Earth Giant
Creatures of stone and rock, earth giants are mean, uncouth, territorial monsters that often enslave smaller, weaker creatures.
Earth giants live in mountainside caves, as well as valleys, rocky barrens, canyons, and foothills.
Hill GiantLevel 13 BruteLarge natural humanoid (giant)XP 800Initiative +5 Senses Perception +7
HP 159; Bloodied 79
AC 25; Fortitude 27, Reflex 21, Will 23
Speed 8Greatclub (standard; at-will) WeaponReach 2; +15 vs. AC; 1d10 + 5 damage.Sweeping Club (standard; encounter) WeaponThe hill giant makes a greatclub attack against two Medium or smaller targets; on a hit, the target is pushed 2 squares and knocked prone.Hurl Rock (standard; at-will) Ranged 8/16; +15 vs. AC; 2d6 + 5 damage.Alignment Chaotic evil Languages GiantSkills Athletics +16 Str 21 (+11) Dex 8 (+5) Wis 12 (+7) Con 19 (+10) Int 7 (+4) Cha 9 (+5) Equipment hide armor, greatclub
Hill Giant Tactics
A hill giant hurls rocks at opponents until they close to melee range, at which point it switches to using its greatclub. As soon as two smaller targets come within reach, the giant uses sweeping club to knock them prone. A hill giant is wise enough to flee if hopelessly outmatched.
Earth TitanLevel 16 Elite BruteHuge elemental humanoid (earth, giant)XP 2,800Initiative +7Senses Perception +9
HP 384; Bloodied 192
AC 31; Fortitude 33, Reflex 27, Will 28
Immune petrification
Saving Throws +2
Speed 6
Action Points 1 Slam (standard; at-will)Reach 3; +20 vs. AC; 2d10 + 6 damage.Double Attack (standard; at-will)The earth titan makes two slam attacks.Hurl Rock (standard; at-will) Ranged 20; +18 vs. Reflex; 2d8 + 6 damage, and the target is dazed (save ends).Alignment Chaotic evil Languages Giant, PrimordialSkills Athletics +19 Str 23 (+14) Dex 8 (+7) Wis 12 (+9) Con 22 (+14) Int 11 (+8) Cha 13 (+9)
Earth Titan Tactics
An earth titan hurls rocks at foes until they close to melee, at which point it pounds them with its stony fists, spending its action point to use earth shock. Unlike their hill giants cousins, earth titans stand their ground even when faced with a losing battle.
Earth Giant Lore
A character knows the following information with a successful Arcana check.
DC 20: Earth giants are the most brutish of giantkind. They inhabit badlands, deserts, and canyons, though lesser earth giants (such as hill giants) often gather in high mountain valleys and along mountain passes.
DC 25: Many of the dwarves who were enslaved by the earth giants were transformed as galeb duhrs. Some of them continue to serve earth giants, while others escaped and view giants (and earth giants in particular) as bitter enemies.
Encounter Groups
Earth giants associate with other giants, as well as with galeb duhrs and other monstrous and savage humanoids.
Level 13 Encounter (XP 4,000)
3 hill giants (level 13 brute)
1 displacer beast packlord (level 13 elite skirmisher)
Level 17 Encounter (XP 7,800)
1 earth titan (level 16 elite brute)
2 hill giants (level 13 brute)
2 war trolls (level 14 soldier)
4 ogre bludgeoneers (level 16 minion)
* * *
As a staple of fantasy, giants are instantly recognizable to any player: big, often brutish creatures that look like people, wielding enormous clubs or axes. They make great opponents at any tier of play, and we naturally wanted to keep them in 4th Edition.
However, giants as a group had some problems. Many giants of previous editions suffered from being too similar to each other. Hill giants and stone giants, for example, behaved almost identically in combat and differed only in Armor Class and Intelligence (stone giant elders were a rare exception.) Yet at the same time, giants as a whole had little in common other than being good at throwing and catching rocks, and carrying around sacks filled with random junk. That’s just not enough to hang an entire creature type on.
