5 Ways to Make Giants More Exciting in D&D

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Giants are the quintessential example of everything that is wrong in a D&D monster: they are big bags of hit points that die slowly and have boring attacks. A battle against giants is often a slogfest for dungeon masters and players. So, we're going to discuss how we can UPGRADE giants and make running them in Dungeons & Dragons more EXCITING for everyone at your gaming table.
#dnd #dnd5e #dungeonsanddragons #dungeonmaster #gamemaster

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[@socialjihad5724]

So about the giant bottleneck point in against the giants, couple things you can do to balance things out: 1) give the giants sweeping attacks , so they can hit multiple PCs 2) the giant in front can grapple and throw a PC away from their allies 3)This would be homebrew, but you could consider displacement rules where extremely large creatures could move into another creatures space, forcing them from their position, although this is probably one idea that would require a lot more consideration and workshopping due to the ramifications

[@TalkativeHands]

I think a giant's rock throw should be infused with their elemental type and be an area of effect attack. When I think of Giants I think of giant attacks so it's a surprise they don't have an area of effect attacks. Like when they stop in an area it's not one target it's the area. I also like your idea for retreating me in a skill check. I agree retreating sucks.

[@backonlazer791]

I made a fire giant boss that had AOE explosive rocks it could throw.

[@jackalcoyote8777]

They can carve runes on their rocks to use them as magic-infused bludgeons

[@backonlazer791]

@@jackalcoyote8777 Giant magic (rune magic) is so underutilized in 5e. In other words, there are mentions of it but no rules to go with. That's my biggest problem with 5e personally (overall, not just rune magic).

[@jamieadams2589]

When I imagine fighting giants, I imagine running around the giants feet to avoid being stepped on and trying to get high ground or climb the giant. But the mechanics make giants function the same way as your regular bandit

[@jasonmed2119]

I like giant runes, can use the rune knight as an example. Placing runes on walls & lairs with ritual spell like abilities & wards. Runes can be used on rocks, armor, totems , or embed on weapons. Also for stone and hill can use shaministic spellcaster and rage abilities fits well on hill, plus can always add a feat or two. Nothing says giant like an enlarged raging giant. Matt Mercer had a great scene of ice giants skating for an early episode. Can see fire giants with a few battlemaster maneuvers. The world is your oyster.

[@aqacefan]

I was coming here to comment that Shamans would be appropriate spellcasters for "lesser" giants... glad to see someone has a similar opinion.

[@peterwhitcomb8315]

Forgot about Rune Knight subclass. I went Battlemaster but thematically I could see Rune Knight as a better fit.

[@Mr_GoR_]

This is an excellent idea, thanks👌

[@matthewbeerman7750]

A point that I often think about regarding Frost Giants: the lore about them generally characterizes them as highly aggressive in their culture and strategy. That means that out of all giants, they would be highly unlikely to just sit in their longhouse and wait for an adventuring party to approach. If they have even an inkling that adventurers are on their way (and it seems reasonable they would have at least a couple scouts, watchmen or hunting parties in the surrounding land), they would absolutely aim to bring the fight to the adventurers if they could. They may not be sophisticated, but they would have the grasp of basic tactics to try and engage the adventurers on favorable ground, somewhere the adventurers can't hole up or easily escape from them. They would probably aim for a spot where they can surround the party and hit them from all sides. They might even attempt an ambush if there is a place they think they can pull it off. Also, given their environment and disposition, it seems very reasonable to picture them getting much of their food by hunting (or whaling, if they live on the coast). Perhaps instead of the usual rock-throwing, they might have moved up to developing hunting spears, or at least slings. Imagine a javelin meant for mammoths, or even for bringing to ground a white dragon, and imagine the force they could throw it with. This could easily extend to other hunting equipment too, like bolas, nets, or even hunting traps. This background would also give them a broader range of tactics they might consider, trying to herd an adventuring party in a specific direction or even feigning a retreat in order to bait them into a trap.

[@Lcirex]

My friend went with making giants rare and used the titans from attack on titan as the most basic model. so defeating them into an half combat and half environmental challenge was his way of running the fight where we had to damage limbs of the giant with separate HP scores. making us need to focus on damage the legs to make the buckle and kneel so that we could attack the face and necks for more periminate damage to kill the giant.

