Homebrew Giants for use with the 5e house rules found in Chamomile’s Guide to Everything

Ogre Race

The Ogre race are the prototypical Giants, and the bare minimum to be considered a Giant and pass the smell test. While perfectly viable as starting characters, many players wishing to play giants will often select one or more Giant Tiers to enhance their character. 

• Type – Giant
• Ability Scores – +2 strength and +1 constitution
• Large Sized – Large sized PCs take up 10ft squares, and gain other size-based benefits, including the ability to use large sized weapons. 
• Darkvision
• Languages – common, giant

Giant Tiers

Unlike traditional transformations, most giants don’t transform. Instead, more options are unlocked for selection when creating a character at higher levels. Additionally, Giant PCs are a single choice, and Giants who gain levels are not eligible for upgrade later. Giant tiers are limited to characters who have selected the Ogre race. 

DMs Note: You could allow giants to pokevolve up the chain from hill giant to frost giant and eventually storm giants. That is just not a common thing in traditional D&D Lore. You could also let folks take these without starting with the Ogre race as a template, if you want Fire Giant Halflings, for example. In that case, count the number of size increases from the Ogre and what the Tier gives, and apply it from the small halfling giving large Hill Giant Halflings.

Tier 1 – (Minimum Level 3)

Tier 1 options require a single attunement slot. 

Hill Giant

• Size Increase: Your size increases to Huge Size, and your reach increases by 5ft.
• Speed: 40ft
• Ability Modifiers: +2 str, +2 Con. Your maximum strength and Con can increase by 2 more than normal (22 for most characters)
• Iron Stomach: You are immune to ingested poisons or foodborne disease.
• Rock Throwing: You can throw rocks as a thrown ranged weapon attack dealing 3d10 bludgeoning damage with a range of 60/240ft

Troll

• Keen Smell: You gain proficiency in Wisdom (Perception). 
• Speed: 30ft
• Regeneration: You regain 1 hit point per hour provided you take no strenuous activity. You can also spend hit dice to heal as a bonus action, provided you did not take acid or fire damage the previous round. Acid and fire also pause your natural 1 hp per hour regeneration for a round, allowing you to be slain. NPC trolls, especially those in combat, simply regain 10HP per round. You die only if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and don’t regenerate for a round.
• Natural Weapons: You have a claw and bite melee attack that can be used to deal 1d6 slashing or 1d6 piercing damage, respectively. 

Cyclops

• Size Increase: Your size increases to Huge Size, and your reach increases by 5ft.
• Speed: 30ft
• Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, +1 Con. Your maximum strength can increase by 2 more than normal (22 for most characters)
• Poor Depth Perception: Cyclops have disadvantage on ranged attacks and perception checks further than 30ft.
• Rock Throwing: You can throw rocks as a thrown ranged weapon attack dealing 4d10 bludgeoning damage with a range of 60/240ft
• Magic Resistance: Cyclops are innately resistant to magic and have advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. 

Stone Giant

• Size Increase: Your size increases to Huge Size, and your reach increases by 5ft.
• Speed: 40ft
• Ability Modifiers: +2 str, +2 Con. Your maximum strength can increase by 2 more than normal (22 for most characters)
• Stone Camouflage: You gain advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made in rocky terrain.
• Rock Throwing: You can throw rocks as a thrown ranged weapon attack dealing 4d10 bludgeoning damage with a range of 60/240ft

Tier 2 – (Minimum Level 6)

Tier two selections require two attunement slots.

Frost Giant

• Size Increase: Your size increases to Huge Size, and your reach increases by 5ft.
• Speed: 40ft
• Ability Modifiers: +4 Str, +2 Con. Your maximum strength can increase by 4 more than normal, and your constitution by 2 more than normal (24 and 22 for most characters).
• Cold Immunity: You are immune to cold. 
• Frost Aura: As an action, a magical aura of cold surrounds you. The aura is a 10-foot-radius sphere that lasts as long as you maintain concentration on it (as if concentrating on a spell). While the aura is in effect, creatures who begin their turn there, take 2d6 cold damage per round.
• Ice Sculpting: As an action, you touch an object or field made of snow or ice to 5 feet in any dimension and form it into any shape that suits your purpose. So, for example, you could shape a snowbank into a weapon, or chest, or make a small passage through a wall, if the wall is less than 5 feet thick. You can freely shape ice into snow, or snow into ice. The object you create can have up to two hinges and a latch, but finer mechanical detail isn’t possible.
• Rock Throwing: You can throw rocks as a thrown ranged weapon attack dealing 4d10 bludgeoning damage with a range of 60/240ft