Later Monster Manuals introduced more interesting kinds of giants, such as the death giant, wrapped in captive souls, and the eldritch giant, a highly intelligent being that could use magic items and spells to devastating effect. The fantastic qualities of such giants made them more distinctive and challenging opponents. As part of the overall 4th Edition design philosophy, we took the best of those ideas to give giants more variety. At the same time, we decided to emphasize the more supernatural aspects of giants as a unifying factor.
The new cosmology, rooted in a great war between the primordial first creators and the gods, offered a way to incorporate giants into the setting. Many existing giants already embodied elemental forces, such as stone, fire, and wind. The natural next step was to make them into elemental beings, the first creatures shaped by the primordials to assist them in their work. This approach actually returned giants to their Classical roots as creatures embodying natural forces. In keeping with that ancestry, titans also became an elemental race, precursors to and creators of the lesser giants. Now a titan isn’t just a big dude with a ton of spell-like powers, but a powerful leader whose nature is closely tied to an element or kind of energy.
Having been forged in the Elemental Chaos, giants moved into other worlds. The fall of the primordials drove their creations into the planes, where they adapted to local conditions and became less closely tied to their origins. Some giants built mighty empires in the world, enslaving the dwarves in so doing. By adding this backstory to dwarves in the implied setting of the game, we were able to provide some roleplaying hooks for that race, as well as better define the roles of elemental dwarflike creatures in the setting, most notably galeb duhr and azers.
A few, such as the death giants, embody their adopted planes more than the elements—but that heritage lives on, along with their memories of ancient power and empire. When the primordials stir, giants are naturally drawn to their side in order to fight once more for control of creation.
Giants are hulking humanoid creatures with fundamental ties to the world, be that bedrock, uncontrollable fires, raging storms, or inevitable death. The first giants were massive titans of fire and frost, storm and stone. These giants labored under primordial lords to shape the newly forming world.
In the eons since the first days, giants have multiplied and moved on, finding places to call their own in planes beyond the Elemental Chaos, including the Shadowfell and the Feywild, and even in the realm of their masters’ deific foes, the Astral Sea. However, giants prefer the world their labor helped create, and giants of every variety can be found upon it. Indeed, when the primordials retreated from the world, one of the first empires of that dawn era was one created by giants, and their slaves were the children of Moradin. But those heady days are long vanished.
Giants and titans tend to lair in extreme environments, including scrublands, mountain peaks, volcanic calderas, and searing deserts. These brutal landscapes remind giants of the Elemental Chaos where their ancestors first drew breath.
Giants as a whole answer to no particular overlord or higher power, nor are they known to cooperate among themselves. Indeed, giant clans often make war each other, though no one except giants know why they fight. However, should ever an imprisoned or lost primordial return to the world, giants of the lineage once loyal to it would obey that ancient one’s command.
Giants have marshaled just so in past primordial awakenings. Giants have long memories and longer oral histories, and most clans await the day they can renew their claim on the world in service to an unstoppable primordial entity.
--Jennifer Clarke Wilkes
Excerpts: Giants
Daily Art Preview: Earth Giants
Art by Jason Engle
Excerpts: Orcs
ORCS WORSHIP GRUUMSH, THE ONE-EYED GOD OF SLAUGHTER, and are savage, bloodthirsty marauders. They plague the civilized races of the world and also fight among themselves for scraps of food and treasure. They love close combat and plunge furiously into the thick of battle, giving no thought to retreat or surrender.
Within what passes for orc society, there are orcs that fill special roles. Eyes of Gruumsh are orcs with a special connection to their fierce god. They offer sacrifices, read omens, and advise the tribe’s chieftain of Gruumsh’s will. Orc bloodragers are tribal champions feared for their strength and ferocity, and they also make excellent subchiefs or bodyguards.
Orcs often fight alongside ogres, and they can be coerced or bullied into serving any dark overlord or wicked monster powerful enough to command their obedience.
Orc Drudge Level 4 Minion
Medium natural humanoid XP 44
Initiative +0 Senses Perception +0; low-light vision
HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion.
AC 16; Fortitude 15, Refl ex 12, Will 12
Speed 6 (8 while charging)
m Club (standard; at-will) ✦ Weapon
+9 vs. AC; 5 damage.