[@RobKinneySouthpaw]

For the narrative description of five Giants with clubs, I think I would say "The five Giants close in and surround you raining down blows from their giant clubs. The pressure threatens to grind you into the dirt. You take 18 damage...." And just keep calling off the damage for each hit, possibly with a dramatic pause before the last one. Since they're all the same attack, narrating them off at the beginning and then just calling off damage in rapid succession I think ratchets up the tension.

[@jamieadams2589]

That does add the risk of piling up damage on both sides though. If all the giants attack together then that's a massive amount of damage to take at once, and then the giants just wait around whilst the whole party gets their turns to wail on them

[@charles-etiennemeloche5039]

I gave my giant a bonus grapple action. I also gave the a bonus Throw action that allows them to throw a grappled creature as an action (up to 60 ft. for hill giants and 80 ft. for stone giants causing 6d6 or 8d6 respectively). They can also throw them at other creatures, who need to take a Dexterity Saving Throw or suffer the same damage.

[@Brandon-zw3hw]

Kinda like this idea, though 60/80 feet is excessive imo.

[@Bagel-Man.]

I make Giants in my game extremely dangerous for PCs. I’ll make the Giants use their weapons like golf clubs or baseball bats and the PCs go flying when hit.

[@annoyingone2995]

I'm a new DM doing the Storm King's Thunder campaign and I was founding the giants flat.... Definitively using those tips in my campaign 👍

[@pieguy1785]

Dude, the idea to do a skill challenge for retreat is such a great idea that I can’t believe I didn’t think of. I think that actually might get players to consider it as an option as well if they know it will still be fun

[@plixeon]

There was a time where all of this would have been in the monster manual. Thank you for bringing monsters to life.

[@knf5]

The rune knight gives some great ideas for abilities for giants.

[@AndrewWinkless]

A minor note about the Stedding of the Hill Giant Chief - that map dates from 1st edition when giants didn't take up as much space - you would probably have had the giants fighting two abreast in the 20 foot wide sections and single file in the 10 foot wide sections. Regarding the main thrust of the video, I might also add that destroyable terrain would help make things more interesting (if the giants can knock down trees or pillars onto the party, for example). Also, I kind of like the idea of a frost giant who throws harpoons instead of boulders - harpooning a soft target like a wizard and then having the giant pull him closer will get people's attention.

[@ElJefeRules]

Give them sweeping melee attacks with pushing/knocking prone effects.

[@Marcus-ki1en]

I have always made giant structures scaled for giants. Hallways are appropriate for them in terms of width. As for rock throwing, imagine a narrow canyon with steep uphill climb to get to the Giant lair. As the players climb up, rock start raining down into the canyon. Even rocks that miss can shatter and shower the players with shrapnel. The players can't see where the rocks are coming from and take this damage for several rounds before they even get the a point to see and engage their foe.

[@darcyw156]

Great video, I also have my giants throw two rocks/ round. If the fighter can shoot two arrows, the giant can throw two rocks. Also I have to say I love your pronunciation of phalanx at 14:53. You never cease to entertain, Luke. Keep up the good work. Next work on making dragons not suck!

[@volosguidetomonsters3440]

Notably, frost giants likely have winter wolves or remorhazes or something

[@mattalford3862]

Thanks for the video. This was sorely needed. I plan to run a story arc featuring giants, and I've been looking for ways to make them more interesting.

[@ancientdarkmagic1409]

One of the ways I solved this problem with the giants, especially if there going to be a main arc antagonist, is by making them related with one of the classes.

[@damus5728]

Some other fun giant ideas I've done: AOE Attacks, great sword swipes in a 15. cone (Dex save), rocks smashes in 15 ft. cube, defeaning/stunning roars, earthshaking stomps For range: throw PC's at PC's, giant archers/javelin throwers Misc: swallow PC's whole, changing terrain (smashing columns, breaking ceilings over the PC's head)

[@LupineShadowOmega]

Personally, I make Hill Giant spellcasters into Clerics. Well Clerics/Chefs and I use the term chef very loosely. Hill Giants' Ordning is all about Strength and Eating, so of course those that understand the Ordning as being a divine mandate would be all about food and strength. Likewise, "cooking" or at least preparing food would be a good way to ingratiate one's self to a superior in the Ordning.

