Half-Giants

Half-giants are a relatively new addition to the races of Athas. The union was originally the result of magical experiments conducted by the sorcerer-kings. When the sorcerer-kings first took control of the cities of the Tyr Region, they used their arcane powers to cross humans with giants, striving to create warriors and laborers of gigantic proportions. Because of this turbulent beginning, the half-giants of today's Athas have no culture of their own to draw upon, no ancient traditions to turn to for inspiration.

From giants, this race inherited tremendous size and strength, as well as low intelligence. (Half-giants average 10 to 12 feet high and weigh upwards of 1,600 pounds.) From humans, they received curiosity, an interest in cooperation and communication, and a general tendency toward kindness. Although half-giants have human features, these tend to be exaggerated in some way. All existing half-giants are the descendants of the original magically created half-giants. They can only produce offspring by mating with other half-giants; they cannot reproduce with either giants or humans. Likewise, there's no natural way for giants and humans to mate and produce children in today's Athas.

Like half-elves, half-giants don't gather in communities of their own. Instead they live in the human cities or in the wilderness tribes, absorbing the culture of those around them. They are friendly and eager to please whoever they meet. If they are accepted in turn, the half giants quickly adopt the lifestyles, skills, and values of those they've come in contact with. A half-giant character presented with a new situation should examine the roles of the people there, determine how he best fits in, and then start performing tasks accordingly. For example, a half-giant who happens upon a dwarf quarry might watch for a time, then start quarrying stone. He won't necessarily work with the dwarves, but he'll continue to perform like his neighbors for as long as he can make a decent living.

Half-giants aren't strictly bound to perform as those they see around them, nor are they restricted from moving on when they see fit. If a situation isn't beneficial, or if a half-giant can't perform well in a given environment, he won't imitate the nearby culture. In all cases, half-giants simply aren't as emotionally attached to objects or work as are other races.

Players running half-giant characters should be ready to switch goals and lifestyles quickly, usually according to charismatic individuals their characters might meet. They also need to remember that their characters have great size and strength, and so must play accordingly. For the most part, Athas is a human-sized world. Half-giants often have trouble with things that other characters take for granted, such as doors, chairs, and even buildings.

Characters of this race can select any warrior class, or they can opt to be clerics or psionicists. Half-giants also have a few multi-class options to choose from.

Half-giants switch attitudes very quickly, taking on new values to fit new situations. This malleable attitude is handled by a changing alignment. A half-giant character selects one aspect of his alignment to remain fixed at the time the character is created (either the "lawful/neutral/chaotic" side, or the "good/neutral/evil" side). The other aspect is determined at the start of each day of game time. The character is bound to that alignment combination until he sleeps and wakes again. For example, if a half-giant has a fixed "good" side, then each morning he chooses to be either lawful good, neutral good, or chaotic good. Half-giant psionicists must have a fixed lawful or neutral aspect; they can't be chaotic.

Although this alignment change isn't mandatory, it should certainly be invoked in role playing situations as a reaction to extreme changes in a half-giant's environment. A half giant's nature is to switch his alignment aspect to imitate or otherwise react to a significant change around him. Of course, there needs to be a good reason for a half-giant's flexible alignment aspect to change, and DMs are free to disallow any change that doesn't fit the current storyline. This shifting alignment should be a hindrance as often as it serves to help a half-giant character. It's up to the DM to make sure both good and bad events occur throughout a campaign.

A half-giant character doubles his Hit Die rolls, no matter what his character class is. Add any bonuses for high Constitution scores after doubling the roll of the die. For example, a half giant cleric rolls d8 and multiplies the result by 2 to determine his hit points at each level.

All personal items, such as clothing, armor, weapons, and food, cost double for half giant characters. Transportation and lodging, when they're available at all, are also considerably more expensive. Most things aren't built to support the weight of a half-giant, and even damage.

Half-giants can live to a maximum age of 220 years.

Suggested Experience Points

Each game session, Half-Giant PCs add 1% of their next level jump xps if they consistently take their extra bulk and height into account (particularly when this brings disadvantage). They add another 1% for being influenced by powerful personalities, and at the DM's option, sometimes receive 1% or even greater bonuses for alignment shifts in delicate situations that further the adventure story.

Racial Benefits

Half-giants have 25 points to spend. Up to 5 points can be saved for spending in the traits and disadvantages stage of character creation. The points may be spent of the following characteristics: