Let's take a
look at Giants in OD&D and see how we might tweak them for our own version:
In OD&D,
in Volume 2 Monsters & Treasure it lists out Giants as one Type of Monster,
with the first entry as follows:
Then it
describes Giants as follows:
GIANTS: As
stated in CHAINMAIL, Giants act as mobile light catapults with a 20"
range. Due to their huge weapons all Giants will score two dice of damage when
hitting an opponent. Wandering Giants will carry from 1,000 to 6,000 Gold
Pieces with them in their usual copious shoulder sack. Note that there can be
many types of Giants including the following:
Hill Giants are the most common (60%) while the others are seldom encountered (10% each type, total 40%). Those Giants who abide in castles sometimes have additional guards. There is a 50% chance that some other monster will be there: die 1-4 = a Hydra of from 5 - 10 heads; die 5 or 6 is either from 6 - 36 wolves or from 3 - 18 bears.
The above is
the original write-up formatted to include here.
Many
questions can be raised and I am only going to address a few of them in this
post. We can safely assume that the Hill Giant acts as the Light Catapult, but
then we see the Stone Giant acts as a Heavy Catapult, so what do the rest of
the giants act as, Light Catapult or Heavy Catapult? Is the Hill Giant the only
one that acts as a Light Catapult? Are the listed damage done by each giant
enough or should it be more?
In addition,
the first supplement Greyhawk added Storm Giants and Titans to the mix.
STORM
GIANTS: These creatures are found only in out-of-the-way places. Typically
their abode will be a castle built underwater or on a mountain or upon a cloud.
They are intelligent, about 24' tall, and do 3 + 3 dice damage (unless the
alternate damage system is used). These giants are able to employ a Control
Weather spell in order to cause a storm—their favorite kind of weather—when
angry or in battle.
TITANS:
Appearing as Giants, these creatures are far more handsome and intelligent. In
fact. Titans are typically more intelligent than men. They are equal to Storm
Giants in attack, although they may employ spells instead. Armor varies from
class 2 to -3. They normally move 15" per turn, but certain Titans (10%)
move at 21" per turn. Hit dice vary from 75 to 100 points possible damage.
Spell use includes up to 7th level Cleric and 7th level Magic-User, total
spells 2 per level. Usually only 1 will appear, but there are 10 total. In Lair
05%. Treasure Type A' +1.
A 24 foot
tall Storm Giant weighs in at 12,130 pounds and the height of Titans is not
given so we will assume it is the same as that of Storm Giants.
Now in the original rules it does not explicitly state
any difference between what an average Strength and an 18 Strength can carry,
it just says that Encumbeance (Weight which can be carried is for a Man 1,750
GP or 175 pounds, the Maximum Load/Person at Half Normal movement is 3000 GP or
300 Pounds. Now is that 300 pounds the Maximum for a battle hearty,
fantastically in shape average Strength or is that the Maximum for an 18
Strength, the rules do not say.
Now in Greyhawk the first supplement the following
details are added to Strength:
From the original rules 9-12 is Average, so we can see
from the table that Low Average (7-9) has a normal encumbrance, High Average
10-12 adds 5 pounds, Above Average 13-15 adds 10 pounds, a 16 adds 15 pounds, a
17 adds 30 pounds and an 18 adds 50 pounds.
In
the original rules a Potion of Giant Strength gives the recipient full Giant
prowess, including two dice of damage when he scores a hit. Girdle of Giant
Strength: Wearing this device bestows the strength and hit probability (if
greater than the wearer's own) of Hill Giant.
In
Greyhawk in reference to a Potion of Giant Strength is says: Referee to roll to
determine which one of the various types will apply to the effects of the
potion.
So
given all of the above, how do you run this is OD&D and how Strong is a
Giant not to mention Ogres and Trolls (since there are a Gauntlets of Ogre
Power and Gauntlets of Ogre Strength).
Here
is my attempt to redo the first the Strength Table and Define Giant Strength
and Ogre Strength. Also I am going to clarify that Weight Allowed is the normal
weight carried without penalty and the Encumbered Weight is the maximum weight
that can be carried at half speed and Max Lift is the Maximum amount that can
be lifted over head in perfect circumstances or in life or death situations.
The Revised Write-up below assumes that you are using the Greyhawk supplement.
Giants do two dice or three dice of damage plus the damage bonus noted in the
revised table. Ogres and Trolls do one die damage plus the bonus noted in the
revised table.
Here
is same Table based on just using the 3LBBs the original rules without the
Supplement and without Extraordinary Strength:
Giants
do two dice or three dice of damage plus the damage bonus noted in the revised
table. Ogres and Trolls do one die damage plus the bonus noted in the revised
table.
In
all cases using either of the revised tables, PCs using Magic Potions, Girdles
or Gauntlets gain the noted benefits for Ogre or Giant Strength.
This
considerably powers up Ogres, Trolls and Giants. So play testing is needed and
as a consequence they should be more rare in their appearance, or more of the
nature of you have to go looking for them.
This
is one attempt to take into account the size of the monster, your comments are
welcome. Do you think we should make the monsters smaller or do something else
or do you like the above? Just for the record, I like the above. ;)
The two tables below update everything for adding Storm Giants and Titans to the mix.