[@negative6442]

Giving them class levels would be a good way to give them more options. Though of course you'd need to adjust the balance of your encounter appropriately

[@raymondharnack4160]

Dungeon Dad put out two giants a desth giant and a Eldritch giant and they have been complete ballbusters in my current campaign. Will use some of these ideas also. Thanks!

[@KevinVideo]

I took a lot of fixes from the "Storm King's Thunder" module, including giving them all the Fling attack. Cloud giants have a wind aura, fire giants can tackle, frost giants have a weighted net, hill giants can squash, stone giants have a rolling rock area effect, and storm giants have a thunderous stomp. Absolutely agree that giants need more variety. This is why I love seeing variants like the fire giant dreadnought, stone giant dreamwalker, and the storm giant quintessant (Legendary Actions for the win). I once ran a game that had ice trolls and a frost giant wearing magically created armor that used brown mold. It started out as hide armor, but evolved to the equivalent of full plate, all the while the players were cold damage thanks to all their fire spells and attacks. It's crazy to think that the map for "Against the Giants" was just as small back in AD&D. I double checked too. Hill giants were Huge size back then as well, but were changed to Large in 3rd.

[@jonathanschmitt5762]

5:20 You should give them Goodberry, Hero's feast and, if existent, other spells like those. They won't affect combat, but they fit into the flavor. Also, when I read VGtM, I realised that its Monsters are way more unique then the MM's Edit: 11:04 I think that opportunity attack causes the oposite. Once you're next to an enemy, your movement and position are basically engraved in stone.

[@thedmlawyer4788]

When characters or monsters retreat instead of going straight into a skill challenge I like using the chase rules where a creature begins running away with 3+con mod of dashes they can run out of a players range rather quickly especially if they are willing to risk exhaustion

[@chrislundgren182]

Some great ideas on giants I plan to use to convert into my OSRIC OSR D&D game thanks for sharing your insightful thoughts.

[@mentalyunsound]

Usually love your videos man but I feel this one lacked some great tips: Instead of bottled up being the core take away. Building your maps to emphasize a giants might and size is a great way to challenge your players. While players need to run around a body of water, hop rivers of lava, climb up cliffs. Giants navigate these terrains with ease. It can make for a great encounter where the giant may be a simple combat encounter but figuring out the terrain can make it deadly if you let the giant control the field. Also playing up the giants size and strength in roleplay/combat is very important. Don’t limit yourself to what the giant has listed. The great sword or club can easily be a tree or that rock thrown can be a cart. Watch your players truly fear a giant when he snatches a horse out from underneath a player and uses it to hit that same player who may be prone now on the ground. Giants should be able to do amazing feats of strength with easy. Let them charge through walls, watch them stomp through buildings, let them scoop/swipe a large pile of rocks as a cone attack for some improvised damage. Giants should be played creatively. Look at your maps and try to think of ways a giant would see this differently than a smallfolk. They should see opportunities, advantages and weapons where your players don’t. Also a very popular sets of homebrew additions are giving the giants grapple, stomp, throw and chomp attacks. Where they grapple the player turn 1, then turn 2 they can immediately throw that PC a large amount of distance, spike them into the ground, twist or rip them in their grip. Players should fear getting close to a giant just for its ability to rip you in half if it so chose. Personally I think giants have the weakest written stat blocks. But when you read between the lines and utilize their statblock the same way a player would. Being creative with environment and power, they can easily become the scariest and most interesting to fight

[@syrupchugger421]

These are a lot of good ideas. You make giants actually sound interesting. Thanks for this

[@Brandon-zw3hw]

whole heartily agree with your statement of enemies escaping get slaughtered. First time DM and I was using the suggestion that enemies likely would not fight to the death and had a couple different ones run and others surrender, only 1 time was the enemy able to get away because there was a crevasse the PCs had trouble getting across and he was able to get some distance on them first.

