Just curious whether or not a Goliath can be taller than 8 foot. I wanted to make him appear as though he was a giant, so I was thinking of upping his size to 10 foot. I know this would be unusual, but do you think doing this would break any aspect of the game, especially since this would make him large rather than medium? Ten-foot isn't large enough to be a real giant, but to the eyes of the medium races, he would be a giant indeed, being four foot taller on average than the tallest human.
A creatures size represents its rough area of control in a 2-dimensional plane, not it's actual size. There are large creatures taller than 10ft, huge creatures taller than 15ft and so on.
As for can a goliath be 10 feet tall? RAW all we have is that they're between 7 and 8 feet tall, we don't get a random height distribution. Taking a median of 7.5 feet, a 10ft tall goliath would be 33% taller than the median. The average human is 5.5 feet (give or take a few inches); going 33% over that would be 7 feet. Approximately 2,800, or 0.000035% of people in the world today are 7 feet tall or over. So it's not impossible your goliath could be 10 foot tall, just very, very, very, very, very, very unlikely.
I feel like it would definitely be a bit much, height-wise, especially with 8 ft already being so large. It could become a hindrance when trying to enter some buildings (good luck even going to houses or towns solely inhabited by small creatures).
IF the DM wanted they could also implement the following against you with smaller enemies:
As an alternative, a suitably large opponent can be treated as terrain for the purpose of jumping onto its back or clinging to a limb. After making any ability checks necessary to get into position and onto the larger creature, the smaller creature uses its action to make a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check contested by the target's Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. If it wins the contest, the smaller creature successfully moves into the target creature's space and clings to its body. While in the target's space, the smaller creature moves with the target and has an advantage on attack rolls against it. Page 271 of the DMG.
It seems farfetched but I could easily see goblins trying to climb a 10 ft tall Goliath in order to gain an advantage on it.
Of course this really just does boil down to you and your DM. If their fine with it, and your fine with any possible disadvantages that come with being a giant goliath, then go for it. I personally would love to see the RPing that comes out of such a situation.
In my opinion, the fact that there's something unique or unusual about a character is often what makes them an adventurer. So having a character that's unusually tall, even for an already-tall race, is perfect fodder for a character's backstory. I think it would still be important, though, to keep in mind the challenges that would be inherent to that. For example... you pretty much couldn't ride a horse. You'd need either like... some kind of warhorse clydesdale just to lift you, or you'd need to invest in like... a chariot or something.
Hi guys,
Just curious whether or not a Goliath can be taller than 8 foot. I wanted to make him appear as though he was a giant, so I was thinking of upping his size to 10 foot. I know this would be unusual, but do you think doing this would break any aspect of the game, especially since this would make him large rather than medium? Ten-foot isn't large enough to be a real giant, but to the eyes of the medium races, he would be a giant indeed, being four foot taller on average than the tallest human.
Can I have your opinions on this, please?
Thanks
Foxes
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
No, it wouldn't make him large for two reasons
As for can a goliath be 10 feet tall? RAW all we have is that they're between 7 and 8 feet tall, we don't get a random height distribution. Taking a median of 7.5 feet, a 10ft tall goliath would be 33% taller than the median. The average human is 5.5 feet (give or take a few inches); going 33% over that would be 7 feet. Approximately 2,800, or 0.000035% of people in the world today are 7 feet tall or over. So it's not impossible your goliath could be 10 foot tall, just very, very, very, very, very, very unlikely.
Ultimately, you're asking the wrong people.
Ask your DM
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I feel like it would definitely be a bit much, height-wise, especially with 8 ft already being so large. It could become a hindrance when trying to enter some buildings (good luck even going to houses or towns solely inhabited by small creatures).
IF the DM wanted they could also implement the following against you with smaller enemies:
As an alternative, a suitably large opponent can be treated as terrain for the purpose of jumping onto its back or clinging to a limb. After making any ability checks necessary to get into position and onto the larger creature, the smaller creature uses its action to make a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check contested by the target's Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. If it wins the contest, the smaller creature successfully moves into the target creature's space and clings to its body. While in the target's space, the smaller creature moves with the target and has an advantage on attack rolls against it. Page 271 of the DMG.
It seems farfetched but I could easily see goblins trying to climb a 10 ft tall Goliath in order to gain an advantage on it.
Of course this really just does boil down to you and your DM. If their fine with it, and your fine with any possible disadvantages that come with being a giant goliath, then go for it. I personally would love to see the RPing that comes out of such a situation.
Full of rice, beans, and bad ideas.
In my opinion, the fact that there's something unique or unusual about a character is often what makes them an adventurer. So having a character that's unusually tall, even for an already-tall race, is perfect fodder for a character's backstory. I think it would still be important, though, to keep in mind the challenges that would be inherent to that. For example... you pretty much couldn't ride a horse. You'd need either like... some kind of warhorse clydesdale just to lift you, or you'd need to invest in like... a chariot or something.
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