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Storm giants, known as uvarjotunen in their own language,[11] were one of the most intelligent and respected races of giants.[12]

Humans lack true awareness and most wouldn't know an omen if it walked up and kissed them on the lips. A storm giant attunes itself to the world and glimpses the future in all things, perceiving moments yet to be.

Description[]

Storm giants were the tallest of the true giants to remain on the Material Plane, standing a full 26 feet (7.9 meters) in height[1][5][10] and massing out at around 15,000 pounds (6,800 kilograms).[5][note 1]

There were two ethnicities of storm giants; most had pale, light green skin and dark green hair and eyes, but a small number had violet skin, dark blue hair, and silver eyes.[5]

They tended to wear fine tunics and belted sandals.[5] When it came to armor, they often favored the use of scale mail.[1]

Biology[]

Storm giants had vision that was well adapted to underwater conditions, where they saw equally as well as they did in the air.[12] Likewise, their lungs were adapted to surviving in underwater conditions.[1]

Abilities[]

Storm giants were known to innately have a high affinity for runecasting as well as traditional sorcery that surpassed the capabilities of other giant races.[13] They were generally known to be capable of casting the spells call lightning, control winds, levitate — though unlike the standard spell, they were capable of lifting weights equivalent to their own — predict weather, weather summoning,[6] detect magic, feather fall, light, and water breathing.[1]

Their bodies were impervious to harm from lightning and thunder, even that discharged by a blue dragon. They were even capable of generating and throwing bolts of lightning themselves,[6] at distances of up to 500 feet (150 meters).[1] Because of this they were often responsible for sightings of lightning bolts streaking across mountain peaks.[14]

Some storm giants held the ability to mark and claim a mortal humanoid as a sea spawn, either by cursing them or making a pact with them.[15]

Combat[]

Because of their high affinity for spellcasting,[13] storm giants were the least likely of giants to throw boulders at their opponents when engaging in ranged combat.[6] Whenever one did resort to throwing boulders, a storm giant's tremendous strength allowed them to be hurled as far as 60​ to ​240 feet (18​ to ​73 meters). When it came to close quarters combat, they typically favored greatswords as their weapon of choice.[1]

Sub-Races[]

Maurs
A band of storm giant who were cast out thousands of years ago and over time degenerated while imprisoned in the Underdark. Their bodies were pale and so malformed that they couldn't even stand up straight. They struggled to retain their storm giant culture while scratching out a meager existence underground.[16]

History[]

The storm giant race began with an individual by the name of Vilmos, one of the mortal children of Annam All-Father and Othea, who in the kingdom of Ostoria was ceded control of the lakes and seas.[17] They and the titans created some of the greatest cities within this kingdom, featuring mechanical conveyances and galleries that would house artistic tributes to all giantkind.[18]

Society[]

The head of a storm giant tribe's ordning was called a "paramount".[19] In storm giant society, any act of mercy or charity towards a sentient being was seen as good.[20]

Homelands[]

Storm giants generally lived inside of castles, either located atop mountains, in the clouds, or underneath the ocean[6][4] in castles made of coral.[21] Those that could not sustain themselves on hunting alone often built large gardens, fields, or vineyards near their homes.[4]

Languages[]

Storm giants spoke the general giant language Jotun, their own specialized version of it known as Jotunuvar, as well as Common.[22] They were often illiterate, though to a lesser degree than giant races whose cultures put little value on education, such as hill and fire giants.[23]

Names[]

Common given names among storm giants included the following:[24]

Males
Gautarr, Harrdiir, Ilknarr, Kuruth, Ogmoth, Ogmund, Ormmur, Torune, and Ulvulk.
Females
Geironal, Helgyra, Hornarra, Mistfast, Relsif, Silkarra, Sparraxe, Talnut, Wynd, and Yimmra.

Relationships[]

Storm giants that dwelled on land were usually seen as being on good terms with nearby copper dragons and good-aligned cloud giants, often working with them to ensure a mutual defense.[4]

They were often known to keep pets and guard animals. Those that lived in high elevations, meaning clouds or mountains, typically kept animals such as rocs and griffons. Those that lived underwater would often keep sea lions.[6]

Appendix[]