[@wyliecapp]

The hill giant add that i like is Transmute Rock to Mud. I reflavor it as Earth to mud, leaving 1d4 spots uneffected saying theyre large rocks, and anyone caught in the mud has half movement and disadvantage to attck. Large or larger creature are uneffected by it.

[@sharondornhoff7563]

I do something similar for hill giants, giving them a modest knack for manipulating earth and soil. Associating them with dirt seemed appropriate for D&D's giants' overall natural-elements theme.

[@jeremiahlewis410]

Love that your advertisement used the Herocraft GM screen, or what ever the game was called.

[@fhuber7507]

Carrying forward the Hill Giant "stinking cloud" we could use a rating system for the cloud based on: Volume (loudness) Odiferousness and hang time. 1-1-1 being a hamster's with near perfect inaudibility, almost indetectable odor, and miniscule duration of detectability. 10-10-10 being loud enough to cause damage like a sonic boom, odor that peels paint and powder coating, lingers for at least a day. Having these additional effect rolls, the potential descriptions in combat become near infinite.

[@TheAres1999]

One time my players were fighting Hill Giants on a dining room table. It was a really fun fight. The giants could bang the table making the player characters fall prone, failing a a dex save. They could shout out flem to "summon" an Ooze. A bit gross, but it was fun. Instead of their normal weapons, the giants fought using cuttlery

[@bruced648]

I think giants are small in D&D. instead of 15' - 25', the smallest I use, is 75' up to 125'. I also give them the swallow whole ability. if they successfully grab a medium size or smaller creature, the creature needs to make a dex sv or gets swallowed on the giants next turn... unless the giant changes his mind and instead uses the creature to practice his fast ball pitch.

[@byzmack1334]

Advantage on bull rushing. Tremor strike that can knock characters down. Picks up and throws characters sometimes at other characters. Causes terrain to become difficult by smashing things on their way through. Targeted damage to the giants; arms or legs get injured and can't be used.

[@BrianOxleyTexan]

You have promoted Dscryb for a while, I finally checked it and wish I had looked earlier. Thanks

[@colmbright9822]

This is one of your best!!! Nice work

[@nonya9120]

Geezer here..... Throw giants... Oh that brings back memories. Years back we had a big bad that used hill giants for muscle. In a siege the giants were used as troll tossing artillery. Gaming on.

[@karatemancometh]

I made an undead giant: The Dead Belcher. A variant wight. He carried a large sack (a stitched up ship sail) with struggling victims, giving the party a goal (free the captives). He threw rocks, sometimes a fistful of gravel (less damage, but in a spread). And of course, he could vomit up a couple goblin wights. The punchline was the sack contained another few captive wights, which the PCs "rescue" Only to ve attacked. Other details included a shield made of a wagon wheel and a club fashioned from a ship's bell. And I gave him a couple putrid bombs, stitched up and bloated undead corpses which he could throw. They burst in a stinking cloud of gore. Save vs filth fever y'all.

[@peterwhitcomb8315]

Hill Giant - Druid (or classic barbarian if you really want them to be a "bag of HP's") Spells: Cantrips: Vine Whip, Magic Stone, Primal Savagery 1st level - Goodberries x 3 (should be 3d10 on corpse), Snare x 1, and one of the following: Jump x 1, Longstrider x 1, Entangle x1, Earth Tremor x 2, *or * Thunderwave x 2 Stone Giant - Fighter, Cleric, or Ranger. Action Surge, Battle Master Maneuvers (per the feat) Cleric Spells: Guidance, Word of Radiance, Thaumaturgy (i.e. intimidate or call for help) 1st level - Bless/Bane x 3, Command x 3 Ranger Spells: Ensnaring Strike x 3, Absorb Elements x 3, Hail of Thorns x 3 (modified)

[@jacinto3513]

I love this! Brilliant, I'm trying this.

