Giants (Part 4): Frost Giant

And here is where Angerroth the Barbarian fell against the giant horde. His bones are under that boulder over there.

Elder Zilane of Istivin, Recounting the Giant Wars

Lore: War! What is it good for?!

A lot, according to these guys.

Frost giants are warriors to their cores. They live in the frozen peaks beyond civilization, where no crops can grow and no livestock can live. To live, they’ll hunt the other inhabitants of the mountains and eat them raw, as freshly killed prey is as hot as they like.

They march amidst the blizzard, blowing horns of war to declare their presence. When the storms pass, villages are left in ruin. Inns and taverns suffer the most, as the giants will raid their stocks. Smithies suffer similarly. Curiously, the homes of the rich are left mostly unscathed. Frost giants have little use for wealth, aside from gems that they use to trade with other tribes.

Brute force is the currency of the frost giants. One’s place in the ordning is decided by battle, not wealth or skill. They make no fine crafts or arts, electing to simply take it instead. War is the bread and butter of a frost giant tribe.

And… that’s it. These guys are all about war and violence. Their motivations are about as complex as a villain from a 1960s cartoon.

Still, you could write some fun stories out of this. Maybe another tribe could hire the players to handle a tricky trade that could easily end in a fight. Or perhaps they need to help a village ravaged by them by robbing the rich asshole that survived. With a little imagination, you could make something fun for your friends.

Compelling? Maybe. Maybe not. But at least fun.

Design: I’M BLUE, DABADEEDABADIE

How many music references can I make this article?

This is yet another simple but effective design. It gives you everything you need to know at a single glance. Although it could’ve used a bit more in the creativity department.

Firstly, the obvious: the blue. Sure, you could take the fur clothes and the long beard as clues of its frosty homeland. But let’s be honest: the blue skin is a dead giveaway.

Secondly, it doesn’t take a genius to spot that this dude is a warrior. Those are clothes meant for battle. You know, if the giant axe in his right hand didn’t give that away already.

While this is fine, I can’t help but see all the missed potential. Why not put some icicles in his beard? Or cover his axe in frost and snow? Why not have him holding a frozen boulder? Something, anything!

It ain’t bad. But it isn’t as fun as it could be.

Stats: We Will, We Will, Rock You!

The stats here are so boring that that was the only song reference I could come up with.

It’s incredibly simple. It can swing an axe twice or throw a rock at you. That’s it. There’s nothing else to it. Sure, it can hit like a truck! But it has nothing to challenge the players beyond numbers!

Unless you count being immune to cold as a challenge. Which I don’t.

Placement

Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of this monster. The lore is only okay and the design is the same. Maybe it would’ve been fine if the stats were more interesting. But that was the most boring of them all. Overall, this was a fairly boring monster.

With all that in mind, let’s put the Frost Giant on the Best of the Bestiary!

1. Beholder
2. Death Tyrant
3. Dragon Turtle
4. Green Dragons
5. Red Dragons
6. Blue Dragons
7. Black Dragons
8. White Dragons
9. Silver Dragons
10. Couatl
11. Behir
12. Aboleth
13. Bronze Dragons
14. Brass Dragons
15. Copper Dragons
16. Gold Dragons
17. Chuul
18. Chimera
19. Death Knight
20. Fomorian
21. Bone Devil
22. Dracolich
23. Faerie Dragon
24. Ankheg
25. Empyrean
26. Efreeti
27. Dao
28. Cloud Giant
29. Drow (all four of ’em)
30. Shadow Demon
31. Marilith
32. Drider
33. Aarackockra
34. Azer
35. Demilich
36. Spectator
37. Marid
38. Cambion
39. Fire Giant
40. Animated Armor
41. Banshee
42. Basilisk
43. Yochlol
44. Bulette
45. Cloaker
46. Darkmantle
47. Doppelganger
48. Ghoul and Ghast
49. Ettin
50. Pit Fiend
51. Erinyes
52. Chain Devil
53. Bearded Devil
54. Barbed Devil
55. Spined Devil
56. Ice Devil
57. Djinni
58. Nalfeshnee
59. Glabrezu
60. Chasme
61. Barlgura
62. Horned Devil
63. Balor
64. Shadow Dragon
65. Vrock
66. Dretch
67. Goristro
68. Hezrou
69. Manes
70. Frost Giant <————————–
71. Duergar
72. Quasit
73. Dryad
74. Flumph
75. Planetar
76. Imp
77. Flameskull
78. Displacer Beast
79. Carrion Crawler
80. Rug of Smothering
81. Bugbear Chief
82. Bugbear
83. Vine Blight
84. Twig Blight
85. Needle Blight
86. Bullywug
87. Ettercap
88. Gas Spore
89. Cockatrice
90. Lemure
91. Solar
92. Deva
93. Cyclops
94. Centaur
95. Ghost
96. Fire Elemental
97. Water Elemental
98. Air Elemental
99. Dinosaurs (All six of them)
100. Earth Elemental
101. Galeb Duhr
102. Flying Sword
103. Crawling Claw
104. Violet Fungus
105. Shrieker
106. Gargoyle