13.6 Giant

The massive ST bonuses previously assigned to these creatures reflected their great size, which is now handled by giving them great Size. Therefore, ST bonuses can be modest, though most types are still physically oriented. To a certain extent, the same goes for CO, the other area where they had remarkable stat bonuses. And it looks like the large bonuses are on the Offensive types, who have a good boost at their level, so it is probably all good.

All of the giant races except Titans had penalties to IN. Except for the Titans, all giant races had a suggest professional limitation of no spell users (though some of the giants had innate magical talent), while the lesser giants were confined to fighters only. Changing multiple giants to spell-casting types by default is a major change, and it is further exacerbated by the large increase in giant level, which gives them access to more and more powerful spells even for those still left their original spell list(s) only. Giants were big menaces with a touch of magic, now the magic is much more prominent. It has also greatly changed some of the relative strengths of giants. Stone giants have gone from having half the OB of a storm giant to having twice the OB of a storm giant. This is a theme I expect to return to more than once as I go through the individual entries.

Oh, and many of the giants wear armor, while casting Essence spells. This doesn't matter for innate spells, but if they are regular casters, then you need to worry about giving them ranks in Transcendence. They also tend to fight with either shields or two-handed weapons, making Essence-based spell-casting awkward. Innate spells also gets around that.

Please double check all giants whose lists give them elemental bolts have listed Direct Spells skill.

While weights are given in the descriptions, they are missing from the Size lines in the stat boxes.

Cyclops: These giants had the SL crit class in C&T, so if you wanted to push them up to Gigantic, it would probably be okay. Given that they have no other really special abilities (they have been granted rock-throwing, though in previous editions they lacked this common ability of the true giants [and trolls]), they could use the added Size to be impressive. Their level has actually gone down a third compared to C&T. Give them some respect.

Cloud Giant: Note that I am not sticking "Greater" on the names of any of the giants. That's the default assumption, that a giant is a greater giant. The lesser giants are the exception and probably aren't even actual races of their own and indeed, if they were not considered to be the cast off monstrous births of the greater giants, would belong in the Monsters rather than the Races. Putting "Greater" and "Lesser" into their actual names is needless clutter and helps make the book less readable.

Okay, originally, they had four lists. That's quite a few. I can see how that could have been an issue. Still, I would looked at reducing the number of lists they actually can cast, but having them select from the traditional lists (or modify the possible lists, if it seems desirable). So, something like "each Cloud Giant can innately cast spells from any two of the following lists...".

Fire Giant: I'm not clear on why Luminous Elements was substituted for Fire Law. Are these now Fire-But-Also-Light(ning) Giants?

Again, we see unnecessary enforcement of elemental theory on non-elementals. You've just thrown out the balance of power in favor the fire giants over the frost giants. Jotunheim will never be the same.

Forest Giant: They only had two lists, and they don't even have those lists now! Is it because of the bow? Is it just stereotyping where you see a woodsy guy, even if a very tall one, and see the bow and go "Oh, that must be a Ranger"?

"Sometimes mistaken for large trees, Forest Giants vary in height between 13' and 15' tall," Have you never seen trees? 15' is a short tree. Mid-sized apple tree.

I'm not convinced that they even need great tracking skill to find large creatures such as they hunt, especially with some wolf buddies to sniff them out. The stealthiness is pretty funny, though. Definitely keep that.

Frost Giant: Not only are fire giants now resistant to cold rather than vulnerable, but frost giants have fewer hits and worse OBs, so they'll lose in a physical confrontation now.

Frost giants have also shrunk. In C&T, they are 17'-19' tall. It would be a coin flip as to whether C&M changed this to put them on a par with fire giants or simply did so in error, except that the Size code is still H rather than L, so it was definitely a mistake on their part. Which does not mean that it cannot be a deliberate change on your part, but you should be aware of it.

The cold weapons are new. What's the story there? Are they supposed to be magical? Does the giant blow on the weapon to cool it to frigid temperatures? Do they leave their weapons in icy water until needed to ensure that they drain the warmth from those struck?

Hill Giant: Why hill giants are made Semis for a single list is baffling. The list has been changed, but this does not seem a very significant change. The increased level is probably more important in changing their magical potential.

Funguses? Fungi!

