In the
Dungeons & DragonsDungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
fantasy role-playing game,
giant is a type of creature, or "
creature typeIn the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, creature types are rough categories of creatures which determine the way game mechanics affect the creature. In the 3rd edition and related games, there are between thirteen and seventeen creature types. Creature type is determined by the...
." Giants are humanoid-shaped creatures of great strength and size.
Dungeons & Dragons (1974-1976)
Giants were among the first monsters introduced in the earliest edition of the game, in the
Dungeons & Dragons "white box" setThe original Dungeons & Dragons boxed set by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson was published by TSR, Inc. in 1974. It initially included the original edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
(1974), including the
hill giant, the
stone giant, the
frost giant, the
fire giant, and the
cloud giant. The
storm giant first appears in the original
GreyhawkGreyhawk is a supplementary rulebook written by Gary Gygax and Robert J. Kuntz for the original edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
supplement (1975), where it is described as an intelligent giant found only in out-of-the-way places.
A number of unique giants appear in Supplement IV:
Gods, Demi-gods & HeroesGods, Demi-Gods & Heroes is a supplementary rulebook for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:The work provides information on the pantheons and constructs of the Egyptian, Hindu, Greek, Celtic, Norse, Finnish, Aztec, Mayan, Chinese, and Japanese mythologies, as well as...
(1976), including
Antero Vipunen,
Hymer,
Hyrm,
Mimir,
Mokkerkalfe,
Sterkodder,
Surtur, and
Vafthrunder, as well as the
mist giants of
MelnibonéMelniboné , also known as the Dragon Isle, is an imaginary country, an island featured in the writings of Michael Moorcock. It is the homeland of Elric, one of the incarnations of the Eternal Champion....
.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)
Giants appear in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), including the cloud giant, the fire giant, the frost giant, the hill giant, the stone giant, and the storm giant. The stone giant appeared as a
character classA character class is a fundamental part of the identity and nature of characters in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. A character's capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses are largely defined by his or her chosen class; choosing a class is one of the first steps a player takes in order to...
in
White DwarfWhite Dwarf is a magazine published by British games manufacturer Games Workshop. Initially covering a wide variety of fantasy and science-fiction role-playing and board games, particularly the role playing games Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest and Traveller...
#17, by
Lewis PulsipherLewis Errol Pulsipher is a teacher, game designer, and author, whose subject is role playing games, board games, card games, and video games. He was the first person in the North Carolina community college system to teach game design classes...
. The
fog giant and the
mountain giant are introduced in the first edition
Fiend FolioFiend Folio is the title shared by three products published for successive editions of the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons...
(1981). The
fomorianIn the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, the fomorian is a giant. Fomorians are hideously ugly, and grossly deformed behemoths. They may be loosely derived from the Fomorians of Irish mythology.-Publication history:...
, the
firbolgIn the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the firbolg is a giant.-Publication history:The firbolg first appeared in the first edition Monster Manual II under the "giant" entry....
, and the
verbeegIn the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, verbeegs are giant-kin.-Publication history:The verbeeg first appeared in first edition AD&D in the original Monster Manual II under the "giant" heading....
appear in the first edition
Monster Manual II (1983).
The
wood giantIn the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, the voadkyn is a giant.-Publication history:The wood giant first appeared in Dragon #119 ....
appears in the "Dragon's Bestiary" column in
DragonDragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#119 (March 1987).
Dungeons & Dragons (1977-1999)
This edition of the D&D game included its own version of giants, in the
Dungeons & Dragons Basic SetThe original Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set boxed set was first published by TSR, Inc. in 1977, and comprised a separate edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, distinct from the first edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, which was initially published in the same...
(1977), including the hill giant, the stone giant, the frost giant, the fire giant, the cloud giant, and the storm giant; these same giants also appeared in the
Expert SetThe Expert Set is an expansion boxed set for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was first published in 1981 as an expansion to the Basic Set.-1981 printing:The D&D Basic Set saw a major revision in 1981 by Tom Moldvay...
