Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Moon Giants

Stories tell of tribes of men cursed to change size as the moon itself waxes and wanes. Known as “Moon Giants” these pale looking people were long ago exiled from their own kingdom and are shunned by men and giant alike. The curse also effects their intelligence - the larger they become, the dimmer they are.

A moon giant varies from 5 to 6 feet tall when “normal” (or their smallest) at the new moon to about 12 to 13 feet at the full moon - growing or shrinking about a half foot a day. The entire tribe grows and diminishes in size in sync with one another, although if a member leaves for an extended period of time, their growth cycle will begin to fall out of sync with the rest.

They are usually found in remote, but temperate locations… Some tribes choose to go nude at all times, eschewing clothing because of the troublesome nature of their curse. Others wear the clothing of men when they can or cover themselves with blankets or hides. Their homes are large and may be well constructed but are continually in need of repair. Due to their limited intelligence at full size, they are clumsy and often engage in disputes with one another during full moons - this can lead to destruction of property which is only fixed nearer to new moons when they’ve regained their senses and smaller size. The effect on their society is like a regularly occurring mass bender, followed by a hangover requiring cleaning up and mending relations.

Trade with moon giants is not unknown, and is always carefully scheduled beforehand. In general, they are very distrustful of outsiders. In humanoid settlements near where these strange creatures are said to exist, humorous cautionary tales are told of men and giants alike unknowingly acquiring moon giant wives.

A moon giant can only be cured of their curse through the use of two Wish spells. The first to free them, and the second to prevent their offspring from having the affliction (and continuing to pass it on themselves.)

Moon Giants:

Armor Class: (varies by size) 4 to 9 [14-10]
Hit Dice: (varies by size) 1-9
Attacks: 1 (varies by size) d6 with weapon, d10 or 2d8 (large weapon or rock throwing)
Saving Throw: 8-16 (varies by size)
Special: See description.
Move: 12
Challenge Level/XP: (varies by size) 1/15 to 9/1100

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great stuff, fun yet tragic, nice one !

KenHR said...

This is a great idea. I'm swiping it for my RQ3 campaign. :)

Natalie said...

Nice! I like this idea a lot. One question, though -- what do these guys want? Just to be left alone? If that's the case, how do you see them being used in-game and engaging in the rest of the world? Other people coming to hassle them for some reason?

ze bulette said...

Good question Oddysey! There might be a number of ways to go with it, but I was thinking that maybe they know (on their good days) that they're getting a little in-bred. So what do they want? To make babies! Probably doesn't hurt that some walk around nude, though again, depends on what day you stumble into their village I guess. Bummer to have one of these buggers come after you for child support... or looking for their daddy. Or if you got knocked up by one.
;)

Roger G-S said...

When I saw the title I was thinking the King and Queen of the Moon from Gilliam's Baron Munchausen. But this is weirder by far.

Trey said...

Cool!

Telecanter said...

I really like the idea of these creatures changing in a cycle. It reminds a little of the female in the Xanth novel who would switch between ugly-genius/gorgeous-dunce. There was also that Arthurian knight whose strength waxed and waned with the sun.

It makes me excited to try to come up with cycles that might be interesting to apply to players.

Jay said...

Sweet! I love conditional monsters!

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