Mephisto of the FoS wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2023 5:00 am
I remembered the following from its cover, haven't read it though...
King of the Giantdowns (Birthright 2e)
Untamed by the laws of man, the Giantdowns region remains a buffer zone between the ruined empire of Anuire and its northern neighbor, the Rjurik Highlands. The Great Downs themselves are the stuff of legend: Giants, they say, are buried beneath the mounds, awaiting some call to rise and battle once more.
But in the meantime, other forces threaten the Downs. A new awnshegh, the humanoid known as Ghuralli, strives to make his small kingdom a rival to the neighboring Gorgon's Crown. His armies of humanoids, giant-kin, and monsters stand ready to strike at the few human settlers brave enough to live in the shadow of the Great Downs.
The Rjurik settlers need a leader, someone who can defeat Ghuralli and forge a kingdom out of their scattered clans. They need someone to step forth and become King of the Giantdowns.
This 64-page adventure accessory contains detailed information on the Giantdowns region, the people, monsters, and places that can be found within, and several adventures for beginning and experienced characters alike.
That reminds me of the Giantcraft 2e supplement that’s on DMsGuild so I’ll have to take a look at this! I know very little of Birthright other than Gregor Zolnik of Vorostokov hails from there, but the domain itself is big enough to hold a Giant (300 miles wide); and I have an idea on how said Giants manage to feed themselves in the endless winter…
Going back to Falkovnia, another idea I had was something like that book (and later movie) Food of the Gods. Basically in the book a new type of food has future generations grow up to be giants (in the movie it also makes them psychotically agressive and ends with a 7-ft 7 year old rip a doctor in half with his bear hands). In the Falkovnia case, perhaps they have been giving the food to a local orphanage as a testing ground to make a healthier generation of soldiers, and instead end up with hyper-aggresize giant kids tearing up Lekar. Are you willing to kill children to save more lives?
KingCorn wrote: ↑Wed Feb 01, 2023 9:38 am
Going back to Falkovnia, another idea I had was something like that book (and later movie) Food of the Gods. Basically in the book a new type of food has future generations grow up to be giants (in the movie it also makes them psychotically agressive and ends with a 7-ft 7 year old rip a doctor in half with his bear hands). In the Falkovnia case, perhaps they have been giving the food to a local orphanage as a testing ground to make a healthier generation of soldiers, and instead end up with hyper-aggresize giant kids tearing up Lekar. Are you willing to kill children to save more lives?
Obviously not when I can knock them out and cure them.
KingCorn wrote: ↑Wed Feb 01, 2023 9:38 am
Going back to Falkovnia, another idea I had was something like that book (and later movie) Food of the Gods. Basically in the book a new type of food has future generations grow up to be giants (in the movie it also makes them psychotically agressive and ends with a 7-ft 7 year old rip a doctor in half with his bear hands). In the Falkovnia case, perhaps they have been giving the food to a local orphanage as a testing ground to make a healthier generation of soldiers, and instead end up with hyper-aggresize giant kids tearing up Lekar. Are you willing to kill children to save more lives?
That reminds me of an anime I watched (One Piece) where there were gigantification experiments being done on kids by a mad scientist. It certainly was difficult for the protagonists of that anime then but they managed to get through without killing children, but having read Berserk, I can definitely work with this... many thanks, KingCorn!
KingCorn wrote: ↑Wed Feb 01, 2023 9:38 am
Going back to Falkovnia, another idea I had was something like that book (and later movie) Food of the Gods. Basically in the book a new type of food has future generations grow up to be giants (in the movie it also makes them psychotically agressive and ends with a 7-ft 7 year old rip a doctor in half with his bear hands). In the Falkovnia case, perhaps they have been giving the food to a local orphanage as a testing ground to make a healthier generation of soldiers, and instead end up with hyper-aggresize giant kids tearing up Lekar. Are you willing to kill children to save more lives?
Obviously not when I can knock them out and cure them.
Easier said than done, but still worth doing from an ethical perspective.