(1981 & 1983), The
mountain giant and the
sea giant appear in the
Dungeons & Dragons Master RulesDungeons & Dragons Master Rules is an expansion boxed set for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was first published in 1985 as an expansion to the Basic Set.-Publication history:...
(1985), in the "Master DM's Book". The sea giant is presented as a playable character class in
The Sea PeopleThe Sea People is an accessory for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:The Sea People is a "Creature Crucible" supplement and campaign setting that describes the lands on the bottom of the Sea of Dread and the beings that dwell there. The supplement includes rules for player...
(1990). Giants also appear in the
Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991), including the hill giant, the stone giant, the frost giant, the fire giant, the cloud giant, the storm giant, the mountain giant, and the sea giant. The cloud giant, fire giant, frost giant, hill giant, stone giant, and storm giant also appear in the
Dungeons & Dragons GameThe New Easy to Master Dungeons & Dragons Game is an accessory for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, published in 1991....
set (1991), and the
Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game set (1994).
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)
Giants appear throughout the 2nd edition
Monstrous Compendium series. Giants appear first in the
Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989), including the cloud giant, the fire giant, the frost giant, the hill giant, the stone giant, and the storm giant.
Giant-kin appear in the
Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989), including the
cyclops, the firbolg, the fomorian, and the verbeeg. Two more giant-kin, the
voadkynIn the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, the voadkyn is a giant.-Publication history:The wood giant first appeared in Dragon #119 ....
and the
spriggan, appear in the
Monstrous Compendium Greyhawk Appendix (1990). The
spacesea giant appears in the first
Monstrous Comprndium Spelljammer Appendix (1990). Three
Zakharan giants, including the
desert giant, the
jungle giant, and the
reef giant appear in the
Monstrous Compendium Al-Qadim Appendix (1992). The fog giant appears in the
Monstrous Compendium Fiend Folio Appendix (1992). The firbolg giant-kin and the voadkyn giant-kin are detailed as playable character races in
The Complete Book of HumanoidsThe Complete Book of Humanoids is a sourcebook for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was written by Bill Slavicsek for TSR, in 1993....
(1993),
Many of these giants are reprinted in the
Monstrous Manual (1993), including the cloud giant, the cyclops, the desert giant, the
ettinIn the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the Ettin is a giant-like creature. The creatures' name comes from the Anglicization of the Jötunn giants of Norse mythology.-Description:...
, the firbolg, the fire giant, the fog giant, the formorian, the frost giant, the hill giant, the jungle giant, the mountain giant, the reef giant, the stone giant, the storm giant, the verbeeg, and the wood giant (voadkyn).
The
beasthead Athasian giant and the
humanoid Athasian giant first appeared in the original
Dark Sun Campaign Setting (1991). The beasthead Athasian giant, the
desert Athasian giant, and the
plains Athasian giant appeared in the
Monstrous Compendium Dark Sun Appendix: Terrors of Athas (1992). The beasthead Athasian giant, the desert Athasian giant, and the plains Athasian giant were later repinted in the
expanded and revised Dark Sun Campaign SettingDark Sun Campaign Setting, Expanded and Revised is an accessory for the 2nd edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, published in 1995.-Contents:*1 large canvas foldout map*2 paper foldout maps*1 dungeon master screen...
(1995) The
shadow giant appeared in the
Dark Sun Monstrous Compendium Appendix II: Terrors Beyond Tyr (1995). The
crag giant first appeared in
The Wanderers Chronicle: Mind Lords of the Last SeaMind Lords of the Last Sea is an accessory for the 2nd edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, published in 1996....
(1996), and was reprinted in
Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Four (1998).
The
athachIn the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, an athach is a giant-like aberration.-Publication history:The athach first appeared in the Dungeons & Dragons Master Rules set...
and the
hephaeston appear in the
Monstrous Compendium Mystara Appendix (1994).
