preys only on the wealthy merchants and kills only armed men. Said to be accompanied by a bear when in the woods, but it is never seen in town.

3. The Hunter: Malakius Whitestag, so-called for his obsession with a certain white stag he once was wounded by. The wound festers still, giving him a limp in his left leg. Some say the fortunes of the Jackdog Town depend on him never catching his quarry. Others, of course, say the opposite...

4. The Orc: Duzhgal took everyone by surprise six months ago by riding in on a horse, like any sane person would. No one is quite sure what to make of the newcomer, nor keen to test the orc's mettle with the great sword it wears on its back. (Also, round here, the word 'orc' can mean different things... )

5. The Dwarf Prospector: Tankerance Bluetooth is prospecting for glimquartz, a mineral known to glow faintly in absolute darknes, enough to provide the equivalent of dim light for 5' for a human and which is given as talismans by dwarf parents to their children (it helps them to see where they are).

6. The Whore: A heart of gold and a purseful of dust, Selnia has friendships in many quarters because of her good deeds and caring attitude towards others despite not having much to share.

7. The Madman: Mantic Hardhaven is touched by the gods. Or by something else. His visions often bring him to his knees in the middle of the street. Trouble is, some of the things he sees, are recognised by those who hear his desperate descriptions of them.

8. The Gambler: Lona Dearhart was raised with money and care but never learned to settle down. Somewhere along the way, she learned all manner of games of chance, from knuckles to dice, and from backgammon to dominoes. Everyone says don't play against her when she's wearing green... 

 Folk Of Reknown

Sometimes, well-known or even famous people might be found here. Sometimes, its even a good thing.

1. The Shire Reeve, Duncan of Trie, occassionally visits Shokar's place just to 'slum it' with the locals. He thinks it helps him 'stay in touch' with the common folk. He always comes with an armed guard. Gets drunk and then weeps about some past indiscretion none but (allegedly) Stargadder knows about.

2. The Falcon Of Mirlev (Bard), otherwise known as Leomar the Unmatched. A fine bard, plain and simple, whose coming is always a delight to all. Plays the lute, ridicules dwarfs and emulates elves, seduces men and women alike and always leaves everyone wanting just a bit more. Sincerity, maybe.

3.  The Duellist Of Kelenved, Sadonel the Swift. Said by many to be the fastest blade in Meikos. Not really keen to prove her prowess, as killing haunts her. Makes ballads and poems in her head but only shares them under duress or when drunk. Can sing too, but only sober.

4. The Bishop, Aukinslade of Drimsdale. A holy man, who seeks to contain the duke's most fierce ambitions and give the diverse peoples of the region a chance to meld naturally into one nation, despite all their differences.

5. The Knight, Sir Belicassus of Erstwhere, passes through from time to time on quests, patrols, sorties against 'the enemy' (who he never identifies, but is possibly either orcs, a specific dragon, goblinoids and monsters in general, or just anyone he doesn't like). 

6. The Emissary of the Elves, Irithiel of the Leafy Shade. This role was forced upon Irithiel, as emmissary duty to humans always is, as it is basically punishment duty, though nonetheless undertaken with all sobriety and gravity. Now forced to try and understand the halfwits that are humans and even remain on good terms with some of them.

7. The Captain of the Guard, Captain Stargadder. A big, burly, somewhat brutal man, capable of astonishing violence on those with whom he has conflict. Comes here sometimes to get away from the 'airs and graces' of the castle.  

8. Thurmojid the Brave an ex-soldier from the Duke's army in the south and deadly with blade or axe in any one-to-one fight. Said to be looking for an abandoned dwarf mine that is still full of silver. Has a liking for Lona, but they're not an item.