Alignment Chaotic evil Languages Common, Giant
Str 16 (+3) Dex 10 (+0) Wis 10 (+0)
Con 14 (+2) Int 8 (–1) Cha 9 (–1)
Equipment hide armor, club
Orc Drudge Tactics
Orc minions have no particular sense of honor and simply swarm around a foe and hack it to death. Orc drudges usually begin a fight by charging (they gain extra speed in the charge).
Orc Warrior Level 9 Minion
Medium natural humanoid XP 100
Initiative +3 Senses Perception +3; low-light vision
HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion.
AC 21; Fortitude 19, Refl ex 16, Will 16
Speed 6 (8 while charging)
m Battleaxe (standard; at-will) ✦ Weapon
+14 vs. AC; 6 damage.
Alignment Chaotic evil Languages Common, Giant
Str 17 (+6) Dex 11 (+3) Wis 10 (+3)
Con 15 (+5) Int 8 (+2) Cha 9 (+2)
Equipment leather armor, light shield, battleaxe
Orc Warrior Tactics
The orc warrior charges into battle, cutting down its enemies with its battleaxe.
Orc Raider Level 3 Skirmisher
Medium natural humanoid XP 150
Initiative +5 Senses Perception +1; low-light vision
HP 46; Bloodied 23; see also warrior’s surge
AC 17; Fortitude 15, Refl ex 14, Will 12
Speed 6 (8 while charging)
m Greataxe (standard; at-will) ✦ Weapon
+8 vs. AC; 1d12 + 3 damage (crit 1d12 + 15).
R Handaxe (standard; at-will) ✦ Weapon
Ranged 5/10; +7 vs. AC; 1d6 + 3 damage; see also killer’s eye.
M Warrior’s Surge (standard, usable only while bloodied; encounter)
✦ Healing, Weapon
The orc raider makes a melee basic attack and regains 11 hit points.
Killer’s Eye
When making a ranged attack, the orc raider ignores cover and concealment (but not total concealment) if the target is within 5 squares of it.
Alignment Chaotic evil Languages Common, Giant
Skills Endurance +8, Intimidate +5
Str 17 (+4) Dex 15 (+3) Wis 10 (+1)
Con 14 (+3) Int 8 (+0) Cha 9 (+0)
Equipment leather armor, greataxe, 4 handaxes
Orc Raider Tactics
The orc raider hurls handaxes until it runs out of axes or until its enemies close to melee, at which point it draws its greataxe.
Orc Berserker Level 4 Brute
Medium natural humanoid XP 175
Initiative +3 Senses Perception +2; low-light vision
HP 66; Bloodied 33; see also warrior’s surge
AC 15; Fortitude 17, Refl ex 13, Will 12
Speed 6 (8 while charging)
m Greataxe (standard; at-will) ✦ Weapon
+8 vs. AC; 1d12 + 5 damage (crit 1d12 + 17).
M Warrior’s Surge (standard, usable only while bloodied; encounter)
✦ Healing, Weapon
The orc berserker makes a melee basic attack and regains 16 hit points.
Alignment Chaotic evil Languages Common, Giant
Skills Endurance +10, Intimidate +6
Str 20 (+7) Dex 13 (+3) Wis 10 (+2)
Con 16 (+5) Int 8 (+1) Cha 9 (+1)
Equipment leather armor, greataxe
Orc Berserker Tactics
The fierce berserker wades recklessly into battle and would rather die than retreat.
Orc Eye of Gruumsh Level 5 Controller (Leader)
Medium natural humanoid XP 200
Initiative +6 Senses Perception +3; low-light vision
Wrath of Gruumsh aura 10; orcs in the aura can use death strike (see below).
HP 64; Bloodied 32; see also warrior’s surge and death strike
AC 19; Fortitude 17, Refl ex 14, Will 15
Speed 6 (8 while charging)
m Spear (standard; at-will) ✦ Weapon
+10 vs. AC; 1d8 + 3 damage.
M Warrior’s Surge (standard, usable only while bloodied; encounter)
✦ Healing, Weapon
The eye of Gruumsh makes a melee basic attack and regains 16 hit points.
