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Frost Giant

Challenge
str
22
dex
8
con
20
int
10
wis
10
cha
12

Huge giant 5,000 XP

AC 15 (patchwork armor)

HP 138 (12d12 + 60; bloodied 69)

Speed 40 ft.


Proficiency +4; Maneuver DC 18

Saving Throws Str +10, Con +9, Wis +4, Cha +5

Skills Athletics +10, Perception +4, Survival +4

Damage Immunities cold

Senses passive Perception 14

Languages Common, Giant

Fire Fear. When the giant takes fire damage, it is rattled until the end of its next turn.


ACTIONS

Multiattack. The giant makes two melee weapon attacks.

Battleaxe. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (3d10 + 6) slashing damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature, it makes a DC 18 Strength saving throw , falling prone on a failure.

Rock. Ranged Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, range 60/240 ft., one target. Hit: 37 (9d6 + 6) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature, it makes a DC 18 Strength saving throw , falling prone on a failure. In lieu of a rock, the giant can throw a grappled Medium or smaller creature up to 40 feet. On a hit, the target and the thrown creature both take 19 (4d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage. On a miss, only the thrown creature takes the damage. The thrown creature falls prone in an unoccupied space 5 feet from the target.


BONUS ACTIONS

Grab. One creature within 5 feet makes a DC 11 Dexterity saving throw . On a failure, it is grappled (escape DC 18). Until this grapple ends, the giant can’t grab another target, and it makes battleaxe attacks with advantage against the grappled target.

Stomp (1/Day). Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one prone target. Hit: 13 (3d4 + 6) bludgeoning damage.

Combat

The frost giant prefers melee, using its battleaxe and grabbing or stomping when it can. The frost giant only flees if it takes fire damage while it is bloodied.


Names

Bitterblade, Eitri, Keluk the Grim, Skaggi the Wanderer, Snowbeard, Vala Chillborn


Legends and Lore

With a History or Nature check, characters can learn the following:

DC 10 As their name suggests, giants are enormous creatures, the largest of their kind standing over 30 feet tall. Though they look like large humanoids, they are an ancient people with close ties to the elements.

DC 15 Giants sort themselves into different clans, including hill giants, fire giants, cloud giants, and others.

Description

Frost giants stand 20 to 25 feet tall. With their blue-gray skin and cold expressions, frost giants can be mistaken for enormous wights or zombies as they plod through the trackless snow. Though mortal, they thrive in cold environments where few others could survive. 

Frost giants shape ice as others build with wood or stone. They hunt with bows and axes made of unmelting ice, and their rimed longships slice through icebound waters as easily as open sea.

Ice Water in Their Veins. Frost giants are cold-blooded, with frost-covered skin and icicles dangling from their hair and beards. They inhabit polar wastes and frozen mountain peaks, and some even live in eternal winter in lands beyond the Bleak Gate. Frost giants can survive on little food for long periods, growing more gaunt and grim the longer they fast. They throw raucous feasts after each successful hunt. Only when warmed by food and wine do they briefly grow merry.

Hunters and Raiders. Frost giant warriors define themselves by the creatures they have slain, introducing themselves with titles like Dragonslayer and Trollbane. This practice has the beneficial effect of culling dangerous monsters from the surrounding area. However, frost giants rarely limit themselves to fighting monsters; they also raid settlements and shipping lanes, making them a constant threat to smaller folk who share their territory.

Behavior

Frost Giant Lone Behavior

1 Roaring and stomping triumphantly next to the corpse of a foe, perhaps a yeti or another giant

2 Hunting for game: happy to hunt with you, or hunt you, depending on how polite you are

3 Howling with frustration as it tries to repair its broken axe (it has disadvantage on battleaxe attacks until it’s repaired)

4 Drinking casks of wine: nearby is a wrecked cart and dead human wine merchants


Frost Giant Group Behavior

1 Two giants wrestle to determine who will rule

2 Creeping up on a human settlement, intending raid and slaughter

3 Performing a ritual to summon a storm

4 Repairing an ice ship filled with treasure

Signs

1 A mammoth skeleton half-buried in snow, a giant spear between its ribs

2 Enormous, frost-filled footprints

3 A huge ice sculpture

4 A giant, broken drinking horn

Encounters

Frost giants trek snowy wastes and high mountain peaks. 

CR 5–10 frost giant

Treasure 3 amber gemstones (100 gp each), polar bear furs (250 gp), potion of fire resistance , boots of the winterlands

CR 11–16 frost giant jarl ; frost giant riding mammoth ; frost giant with 2 griffons , ogres , polar bears , winter wolves , or yetis

Treasure white dragon-scale necklace (750 gp), bone and silver horn (2,500 gp), 2 potions of growth , berserker axe

CR 17–22 2 frost giants ; frost giant jarl with tundra chimera or winter hag ; frost giant with 2 mammoths or werebears

Treasure 3 20-pound gold bars (1,000 gp each), giant silver ewer (2,500 gp), giant-sized silver dagger (2,500 gp), horn of frost giant mead (acts as a potion of frost giant strength ), frost brand greatsword

CR 23–30 3 frost giants ; 2 frost giants with 2 mammoths , winter wolves , or yetis ; frost giant jarl with adult white dragon

Treasure 1,000 pp, giant jeweled ivory drinking horn (25,000 gp), figurine of wondrous power (marble elephant), belt of frost giant strength

CR 31+ frost giant jarl with 3 or more frost giants ; 2 frost giants with ice worm (see purple worm ); 3 frost giants with 12 or more berserkers, dragonbound warriors , or orc warriors

Treasure giant ceremonial golden axe (25,000 gp), giant ivory and platinum warhorn (25,000 gp), 8 black sapphires (5,000 gp each), spell scrolls of maze and simulacrum , animated shield , horn of Valhalla (iron)

Monster Type Description

Giants look like immense humanoids, standing from 10 feet tall (like ogres ) to 30 (like storm giants ). Some giants, like trolls , have human-like shapes but monstrous features.