Stone Giant, Elder

Giants combine great size with great strength, giving them an unparalleled ability to wreak destruction upon anyone or anything unfortunate enough to get in their way.

Giants have a reputation for crudeness and stupidity that is not undeserved, especially among the evil varieties. Most rely on their tremendous strength to solve problems, reasoning that any difficulty that won’t succumb to brute force isn’t worth worrying about. Giants usually subsist by hunting and raiding, taking what they like from creatures weaker than themselves.

All giants speak Giant. Those with Intelligence scores of 10 or higher also speak Common.

Stone giants have a largely undeserved reputation as rock-throwing hooligans. In fact, they tend to be somewhat shy around strangers.

Stone giants prefer thick leather garments, dyed in shades of brown and gray to match the stone around them.

Adults are about 12 feet tall and weigh about 1,500 pounds. Stone giants can live to be 800 years old.

Stone giants may tend to be shy around strangers, but they are by no means timid. Many stone giants have an artistic streak. Some draw and paint scenes of their lives on the walls of their lairs and on tanned hide scrolls. Some are fond of music and play stone flutes and drums. Others make simple jewelry, fashioning painted stone beads into necklaces.

Most stone giants are playful, especially at night. They are fond of rock-throwing contests and other games that test their might. Groups of giants often gather to toss rocks at each other, the losing side being those who are hit more often. Travelers’ reports of such contests have given stone giants their reputation for wildness.

A stone giant’s bag usually contains 2d12 throwing rocks, 1d4+6 mundane items, and the giant’s personal wealth. A stone giant’s possessions are neither particularly clean nor particularly dirty, but most of them are made from stone.

Giants relish melee combat. They favor massive two-handed weapons and wield them with impressive skill. They have enough cunning to soften up a foe with ranged attacks first, if they can. A giant’s favorite ranged weapon is a big rock.

Stone giants fight from a distance whenever possible, but if they can’t avoid melee, they use gigantic clubs chiseled out of stone.

A favorite tactic of stone giants is to stand nearly motionless, blending in with the background, then move forward to throw rocks and surprise their foes.

Rock Throwing (Ex): Adult giants are accomplished rock throwers and receive a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls when throwing rocks. A giant of at least Large size can hurl rocks weighing 40 to 50 pounds each (Small objects) up to five range increments. The size of the range increment varies with the giant’s variety. A Huge giant can hurl rocks of 60 to 80 pounds (Medium objects). The range increment is 180 feet for a stone giant’s thrown rocks. It uses both hands when throwing a rock.

Rock Catching (Ex): A giant of at least Large size can catch Small, Medium, or Large rocks (or projectiles of similar shape). Once per round, a giant that would normally be hit by a rock can make a Reflex save to catch it as a free action. The DC is 15 for a Small rock, 20 for a Medium one, and 25 for a Large one. (If the projectile provides a magical bonus on attack rolls, the DC increases by that amount.) The giant must be ready for and aware of the attack in order to make a rock catching attempt. A stone giant gains a +4 racial bonus on its Reflex save when attempting to catch a thrown rock.

Spell-Like Abilities: Some stone giants develop special abilities related to their environment. These giant elders have Charisma scores of at least 15 and spell-like abilities, which they use as 10th-level sorcerers. Once per day they can use stone shape, stone tell, and either transmute rock to mud or transmute mud to rock (DC 17). The save DC is Charisma-based. One in ten elders is a sorcerer, usually of 3rd to 6th level.

Skills: *A stone giant gains a +8 racial bonus on Hide checks in rocky terrain.