M Death Strike (when reduced to 0 hit points)
The orc makes a melee basic attack.
R Eye of Wrath (minor; at-will) ✦ Fear
Ranged 5; +8 vs. Will; the target takes a –4 penalty to AC (save
ends).
R Swift Arm of Destruction (standard; recharge ⚄ ⚅ ) ✦ Healing Ranged 5; one orc within range makes a melee basic attack (as a free action) and regains 15 hit points on a hit or 5 hit points on a miss.
AChaos Hammer (standard; encounter) ✦ Force
Area burst 1 within 10; +8 vs. Reflex; 2d6 + 3 force damage, and the target is knocked prone. Miss: Half damage, and the target is not knocked prone.
Alignment Chaotic evil Languages Common, Giant
Skills Endurance +10, Intimidate +10, Religion +7
Str 17 (+5) Dex 14 (+4) Wis 12 (+3)
Con 16 (+5) Int 11 (+2) Cha 17 (+5)
Equipment leather armor, fur cloak, spear
Orc Eye of Gruumsh Tactics
This orc stays within 10 squares of its allies so that they benefit from its aura. Unless it has an enemy it can attack with its spear, the eye of Gruumsh uses its eye of wrath up to three times in a round to make its foes more vulnerable to attacks,
and then uses swift arm of destruction to help keep its allies in the fight. If it sees multiple enemies grouped together, it pounds them with chaos hammer.
Orc Bloodrager Level 7 Elite Brute
Medium natural humanoid XP 600
Initiative +5 Senses Perception +3; low-light vision
HP 194; Bloodied 97; see also warrior’s surge
AC 21; Fortitude 22, Refl ex 19, Will 17
Saving Throws +2
Speed 6 (8 while charging)
Action Points 1
m Greataxe (standard; at-will) ✦ Weapon
+11 vs. AC; 1d12 + 5 damage (crit 1d12 + 17); see also blood for blood.
M Warrior’s Surge (standard, usable only while bloodied; encounter)
✦ Healing, Weapon
The orc bloodrager makes a melee basic attack and regains 48 hit points.
MWounded Retaliation (immediate reaction, when hit by an adjacent enemy; at-will)
The orc bloodrager makes a melee basic attack against the enemy.
Blood for Blood ✦ Healing, Weapon
When it hits a bloodied enemy, the orc bloodrager deals an extra
5 damage and regains 10 hit points.
Alignment Chaotic evil Languages Common, Giant
Skills Endurance +11, Intimidate +8
Str 20 (+8) Dex 15 (+5) Wis 11 (+3)
Con 17 (+6) Int 9 (+2) Cha 10 (+3)
Equipment leather armor, greataxe
Orc Bloodrager Tactics
The orc bloodrager charges into battle and spends its action point to make an extra attack following its charge attack.
When it is hit by an adjacent enemy, it uses wounded retaliation.
Orc Chieftain Level 8 Elite Brute (Leader)
Medium natural humanoid XP 700
Initiative +5 Senses Perception +3; low-light vision
Blood of the Enemy aura 5; bloodied allies in the aura deal an extra
2 damage with melee attacks.
HP 216; Bloodied 108; see also warrior’s surge
AC 22; Fortitude 22, Refl ex 19, Will 21
Saving Throws +2
Speed 5 (7 while charging)
Action Points 1
mGreataxe (standard; at-will) ✦ Weapon
+11 vs. AC; 1d12 + 5 damage (crit 1d12 + 17).
R Inspire Ferocity (immediate reaction, when an ally within range drops to 0 hit points; recharge ⚄ ⚅ )
Ranged 10; the ally makes a melee basic attack.
M Warrior’s Surge (standard, usable only while bloodied; encounter)
✦ Healing, Weapon
The orc chieftain makes a melee basic attack and regains 54 hit points.
Alignment Chaotic evil Languages Common, Giant
Skills Endurance +12, Intimidate +13
Str 20 (+9) Dex 14 (+6) Wis 12 (+5)
Con 18 (+8) Int 10 (+4) Cha 19 (+8)
Equipment chainmail, greataxe
Orc Chieftain Tactics
The orc chieftain stays close to its allies so that they can take advantage of its blood of the enemy aura and its inspire ferocity power.