[@yodaleiaheehoo9960]

Many great ideas here I plan on adapting and using in my own games. This guy doesn't suck

[@michaelmoolick9419]

I'd recommend Attack on Titan as a source for inspiration for how to make giants scary. One completely different idea is Giants casting spells of Giant size and damage. A Fire Giant 5 times as tall as a human, so why doesn't that Fireball cover 5 times the radius and do 5 times the damage?

[@kjs8719]

My level 20 players: oh, it's just a hill giant!" Hill giant with magic armour, 20 levels in sorcerer, and 3x normal hp: *uses thunder step* Players: "oooh shiiiiiiiiiit" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@aaroncunningham8307]

Here's some combat rules for giants that can spice up melee: - When giant hits a creature of a smaller size, the creature must make a Strength Save or be knocked prone. Once per turn the giant can alter a melee attack in one of the following ways: Sweep- The giant makes a single attack roll against all creatures within a 15ft line. This line can't extend beyond the giants reach. Swing- A target who fails their Str Save is pushed 15ft from the giant. Smash- All grounded creatures within 5ft of the target must also make a Str Save against being knocked prone.

[@stevenwhitehead8468]

I'll bet most of you never considered how BIG a giant really is. Look at the "Enlarge" spell. 2x height, 8X WEIGHT!!! A 6' 200lb man, increased to large size is 12' and 1600lbs. Increase to huge and he's 24' (Frost giant) and 12,800lbs!!! with that kind of mass, a giant could kick a medium sized, 200lb enemy 100', EASY!! A little thought and you can see these creatures would be unstoppable. 6+ tons moving at a sprint would hit like a battering ram. Have you ever considered grappling as a giant? Grapple and throw for distance, or better yet, use one player as a bludgeon against another player. 6+ ton of mass can displace any character I've met, except mine. GOLIATHS RULE!!!! P.S. You might be my favorite KZbin personality. Please keep up the GREAT work!!

[@TheDuelManiacs]

A little roleplaying also goes a long way with giants. I had my party encounter two stone giants in the underdark arguing over whether or not the earth is round. They proceeded to attack when the players dared suggest that there was a moon.

[@kevinclements6098]

Awesome! Like your thought process. :)

[@princesskanuta3870]

Giants are amazing, thank you for the tips!

[@magmaadmin4945]

Great video!!! Especially since I’m running Against the Giants for my party. I’m finding some issues with the maps given in the module, too!

[@KevinVideo]

Speaking of making monsters more exciting, I'd like to see a video on making vampires more of a threat and improve them too.

[@tonymoyer2817]

Using a squeeze mechanic for the 20 foot hallways is what you are missing in Against the Giants. Half movement while passing.

[@johnevans5782]

Depending on the location, another option could be to treat stones thrown by giants much like primitive cannonballs. The Cannonballs in and of themselves don;t always do a huge amount of damage, but their impact into the terrain causes it to explode... thus another option is to have the stones count as area of effect damage, say within 10 or even 15 feet. Great video, making a staple enemy more interesting. Thank you!

[@DietBuddah]

The Giants in my homebrew world are vastly different than the ones in standard DND. They have an empire that spans an entire continent, Hill Giants are the druids and rangers, running the husbandry of crops and livestock of the empire, Stone Giants are the artisans and architects, Frost Giants are the military and security, Fire Giants are the smiths and miners, Cloud Giants are the bards, historians, treasurer's, and beautifiers, Storm Giants are the leaders and educators and also the "nuclear option" should the empire face an unprecedented cataclysm. All Giants are intelligent, powerful, and awe inspiring. Basically, if my players are fighting against Giants, they are on the wrong side of the fight.

[@soulsavior2037]

Some of the maps that are 2 tiles wide, are actually 10 foot squares also. Some maps in storm king thunder are like that and the tiles are specifically 10ft. Since I use roll20, I just make the map 2x bigger and everything's all hunky-dory

[@TonyCrenshawsLatte]

How timely. I am in the middle of running Against the Giants from TftYP as well. 😆

[@kasparhauser4472]

Thank you! Very tangible and helpful for my SKT campaign...

[@theDMLair]

Glad it was helpful!