I've done some extra looking regarding Giants, trying to take inspiration from other fantasy settings to see how Ravenloft Giants might differ from Outlander Giants, as well as other cultures. Due to the fact that I own a few third-party publishers' work, I decided to start looking there, with Kobold Press specifically (I also own GrimHollow stuff but I believe the user Hell_Born has made some pretty good QtR articles on adapting that particular setting into Ravenloft already). Since all their stuff is also on the 5e SRD (System Reference Document) due to the OGL, you guys can also follow the descriptions of the Giants that Kobold Press has made without missing out on much despite me having bought the PDFs (really the only thing you won't see is the pictures) (if you look up the names of each creature listed here along with 'Kobold Press' in the searchbar for Google Images, you should be able to see what I see). So here are a few that might work out for Ravenloft: From Tome of Beasts #1
These fit similarly to the Al-Qadim desert Giants that IanFordam mentioned before in his comments, and I'm attracted by the lore mentioning they had a lost empire. That could easily be made into the False History of Sebua or Pharazia, or the Giants could be linked to Diamabel in some way; Diamabel could always make the excuse that he's fighting those Giants to the south (like Elena Faith-Hold) but they're harmless and only work with the nomads that oppose Diamabel's rule. If that doesn't work, the fact that they hold their dead in extreme esteem and will do anything to get their dead back can be the focus of a great module: the corpse of a Desert Giant has been taken (probably by Senmet or a proxy of his) and was last seen near a desert village in Pharazia. The party has to both find the body of the Desert Giant (guarded by Senmet's minions who-knows-where) and de-escalate the situation with the Desert Giants so they don't tear the village apart looking for the corpse. Keeping in line with what The Lesser Evil was saying, it's less about directly 'fighting' the Giants (as the party would lose due to the sheer size and number of them on the warpath) but instead putting them in a 'what are we gonna do?' situation with the doomsday clock ticking. The local villager NPCs can do a good job of setting up the threat of the Desert Giants, and the Desert Giants themselves can travel within the sandstorm to prevent them from being seen (that can be ominous in and of itself--on the horizon, as you're dragging back the body of the Desert Giant, a weirdly shaped sandstorm is getting closer and closer to the village, and you can feel the rumbling of the sandy earth beneath your feet intensify...). Only one of the Desert Giants, the leader among them, would be seen at the end of the module/module's climax, with most of their features obscured anyway.
This one I find interesting, if only because it plays into the themes of gluttony, hunger, and starvation that Hill Giants already do but is of the size category of 'medium'. The name and concept is from Swahili (specifically Bantu) mythology, that of an ogre-esque creature known primarily for eating people. The art direction in the PDF of Tome of Beasts definitely follows that, with the Zimwi looking like a humanoid lion (think Akanga). This might be an interesting creature to pop up in a place like Sri Raji, Kalakeri, 5e Valachan, or even the Wildlands with enough creativity given. Perhaps one of the lions of the Wildlands tried to match King Crocodile in gluttony and brutality (so that he could protect his pack from them, if the croc ever decided to leave the swamp and swim towards the riverbanks his pack drank from), only to end up as a Zimwi that now preys upon the rest of his pack. And adventure concept there would be of adventurers (either Sri Rajians or foreigners) having to deal with the Zimwi due to the other animals deciding they needed the 'hairless apes' to handle it (the animals of the Wildlands might very well have forgotten that they tried this with King Crocodile). They'd send out a parrot or something that would observe the party for days or weeks at a time, figuring out if they would not do as the other hairless apes and betray the agreement (not that the animals aren't hypocritical themselves) and if they're good enough, the parrot would somehow get the party to go to the Wildlands (probably by stealing an important item of the party's and withholding it until the quest is done) and deal with the Zimwi. The adventure ends with a 25% chance of the animals holding to the agreement and not immediately attacking the party (leaving them alone and giving them enough time to either go into the Mists to leave or find a path into the neighboring domain of Sri Raji) or a 75% chance of the animals attacking the party right then and there, leading to a high-octane chase sequence.
