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Titolo: QUARTA edizione 4th - Estratto MOSTRI i Giganti

estratto dal monster manual, i GIGANTI
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4ex/20080512b&pf=true
Giants
4th Edition Monster Manual
In today’s preview, we look at 4th Edition’s giants, with R&D’s
Jennifer Clarke Wilkes offering the following introduction to their
backstory:
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As a staple of fantasy, giants are instantly recognizable to any
player: big, often brutish creatures that look like people, wielding
enormous clubs or axes. They make great opponents at any tier of play,
and we naturally wanted to keep them in 4th Edition.
However, giants as a group had some problems. Many giants of previous
editions suffered from being too similar to each other. Hill giants
and stone giants, for example, behaved almost identically in combat
and differed only in Armor Class and Intelligence (stone giant elders
were a rare exception.) Yet at the same time, giants as a whole had
little in common other than being good at throwing and catching rocks,
and carrying around sacks filled with random junk. That’s just not
enough to hang an entire creature type on.
Later Monster Manuals introduced more interesting kinds of giants,
such as the death giant, wrapped in captive souls, and the eldritch
giant, a highly intelligent being that could use magic items and
spells to devastating effect. The fantastic qualities of such giants
made them more distinctive and challenging opponents. As part of the
overall 4th Edition design philosophy, we took the best of those ideas
to give giants more variety. At the same time, we decided to emphasize
the more supernatural aspects of giants as a unifying factor.
The new cosmology, rooted in a great war between the primordial first
creators and the gods, offered a way to incorporate giants into the
setting. Many existing giants already embodied elemental forces, such
as stone, fire, and wind. The natural next step was to make them into
elemental beings, the first creatures shaped by the primordials to
assist them in their work. This approach actually returned giants to
their Classical roots as creatures embodying natural forces. In
keeping with that ancestry, titans also became an elemental race,
precursors to and creators of the lesser giants. Now a titan isn’t
just a big dude with a ton of spell-like powers, but a powerful leader
whose nature is closely tied to an element or kind of energy.
Having been forged in the Elemental Chaos, giants moved into other
worlds. The fall of the primordials drove their creations into the
planes, where they adapted to local conditions and became less closely
tied to their origins. Some giants built mighty empires in the world,
enslaving the dwarves in so doing. By adding this backstory to dwarves
in the implied setting of the game, we were able to provide some
roleplaying hooks for that race, as well as better define the roles of
elemental dwarflike creatures in the setting, most notably galeb duhr
and azers.
A few, such as the death giants, embody their adopted planes more than
the elements—but that heritage lives on, along with their memories of
ancient power and empire. When the primordials stir, giants are
naturally drawn to their side in order to fight once more for control
of creation.
Giants are hulking humanoid creatures with fundamental ties to the
world, be that bedrock, uncontrollable fires, raging storms, or
inevitable death. The first giants were massive titans of fire and
frost, storm and stone. These giants labored under primordial lords to
shape the newly forming world.
In the eons since the first days, giants have multiplied and moved on,
finding places to call their own in planes beyond the Elemental Chaos,
including the Shadowfell and the Feywild, and even in the realm of
their masters’ deific foes, the Astral Sea. However, giants prefer the
world their labor helped create, and giants of every variety can be
found upon it. Indeed, when the primordials retreated from the world,
one of the first empires of that dawn era was one created by giants,
and their slaves were the children of Moradin. But those heady days
are long vanished.
Giants and titans tend to lair in extreme environments, including
scrublands, mountain peaks, volcanic calderas, and searing deserts.
These brutal landscapes remind giants of the Elemental Chaos where
their ancestors first drew breath.
Giants as a whole answer to no particular overlord or higher power,
nor are they known to cooperate among themselves. Indeed, giant clans
often make war each other, though no one except giants know why they
fight. However, should ever an imprisoned or lost primordial return to
the world, giants of the lineage once loyal to it would obey that
ancient one’s command.
Giants have marshaled just so in past primordial awakenings. Giants
have long memories and longer oral histories, and most clans await the
day they can renew their claim on the world in service to an
unstoppable primordial entity.
