Fire Giants: The Smiths and Soldiers
Giants are a classic adversary in Dungeons and Dragons, and they continue to be featured prominently in Fifth Edition. Whether it is the thundering roar of a hungry hill giant, the Olympian-esque hurl of a boulder from a disturbed stone giant, or the sharp *crack* of a streaking bolt of lightning from a towering storm giant, these creatures are a powerful force to be reckoned with. Despite their place of honor in D&D lore (one of the first officially published adventures in 5e revolved around the giants) there is a pitiful lack of variety in these deadly, but mechanically bland, foes.
Over the next few weeks we are going to examine each of the “true giant” types and create a few varieties to pair with the traditional, base examples given in the Monster Manual. In each article, we will:
Discuss the key features and tendencies of that giant type.
Identify what possible roles/functions are missing.
Create several new statblocks for variant giants of that type.
Giants adhere to a strict social structure called the ordning. Essentially, each giant type occupies a social position in relation to each other type. Then within each type, status is broken down further by considering the strength, size, and role of each giant. Despite the cookiecutter statblock in the MM, no two giants are equal in the ordning. Those distinctions are what we want to capture in this series.
Next up: Fire Giants.
Fire Giants, Basically
Fire Giants are amongst the most militaristic of the giant types. While frost giants pillage and plunder, fire giants forge and conquer. In addition to their brute strength (an impressive 25), they are also skilled crafters, engineers, and tacticians. They live deep within mountainous and volcanic areas, competing directly with stone and ash giants for territory, where they utilize lava to heat their massive forges. While, like many giants, raw strength is a factor in an individual's positioning in the ordning, it is far from the only consideration. Those with impressive brawn but minimal brains end up doing the grunt work within a fire giant stronghold. Namely, this means keeping the forges hot and shoveling massive quantities of coal, rock, and iron. Fire giants operate under the assumption that one’s success in battle is largely determined by the quality of their equipment. As such, the smiths and craftsmen within a group are amongst the most valuable and command the highest rank.
The typical fire giant is about as smart as an average commoner with an Intelligence of 10. This means that fire giants, while technically proficient in crafting and fighting techniques, are not strategic masterminds. They focus primarily on building defensive fortifications and training rather than rapid military expansion. Fire giants also have a better mastery of runic magic and sorcery than the other giants we have examined so far, but of course their ability pales in comparison to the mighty cloud and storm giants. Most of their priests worship Surtur, the patron deity of fire giants and son of Annam All-Father. However, some have been known to worship Kossuth, the god (or god-like primordial) of elemental fire.
The ideal lair for a group of fire giants is in a massive castle or citadel built within a volcano. These castles are easily defensible, provide heat for their forges and easy access to raw materials like iron, adamantine, and mithral. The heat itself acts as a natural deterrent for most intruders while not bothering the fire and heat-immune fire giants. Large settlements are led by a king or queen, who “rules” over the volcano and the surrounding lands, occasionally demanding tributes or ransoms from other nearby settlements. These strongholds heavily utilize captured humanoids for manual labor, as well as employing hell hounds and fire elementals as guards.
It is also worth noting that the official D&D sourcebooks do provide a good example of an elite fire giant warrior. These dreadnaughts, which are introduced in Volo’s Guide to Monsters, are massive creatures with an even higher strength than the average fire giant. They dual wield enormous, spiked shields filled with burning hot embers that they can slam into enemies or use to fuel the forge. They are often seen on the front lines of a battlefield or key defenders of the stronghold. Since this niche is already covered by the official sourcebooks, we are going to focus on some other variations.
What is Missing?
Leadership. Every type of giant is going to have someone who has risen to the top, typically the strongest member of the community. As mentioned above, leaders of significant fire giant strongholds like to stylize themselves as king or queen. These leaders can be selected through bloodline, like traditional monarchs, or may have been a prominent smith or craftsman whose prowess gave rise to their claim.
Divine Magic. Surtur’s portfolio includes the “Knowledge” and “War” domains. I think this makes a lot of sense given the crafting/smithing aspect of fire giant culture. Fifth Edition also has a forge domain, which may provide some useful insight into what sort of abilities a fire giant priest might possess.
Other Spellcasters. Like their brother lower in the ordning, fire giants do not have the innate spellcasting abilities of the cloud and storm giants. However, I think that their relationship with fire (particularly elemental fire) is too obvious to not explore.
Variant Statblocks
Fire Giant Monarch (CR 11)
Fire giant strongholds are led by a King or Queen. While not particularly smart or wise, these monarchs are proven warriors and battlefield tacticians. They are also adept at commanding their troops, being able to reposition them more effectively and aid them in making attack rolls and saving throws.
Tactics. The monarch will take its first turn to survey the battlefield, using its Reposition ability to command their allies to their optimal positions (either to attack or defend). It will then use its Leadership action. On subsequent turns, the monarch moves into melee combat, prioritizing targets which it can gain advantage and/or use its Martial Advantage.
Fire Giant Priest (CR 12)
A fire giant priest is a servant of Surtur, the patron deity of fire giants. These priests often spend their time working the forges and training others to do the same. However, when wartime rolls around the fire giant priests can be found with their brethren on the battlefield. While they have access to up to 6th level cleric spells, their true danger lies in their combat prowess that has been divinely enhanced. The priest has improved AC, can turn a missed attack into a likely hit, and even occasionally make a bonus attack. They are amongst the fiercest of the fire giant warriors. They also are the primary means through which a stronghold has access to elemental minions (by casting planar ally and/or planar binding). They are often accompanied by fire elementals.
Tactics. Despite being a divine caster, the priest prefers to attack in melee. While waiting for its War Priest ability to recharge, they will take advantage of bonus action spells such as shield of faith, spiritual weapon, and mass healing word.
Fire Giant Keeper of Elemental Fire
The Keepers of Elemental Fire (or Keepers, for short) are fire giants that have been suffused with elemental power in a way similar to a warlock pact. This power comes from a powerful elemental being, such as a phoenix, Imix, or (rarely) Kossuth (the later two being powerful elemental primordials). This boon comes with the ability to be rebirthed in flame, not unlike a phoenix. These Keepers are rare and extremely powerful.
Tactics. The Keeper of Elemental Fire looks and acts much like a typical fire giant in the initial rounds of combat. However, once its mythic trait, Phoenix-touched, activates, they take on a whole new level of danger. In this advanced form, they become wreathed in flames and gain mythic actions which they use to hurl fire at their enemies. The Keeper typically reserves its spell slots for hellish rebuke, or wall of fire if they can separate their enemies in order to focus on one group at a time.
Making your own stronghold
If you want to use these statblocks in your home game, it might be helpful to generate your own fire giant strongholds. Here are some rough guidelines on how to create a typical, but sizable, group of fire giants.
1 Frost Giant Monarch
1d4-1 Frost Giant Priests
4d8+4 Fire Giants (Some of whom may be out scouting or mining)
A 40% chance of a Keeper of Elemental Flame
Minions:
4d6 Hell Hounds
1d6 Fire Elementals
5d10 humanoid captives being held for ransom or being used for physical labor.