This particular Giant despises fey creatures and organizes raids against said fey creatures amongst other, smaller creatures that it can bully into subservience. It's based off of the Ukrainian mythological figure known as the Chuhaister, which has a fascinating wikipedia page I recommend reading through! It's only 'Large' in size and the art direction for its appearance is pretty fitting for Ravenloft. This sort of creature is the type that could probably be found in the wooded realms bordering the Shadow Rift, so Darkon (there are probably small thorps or hamlets on the outskirts of Mayvin that might be close the Rift), Tepest (if 2e, then the Three Hags could be responsible for the creation of this creature from the soul of a human so they can harass the fey of Ravenloft, if 5e then this might be Lorinda's newest 'child'), Nova Vaasa (not too far away from Castle Faerhaaven), or the Dorvinian Uplands of Borca (dunno if there are any villages that would be that close to the Rift or close to Degravo). This creature can also lend itself very handily to Folk Horror style adventures, with the quandary the players must face being that if they manage to drive off or defeat the Chuhaister, then the Fey may return to that area and take vengeance upon the humanoids that benefited from their absence. An adventure concept would be one that could take place in any of the areas mentioned above, with the Chuhaister's raiding of not just fey communities but humanoid ones getting the authorities involved (but they're stretched thin and need 'freelancers'). The community in question might have their own strange and likely immoral methods of keeping the Giant satisfied that can serve as foreshadowing and building suspense and tension of what exactly the players are dealing with (but there also needs to be some NPCs willing to break the community's xenophobic silence and help the players out with information at least a little bit, as players don't tend to want to save villages of people that hate their guts and will shut the door on them; 5e Tepest handles how to ingratiate players to these insular communities pretty well imo). The tactics of keeping the Chuhaister horrifying would be to have it attack at night (since it has Darkvision 120ft and Light Sensitivity on its statblock) and take advantage of its hunting skills to lure the players into pit traps or all-naturally-made nets. The small fey creature trapped on its head can add a creepy tone to the encounter as it tries to communicate with the players but fails (good ol' language barriers) and shrieks in fear as the Chuhaister gets closer...
This Giant is screaming 'use me for Sri Raji or Kalakeri!' And for good reason: the dvarapala is is a door or gate guardian often portrayed as a warrior or fearsome giant, and is frequently used as an architectural element found throughout Hindu, Buddhist, and Jaina cultures, as well as places heavily influenced by them like Java. Given that the Kobold Press interpretation mentions that "[A]lthough all dvarapala are both larger-than-life and martial, their appearances and costumes vary based on the attributes of their divine master. A dvarapala serving a god of war, for example, might appear more ferocious, while one sworn to a god of the morning might have skin that gleams with a golden glow", it's easy to imagine Arijani having maybe one or two of these guys guarding his inner sanctum after the attempt on his life that was Web of Illusion. Perhaps one of these Giants are not affiliated with Arijani's favorite deity, Kali (which never really made sense to me as Kali isn't really the evil thing she's portrayed as in the likes of "Temple of Doom" but whatevs) and instead purposefully put themselves in the Mists, in the hopes of tracking down Arijani so he can face final justice (or they're one of Ravana's agents looking for Ravana's Bane). Perhaps, like in CotN: Ghosts, there could be two Dvarapalas that serve Arijani and guard the Accursed City of Bahru, occasionally going out into the wilderness of Sri Raji and harassing local villages to sate their dark desires. An adventure concept for these two would be something deeply steeped in Indian mythology I'd say, and that's all I can really say at the moment. There's potential here, is what I'm saying.