Cloud Giant

• Size Increase: Your size increases to Huge Size, and your reach increases by 5ft.
• Speed: 40ft
• Ability Modifiers: +8 Str, +2 Con. Your maximum strength can increase by 8 more than normal, and your constitution by 2 more than normal (28 and 22 for most characters).
• Cloud Spells: Charisma based casting
  • At will: detect magic, fog cloud, light
  • 3/Day: feather fall, fly, misty step, telekinesis
  • 1/Day: control weather, gaseous form
• Wind Aura: As an action magical aura of wind surrounds you. The aura is a 10-foot-radius sphere that lasts as long as you maintain concentration on it (as if concentrating on a spell). While the aura is in effect, you gain a +2 bonus to AC against ranged weapon attacks, and all open flames within the aura are extinguished unless they are magical.
• Rock Throwing: You can throw rocks as a thrown ranged weapon attack dealing 4d10 bludgeoning damage with a range of 60/240ft

Fire Giant

• Size Increase: Your size increases to Huge Size, and your reach increases by 5ft.
• Speed: 30ft
• Ability Modifiers: +4 Str, +4 Con. Your maximum strength and constitution can increase by 4 more than normal (24 for most characters).
• Fire Immunity: You are immune to fire. 
• Rock Throwing: You can throw rocks as a thrown ranged weapon attack dealing 4d10 bludgeoning and 4d10 fire damage with a range of 60/240ft
• Spontaneous Flames: As an action, you can set a flammable object aflame. Wet or damp objects require two, or sometimes more, rounds of contact to catch fire. 
  • Metal touched in this manner instead heats and becomes malleable allowing it to be forged simply by hand bending it to shape, requiring no tools. 
  • Metal armor heated in this manner functions as though affected by the heat metal spell. 
  • Metal weapons held and used by the giant can be slowly heated over time, and deal +1d6 fire damage with no action required on the part of the Giant.

Tier 3 – (Minimum Level 9)

Tier three options require three attunement slots. 

Storm Giant

• Size Increase: Your size increases to Huge Size, and your reach increases by 5ft.
• Speed: 50ft, 50ft Swim (Amphibious)
• Ability Modifiers: +10 Str, +2 Con. Your maximum strength and constitution can increase by 2 more than normal (30 and 22 for most characters).
• Storm Immunity: You are immune to lightning and thunder damage
• Cold Resistance: You resist cold damage.
• Rock Throwing: You can throw rocks as a thrown ranged weapon attack dealing 4d12 bludgeoning with a range of 60/240ft
• Storm Spells: Charisma based casting.
  • At will: Detect magic, feather fall, levitate, light
  • 3/Day: control weather, water breathing.
• Lightning Strike: You can hurl bolts of lightning up to 500ft. Each creature within 10ft of the strike must make a DC 10+Con mod, Dexterity saving throw or take 12d8 lightning damage on a failed save and half as much on a successful. 
• Thunder Stomp: With a stomp, you can trigger a thunderclap as an action. All other creatures within 15ft must make a DC 10+Con mod, constitution saving throw or take 6d10 thunder damage and be deafened until the start of your next turn. Those who save take half damage and are not deafened.
• Electrified Weaponry: Your metallic weapons deal an extra 6d6 lightning damage on a hit.
• Jet Propulsion: When using a thrown weapon, you can increase its range to 600ft, and treat it as magical, even if it isn’t. 
• Storm Control: You can control the weather in a one-mile radius. This allows you to choose to implement any of the following effects. 
  • Perpetual high wind, making it impossible to start a fire in the open. 
  • Rain, Snow, or Dust storms potentially causing rivers to overflow.
  • Flashes of lightning and thunder continually throughout the night and day. 

New Feats

Hill Giant Squash

Prereq: Hill Giant

Some adult hill giants like to hurl themselves bodily at smaller foes and crush them beneath their bulk.