Mountain Giant: For two lists, mountain giants have been dragged down to hybrid spell casters with a handful of lists, in exchange for hits and main OB actually lower than their C&T originals! Then we get elemental weirdnesses thrust upon them, just because they like to live in the mountains. The change to hybrid doesn't even match their lifestyle. They build fortresses. Fighters build fortresses. Spellcasters build towers. Actually, if I was giving them an archetype other than Offensive, I think it would be Skill. They seem to do a lot of building.

"These spells also help them in constructing their fortresses." This sentence pops out of nowhere. At no place in the descriptive text were their spell lists even mentioned before.

Stone Giant: The spell list has been changed to Solid Elements. Guess these are Stone-and-Ice Giants now.

Storm Giant: This once fearsome combatant has gone from 180 & 100 OBs to double digits, and has fewer hits than before. Four lists might have proved difficult to pay for as innate with all the other abilities granted (though as I noted in the talents, I don't think that rock-throwing itself should be costing DP, since humans can do that for free, and a bunch has been spent on other talents that this giant did not previously have), but it would have still been possible to do as I suggested under the cloud giant and have each storm giant have some, rather than all, of their racial lists. Or even cut back to the four (possibly plus "Lofty Bridge") and make them a Semi rather than a full Spell user. Even that ought to give them some decent punch back, though I definitely prefer that the default be the traditional RM fighting giant.

"150M(5)elbP" What kind of attack is this? I have seen "elb" somewhere before, IIRC. Is it an "elbow" attack? It isn't listed on Table T-3.11. Oh, it probably is "electrical bolt" or something like that. Still, the codes aren't consistent, and they need to be. What does the "P" indicate, though? Is it just a stray keystroke, or is it meant to convey some unlisted property of the attack? Oh, wait, is it "elemental bolt"? That would make sense given their lists give them multiple options. Although, those options include Shock Bolt, which is not Medium.

Water Giant: Quadrupled in level, but with a lower OB and fewer hits. This is what turning them into spell-casters does. They still only get two lists, and one of them has been changed, so now these are Water-and-I-Guess-Also-Wind Giants.

Lesser Giants: I appreciate that the classifications of "Minor", "Normal", and "Major" were blandly generic and would welcome improvements. However, "Servant", "Thrall", and "Vassal" all imply a place within a functional and fairly formal social hierarchy. Given that they usually live alone and lack the intellectual and social sophistication to be more than dull lackeys (not even a giant would consider a Servant Giant fit as a butler, and certainly none could grasp the requirements of an oath of vassalage), these terms seem inappropriate. They would be more suitable for the Animalistic flaw than many creatures who have received that flaw in this volume. Their IQ rating was but one step above non-intelligence and they are not "intelligent in the same way as other races". The only reason to place them among the races is that they are not a distinct biological group, but the deformed offspring of the other giants.

All of the lesser giants have been listed as 9'-20' tall. The original heights were 9'-12' for minor lesser giants, 13'-15' for major lesser giants, and 16'-20' for major lesser giants. Height is likely the sole deciding factor in how these giants get categorized. The height difference is important, since they are not all the same Size.

Why do Thrall Giants have Critical Reduction? Normal lesser giants had the same crit resistance (LA) as minor lesser giants in previous editions. Critical Reduction should be used extremely sparingly. It's the very sort of special casing that the Size system is meant to remove.

For alternative names, perhaps "Least Giant", "Brute Giant", and "Savage Giant"?

"• Connection to Ancient Races: Aside from the Jinteni and Lords of Essænce, other ancient
hands could be involved. The Earthwardens of old (masters of nature magic in the Interregnum)
or the Titans (Masters of Emer in the Second Era) had their own profound lore. The
Earthwardens were known to hide knowledge in enchanted ways (e.g. the Coral Roads and
hidden monoliths). The Book could be a compendium of earth lore and chronomancy they
compiled just before they vanished. Alternatively, perhaps the legendary dragon Voriig Kye (an
ancient Dragonlord who loves knowledge) had a claw in this – maybe he collected the annals of
the world and bound them in one volume ages past. In any case, the style of the Book (its
language, script, and materials) might give clues: e.g., if written in high Loremaster (Enris-Sokal) script on
Emerian vellum it leans Loremaster; if inscribed on indestructible sheets of red laen (crystal)
with First Era glyphs, it leans Lords of Essænce."

okay, I think I got all 10 posts by all 6 spam bot users removed... and all of those users banned. Whew.

