Dungeons & Dragons: 12 Best Types Of Giants (& How To Use Them)

InDungeons and Dragons, there are different levels of difficulty and play, with different kinds of monsters and enemies appropriate to each stage of play. Giants fill a broad position in the D&D hierarchy of difficulty, as they can range from low to very high challenge rating depending on the type.

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The most famous kind of giant inD&D are the true giant , each associate with a different kind of natural element . These colossal humanoid have a complex social order , each is live live in different clime , and possess a wide range of ability . However , the word giant is also used to describe a wide host of large humanoid creature . These creatures is serve , while not necessarily relate to proper giant , serve a similar role in design a campaign and have some fun and unique ability to offer a Dungeon Master look to challenge their player with some large – than – life enemy .

Updated May 30, 2022by Declan Lowthian: This list has been updated to include more of the many different types of giants that exist in D&D outside of the main, elemental types. These creatures are useful to DMs at all levels of play, making for some extremely fun and engaging encounters.

12

Ettins is Fight Fight With Two Weapons And Two Heads

These two-headed giants are quite powerful combatants, but they are of a low enough challenge rating that a low-level D&D party could easily face off against an ettin. They wield two weapons, and attack twice every turn accordingly, making them dangerous to get near.

Their two heads are separate personalities and have a tendency to bully each other and argue. However, they do gain a few benefits from them. An ettin is never really asleep, as one head can keep watch while the other rests. They also have advantage on Perception checks and saving throws against a number of conditions, so they make very powerful sentinels for other, more powerful monsters.

11

Trolls Can Rise From The Dead

One of the most iconic monsters in D&D, trolls are technically classified as giants. These large, green-skinned creatures are best known for their regenerative properties, which allow them to regain hit points every single turn if they aren’t struck by fire or acid damage.

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While there is no wrong way to use a troll, DMs should be aware of giving their players either an opportunity to learn of the creatures’ weakness before the combat or give them an opportunity to escape and fight another day. Alternatively, it could be fun to use a troll with a different vulnerability, like the spirit troll’s weakness to force damage, to keep even experienced D&D players on their toes.

10

Hill Giants Are Raiders

Lowest in the social order of the original giant children of the god Annam, these creatures are like the archetypical giants of folklore. Their size and appetite makes them a menace to any nearby humanoid settlement. Hill giants tend to believe anything smaller than them is also subservient to them, so they will take what they want with no consideration for others.

Hill giants is tend tend to live in roll hill as their name suggest , raid nearby farm and other habited area . They is are are powerful melee combatant , but they can also hurl boulder at range up to 240 foot , make them a challenge opponent at range as well . put hill giant on distant hill top and force player to close the distance without being batter to piece could make for a fun and engage combat encounter .

9

Oni Have Powerful Magical Abilities

Sometimes known as an ogre mage, an oni is a giant with innate magical powers and a mean streak to match. The Monster Manual refers to them as bogeymen and the subject of nursery rhymes, a reputation perfectly complemented by their suite of abilities.

An oni is turn can turn invisible and conjure cloud of darkness at will , in addition to being able cast several other spell like Gaseous Form and Sleep . They is change can also change their shape to become a small or medium humanoid , allow them to disguise themselves as weary traveller and trick their victim into a sense of complacency .

8

Frost Giants

Frost giants hail from cold and remote places where they subsist by raiding nearby settlements. They carry weapons wrought from iron or ice and take umbrage with intruders of all stripes who step into their icy home. Their society values feasting, reveling, and wrestling to determine social rank.

Frost giants sometimes construct massive castles, using them to launch their raids. Frost giants don’t have a lot of options available to them in combat, but the frost giant everlasting one, introduced in Volo’s Guide to Monsters, adds regeneration and the ability to enter a rage to their already formidable stat-block.