• +1 Constitution
• You gain access to the additional combat option, Squash. As a Melee Weapon Attack with a reach of 5 ft., you can target one Medium or Smaller creature. If it hits, you deal 6d6+Str bludgeoning damage, land prone in the target’s space, and the target is grappled (escape DC 10+str mod). Until this grapple ends, the target is prone. The grapple ends early if the giant stands up.

Variant Troll

Prereq: Troll

Trolls are nothing if not adaptable, and some trolls have adapted for life in other environments. Pick one feature from the list below.

• Fire Troll: A fire troll’s regeneration ends if it is subject to Cold or Lightning damage. A fire troll resists fire damage. 
• Acid Troll: An acid troll’s regeneration ends if it is subject to Sonic or Cold damage. An acid troll resists acid damage.
• Electric Troll: An electric troll’s regeneration ends if it is subject to Fire or Cold damage. An electric troll resists Lightning damage.
• Spirit Troll: A spirit troll’s regeneration ends if it is subject to radiant or fire damage. A spirit troll resists necrotic damage. 
• Fight with your DM: you can probably fight with your DM for your own combination of regeneration and resistances if you want to homebrew something in these lines. 

Cyclopean Seer

Prereq: Cyclops

While most Cyclops are unintelligent brutes, rarely, some are blessed with enhanced powers of foresight, which they use to rule Cyclopean societies. 

• You gain +1 Wisdom
• Once per day, you gain a flash of insight, and can reroll any D20 whose result you don’t like (after finding out the result)
• You gain the use of the following spells 1/day each. Comprehend Languages, Augury, and Locate Object.

Stone Giant Warrior

Prereq: Rock Throwing.

Stone Giant’s have perfected a form of combat focused on their immense size and throwing rocks. (Other giant’s can learn this combat style if they are trained by a Stone Giant)

• Rock Catching: If a rock, ballista bolt, or similar object is hurled at the giant, once per round, the giant can, with a successful DC 10 Dexterity saving throw, catch the missile and take no bludgeoning damage from it.
• Fling: The giant tries to throw a small or medium creature within 10 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 10 + Strength modifier, Dexterity saving throw or be hurled up to 60 feet horizontally in a direction of the giant’s choice and land prone, taking 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet it was thrown.
• Rolling Rock: The giant sends a rock tumbling along the ground in a 30-foot line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in that line must make a DC 10 + Strength modifier, Dexterity saving throw, taking 3d10+str bludgeoning damage and falling prone on a failed save

Oni

Prereq: Ogre race

While most giants are content to live their lives as warriors, leaning into their natural talents, every so often an Oni is born. These giants have blue, purple, or green skin (whichever is nonstandard for their giant type), and innate magical talents. 

• +1 Charisma
• Change Shape: You can magically polymorph into the shape of a small or medium humanoid, or a large giant as an action.
• Spellcasting: You can cast invisibility and darkness 1/day each.

Siege Specialist

Prereq: Huge Size, Ogre Race

Fire Giants pioneered a form of siege warfare that makes use of their massive bulk. 

• +1 Con
• Seige Monster: You deal double damage to objects and structures
• Tackle: When you enter any enemy space for the first time on a turn, that enemy must succeed on a DC 10+Str mod, Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
• You can wield two massive shields, and apply both of their normal bonuses to AC.

Wind Shaper

Prereq: Storm Giant

Storm Giant’s live for a storm, and you have learned to tame them. You gain the use of the following combat actions. 

• Gust: You can target a creature within 60ft of you and blast them 20ft in a direction of your choice, unless they pass a Strength saving throw DC 10+ Charisma modifier.
• Meld Into Storm: While in the area of effect of a storm, you can meld into the storm. While part of the storm, you cannot be targeted, but cannot target others. You can exit the storm anywhere within the area covered by the storm as an action. 
• Vortex: You create a 60ft long, 10ft wide line of strong wind (or current in water). Each creature within the vortex must make a Strength saving throw to avoid being sucked in and restrained, and drug along with the vortex wherever it goes. Creatures get a save at the beginning of each of their turns. The vortex lasts as long as you concentrate and has a save DC 10+ Charisma modifier.