The most recent version, MMM, says this as the first four words "Distant cousins of giants..." And in pretty much every edition, they are noted as being giant-kin. They were over 10' tall in most of the earlier versions. This edition might be the first time they've been playable, I think.
But they do spend a lot of time in the wild, have some nature- related magic-y stuff going on, and I think in 4e, they were mentioned as being kind of connected to the feywild.
So currently, they are definitely giant-descended. But I could see this current version being considered kind of a giant-fey hybrid.
And, of course, and given DM might want to change the lore in their campaign.
The Firbolg have always been giants in D&D... although in 5e especially they're written with very fey-like features. Firbolg more closely approximate the Giants in mythology that live in secret and control powerful magic, as opposed to what we normally see in fiction, where giants are mostly just characterized as big dumb brutes who throw rocks at stuff. If I remember correctly, in mythology "Firbolg" is just another name for "Fomorian", which is extremely vaguely defined, but it comes from Irish folklore where basically supernatural beings were described as fae. So the decision to categorize them as giants, specifically, in D&D is mostly just an arbitrary choice made back in 1st Edition that has stuck because there's very little reason to change their creature type.
The Firbolg have always been giants in D&D... although in 5e especially they're written with very fey-like features. Firbolg more closely approximate the Giants in mythology that live in secret and control powerful magic, as opposed to what we normally see in fiction, where giants are mostly just characterized as big dumb brutes who throw rocks at stuff. If I remember correctly, in mythology "Firbolg" is just another name for "Fomorian", which is extremely vaguely defined, but it comes from Irish folklore where basically supernatural beings were described as fae. So the decision to categorize them as giants, specifically, in D&D is mostly just an arbitrary choice made back in 1st Edition that has stuck because there's very little reason to change their creature type.
Not quite. The Fomorians were overthrown by the Tuatha the same way that the Titans were overthrown by the Gods in Greek mythology.
As the title says I was wondering if the Firbolg are descended from fae or giants as I've seen references to both from various sources.
If I can't say something nice, I try to not say anything at all. So if I suddenly stop participating in a topic that's probably why.
The most recent version, MMM, says this as the first four words "Distant cousins of giants..." And in pretty much every edition, they are noted as being giant-kin. They were over 10' tall in most of the earlier versions. This edition might be the first time they've been playable, I think.
But they do spend a lot of time in the wild, have some nature- related magic-y stuff going on, and I think in 4e, they were mentioned as being kind of connected to the feywild.
So currently, they are definitely giant-descended. But I could see this current version being considered kind of a giant-fey hybrid.
And, of course, and given DM might want to change the lore in their campaign.
The Firbolg have always been giants in D&D... although in 5e especially they're written with very fey-like features. Firbolg more closely approximate the Giants in mythology that live in secret and control powerful magic, as opposed to what we normally see in fiction, where giants are mostly just characterized as big dumb brutes who throw rocks at stuff. If I remember correctly, in mythology "Firbolg" is just another name for "Fomorian", which is extremely vaguely defined, but it comes from Irish folklore where basically supernatural beings were described as fae. So the decision to categorize them as giants, specifically, in D&D is mostly just an arbitrary choice made back in 1st Edition that has stuck because there's very little reason to change their creature type.
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Not quite. The Fomorians were overthrown by the Tuatha the same way that the Titans were overthrown by the Gods in Greek mythology.
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