Notes[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Giant heights and weights have varied wildly across editions. The heights of the major races of giants were shorter in 1st edition and 3rd edition and taller in 2nd edition and 5th edition. (4th edition did not provide information on the heights of giants.) This wiki follows the policy that Forgotten Realms sources take priority over core sources when determining giant heights. (For example, the sourcebooks Giantcraft and Volo's Guide to Monsters are considered canon when they conflict with various Monster Manuals.) The matter of weight, however, is more complicated, because—as at least a couple Dragon magazine articles have admitted (e.g., "How Heavy Is My Giant", The Dragon #13 and "Realistic Vital Statistics", Dragon #91)—some of the published values for the weights of giants are physically absurd. As is clear from basic geometry and physics, as an object is doubled in height with proportional changes in the other dimensions, its change in mass is multiplied eightfold, but this seems to have been taken into account in some sources yet not in others. In the case of a male storm giant, which, according to Realms sourcebooks, is over 26 feet (7.9 meters), the given weight is only 3,754 pounds (1,703 kilograms)! That is far too light a weight for even an 21‑foot (6.4‑meter), 1st- or 3rd-edition storm giant and not even close to a realistic weight for a Realmsian storm giant of 26 feet. 2nd edition's Monstrous Manual offers 15,000 pounds (6,800 kilograms) for its 26-foot storm giant, which matches the approximate weight that a 26‑foot (7.9‑meter) human would weigh, so this is the source that we choose to cite here as the only reasonable weight.

Appearances[]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Christopher Perkins (2014-09-30). Monster Manual 5th edition. Edited by Scott Fitzgerald Gray. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 153, 156. ISBN 978-0786965614.
  2. Mike Mearls, et al. (November 2016). Volo's Guide to Monsters. Edited by Jeremy Crawford, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 151. ISBN 978-0786966011.
  3. Mike Mearls, Stephen Schubert, James Wyatt (June 2008). Monster Manual 4th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 124–125. ISBN 978-0-7869-4852-9.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 125. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Doug Stewart (June 1993). Monstrous Manual. (TSR, Inc), p. 146. ISBN 1-5607-6619-0.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Gary Gygax (December 1977). Monster Manual, 1st edition. (TSR, Inc), p. 87. ISBN 0-935696-00-8.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Mike Mearls, et al. (November 2016). Volo's Guide to Monsters. Edited by Jeremy Crawford, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 18–22, 31–33. ISBN 978-0786966011.
  8. Ray Winninger (September 1995). Giantcraft. Edited by Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc.), p. 113. ISBN 0-7869-0163-2.
  9. Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 119. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Ray Winninger (September 1995). Giantcraft. Edited by Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc.), p. 19. ISBN 0-7869-0163-2.
  11. Ray Winninger (September 1995). Giantcraft. Edited by Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc.), p. 28. ISBN 0-7869-0163-2.
  12. 12.0 12.1 Ray Winninger (September 1995). Giantcraft. Edited by Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc.), p. 23. ISBN 0-7869-0163-2.
  13. 13.0 13.1 Ray Winninger (September 1995). Giantcraft. Edited by Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 59, 70. ISBN 0-7869-0163-2.
  14. R.A. Salvatore (September 2006). Promise of the Witch-King. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 14, p. 233. ISBN 0-7869-4073-5.
  15. Mike Mearls, et al. (November 2016). Volo's Guide to Monsters. Edited by Jeremy Crawford, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 189. ISBN 978-0786966011.
  16. Bruce R. Cordell, Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, Jeff Quick (October 2003). Underdark. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 96. ISBN 0-7869-3053-5.
  17. Ray Winninger (September 1995). Giantcraft. Edited by Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc.), p. 7. ISBN 0-7869-0163-2.
  18. Tuque Games (2020). Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance. Wizards of the Coast.
  19. Ray Winninger (September 1995). Giantcraft. Edited by Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 114–115. ISBN 0-7869-0163-2.
  20. Ray Winninger (September 1995). Giantcraft. Edited by Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc.), p. 15. ISBN 0-7869-0163-2.
  21. Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Christopher Perkins (2014-09-30). Monster Manual 5th edition. Edited by Scott Fitzgerald Gray. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 5. ISBN 978-0786965614.
  22. Ray Winninger (September 1995). Giantcraft. Edited by Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc.), p. 27. ISBN 0-7869-0163-2.
  23. Mike Mearls, et al. (November 2016). Volo's Guide to Monsters. Edited by Jeremy Crawford, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 20. ISBN 978-0786966011.
  24. Ed Greenwood (2020-08-25). Common Giant Names (Tweet). theedverse. Twitter. Archived from the original on 2020-08-05. Retrieved on 2021-05-16.

Connections[]

True Giants
Cloud EttinFire (Fire titan )FogFrostHill (Earth titanMouth of Grolantor)MountainStoneStorm Titan

True Giant Offshoots
AshCraa'ghoranMaurPhaerlin
Giant-Kin
Cyclops (Cyclopskin)FirbolgFomorianOgre (Oni)VerbeegVoadkyn
Zakharan Giants
DesertIslandJungleOgre giantReef
Other Giants
AbyssalEldritchFensirDeathSand

Related Creatures
GoliathTroll (FellGiant troll)
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