Orc Lore
A character knows the following information with a successful Nature check.
DC 15: Orcs favor hills and mountains, places pocked by caverns easily turned into defensible lairs. Bloodthirsty marauders and cannibals, orcs venerate Gruumsh and thereby delight in slaughter and destruction.
Orcs don’t build settlements of their own, instead improving existing shelters with crude fortifications. They prefer to settle in natural caves or structures abandoned by other, more skillful races. Orcs can manage simple ironwork and stonework, but they are lazy and grasping, preferring to take by force the tools, weapons, and goods other folk make.
DC 20: Orcs band together into loose tribal associations. The strongest individual in a tribe leads as a despotic chieftain. Individual bands within a tribe might wander far from their native lands, but they still recognize orcs from the same
tribe as kin.
DC 25: Orcs often demonstrate their faith in Gruumsh by gouging out one of their eyes and offering it as a sacrifice to their one-eyed god.
According to myth, Corellon shot out Gruumsh’s eye with an arrow. For this reason, orcs hold a special hatred for elves and eladrin.
Encounter Groups
Orc tribes use ogres and trolls as muscle for war and labor. They sometimes keep boars, drakes, and other beasts as pets.
Level 4 Encounter (XP 900)
✦ 2 orc raiders (level 3 skirmisher)
✦ 2 orc berserkers (level 4 brute)
✦ 1 dire boar (level 6 brute)
Level 6 Encounter (XP 1,350)
✦ 1 orc eye of Gruumsh (level 5 controller)
✦ 2 orc berserkers (level 4 brute)
✦ 4 orc warriors (level 9 minion)
✦ 2 dire wolves (level 5 skirmisher)
Level 9 Encounter (XP 2,150)
✦ 1 orc chieftain (level 8 elite brute)
✦ 5 orc warriors (level 9 minion)
✦ 1 dire boar (level 6 brute)
✦ 2 ogre skirmishers (level 8 skirmisher)
Level 10 Encounter (XP 2,650)
✦ 2 orc bloodragers (level 7 elite brute)
✦ 1 bloodspike behemoth (level 9 brute)
✦ 1 ogre skirmisher (level 8 skirmisher)
✦ 1 oni night haunter (level 8 elite controller)
Excertps: Traps and Hazards
One wrong step in an ancient tomb triggers a series of scything blades that cleave through armor and bone. The seemingly innocuous vines that hang over a cave entrance grasp and choke at anyone foolish enough to push through them. A narrow stone bridge leads over a pit filled with hissing, sputtering acid. In the D&D game, monsters are only one of many challenges that adventurers face.
If it can hurt the party, but it isn't a monster, it's either a trap or a hazard.
Trap or Hazard?
What's the difference between a trap and a hazard? Traps are constructed with the intent to damage, harry, or impede intruders. Hazards are natural or supernatural in origin, but typically lack the malicious intent of a trap. Though both feature similar risks, a pit covered with a goblin-constructed false floor is a trap, while a deep chasm between two sections of a troglodyte cave constitutes a hazard.
Traps tend to be hidden, and their danger is apparent only when they are discovered with keen senses or a misplaced step. The danger of a hazard is usually out in the open, and its challenge determined by the senses (sometimes far too late) or deduced by those knowledgeable of the hazard's environs.
The common link between traps and hazards revolves around peril -- both to adventurers and monsters. Because of this similarity, traps and hazards feature similar rules, conventions, and presentations.
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And, here are three traps for your perusal:
Whirling Blades
Level 5 Obstacle
TrapXP 200
Blades rise out of hidden compartments and spin wildly across the chamber.
Trap: A whirling blades contraption emerges and spins like a top, moving its speed in a random direction and attacking each round.
Perception
DC 22: The character notices trigger plates around the chamber.
DC 27: The character notices the hidden control panel.
Initiative +7 Speed 4
Trigger
When a character moves into a trigger square, the whirling blades contraption emerges and attacks.
