Giant, Stone

Stone giants are lean, but muscular. Their hard, hairless flesh is smooth and gray, making it easy for them to blend in with their mountainous surroundings. Their gaunt facial features and deep, sunken black eyes make them seem perpetually grim.

The typical stone giant is 18' tall and weighs 9,000 pounds because of its dense flesh. Females are a little shorter and lighter. The giants' natural Armor Class is 0. They do not wear armor to augment that, preferring to wear stone-colored garments. Stone giants can live to be 800 years old.

Stone giants, like several other giant races, carry some of their belongings with them. They leave their more valuable items in their lairs, however. A typical stone giant's bag will contain 2-24 (2d12) throwing rocks, a portion of the giant's wealth, and 1-8 additional common items.

Stone giants speak their own language, as well as those of hill giants, cloud giants, and storm giants. In addition, 50% of the giants also speak the common language of man.

Combat: When possible, stone giants fight from a distance. They are able to hurl rocks a minimum distance of 3 yards to a maximum distance of 300 yards, doing 3-30 (3d10) points of damage with each rock. These giants are able to catch stones and similar missiles 90% of the time. A favorite tactic of stone giants is to stand nearly motionless against rocks, blending in with the background, then moving forward to throw rocks, surprising their foes. Many giants set up piles of rocks near their lair which can be triggered like an avalanche when intruders get too close.

When stone giants are forced into melee combat, they use large clubs chiseled out of stone which do 2-12 (2d6) +8 points of damage; double normal (man-sized) club damage plus the giant's strength bonus.

Habitat/Society: Stone giants prefer to dwell in deep caves high on rocky, storm-swept mountains. They normally live in the company of their relatives, though such a clans usually include no more than 10 giants. Clans of giants do locate their lairs near each other, however, for a sense of community and protection. A mountain range commonly has 2-8 clans lairing there.

Stone giants are crude artists, painting scenes of their lives on the walls of their lairs and on tanned hide scrolls. Some giants are fond of music and play stone flutes and drums. Others make simple jewelry, fashioning painted stone beads into necklaces.

If eight or more giants are encountered in a clan's lair, one quarter will be female, one quarter male, and the remainder offspring. To determine a giant's maturity, roll 1d4. A roll of 4 indicates an infant with no combat ability and hit points of an ogre; rolls of 1-3 indicate older progeny with hit dice, damage, and attack rolls equal to those of a hill giant.

One in 20 stone giants develop special abilities related to their environment. These giant elders are able to stone shape, stone tell, and transmute rock to mud (or mud to rock) once per day as if they were 5th level mages. One in 10 of these exceptional giants can also cast spells as if he were a 3rd level wizard. Their spells can be determined randomly or chosen to fit a specific encounter as desired. Frequently these giants are able to rise to positions of power and are considered the leaders of several clans.

Stone giants are usually found in mountain ranges in temperate and sub-tropical areas. Stone giants are fond of cave bears and 75% of their lairs will have 1-8 of them as guards. The few stone giants living in cold areas use polar bears as guards.

Stone giants are playful, especially at night. They are fond of rock throwing contests and other games that test their might. Tribes of giants will often gather to toss rocks at each other, the losing side being the giants who are hit more often.

Ecology: Stone giants are omnivorous, but they will eat only fresh food. They cook and eat their meat quickly after it has been killed. They use the skins of the animals for blankets and trade what they do not need with nearby human communities in exchange for bolts of cloth or herd animals which they use for food. Many stone giant bands keep giant goats in and near their lairs so they will have a continuous supply of milk, cheese, and butter.