7

Nivix Cyclops

adapt from aMagic: The Gathering card of the same name, the nivix cyclops made its debut in the Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica D&D supplement. Magically altered but the Izzet Guildmages, this cyclops is a powerful melee combatant with an extra twist.

Whenever a creature casts a spell anywhere near the cyclops, it can move up to twice its speed and make an attack. When facing a magically-inclined party, this creature will be zooming around the battlefield at rapid speeds, so any DMs looking to use it should make sure to include plenty of open space.

6

Fire Giants

These giants is resemble resemble dwarf with red hair and dark skin . They is are are renowned for their smithing skill , and it is not uncommon to see them fit in fine armor and wield massive two – hand steel weapon . They is make make their home in warm environment like volcano or even in the Elemental Plane of Fire .

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The fire giant lives in small family groups and are known to order tribute from nearby humanoid settlements as a tithe not to attack them. Bartering with a fire giant lord could make for a great adventure in and of itself. D&D is repleat with fire – theme creature , many of which would make great ally or pet for a fire giant keep .

5

ogre

A classic D&D monster, ogres are perfect backup monsters for more powerful evil creatures. They are strong, tough, and hit like a truck, making them perfect adversaries at all levels. While the basic ogre stat block is fine for simple encounters, the extra types introduced in Volo ‘s Guide to monsterand expanded upon in Monsters of the Multiverse really take the ogre to the next level .

The ogre battering ram can push targets back and prevent them from advancing, making it a great bodyguard enemy. The ogre bolt launcher gains a powerful ranged attack to supplement what is normally a melee-focused creature type. Perhaps the most entertaining, however, is the ogre howdah, which can carry several small creatures on its back, which can rain down arrows while the ogre itself wades into the thick of battle.

4

Cloud Giants

muscular creatures is are with silvery hair , cloud giants is are are the most aloof of all the giant variety . They is live live high above the world in castle atop mountain or even nestle among the cloud themselves . Just reach a cloud giant ‘s realm would require huge effort from aD&D party, so meeting one could be the culmination of a long and complicated adventure.

Cloud giants are innate spellcasters, able to cast air and wind themed spells like Fog Cloud, Feather Fall, and Control Weather. This gives them powerful options in combat, should a D&D party find themselves on the giants’ bad side.

3

Fog Giants

Introduced in a 2019charity supplement called Mordenkainen’s Fiendish Folio Volume 1, fog giants are a variant of cloud giant, fallen from grace. If a cloud giant’s treasure is stolen from them, they fall in the social order to become fog giants and turn to raiding and banditry.

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Unlike most giant , fog giants is are are willing to serve as mercenary for other powerful creature , make them easy to slot into just about any campaign . They is cast can cast Fog Cloud at will , and can ignore the effect of the spell if it was cast by them or another fog giant . This is is is a powerful ability that can let them set up ambush site where the victim never see them come until it ‘s too late .

2

Stone Giants

ascetic and contemplative , the stone giant is is is the only giant that focus on art as their mean of establish its position in its society . They is live live in temperate mountain climate and focus on their craft , make them one of the rare type of giant .

stone giants is have have a fairly basic statblock , but the stone giant dreamwalker introduce inVolo’s Guide to Everything is much more interesting. These creatures charm those around them with their very presence, something that players might not expect from such a large creature. They can also petrify creatures and bind them to their bodies, preventing them from being restored until the giant is dead.

1

Storm Giants

Storm Giants stand at the apex of giant society, being the largest and the most powerful in all respects. They can easily move through air and water unhampered, breathing in both environments with no difficulty. Thankfully for the people of the world, storm giants tend to be good-aligned.

Like cloud giants, storm giants are natural spellcasters. They can conjure the power of lightning and the weather to strike at their foes, and can cast spells like Feather Fall and Levitate at will to help them navigate their mountainous homes. Fighting a storm giant is already a challenge, but any DMs looking to use these creatures in combat should consider also implementing dangerous terrain features like cliffs and canyons to really push players to use their skills wisely.