The book
Giantcraft (1995) described the giants of the
Forgotten RealmsThe Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories...
campaign settingA campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
in detail.
Several giants for the
DragonlanceDragonlance is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of popular fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived Dragonlance while driving in their car on the way to TSR for a job application...
campaign setting appeared in
Dragon #256 (February 1999), including the
cave lords, the
desolation giants, and the
earth giants.
Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)
Giants appear in the Monster Manual for this edition (2000), where they are presented as a
type of creatureIn the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, creature types are rough categories of creatures which determine the way game mechanics affect the creature. In the 3rd edition and related games, there are between thirteen and seventeen creature types. Creature type is determined by the...
. Giants appearing in this book include the cloud giant, the fire giant, the frost giant, the hill giant, the stone giant, and the storm giant.
The fog giant and the
phaerlin giant appear in the
Monstrous Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn (2001) for the Forgotten Realms setting.
The
forest giant, the
ocean giant, and the
sun giant appeared in this edition's
Monster Manual II (2002).
The
Jotunheim frost giant and the
Muspelheim fire giant appear in
Deities and Demigods (2002) for this edition.
Savage Species (2003) presented the fire giant, the frost giant, and the stone giant as both races and playable classes.
The
bog giant and the
shadow giant appear in the
Fiend Folio (2003) for this edition.
Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003-2007)
Giants appear in the revised Monster Manual for this edition (2003), including the cloud giant, the fire giant, the frost giant and the
frost giant jarl, the hill giant, the stone giant, and the storm giant. The
hill giant dire wereboar appears as a sample creature under the
lycanthrope entry.
The
death giant, the
eldritch giant and
eldritch giant confessor, and the
sand giant and
sand giant champion first appear in
Monster Manual III (2004).
The
frost giant mauler, the
frost giant spiritspeaker, and the
frost giant tundra scout appear in
Frostburn: Mastering the Perils of Ice and Snow (2004).
The
craa'ghoran giant appears in the
Monster Manual IV (2006).
Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)
Giants appear in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008), including
death giants (the
death giant and the
death titan),
earth giants (the
hill giant and the
earth titan),
fire giants (the
fire giant, the
fire giant forgecaller, and the
fire titan), and
storm giants (the
storm giant and the
storm titan). Giant is no longer a creature type; instead, giants belong to the humanoid type. Giants generally have the
natural origin, however
death giants and
death titans have the shadow origin, and
earth,
fire and
storm titans have the
elemental origin.
The
Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition
Player's Handbook 2 also introduced the playable character race of the Goliaths (originally found in
Races of StoneRaces of Stone is an optional sourcebook for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:...
). These stone-skinned mountain dwellers are larger than regular races, and have giant ancestry.
The stone giant appeared in the
Monster Manual 2 (2009).
Description
All giants have low-light vision. As a group, they have no other special abilities or immunities.
DwarvesIn the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, dwarves are a humanoid race, one of the primary races available for play as player characters...
have a bonus to their armor class against attacks from creatures of the giant type, due to their experience with fighting these oversized foes.
True giants
There are six types of classic "true giant" in the core
Dungeons & Dragons game:
Other Dungeons & Dragons creatures of the giant type
- Cyclops
- Ettin
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the Ettin is a giant-like creature. The creatures' name comes from the Anglicization of the Jötunn giants of Norse mythology.-Description:...
- Firbolg
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the firbolg is a giant.-Publication history:The firbolg first appeared in the first edition Monster Manual II under the "giant" entry....
- Fomorian
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, the fomorian is a giant. Fomorians are hideously ugly, and grossly deformed behemoths. They may be loosely derived from the Fomorians of Irish mythology.-Publication history:...
- Ogre
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, ogres are a lesser race of giants, rather being simply large brutes with clubs. An aquatic subrace of ogres is known as "merrow." D&D ogres are also closely related to the race of ogre magi, a smarter race with blue skin and great magical abilities...
- Troll
Trolls are fictional monsters in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. Dungeon Masters can use them as enemies or allies of the player characters.-Publication history:...