"A towering frame of bone wrapped in vessels of frozen blood, like a tree covered in crimson vines, blocks the way." Now here's something a bit more traditionally scary! Despite the appearance, however, the Blood Giant is lawful neutral and serves a similar function as the Order of the Guardians. What might make an NPC of a Blood Giant more interesting would be if one forsook its duty and desecrated the holy place of the god they swore to, being drawn into the Mists as punishment. Or, going with what previous commentators have said, instead of outright forsaking its religion, it follows an overzealous or twisted interpretation of the code that led to unnecessary bloodshed (to keep a secret, just kill everyone in the vicinity to be safe), still damning it. Now this one ceaselessly roams through the Mists, looking for realms of great secrets to discover, and it has learned of the Order of the Guardians and its treasure trove, or even of other places like the Grim Fastness. An adventure concept for this Blood Giant could be something like it trying to break into one of the sanctuaries of the Order of the Guardians, with the monks sending someone out to call for aid (the giant is slow so it's more of a 'what are we gonna do it's on it's way and will be here any day now' kind of race against the clock). The players have to prepare themselves for a one-man siege 'Attack on Titan' style. The Blood Giant's features also lend it very nicely to body horror as that's something that can really be emphasized in the horrific nature of Giants, as other forum members have pointed out. Alternatively, instead of besieging an Order of the Guardians monastery, the Blood Giant could also try to wade through Necropolis. It's technically not undead but it is neither alive nor dead so Death might be scratching his head at this, while Azalin Rex could just wait until the lumbering brute breaks into the Grim Fastness, grabs some magic items, walks out of Necropolis, and then can send a few Kargat agents after it. The Kargat could then outsource the work to freelancers/adventurers and the adventure concept goes from 'survive the siege and find a way to drive the guy away' to 'find a way to steal from under his nose and/or bring him down, depending on the level of your party). Perhaps, as a similar weakness to the trolls in Tolkien's work, when the sun comes up and shines down upon the Blood Giant, it becomes petrified, thus allowing the party to survive by the skin of their teeth by outlasting the creature for the night (easier said than done).
Now this is also in the more traditional Ravenloft idea of scary! The Haunted Giant is less a ghost that is Giant-sized, but a Giant with the ghosts of its ancestors haunting it (and said ghosts are Giants). Something suitably Ravenloftian must have happened to this particular (most likely Hill with that intelligence score) Giant that would make it a fun NPC to try and roleplay with or learn the secrets of. I could see a creature like this sullenly roaming the Ensommark of Hazlan as it tries to find the bones of its ancestors so they may receive proper burial, and his haunting may be ended. An adventure concept would be pretty simple: a Hazlani settlement (whether an all-original village or a larger one like Sly-Var) would spot the Giant in the distance and a panic would erupt (the mere sight of such a creature would honestly have quite the knock-on effect, like how any discovery of aliens could lead to mass panic). Someone in Hazlik's entourage, whether Hazlik himself or Eleni of Toyalis, would want to deal with the Giant in some manner. Either that or the Order of the Guardians would get pretty rattled by the presence of such a creature near one of their monasteries and would subtly contact a group of 'freelancers' to deal with the Giant. The Giant himself/herself wouldn't be too averse to talking if the players can drive off one of the spirits for a short time. The adventure then goes from 'we might need to slay this Giant' to 'help the Giant find its ancestral bones so it can leave.' Complications could be that the ancestral bones are in a settlement like Sly-Var or in the Guardians' vault, and people don't want to give up things they own. Additionally, the Giant could still be harassed by other humanoids regardless of the players making contact with it, giving a sort of 'Frankenstein's monster getting chased into a windmill by townsfolk' sort of feel: tragic, really. Even more tragic for those townsfolk, as that Giant will not go down without a fight...
To quote Kobold Press here: "Castaways who violate the taboo against cannibalism sometimes undergo a monstrous transformation resulting from of an ancient curse. When the curse takes hold, the accursed grows in size and gains the ability to go without sustenance for long periods of time. However, it loses all desire to eat anything but humanoid creatures and can barely digest anything else. A Laestrigonian giant is not, however, long-lived; it remains susceptible to the diseases and parasites that accompany cannibalism, a diet of raw meat, and a lack of other sustenance." This is definitely the sort of Giant one could find sailors in Saragoss suffering from. You managed to survive for more than a month stuck in the sargasso mire? Congrats! Wait, what's that? You had to cannibalize your fellow sailors to do so? Tough luck! You're a Giant now, and that means unless you stay on your ship (which might not be able to hold your weight anyway) and find a way to get people on board or starve, you'll be doomed to sink into the shark-infested sea beneath the muck out there as the seaweed may or may not be able to support your weight. Well, at least the sharks will be well-fed by such a ginormous meal...
