Homebrew Giant Born Species Details

Giant Born are smaller relatives to the numerous giants that roam the lands and seas, either the Cyclopes, Gigantes, Hecatoncheires, or the Colossi.

Giant Born are taller and bulkier than humans, typically standing from 7 to 9 feet tall. Cyclopes posses as single, giant eye in the middle of their forehead. Gigantes look most like humans, often without any special features. However, some have horns, fangs, or serpentine features. Hecatoncheries posses small, weaker arms growing out of their body. They also have more than one head. These heads can be uniform in thinking, differ in personality, or have only a single thinking head, with the rest being vestigial. Colossi are part giant, part construct. They may be metallic, ceramic, or stone. They will often look statuesque, or otherwise resemble their origin.

Creating Your Character

At 1st level, you choose whether your character is a member of the human race or of a fantastical race. If you select a fantastical race, follow these additional rules during character creation.

Ability Score Increases

When determining your character’s ability scores, increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1. Follow this rule regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy. The “Quick Build” section for your character’s class offers suggestions on which scores to increase. You can follow those suggestions or ignore them, but you can’t raise any of your scores above 20.

Languages

Your character can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character. The Player's Handbook a list of languages to choose from. The DM is free to modify that list for a campaign.

Creature Type

Every creature in D&D, including each player character, has a special tag in the rules that identifies the type of creature they are. Most player characters are of the Humanoid type. A race tells you what your character’s creature type is.

Here’s a list of the game’s creature types in alphabetical order: Aberration, Beast, Celestial, Construct, Dragon, Elemental, Fey, Fiend, Giant, Humanoid, Monstrosity, Ooze, Plant, Undead. These types don’t have rules themselves, but some rules in the game affect creatures of certain types in different ways. For example, the cure wounds spell doesn’t work on a Construct or an Undead.

Life Span

The typical life span of a player character in the D&D multiverse is about a century, assuming the character doesn’t meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. If typical members of a race can live longer than a century, that fact is mentioned in the race’s description.

Height and Weight

Player characters, regardless of race, typically fall into the same ranges of height and weight that humans have in our world. If you’d like to determine your character’s height or weight randomly, consult the Random Height and Weight Table in the Player's Handbook, and choose the row in the table that best represents the build you imagine for your character.

Giant Born Traits

As a Giant Born, you have the following racial traits.

Creature Type

You are a Giant.

Size

You are Medium.

Speed

Your walking speed is 30 feet.

Powerful Build

You have proficiency in the Athletics skill, and you count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

Master Craftsman

You gain proficiency in smith's tools or any other artisan's tool of your choosing.

Gigantic Ancestry

Your giant relatives determines the remainder of your traits. Choose one of the following giants when you select this race.

Cyclops. Your limited divination grants you the ability to better avoid incoming attacks. When a melee attack is made against you, as a reaction, you can impose disadvantage on that attack. You can use this ability a number of times each day equal to your proficiency bonus. At third level you can cast detect magic as a ritual.

Gigantes. As the largest and most powerful of the Giant Born, you can grow in size to emulate your ancestors. As a bonus action, you can grow to large for 1 minute. During this minute you have advantage on strength checks and your speed increases by 10 feet. You can use this ability a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus.

Hecatoncheires. While you lack the massive number of limbs and heads of your giant relatives, you maintain a few extra, weaker limbs. These limbs cannot hold weapons or shields, but can hold and use small items. You can have up to 3 of these arms. Your heads, either fully functional, or vestigial also provide some benefits. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, blinded, or deafened. 

Colossi. You descend from a living, often metal, statue, which grants you an armored shell. While unarmored, your AC is equal to 13 + your dexterity modifier. You also have resistance to fire damage.