Dissecting the 5E D&D Giant Creature Type

January 5, 2022

Salutations, nerds! The fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons creature type I’m covering today is a pretty big deal if I do say so myself. No? Well, I can’t see myself out so I’ll just have to write this one while I’m sitting in pun jail. Grab your magic beans and say Fee Fi Fo Fum with me because I smell something and I don’t think it’s the blood of an Englishman. That’s right, I’m looking at 5E D&D giants! From the big stompy boys who appear in your standard fairy tale fair to the jotun from Norse mythology, giants figure in a lot of fantasy’s source material so it’s no small wonder they also figure prominently in D&D.

Giant creatures in 5E D&D

Put simply, Giants are what thye are because they’re bigger than everyone else. For this reason they manage to cause a whole heap of trouble. In 5E D&D giants are beholden to this thing called the ordning, which dictates the giant families at the top of the pile and therefore the most powerful. This is not just a cultural thing — it’s actual magic — and if the ordning is disrupted it is totally possible to end up with hill giants in charge and more powerful than any other kind, something dealt with in Storm King’s Thunder at length.

The giant creature type also includes things like ettins, oni and trolls. So big ogre-y things.

“Giants tower over humans and their kind. They are humanlike in shape, though some have multiple heads (ettins) or deformities (fomorians). The six varieties of true giant are hill giants, stone giants, frost giants, fire giants, cloud giants, and storm giants. Besides these, creatures such as ogres and trolls are giants.” — from the 5E D&D Monster Manual

Things Giants Do

Grind your bones to make their bread! No, I’m kidding. (Well, okay, maybe some of them, but we’re more talking about mechanically, right?)

Of course, big man hit hard. Some of them have magic while others have the ability to regenerate hit points. Oni, for example, have this ability without the troll’s weakness to fire and the ability to cast spells besides, making it a big pain in the butt to deal with. But generally giants are full of hit points and hulk smash, and this makes them pretty impressive to fight against but not too hard to strategize for.

Five Giants of Note

Cloud Giant. This is the one that smells the blood of an Englishman. Cloud Giants have Keen Smell, can be found at the tops of giant bean stalks and are able to cast spells innately. They have a CR of 9 which should give you an idea of how much of a badass Jack the Giant Slayer was given he was like nine years old when he lured one of these bad boys to its death.
Ettin. The two-headed one. They don’t sleep because the heads sleep in shifts. I don’t see them being used nearly enough. Ettins get advantage on a lot of saving throws because if you’re putting one to sleep you have to put both heads to sleep. I am a huge fan of the trope of trying to get the heads to fight with each other.
Ogre. At CR 2 this is one of the weaker giants. Ogres are size Large and if they’re in smacking range with you they’re probably going to be doing it with a great club. Easy to make mad and very impressive to take down.
Storm Giant. The strongest giant in the Basic Rules. They throw lightning bolts at you and can breathe underwater. And are pretty darn smart to boot, with an Intelligence score of 16. It’s no wonder these guys are at the top of the ordning.
Troll. They regenerate 10 hit points a round unless you set them on fire. Even if you grind it down to 0 hp a troll still regenerates unless it’s taken acid or fire damage. Otherwise your standard big dumb smashy boy.

Now listen, I know all this sounds fairly straightforward. That’s because it is. Giants are not a complicated creature type but that doesn’t make them a bad one. You know what you’re getting into with giants and it’s a lot of fun. So if you’ve played Storm King’s Thunder or a game with a lot of giants, please. Talk to me, tell me all about it. And of course, don’t forget to stay nerdy!

*Featured image — A selection of giant creatures of note from 5E D&D. For those of you really curious about these big ol’ creatures you can learn all about the Secret History of Giants elsewhere on the website right here. [Composite images courtesy Wizards of the Coast]