[@genearmstrong9974]

Great video! Thanks

[@dittrich04]

I really like videos like this. Looking into what makes a giant (or any other monster) fun. Fun for the players to encounter and the DM to run. Stat blocks don't always help here. I'd watch videos in this format for elementals, fiends, and dragons. I think they all could use some love.

[@johngillan4475]

5 very good ideas. Thank you

[@danielstohr6391]

Giant spellcaster? I am getting nostalgia from warcraft 2 and the ogre mages hahaha. My thoughts on tactics. I would give stone or fire giants slings for increased range, because think of trebuchets with legs :D it sound pretty scary. Imagine lonely stone giant camps on a hill or behind some walls, bombarding anyone who comes close from enormous distance. The field below is filled with holes and stones to hide behind. I love the idea of retreating being skill challenge. Thank you for that. I think the speed on statblocks only works for tactical movement and large distance travel. But it is not good for sprinting/racing/retreating. Thanks for the video

[@davidhall1311]

Hill Giant raid commander (Max HP double constitution bonus). Increase str by 3, Give giant size great sword 6d6+ str and con, three attacks) AC 19 plate armor (spiked) as a bonus action or reaction (take dmg with in 15 ft) impale (1d10+strength) target restrained. 3 points legendary (1 point attack, throw or impale). Give 8 Hill Giants raiders, max hit point, half plate and shields, giant size long sword (3d8 + str). Give a Hill Giant Sorcerer (witch doctor) use con as spell casting. Give healing, curse, eye bite and any other spells that would fit more of a hag /witch. Trade spells one for one. Now make them all mounted on giant Dire Wolves (increase fire stats by 3) Give them all mounted combat and enjoy.

[@chrisragner3882]

Frost Giant takes deep inhale and breathes a blast of cold: treat as come of cold 🥶!!!

[@bjc414]

I absolutely love the retreat skill challenge idea. I tend to have lots of enemies that are smart enough to try and cut and run but with the PCs my players have its pointless so its either surrender or die, which as a DM I don't always want to give the players enemies to interrogate unless their goal is to capture.

[@forloveofthepage2361]

I like to give giants and other huge+ creatures area damage with melee attacks or awesome blow from old editions. (Str check or get pushed) Inate spells as runes is a flavorful add or give each type of giant frightful presence equivalent. Smell, cold, heat, difficult terrain, etc.

[@andrewhalmo656]

I think that it would be cool if giants could smash the ground like the Hulk to cause the players fall down so they can get advantage on their attacks. Also isn’t it strange that the rune knight gets their ability to carve magical runes from the knowledge of giants, but giants don’t have these runes themselves? Why not have some of them wear runes created by their subrace!

[@rainey82]

I’m looking forward to an opportunity to find all these suggested game mechanics in one place. Possibly hard bound.

[@bradleyrichard9283]

For Giant ranged attacks i pulled from AoT and give some a long range "shotgun" blast (cone of bludgeoning dmg) with varying DC and range depending on the giant type

[@trioofone8911]

Just say that each square in the map is two squares wide (so each square equals 4 total squares). Presto, plenty of space for hill giants

[@Lhight85]

my map workaround would have simply made each sq = 10ft or more. Just using the map as a reference on its design than as a static grid.

[@BleydTorvall]

As big as giants are, they could probably grab a handful of smaller rocks, ones around the size of those used in slings by medium creatures, and hurl them at foes in a spread pattern almost like grapeshot from a cannon. This could give giants an AoE ranged attack to really mix things up and discourage adventurers from trying the bottleneck strategy.

[@keithulhu]

Giants can love, they have big hearts.

[@whiskeygamesnerdstuff789]

Enjoyed the video.

[@VAHelix]

Great video. One of my player's PC has a storm giant sister who is studying how to expand her innate magic. The PC is a tiefling sorcerer. It has made for some fun role-playing and random encounters. BTW, MCDM just put out some new giant stats that look good.

[@primeemperor9196]

Me over here trying to figure out what MCDM is...

[@destonlee2838]

Instead of stones, some giants throw elementals according to their type fire=fire, stone=earth/galebduhr, frost=ice, storm whatever er, any type.stone giants carve wards and glyphs unto stones, word of recall, and target is zapped into some dark dry hole far below below, etc. Stone giants and cloud giants working together will break any party with these tactics. Stone giants trade these glyph stones to other giant types sometimes...

