What do you get when you cross a hippo with a space pirate? The giff! These hulking spacefaring folk have hippo-like features, love explosives, and are one of the playable races coming in Spelljammer: Adventures in Space! Here's a sneak peek at the lore and racial traits behind the giff and how we might go about building one to be an expert marksmen for battles fought in Wildspace! 

• Who Are the Giff?
• Giff Racial Traits
• A Giff's Outlook on Life
• Building Your Giff Character

Who Are the Giff? Hippos From Space

The giff are broad-shouldered folk with hippo-like features. They tower over most other races and have smooth skin or bristles on their faces and atop their heads. Despite their appearance, the giff aren't awakened hippos. Chances are, the giff haven't even come face to face with such creatures. They have spent millennia traversing Wildspace and the Astral Sea, where more alien creatures reside.

It's unclear where precisely the giff originated. Even knowledge of the divine architects that created them has been lost to the ages. As players, though, we know that the divine beings behind the giff are dead and the petrified remains of these titanic beings float somewhere in the near-infinite realm of the Astral Sea. What little spark of magic remains in these beings connects them to the giff. Thus, the giff are drawn to spacefaring not just out of sheer joy for its beauty but because it brings them closer to the gods they have forgotten. 

Despite their origins, you don't need to play the giff as a melancholic people. Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse gives us a look at bombastic giff that have embraced a more militaristic lifestyle. These giff live their lives climbing the ranks of their people, and many work as mercenaries. For them, the bigger the explosion, the better.

No matter how you play the giff, you'll find that they have a strong and ancient tie to firearms. The giff's racial traits help these characters excel as gunners.

Is It Pronounced Giff or Giff?

It depends on who you ask. The proper pronunciation—whether it's with a hard or soft g—has long been the cause of bar brawls for these folk. But the answer is clear. It's pronounced "giff," of course.

Giff Racial Traits

The giff and their ancient gods have always shared a connection with firearms. Even a giff who has never picked up a firearm will find that they are inherently good at wielding them. No racial trait reflects this more than the giff's Firearms Mastery, which has a few benefits:

• You have proficiency with firearms.
• You ignore the loading property of firearms.
• Attacking at long range with firearms doesn't impose disadvantage on attack rolls.

Despite not knowing the gods that created them, the giff are still blessed by them with an astral spark. The giff use this astral spark to explosive effect by channeling it into their weapons to deal more damage.

The giff also have characteristics that reflect real-world hippopotamuses. For one, they have a natural swimming speed. This may seem inconsequential for spelljamming adventures, but in truth, having a swimming speed allows you to fight more easily in Wildspace. Thanks to their thick build, the giff are also naturally stronger. They have advantage on Strength-based ability checks and Strength saving throws, and they can carry, push, drag, and lift greater amounts of weight.

A Giff's Outlook on Life

Thanks to their faint connection to ancient deities, the giff are drawn to explore the immensity of Wildspace and the Astral Sea. Whether they seek to learn about their people's past, line their pockets with coin, or something else is up to you. But if we use the giff from Monsters of the Multiverse as inspiration for character creation, we discover a people that respect hierarchy, are boisterous, and find joy in making things blow up. These giff may be driven to adventure in order to gain notoriety among their people or to simply make a living without regard to who's paying.

The lore presented in Spelljammer: Adventures in Space, though, creates opportunities for giff that are more spiritual and inquisitive. Remember that the giff's divine spark only appears when they channel it into the weapons they use. A giff artificer or cleric, then, may come to believe that only through invention can they truly be connected to the divine. Conversely, a giff barbarian may see battle as a means of connecting with their ancestors.

Building Your Own Rootin'-Tootin' Gunslinging Giff

The giff are natural-born marksmen. Their Firearms Mastery trait grants proficiency in firearms, in addition to a couple other key benefits. If you're interested in exploring a build centered around firearms, here are some subclasses that may be a good mechanical or thematic fit for the giff:

Artificer. The Artillerist and Battle Smith subclasses are strong picks for a giff both functionally and thematically. The giff and their creators had ties to weaponry, so it only serves that some giff would be inspired to create magical cannons and constructs. These artificers pepper enemies from afar with assistance from their inventions. In an emergency, their many tool proficiencies allow them to MacGyver their way out of any problem, making them ideal crew. 

Cleric. Imagine a cleric who believes battle and prayer are synonymous. That's a giff of the War Domain. Their firearms are etched with holy symbols and only through victory in battle can they ascend the ranks of their church. With access to divine favor at 1st level, a shot from a War Domain giff's musket can pack quite the punch. Once they hit 8th level, they receive Divine Strike, which suits the giff in every way.

Fighter. When you want to build a trick-shot gunner, look to the Battle Master fighter. These giff control the battlefield from the backlines while dishing out serious damage. Choose the Commanding Presence maneuver if you plan to be captain of your own spelljamming ship.

Ranger. Ranger giff are explorers. They were touched by wanderlust and never questioned it. These giff may seek to map out the vastness of Wildspace or protect the realm from extraplanar enemies. The Horizon Walker ranger is a suitable fit in this case, though the Gloom Stalker is also a strong option for those fighting at the darkest edges of the cosmos.

Rogue. The rogue giff may have a long history of doing mercenary work or rejected the hierarchical structure that some giff communities follow. These giff abide by their own set of rules. The Assassin subclass could suit a Spelljammer character that has spent their life hunting down targets across Wildspace. 

Set Sail for the Cosmos

Spelljammer: Adventures in Space takes you into the cosmos and the Astral Sea. There, you and the crew of your spelljamming ship will discover all manner of alien creatures and dangers. Whether you play your giff as an excitable inventor or a melancholic worshiper of lost gods, you're sure to be an asset when the bullets start flying!

Michael Galvis (@michaelgalvis) is a tabletop content producer for D&D Beyond. He is a longtime Dungeon Master who enjoys horror films and all things fantasy and sci-fi. When he isn’t in the DM’s seat or rolling dice as his anxious halfling sorcerer, he’s playing League of Legends and Magic: The Gathering with his husband. They live together in Los Angeles with their adorable dog, Quentin.