--Jennifer Clarke Wilkes
[size=18]GIANT[/size]
Earth Giant
Creatures of stone and rock, earth giants are mean, uncouth,
territorial monsters that often enslave smaller, weaker creatures.
Earth giants live in mountainside caves, as well as valleys, rocky
barrens, canyons, and foothills.
Hill GiantLevel 13 BruteLarge natural humanoid (giant)XP 800Initiative
+5 Senses Perception +7
HP 159; Bloodied 79
AC 25; Fortitude 27, Reflex 21, Will 23
Speed 8Greatclub (standard; at-will)  WeaponReach 2; +15 vs. AC; 1d10
+ 5 damage.Sweeping Club (standard; encounter)  WeaponThe hill giant
makes a greatclub attack against two Medium or smaller targets; on a
hit, the target is pushed 2 squares and knocked prone.Hurl Rock
(standard; at-will) Ranged 8/16; +15 vs. AC; 2d6 + 5 damage.Alignment
Chaotic evil Languages GiantSkills Athletics +16 Str 21 (+11) Dex 8
(+5) Wis 12 (+7) Con 19 (+10) Int 7 (+4) Cha 9 (+5) Equipment hide
armor, greatclub
Hill Giant Tactics
A hill giant hurls rocks at opponents until they close to melee range,
at which point it switches to using its greatclub. As soon as two
smaller targets come within reach, the giant uses sweeping club to
knock them prone. A hill giant is wise enough to flee if hopelessly
outmatched.
Earth TitanLevel 16 Elite BruteHuge elemental humanoid (earth,
giant)XP 2,800Initiative +7Senses Perception +9
HP 384; Bloodied 192
AC 31; Fortitude 33, Reflex 27, Will 28
Immune petrification
Saving Throws +2
Speed 6
Action Points 1 Slam (standard; at-will)Reach 3; +20 vs. AC; 2d10 + 6
damage.Double Attack (standard; at-will)The earth titan makes two slam
attacks.Hurl Rock (standard; at-will) Ranged 20; +18 vs. Reflex; 2d8 +
6 damage, and the target is dazed (save ends).Alignment Chaotic evil
Languages Giant, PrimordialSkills Athletics +19 Str 23 (+14) Dex 8
(+7) Wis 12 (+9) Con 22 (+14) Int 11 (+8) Cha 13 (+9)
Earth Titan Tactics
An earth titan hurls rocks at foes until they close to melee, at which
point it pounds them with its stony fists, spending its action point
to use earth shock. Unlike their hill giants cousins, earth titans
stand their ground even when faced with a losing battle.
Earth Giant Lore
A character knows the following information with a successful Arcana
check.
DC 20: Earth giants are the most brutish of giantkind. They inhabit
badlands, deserts, and canyons, though lesser earth giants (such as
hill giants) often gather in high mountain valleys and along mountain
passes.
DC 25: Many of the dwarves who were enslaved by the earth giants were
transformed as galeb duhrs. Some of them continue to serve earth
giants, while others escaped and view giants (and earth giants in
particular) as bitter enemies.
Encounter Groups
Earth giants associate with other giants, as well as with galeb duhrs
and other monstrous and savage humanoids.
Level 13 Encounter (XP 4,000)
3 hill giants (level 13 brute)
1 displacer beast packlord (level 13 elite skirmisher)
Level 17 Encounter (XP 7,800)
1 earth titan (level 16 elite brute)
2 hill giants (level 13 brute)
2 war trolls (level 14 soldier)
4 ogre bludgeoneers (level 16 minion)
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Be sure to return Wednesday for a look at the economy!
©1995-2008 Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
--
Fabio

dalla figurina delle miniature
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mi20080508a_etitancd.jpg
il potere mancante dell'Earth Titan (ho tradotto 20 danni in 2d8+6,
visto che anche Hurl Earth nella miniatura fa 20 danni, e
conseguentemente 10 in 1d8+3)
Earth Shock: burst*2
attack: +16 vs Fortitude;
Hit: 2d8+6 damage and stunned (save ends)
Miss: 1d8+3 damage
--
Fabio