I'll be making another post with the Giants that have potential from Tome of Beasts 2 and 3, but this post is long enough already. More to come...
This Giant comes from Chinese mythology, being the descendant of a god of the same name who challenged the eldest deities in Chinese mythology and lost, with said god being decapitated. That god simply grew eyes on his nipples and a mouth on his belly and continued to challenge the heavens. Funnily enough, the Xing Tian or 'headless Giants' are not the only case of such creatures appearing in human folklore, with the Blemmyes being another one that was found in medieval European folklore if I recall correctly. Regardless, Kobold Press has their write-up of the Xing Tian as creatures that "live on the fringes of civilization, occasionally raiding settlements for plunder and loot. They dwell in small, isolated villages where leadership roles go to the individuals who can withstand the most pain. The most powerful xing tian wear their hideous scars with pride", so there's certainly a potential for them somewhere in Ravenloft. Namely, a group of thes Xing Tian could be found in I'Cath (probably 5e but 2e might also work, dunno much about 2e I'Cath other than hearsay from other Ravenloft fans that isn't very positive) or could be perhaps fitted into other areas of the supposed 'Scattered Lotus' cluster with Rokushima Taiyo and Dat Cua Nhen and Dokyuumi.
The Shadow Giant is heavily associated, within Kobold Press' publications, with their interpretation of the fey (which also have their own 'shadow fey', funnily enough; I'll talk more about Kobold Press' materials into Ravenloft in another thread someday). Here's the actual write-up, though you can also find it in the article: "In ages past, shadow giants were called hjartakinde, and they dwelt in the lands of the fey. When the giants declined to go to war with the shadow fey, the fey exiled them to the Shadow Realm. When they refused to serve the dark fey courts, the queen cursed them into their current form." This sort of backstory cannot be adapted 1:1 to Ravenloft, but there are embers of inspiration that still dimly burn here. For instance, what if the Shadow Giants are still associated with the fey, but are instead a tool of Gwydion the Sorcerer-Fiend? After the events of The Shadow Rift, there's still a piece of Gwydion (a tendril or something like that) which managed to get severed from Gwydion himself and can now act semi-independently. Perhaps it helped create the Shadow Giants for some foul purpose, and the Shadow Giants both serve 'the Shadow Fiend' as it calls itself and accosts the populations of the Shadow Rift, Tepest, and maybe the sides of Nova Vaasa and Darkon that border the Shadow Rift. You might even be able to find one or two of these Shadow Giants in a place like the Shadowlands, as fey for Elena Faith-Hold to fight off, though that might cheapen her current sketch regarding Banemaw and her strong desire to finally fight a great evil like Ebonbane as was alluded to in the Book of Shadows.
This particular Giant somewhat stretches the common interpretation of what Giants are supposed to look like, but in my eyes, that's for the better. When introducing something like Giants into Ravenloft, many players will already be familiar either with the fairy tale or pop culture imagining of a Giant, and would only think that the Ravenloft Giant must be very similar but with some manner of 'spooky' trappings (especially so for 5e players, who may have already experienced modules like the 5e conversion of Against the Giants or Storm King's Thunder, which was released before Curse of Strahd). The fact that it has "has naturally hard skin, similar to that of a giant insect" and "its face, hands, and joints are articulated and overlapping, allowing it to move freely beneath its hardened skin" means that it will be highly unsettling for your players to encounter this particular Giant. But what *really* makes this particular Giant suitable for Ravenloft, aside from its unsettling deviation from the typical Giant physiology, would be this: "Deep caverns can be difficult to navigate with their twists and tight squeezes. The phase giant overcomes this by sliding into the Ethereal Plane and passing through the solid stone". As mentioned many times before, part of making Giants horrifying in the Ravenloft sense of the word is playing to the idea of either 'hidden horror' or 'giant overlord', with a heaping of 'symbolism' to put it all together. They're like ghosts, but they aren't. That's pretty wild. This is the sort of Giant that, if you were thinking of where to put it in Ravenloft, I'd recommend a link to Bluetspur. Perhaps the Illithids of Bluetspur either got their hands on a few Giant Outlanders and were told by the God-Brain (for whatever inscrutable reason) to mutate them into what they are now, or maybe the Illithids did this to some unfortunate souls that ended up in their realm and decided to make these Phase Giants as potential 'shock troops' for whatever the God-Brain desired. Unfortunately the Illithids have horrible track records with slaves, so the Phase Giants managed to escape Bluetspur and now lurk within the Balinoks near the Mists in Hazlan. An adventure concept for these sorts of Giants would be a Hazlani wizard needing their carapace for material components and hiring a group of adventurers to go to those mountains, dig in there, and get it. There can also be links to Hazlani False History that can further enrich the encounter.