[@Ciofey]

On BOTTLENECKS: When a giant wants to move into or past an enemy at least two sizes smaller, they will just do that. The enemy can use their reaction to jump out of the way (Dex save), or the giant will simply step on them (prone + 30 hp damage, Str save for half). They weigh tonnes. It should be like trying to stop a semi truck by standing in its way. IMPROVEMENT thoughts Use giants in a group (like you suggest). A lonely frost giant on a mammoth may be an easy target. A group of frost giants riding white dragons or remorhazes, using ice troll slaves as shock troops, certainly aren't. Trolls in waves have time to regenerate, while throwing rocks. Use giants intelligently. An average human has Int 10, but a human can have Int 20. So if an average frost giant has Int 9, they can have Int 19. As a race they may be a little less intelligent, but as individuals there can be surprising variations. Make giants individuals. Different temperaments, drives and goals, looks and clothes, etc. If the players can't predict the giants, the giants stay interesting. Your PCs are no more than annoying vermin only to most giants, not all giants. And if they speak giant? Possibilities.

[@TheAnon26]

Heh. I once reeeeally messed up my DMs plans with locking down a homebrewed boss based on a frost giant zombie with plant growth. 2 out of 4 characters could just ignore it due to class (ranger, druid) and our fighter got a friendly freedom of movement from the druid. And a warlock doesnt really care about moving that much anyway. But since the boss started out as a fast wolfy thing... Well, it definitely became way easier to fight. Although admittedly less fun than it couldve been, so yeah... Kinda messed up there. Felt right for the character though. (Fun fact, plant growth is ridiculously hard to get rid of - as my DM found when he tried to disspell it, only for us to find out that while its *caused* by magic, its not a magical effect... Its just stupidly overgrown mundane plants. )

[@keelsron634]

I ran T.O.A and in it the party was resting at Camp Vengeance so I threw 4 Frost Giants & 2 Frost Wolves at them at 300 or so feet away so a lot of the party could not engage the would be attackers at this distance however I suggested they take the dodge action & all run towards them with all the npc characters. So the fight went like a scene out of Attack on Titian with some hits killing some npc with just a single rock, away ways the party of course was able to win the battle without losing a single party member.

[@minnion2871]

My thought that could be kind of fun, let them just be able to use anything they can get their hands on as their "Rock throw" attack.... Including any players they can grapple.... (Picking up the barbarian and throwing him at the wizard to knock them both prone while doing 30 damage to at least one of them if the attack misses.... ) This would make getting within melee combat dangerous, and perhaps make the "Rock throw" a bit more varied and fun as it could be things other than rocks they're throwing around.... Just imagine the Giant tossing the players horse at them after grabbing them and throwing them off their horse... I also like what they did with that four armed giant in the Spelljammer book where if it reduces the HP of anything it has grappled to zero it just kills it outright ripping it apart... Could also give a giant a Balista for it's ranged attack.... (Basically the giant uses it as a normal sized human uses a crossbow, but it does Balista damage as per the rules from the DMG in regards to siege weapons....) Or if your setting has firearms and cannons just give the giant a literal hand cannon..... I'd also say that it's melee attacks should have knockback or knockdown or grapple on hit variants.... And perhaps a stomp attack that just autocrits on prone targets that fail a reflex saving throw.... Also for some reasion a giant in a wheelchair just kind of seems like it could be a fun twist on a fight with a giant, because at that point you're basically fighting a monstertruck with arms....

[@RobKinneySouthpaw]

I liked what they did with the storm giant in CR recently. Battlefield control by grappling the ship, then causing a complication by knocking a giant hole in the hull. And, while it was a giant bag of hit points, it was a giant bag of hit points no one could focus on, because there were other combatants in the mix and one of the other combatants was a flying spellcaster. Rough encounter

[@knightbellstuff72]

Mm Bacon... Also, Stomp: causes an earthquake that throws players 15 ft away (Dex DC 16) Kick: kicks the player, successful hit also has a chance to move players back 10ft Finally grapple and throw after 2 failed strength throws. For stone giants in particular the stomp also juts stone from the earth causing a temporary wall for 2 turns and gives them 1/2 cover. Just some thoughts whilst listening to video. Didn't really look at their stat blocks to see if they have any of those moves

[@danielramage6232]

Great video! My player’s walked all over my giants before, but the next time the giants will be way more interesting.

