Extras‎ > ‎Custom Creations‎ > ‎Burning House Lab‎ > ‎Shatterstone‎ > ‎Races‎ > ‎Magespawn‎ > ‎

Giantbloods

Often mistaken for giants or ogres, Giantbloods are humanoids whose ancestors had been enlarged through the use of an enlarge person spell.  This spell was made permanent and then the subject was put through the Giantblood Ritual which allowed this change to become hereditary.

The Giantblood Ritual was developed long ago by the Golden Empire, which sought a means to increase the effectiveness of its troops when making war against Giants.  Though a number of humans volunteered to undertake the ritual, most humans shied away from the alienation the ritual would cause them.  Those that underwent the ritual found it difficult to mingle with other humans and found themselves feared and shunned by their own people.  As a result very few human Giantbloods remain and the race has all but died out.

However, when the Golden Empire sought volunteers for the Giantblood ritual, it found that half-orcs were much more willing to undertake the ritual.  Already ostracised by their human kin, half-orcs knew that to gain respect amongst orcs they needed to be strong and becoming giants seemed to be a good way to go about it.  Before long most of the volunteers for the Giantblood Ritual were half-orcs and almost all the Giantbloods that live today are descended from them.  Though the means of conducting the Giantblood Ritual have long been lost, these Giantbloods persist to this day.

Nevertheless Giantbloods are rare, and Giantbloods are not particularly fertile and have small families.  Giantbloods do not have their own society; Giantbloods instead live amongst other races.  Orcs value Giantbloods for their power in combat, and Giantbloods often live amongst Ogres or Hill Giants, though genuine Giants usually consider Giantbloods to be a lesser species.  In human societies Giantbloods are valued as mercenaries but are not particularly trusted.

A Giantblood looks much like a giant half-orc.  They tend to be between 10 and 12 feet tall and in addition to their orcish features they posess a pair of curling horns on their heads which resemble that of a ram (some sages suggest that this indicates that the Giantblood Ritual had some Fiendish influence).  Most Giantbloods appear shaggy and unkempt, though this is not always the case.  It is normally because special arrangements must be made if a barber or tailor is to perform their trade for a Giantblood, and most Giantbloods cannot afford to pay for such arrangements.  

Giantblood Racial Traits
  • +4 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Dexterity, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom. None of the Giantbloods's mental attributes may begin the game with a value of more than 16. Note that of the above modifiers, +2 of the Strength bonus and the -2 Dexterity penalty are size modifiers, not racial ones.
  • Large Size: Giantbloods are large creatures and receive a -1 size penalty to their AC and attack rolls, a +1 size bonus to their CMB and CMD, and a -4 size penalty to Stealth checks.  They have a reach of 10 feet.
  • Normal Speed: Giantbloods have a base speed of 30 feet.
  • Fearsome: A Giantblood gains a +2 racial bonus to Intimidate checks, but suffers a -2 to reaction checks to determine the starting attitude of NPCs smaller than him, and to Diplomacy checks made to change such a character's attitude towards him. 
  • Enlarged: The spell Enlarge Person has no effect on a Giantblood (though Reduce Person does).  Spells or magical effects that increase the size of a character treat Giantbloods as if they were monstrous humanoids instead of humanoids. 
  • Half-Orc Blood: Giantbloods count as orcs, half-orcs, and humans for any effect related to race.
  • Orc Ferocity: Once per day, when a Giantblood is brought below 0 hit points but not killed, he can fight on for one more round as if disabled.  At the end of his next turn, unless brought to above 0 hit points, he immediately falls unconscious and begins dying.  Note: A Giantblood who is fatigued as a result of using the Barbarian Rage ability loses the Orc Ferocity ability as long as the fatigue lasts.
  • Weapon Familiarity: Giantbloods treat any weapon with "Orc" in the name as a Martial Weapon. 
  • Languages: Giantbloods speak common and orc.  They do not posess their own language.  Giantbloods with a high intelligence score can choose from the following bonus languages: Abyssal, Draconic, Giant, Gnoll, or Goblin.