If I thought the Phase Giant had serious scary potential, then I must highly recommend this one! The Thin Giant's general design, with its unnaturally long arms and emaciated figure and fangs and eyes, makes it look like a colossal ghoul! And it possesses a life-draining bite. I'll let the flavor text do the talking here: "Giant Bogeymen. Lurking in abandoned mansions, dark wells, ancient mine shafts, and similar locations, thin giants are one of the most sinister and frightening of all giant species. The villains of many children’s nightmares, thin giants are feared even by other giants, as their life-draining bite and ability to get into tight spaces make them unsettling at best and horrifying at worst. Thin giants don’t get along with most creatures, but they have been observed leading groups of ghouls, ettercaps, and trolls to capture and devour prey." This is only made even more terrifying by the fact that they are master contortionists: "they can twist their limbs into unnatural positions and even bend completely double. The flexibility and elasticity help the giants shrug off crushing blows. They can stay in contorted positions for extraordinary lengths of time and use this to their advantage to ambush unsuspecting creatures." These are the sort of native Ravenloft Giants that could have sprang up in G'Henna, perhaps as a heresy of the Church of Zhakata in some manner that got out of hand. Now, while you can find a decent portion of these Giants in G'Henna, you can also find them in any location that has undergone famine or bordered G'Henna prior to the Grand Conjunction. I could see Falkovnia having to fight off these creatures when Drakov isn't starting a war with his neighbors, or having to somehow defeat a Thin Giant that took over a Dorvinian mine shaft (and Ivan is losing out on silver profits). One last way to implement these Thin Giants is to make them the spawn (magical most likely) of the Hill Giant Mouth of Grolantor Outlander that was damned to the Mists and arrived in G'Henna.
This is yet another Giant that screams 'use me for Sri Raji/Kalakeri!' In its current state, it's a nice Chaotic Good creature to add if you want to further muddy the political waters of either India pastiche by adding this one as a potential ally or enemy of the players, depending on their allegiances. The fact that it can shapeshift only helps with the intrigue, as if it's a Chaotic Good creature, it might be smart enough to know to keep a low profile from Arijani's (or Ramya's or Arjun's and Reeva's) thugs and more supernaturally-empowered enforcers.
The Berberoka is a Philippines water spirit, that is meant to protect the wild wetlands and marshes where it lives. If any of you might be familiar with Dion Fernandez's Navigaccio, Nebula Obscura & Worlds of Ravenloft netbooks, then you might also remember that he had the domain of Igid Rabi-I, which had strong cultural ties to the Philippines. I could see a monster like this, with its more druidic bent, being a welcome reprieve from the Aswangs and other horrors in that land, or if you wanted to bring it to somewhere more Eurocentric (as most of Ravenloft tends to be), then you could plop down a Berberoka in the marshlands of Lamordia or even in Souragne, though I'd prefer to put this creature elsewhere.