[@sleepinggiant4062]

They need abilities that reflect their size that can affect medium sized creatures appropriately and send them sprawling - stomp, throw, kick. Reach used to make giants extremely dangerous. The original 'Against the Giants' module was full of caster giants. Eat-ins? No, eh-tin.

[@grandarchon6969]

I'm currently running a homebrew adventure where a necromancer has been raising zombie frost giants in an ancient tomb of heroes. The zombie passive, plus their constitution bonus is pretty nasty. Also with a necromancer death hag flying around casting spells etc. And the zombies have different templates, like one is ranger with a zombie polar bear, etc. Fun adventure for level 8 players. Also, my players might be playing their backup characters soon.

[@chazzerine7650]

To me, seeing a giant's massive club or greatsword, and reading that it only targets one enemy is a big letdown. I think it'd be cool to allow them to make sweeping attacks/slam the ground, forcing multiple PCs to make saving throws to avoid damage.

[@davidhall1311]

I give them sweeping up to three targets at half damage.

[@dahelmang]

Something that big really should have a powerful grapple and squeeze ability. If you are the size of a mouse their attacks should reflect that.

[@Tristan_Shuler]

For minions, really lean into the themes of the Giants. For Frost Giants, give them some Winter Wolves, Yetis, and maybe even a Young Remorhaz or two. Storm Giants could have a plethora of water monsters, water elementals, and Sahaguins. Fire Giants with Azers, Efreeti, and Hell Hounds. Stone Giants with Earth Elementals, Xorns, and Bulettes. Hill Giants with....well they eat a lot don't they. Not sure if they would have any actual minions since they are stupid and hungry. Maybe their encampment had some Giant Goats, Horses, or even Dinosaurs that were being prepared for meals. Now let the players decide what to do with that!

[@richardgesegnet5481]

I always envisioned giants with class levels since they have brutally been fighting for eons against dragons, genies, and other planar threats that are almost god like in power. The original adventurers

[@Hedron-Design]

Spicing up giants is always good.

[@backonlazer791]

I think practically any spell with "stone" in the name first Stone Giants very well, and they should be able to cast them innately. I'm not saying every Stone Giant should be able to cast all of those spells, but making a few different variant Stone Giants with different abilities would be great. Meld into Stone and maybe Magic Stone they can use to imbue their rocks for scouts, Stone Shape with increased dimensions from 5x5 to 15x15 and Wall of Stone for artisans, and Stoneskin (without concentration) and Flesh to Stone for powerful warriors.

[@Mr_GoR_]

"How long have you been a DM anyway?" 🤣👌

[@tarzanjr23]

Larger creatues should have inherent AoE or Line effects to smaller targets. A giant swinging a sword should be able to sweep the area around them, similar to Sauron in Lotr. I have the same issue with dragons...are you telling me a dragons gigantic mouth will only hit 1 character?

[@millersj]

Check out MCDM's Flee, Mortals! They're reworking hundreds of classic D&D monsters, making them more interesting. Last month they released a packet with a bunch of new giants.

[@aqacefan]

5:08 Dígalo en español... "El Gigante Loma hace pedo para usar este mágico." 🤣

[@u.v.s.5583]

I've got the fix. Give them scales, wings and awesomely formidable breath weapons.

[@neonmanatee1952]

I would like to make hill giants Druids due to being more apart of the land. Also a monk skills because I wanted to do a King Hippo reference.

[@geeareuu]

and I'm going to give my Hill Giants Stinking Cloud but they'll burp it out like a breath weapon!

[@chadcarreras4821]

I ran a Giant encounter a few sessions back and yeah...it was pretty lame because I limited myself to what was in the stat block. If only I'd seen this first, it could've been WAY better. Oh well. Keep up the awesome content!