Giants beyond the Monster Manual
- Craa'Ghoran Giant: Rare stone giant offshoots created when earth elemental energy warped and twisted their ancestors. They can glide and walk right through stone like Earth Elementals and raise walls of stone from the ground with their supernatural powers. They resemble tanned, bestial and deformed versions of stone giants.
- Desert giant
- Death giant
- Eldritch giant: Powerful scions of arcane lore, these ancient giants spend their years seeking out fragments of knowledge. Though selfish and cruel, they are smart enough to bargain fairly when they must and perceptive enough to know that open conflict distracts them from their studies. They hate Storm Giants, though they are too involved with their pursuit of magical power to bother fighting other creatures. Eldritch Giants resemble burly but serious and wise looking Storm Giants. They have purple skin. This skin is covered with tattoos and runes. Unlike most giants, they are quite good and capable of casting spells and other magic.
- Fog giant http://heroesonly.com/monstrousdb/monster/1035
- Forest Giant: An elfin
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, elves are a fictional humanoid race that is one of the primary races available for play as player characters. Elves are renowned for their grace and mastery of magic and weapons such as the sword and bow...
giant that is amongst the tallest species of giant.
- Jungle giant http://heroesonly.com/monstrousdb/monster/1043
- Mountain Giant: A brute that is amongst the largest species of giant, and loves to squash people under boulders. http://heroesonly.com/monstrousdb/monster/1044
- Ocean Giant: A merfolk-like giant that can assume a more humanoid form to walk on land.
- Phaerlin Giant
- Reef giant http://heroesonly.com/monstrousdb/monster/1046
- Sand giant
- Sun Giant: A grim, nomadic desert-dwelling giant that survives by raising livestock.
- Wood Giant http://heroesonly.com/monstrousdb/monster/1051
- Other giants: When turned to life as incarnate constructs, Large sized or larger artificial humanoids, such as golems
A golem is a type of construct, a magically created monster in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.- Publication history :The Dungeons & Dragons golems are based upon the Golems of Jewish mythology.-Dungeons & Dragons :...
, are defined as giants.
Giant-kin
Giant-kin are large
humanoidA humanoid is something that has an appearance resembling a human being. The term first appeared in 1912 to refer to fossils which were morphologically similar to, but not identical with, those of the human skeleton. Although this usage was common in the sciences for much of the 20th century, it...
s related to the 'true' giants. The mythology of the
Forgotten RealmsThe Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories...
has it that the mother of all giants, Othea, cheated on her unfaithful husband, Annam, the father of giants, with
UlutiuUlutiu is the father of the Giant Kin races and one of the many gods in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. He is the god of glaciers, polar environments, and arctic dwellers....
. Othea and Ulutiu sired the four giant-kin races:
FirbolgsIn the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the firbolg is a giant.-Publication history:The firbolg first appeared in the first edition Monster Manual II under the "giant" entry....
,
VerbeegIn the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, verbeegs are giant-kin.-Publication history:The verbeeg first appeared in first edition AD&D in the original Monster Manual II under the "giant" heading....
s,
VoadkynIn the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, the voadkyn is a giant.-Publication history:The wood giant first appeared in Dragon #119 ....
, and
FomoriansIn the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, the fomorian is a giant. Fomorians are hideously ugly, and grossly deformed behemoths. They may be loosely derived from the Fomorians of Irish mythology.-Publication history:...
. Othea also conceived the
ogreIn the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, ogres are a lesser race of giants, rather being simply large brutes with clubs. An aquatic subrace of ogres is known as "merrow." D&D ogres are also closely related to the race of ogre magi, a smarter race with blue skin and great magical abilities...
and
trollTrolls are fictional monsters in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. Dungeon Masters can use them as enemies or allies of the player characters.-Publication history:...
races with
VaprakIn the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Vaprak is the deity worshiped by ogres and trolls. Vaprak is also known as "The Destroyer." His symbol is a taloned hand.-Publication history:...
.