Have you ever wondered what an anglerfish merged with a Giant looked like? Well that's what you're getting here! The Lantern Giant is portrayed as something of a gentle giant (heh) with its fluff-text, aiding travelers by acting as scouts or guides. They also patrol the darkest depths of the ocean floor, in search of...something. Don't ask them what, they *don't* like that. As is, they're a bit too sweet for Ravenloft. Perhaps they were a community of fishers or something of the sort in Vechor that got cursed or somehow tied to the shenanigans under the sea being pulled by Virundus of the Drowning Deep. In which case, they (really a community of 10 or so) now meander across the floor of the Nocturnal Sea, either as servants to Virundus or as a small community that tries to take the fight to Virundus in some manner and oppose Virundus' schemes (but their horrific appearance and general desire to not interact with others leads to many a misconception).
Does this Giant really possess a Ravenloft potential like the ones I selected above? Yesn't. To clarify, it doesn't really, but I feel like the statblock provided here serves well to portray an Ogre that is meant to serve Malocchio Aderre's troops, as Invidia has its fair share of Ogres, Ettins and Trolls if I recall correctly. The 'I Work for the Boss' mechanic is very flavorful and sounds fun to use for a bunch of these guys bodyguarding Malocchio.
I'll once again let the fluff text do the talking: "Occasionally, an ogre will seclude itself and master its hunger. Claiming a cave atop a desolate mountainside or deep in the badlands, the ogre becomes a hermit and leaves its caves only to ritualistically murder whatever it finds. Ogres that stick through the process and resist the urge to feast eventually become kadag ogres, strengthened by murder and masters of their own urges. They are smarter and tougher than most of their kin but are much less sociable. While not true necromancers, the rites performed by kadag ogres make them kin to the undead. Their flesh is hardened against death magic, their mere presence sickens the living, and they can command lesser undead in their vicinity. These rites require sacrifices of intelligent creatures, and kadag ogres often prey upon travelers or nearby villagers for the materials they need. Some kadag ogres corral masterless undead, using them to guard territory, gather sacrifices, and protect the ogre’s isolation. The secretive lives of these ogres means that most of their victims don’t know what they face. Villages tell tales of the Monster in the Wastes, or a petty necromancer with a hulking servant, or the giant that eats those who intrude upon its secret lair. Kadag ogres prefer the narrow passes and limited sightlines of the high mountains, both for the isolation and the advantages it provides over their prey." All this exposition to say: this is sort of creature could definitely fit in G'Henna. 'Nuff said.
This one is based off of the mythology of the Mbuti people of the Congo, more specifically the "negoogunogumbar" which was said to be a child-eating Giant. In the Kobold Press interpretation, they also eat any type of humanoid they can get their hands on and lair close to humanoid settlements in dense jungles so as to be close to their primary food supply. They can also shapeshift into boars and hold an affinity for boars, keeping a few as pets. This affinity is well known enough that jungle communities that spot wild boars kill them on sight, but avoid eating the meat due to the association with the Rainforest Ogre. For Ravenloft, we have yet another monster that could work pretty comfortably in the Steaming Lands/Verdurous Lands, and if not in there, I could also very easily see the Rainforest Ogres as yet another community (alongside the werepanthers and Lizardfolk) in 5e Valachan, that Chakuna is willing to hunt to keep her people from being hunted. They can also be found pretty comfortably in Kalakeri as well (come to think of it, Kalakeri and 5e Valachan would be great additions to the Verdurous Lands Cluster, but I digress).
Feel free to put your thoughts on these Giants down below, as I appreciate any constructive criticism (and the comments I've gotten so far have been very helpful). I should have a general idea of how I'd write the article and the accompanying adventures by tomorrow or Sunday at the latest! I'll also see if I can fit a post in on various Giants in mythologies and folklores around the world and how one can take cultural inspiration to reskin the more 'high fantasy' Giants in D&D (the Storm, Cloud, Fire, Frost, Stone, and Hill Giants)
KingCorn wrote: ↑Sat Feb 11, 2023 3:39 pm
I have good punny name for this if it ever becomes a QtR article: Bones and Bread
Oh it’ll definitely be a QtR article, and I like that name! Just need to spruce up a bit more with this article but it’ll be ready for a submission by the end of summer, as I’ve never written adventures before.