"• Holy or Unholy Origin: A more esoteric legend claims the Book of Days was a gift (or curse)
from the gods – perhaps the Lords of Orhan (the gods of Light) granted it to early Loremasters,
or conversely, the Dark Gods of the Unlife created a blasphemous parody of prophecy and this
is the result. The Priests Arnak (servants of the Unlife) have apocalyptic scriptures; could the
Book be one of those, containing the countdown to the Shadow's victory day? This theory
usually surfaces among extremist clerics. There is talk in some cults of "the Black Chronicle"
which details the inevitable triumph of the Dark. It's possible the Book of Days is that very
chronicle, or that the cults want others to think it is, in order to sow fear. If the Book had a divine origin, it might radiate either a holy aura or a palpable dread, depending on alignment –
something PCs might detect with the right spells."

"• Lords of Essænce Theory: Another school of thought links the Book to the Lords of Essænce
– the godlike ancient beings (K'ta'viiri) who ruled in the First Era. One of the surviving
Essænce Lords, Ondoval, famously sought out a legendary tome called the Book of Gates that
allowed travel through time and planes. The Book of Days might be a sister artifact to that, or
even an alternate name in some texts. Perhaps the Book of Days was a creation of the Althans or
K'ta'viiri as a sort of temporal log or calibration manual for Kulthea's timeline. It could have
been used aboard their sky-cities or space stations to track the flow of time on Kulthea relative
to other worlds. If that's the case, the tome might not be a book in the normal sense at all, but a
highly advanced device disguised as a large bound manuscript (for instance, crystal pages that
rewrite themselves, or an artifact that interfaces with the Eyes of Utha). The Lords of Essænce
were known to leave behind techno-magic devices of great power, so this theory cannot be
discounted."

"Origins and Nature
Ancient Origins: No one is completely certain who created the Book of Days, but various theories
abound in scholarly circles:
• Loremaster Theory: Many believe the Book was compiled or written by the early
Loremasters of the Second Era, perhaps even by the great Andraax himself. In support of this,
they note that Andraax was deeply concerned with preserving knowledge and maintaining
balance. According to popular belief, he founded the Library of Nomikos around SE 2530
specifically to safeguard dangerous knowledge for the good of the world. The Book of Days,
which catalogues events across time, would fit this mission. Some suggest Andraax gathered
prophecies, astrological data (remember the comet's cycle), and his own foresight to create a
guide to the future – a tome to help the Loremasters anticipate great threats (like the return of
the Unlife, the Crowns of Empire, etc.). If true, the Book could date back to the early Second
Era, hidden and passed down secretly among Loremaster Grandmasters. However, if the PCs
are the ones to recover it during the Grand Campaign, that implies it was lost or deliberately
sequestered at some point – perhaps during the Wars of Dominion a millennia ago, when the
Loremasters were nearly wiped out and many treasures scattered."

Quote from my campaign notes run through Chat GPT so as to render them comprehensible to other humans.

"The Book of Days
Overview: The Book of Days is a fabled artifact – a massive ancient tome whose very pages are said to
contain the secrets of time itself. In the context of the Grand Campaign, the Book of Days emerges as a
pivotal plot element: at some point in Book II of the campaign, the player characters acquire this
powerful and dangerous magical tome. It is no ordinary spell book or historical text; rather, it is an
object of profound cosmic significance. Possessing it can change the course of the entire campaign, for
good or ill. The Book's nature and origin are cloaked in myth and conjecture, and many factions covet
it – or fear it – from the immortal Loremasters to the sinister servants of the Unlife. Below is a sourcebook-style exploration of what the Book of Days is, what it contains, and how it might influence
a campaign."

Hard to keep up... I only have the Moderation Privs so I can't turn off New Users or require all New Threads to be moderated for a while. Some threads did get flagged for moderation yesterday, so that was easy to just remove all the spam ones and Post the single real one.

FYI archetypes are correct in the combat stat tables, and wrong (when they differ) in the individual stat blocks. Known (and reported) issue, all of them have been lined up to be fixed.

This picture link to picture on ICE discord server  from a scene of our running Space Master Privateers RPG session as fascinating example how important vehicular rules and ship stats can be for Scifi RPGs- therefore here follows a detailed podcast about the Tech Law Privateers: Vehicle Manual to help all listeners with a vehicle combat guide:

link to podcast discussion

Have fun!
Micael