Attack
Standard Action Close burst 1
Targets: All creatures in burst
Attack: +10 vs. AC
Hit: 3d8+3 damage
Countermeasures
A character can engage in a skill challenge to deactivate the control panel. DC 22 Thievery. Complexity 2 (6 successes before 3 failures). Success disables the trap. Failure causes the whirling blades to act twice in the round (roll a second initiative for the trap).
A character can attack the whirling blades contraption (AC 16, other defenses 13; hp 55; resist 5 all) or the control panel (AC 14, other defenses 11; hp 35; resist 5 all). Destroying either disables the entire trap.
Flame Jet
Level 8 Blaster
Trap XP 350
Two hidden nozzles let loose a blast of flame.
Trap: When the trap is triggered, two hidden nozzles in the walls attack each round on their initiative.
Perception
DC 24: The character notices the nozzles.
DC 28: The character notices the control panel on the far side of the room.
Initiative +5
Trigger
When a character enters the blast area of one of the flame jets, it makes its first attack as an immediate reaction. It then rolls initiative, attacking each round.
Attack
Immediate Reaction or Standard Action Close blast 3
Targets: All creatures in blast
Attack: +11 vs. Reflex
Hit: 3d8+4 fire damage and ongoing 5 fire damage (save ends).
Miss: Half damage, no ongoing damage.
Countermeasures
An adjacent character can disable one flame jet with a DC 24 Thievery check.
A character can engage in a skill challenge to deactivate the control panel. DC 28 Thievery. Complexity 1 (4 successes before 2 failures). Success disables the trap. Failure causes the control panel to explode (close blast 3, 3d8 + 4 damage to all creatures in blast) and the trap remains active.
Upgrade to Elite (700 XP)
Increase the Perception and Thievery checks by 2.
Increase the number of nozzles to 6, or to 3 with a larger area of close blast 5.
Soul Gem
Level 26 Solo Blaster
Trap XP 45,000
A strange, many-faceted gem in the center of the chamber suddenly emits blasts of blinding light.
Trap: This fist-sized cut crystal is often embedded in a statue or placed on a pedestal in the center of a room. When a creature steps within 5 squares of the soul gem, it starts emitting blasts of radiant power from its many facets.
Perception
DC 29: The character spots the strange gem.
Additional Skill: Arcana
DC 33: The character recognizes the soul gem.
Initiative +8
Trigger
When a creature moves within 5 squares of the soul gem, it rolls initiative and attacks.
Attack
Standard Action Close blast 5
Targets: All creatures in blast
Attack: +29 vs. Fortitude
Hit: 4d10 + 5 radiant damage and ongoing 5 radiant damage and stunned (save ends).
Aftereffect of stun: Dazed (save ends).
Special: Each round, roll 1d8 to determine the direction of the blast. The blast is centered on one square of the gem's space, starting with the north square and moving clockwise around the gem's space.
Countermeasures
A character can engage in a skill challenge to detach the soul gem from its socket and thereby disable it. DC 37 Thievery. Complexity 1 (4 successes before 2 failures). Success detaches the gem and disables the trap. Failure causes the gem to explode (close burst 8, 4d10 + 5 radiant damage and stunned (save ends) to all creatures in burst).
A character can attack the gem (AC 33, other defenses 29; hp 100; resist 15 all). When reduced to 0 hit points, the gem explodes in a close burst 8, as above. Destroying the gem disables the trap.
Excerpts: Warlord's At-will Powers
Commander's Strike
Warlord Attack 1
With a shout, you command an ally to attack.
At-Will * Martial, Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: An ally of your choice makes a melee basic attack against the target
Hit: Ally's basic attack damage + your Intelligence modifier.
Wolf Pack Tactics
Warlord Attack 1
Step by step, you and your friends surround the enemy.
At-Will * Martial,Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Target: One creatureSpecial: Before you attack, you let one ally adjacent to either you or the target shift 1 square as a free action.
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage.Increase damage to 2[W] + Strength modifier at 21st level.
Daily Art Preview: Orcs
Art by Ralph Horsley
Daily Art Preview: Shambling Mound
Art by Lars Grant-West