The pictures of the giants that are barely visible int he horizon, or are blending into the thick scenery of their surroundings are the ones I think best fit giants in Ravenloft.
HyperionSol wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 10:08 am
The pictures of the giants that are barely visible int he horizon, or are blending into the thick scenery of their surroundings are the ones I think best fit giants in Ravenloft.
Yeah I definitely think the prior advice of other users on the board certainly helps with implementing Giants into Ravenloft. I’ll have to design any adventures with Giants to take said vibe into account.
The romanians and their ancestors the Dacians had their own giants: the Jidovi. Said to have constructed great mounds and mountains, with areas even being named after them (ie: The Jidovi's hill, the Jidovi's table) and was even a form of measuring unit for several meters. It is said one of the kings of the ancient Dacians came to an accord with the Jidovi and ordered them to guard the Dacians gold within the the Caprathian Mountains.
KingCorn wrote: ↑Fri Mar 10, 2023 10:55 am
The romanians and their ancestors the Dacians had their own giants: the Jidovi. Said to have constructed great mounds and mountains, with areas even being named after them (ie: The Jidovi's hill, the Jidovi's table) and was even a form of measuring unit for several meters. It is said one of the kings of the ancient Dacians came to an accord with the Jidovi and ordered them to guard the Dacians gold within the the Caprathian Mountains.
I didn’t know that! Y’know, while one might think of Barovia at first due to the Romania connection, the point on great mounds immediately made me think of Daglan, and its barrow mounds and tall grass everywhere. Thanks for bringing this up!
A little late but just a few ideas I have used for giants in Ravenloft games I ran.
Perspective
A mist giant I ran when looked at by anyone as long as they were at a far enough distance looked to be the size of a person but when they started moving toward a target suddenly the view readjusts and the giant is the size it should be but by then it is close enough to be a threat. Once the giant got away this illusion like distortion resumed so next time it was at a distance they looked to be human sized. This often triggered a fear save to perhaps a horror save depending upon how it occurred.
Size Changing
A giant serial killer who stalked Dementlieu and using a size changing ring appeared human sized and raided farms and other areas near the city or ate people only to shrink after and hide away as a Caliban laborer.
Camouflage
A forest giant who used tree covered hills of a region of forested terrain stalked the roads while wearing a grass and tree covered cloak to hide by laying down and resting. They had high levels of survival and stealth and threw dirt and rocks and such to strike out but then hid as part of the terrain and attempted to move with less sign of damage to be harder to track. It also favored striking at night or quick grabs and dashes away during misted days but could attack in the day but likely to lone wagons or targets rather than mass groups.
"There is only one true answer to any and every question. The rest are just vagaries and obfuscations."
A G Thing wrote: ↑Mon May 01, 2023 10:35 am
Size Changing
A giant serial killer who stalked Dementlieu and using a size changing ring appeared human sized and raided farms and other areas near the city or ate people only to shrink after and hide away as a Caliban laborer.
This sounds like a Spriggan Giant-Kin from the 2e Greyhawk Monstrous Compedium though they were gnmes who could become giants.
"I am not omniscient, but I know a lot."
-Mephistopheles from Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
A G Thing wrote: ↑Mon May 01, 2023 10:35 am
Size Changing
A giant serial killer who stalked Dementlieu and using a size changing ring appeared human sized and raided farms and other areas near the city or ate people only to shrink after and hide away as a Caliban laborer.
This sounds like a Spriggan Giant-Kin from the 2e Greyhawk Monstrous Compedium though they were gnmes who could become giants.
I didn't even think of the Spriggan Giant-Kin when I home brewed it but it does sound like it.
A small seemingly harmless "Gnome" disguise villain is always a good thing though the stereotype fits for different story beats but it would be a good twist as it hides the monster under a guise of Gnomish obfuscation. The Caliban was mostly just because I was trying to play up a laborer angle and make persecution against a Caliban in accusation a slippery slope for the party to worry about.
"There is only one true answer to any and every question. The rest are just vagaries and obfuscations."
