Goliath

The goliaths were one of the first humanoid races, created by Sterndere. They are powerful and uncompromising, like the stones from which they believe they were formed. They are named for their size, towering over many of the other humanoid races. The majority hold allegiance to Sterndere above all else, seeking to become one of his champions and residing in the Bastion of Principle by his side. Most live in tribes in the mountains to the north of the Great Plains, and though these tribes may compete with each other, they are rarely hostile to one another or outsiders. Each tribe has its own set of tattoos to distinguish itself, and each individual has their own set of tattoos, representing their accomplishments.

## Description

Goliath's are distinguished by their large and strong bodies. They are quite grounded and focused on self-improvement, which means that it is difficult to tell what baseline goliath strength is like. However, even goliath children are much stronger than their humanoid counterparts, and there have been several documented cases of goliath children beating grown human men in arm wrestling. They are definitely humanoid, and some have theorized that all other humanoid races were based on the goliaths.

The average height of a goliath male is 8 feet, 4 inches. Goliath women are a bit shorter at 8 feet, 2 inches, but they still tower above most races. Their weight heavily varies, due to the differences in muscle mass. However, the average weight for a male Goliath is 320 lbs, while the average for a female goliath is only 300 lbs.

Their skin comes in several colors, each associated with a common stone. These range from lighter, like marble, to darker, like slate. Most are somewhere in-between, as some gray coloration. The skin is not just stone-colored, however. It is as hard as stone, but still flexible like any other race's skin. This makes it very difficult to harm a goliath. The spell stoneskin was actually inspired by the skin of a goliath. Their skin is covered in tattoos, a new one is added each year. This makes it relatively easy to tell how old a goliath is, despite their lack of wrinkles or other common signs of aging in other races. Their tattoo is representative of their accomplishments over that last year, with a higher level of detail given to more impressive accomplishments. Rarely, a tattoo is given outside of the annual tattoo, to signify an extraordinary accomplishment. These tattoos are administered by the tribe's shaman using divine magic. A goliath on its own will usually administer their own tattoos. Sometimes the tattoos appear without being administered by anyone, which the goliaths claim means that Sterndere himself is granting the tattoo.

Most goliaths are bald, but this seems to be a choice more than anything else. Goliath men do sometimes grow jagged, rocky beards. The women tend to either shave their heads or keep them in tight braids. Their hair color varies, but is most often black. Silver, white, green, red, and gold also appear as well. In these cases, hair color seems to correlate with different kinds of precious metals.

The development of a goliath is roughly comparable to other humanoids. The only notable difference is that goliaths do not have any signs of aging past 20 or so. Hair does not change color, nor do wrinkles appear. Their stone skin is too hard for any wrinkles to form. They also do not weaken with age, though some of the older ones become more stiff and brittle.

## Abilities

The goliaths are mostly normal humanoids, except for their increased physical attributes. Their endurance is incredible, allowing them to shrug off injuries beyond what a normal humanoid can survive. They also can survive in extremely cold climates. It is unknown if this is due to their society existing in the cold mountain altitudes, or if they live in cold mountain altitudes because they have the endurance to survive it. Likely, it is both, as Sterndere would have created the goliaths to defend against the monsters from the Pit of Hell.

The physical abilities of goliaths are beyond just endurance. They are also far more physically fit and strong than many races. Part of this is due to their size, part of it is due to their culture, and part is simply their natural strength. However, due to this many goliaths are just as strong as creatures even larger than themselves.

## Features

**Ability Score Increase.** Your Strength Score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 1.

**Age.** Goliaths have a similar lifespan to other humanoids, and a similar development cycle as well. They reach maturity in their late teens and usually live around a century.

**Size.** Goliaths are medium creatures, usually around 8 feet tall and 300 lbs.

**Speed.** Your base walking speed it 30 feet.

**Natural Athlete.** You have proficiency in the Athletics skill.

**Stone's Endurance.** You can focus yourself to occasionally shrug off injury. When you take damage, you can use your reaction to roll a d12. Add your Constitution modifier to the number rolled, and reduce the damage by that total. After you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

**Powerful Build.** You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

**Mountain Born.** You have resistance to cold damage. You're also acclimated to high altitudes, including elevations above 20,000 feet.

**Languages.** You can speak, read, and write Common and Giant.

## Personality

Goliaths tend to be very calm and reserved, though this is only their attitude. Their actual personalities are quite diverse, which is lost on many outsiders. Their humor tends to be dry, but they do enjoy jokes. They have a large amount of loyalty, both to people and ideals. It is rare for a goliath to change once they've made up their mind on something. Usually this only happens when they reach some contradiction, in which case they will carefully fix their thinking. This means that generally, goliaths are slow to make decisions or to bind themselves to an idea or person. Goliaths, therefore, often start quite cold toward people that they do not know. They do not want to attach themselves to someone who they cannot trust. Once they do trust someone and them them in, they will never betray that person. The same is true for their ideas.

Sterndere is very important to the goliath people and culture. They respect him almost implicitly, thankful to be alive because of him and defended by him. This pushing many toward self-improvement, so that one day they can stand by Sterndere's side in the Bastion of Principle and defend against the Pit of Hell. This can make many goliaths seem quite competitive, especially to outsiders. In reality, their competitiveness is a way to encourage their friends to be and do better. Even if sometimes it seems like gloating and insults, this is simply how goliaths interact with one another.

## Society

Goliath as a whole is rather loose, with several confederations of tribes making up the bulk of society. Goliath tribes are based on family and friendship connections, and sometimes even include other races. Goliaths do not care about differences, only shared values and merit. The tribes, therefore, do not fight among eachother or even outsiders, unless those outsiders begin hostility themselves. However, the harshness of the environment and initial coldness of the goliaths often discourages visitors. However, if these can be weathered, the goliaths are good, loyal friends to have.

The structure of goliath society is focused on the tribal structure and the overall structure. Tribes are loosely organized, with a shaman usually acting as the "leader" due to their age and connection with Sterndere. Sterndere is the only actual authority which the goliaths follow, with his few edicts taken as absolute for the goliaths. If one is told to act by Sterndere, a goliath will do that, even to the point of their own death. Sometimes this is seen between friends as well, with a goliath being so fiercely loyal that they will die for their friends.

Marriages are very common in goliath society. They do not enter relationships until they have found someone to be loyal to forever. This means that cheating almost never happens in goliath society, and goliaths are very slow to enter relationships. Once they enter the relationship, the marriage happens almost immediately. Courtship usually is simply friendship between people who are attracted to one another. The proposal is often the first time the two have spoken about romance, and is not gendered. This can be a shock to many outsiders who have befriended or married goliaths. The proposal often seems out of the blue. However, this is only a difference in culture, to the goliath marriage is simply another aspect to their established relationship.