[Index]
Cypher Bestiary
Immense humanoids, giants possess great strength, and a subset wield supernatural abilities. Some giants are dumb brutes while others wield magical power over natural phenomena.
Environment: Underground, deserts, mountaintops, and similar desolate areas
Health: 40
Damage Inflicted: Major wound
Armor: 1
Movement: Short
Modifications: Dodge as level 5 due to size; sees through deceptions and tricks as level 3
Combat: Giants smash foes with their fists, possibly catching up to three human-sized targets with the same attack if all the targets are in immediate range of each other.
Some giants hurl rocks up to very long range.
If a giant attacks a single target with a fist, they can choose to do regular damage or to grab hold of the victim, dealing a moderate wound or no damage, if the giant chooses. On their turn, the victim can attempt a Might task to struggle out of the grip, a Speed task to slip out, or an Intellect-based task to distract the giant. If the victim fails, the giant throws the victim as high and as far as they can on their next turn. Damage on impact varies, depending on the environment, but a victim usually takes no less than a major wound (ignores armor).
Giants range anywhere from 15 to 30 feet (6 to 9 m) tall, though some are even larger.
GM Intrusion: The giant steps on the character, entombing them in the ground until they can escape with a Might task as their action.
GM Intrusion: The grabbed character isn't thrown; instead, the giant tries to bite off their head. On a failed Might defense roll the character takes two major wounds.
GM Intrusion: The giant’s attack also sprains one of the character’s limbs, making it useless until they use a ten-minute or longer non-rest recovery.
A giant or a group of giants could be encountered with a pet.
| d10 | Pets and/or Allies |
|---|---|
| 1 | Elephant (level 6; Speed defense level 4) |
| 2 | 1d10 goblins |
| 3 | Unicorn |
| 4 | 2d20 "giant" rats (level 3) |
| 5 | Zombie |
| 6 | Captive adventurer |
| 7 | Tyrannosaurus rex |
| 8 | Colossal bird; a "roc" (level 6, dodge as level 3) |
| 9 | Werewolf |
| 10 | Grizzly bear (level 5; health 20; Armor 1) |
Giant names might be nicknames given in a common tongue, or descend from various giant languages. Options include: Nakanim, Bistla, Zeloud, Arguth, Thunderhide, Breurs, Greyli, Malestrom, Githorbim, Kren, Musuth, Garz, Og, Footquake, Ronait, Hrung, Nyrmir, Surek, Murda, Twelve-Ton
Giants often haul bags containing a curious assortment of collected objects. Roll or choose a few times on the following table to determine what valuables and/or bric-a-brac a given giant carries in their bag. Items noted that might possess magical abilities—for example, a "jar of darkness" could be treated as cyphers, or in a few cases, as artifacts.
| d00 | Found in Bag |
|---|---|
| 01-02 | Rocks, ideal for throwing |
| 03-04 | Rolled-up art (expensive) |
| 05-06 | Magical seeds |
| 07-08 | Gold coins (expensive) |
| 09-10 | Gemstones (expensive) |
| 11-12 | Map to a lost ruin |
| 13-14 | Shrunken city in glass dome |
| 15-16 | Petrified dragon eye |
| 17-18 | Spellbook |
| 19-20 | Talking mirror |
| 21-22 | Jar of darkness |
| 23-24 | Human heads |
| 25-26 | Pinch of dream dust |
| 27-28 | Gilded flute (expensive) |
| 29-30 | Rolled-up portal to Hell |
| 31-32 | Pocket-sized dragon |
| 33-34 | Hat of disappearing |
| 35-36 | Pocket watch (expensive) |
| 37-38 | Gnawed human bones |
| 39-40 | Giant-sized wineskin |
| 41-42 | Gold amulets (expensive) |
| 43-44 | Map to subterranean city |
| 45-46 | Recipe for human soup |
| 47-48 | Vial of youth |
| 49-50 | Ring of keys |
| 51-52 | 5-gallon drinking horn |
| 53-54 | Cloak of invisibility |
| 55-56 | Jar of starlight |
| 57-58 | Cask of oil |
| 59-60 | Sack of salt |
| 61-62 | Huge brass lamp |
| 63-64 | Nesting figurines (expensive) |
| 65-66 | Gross of candlesticks |
| 67-68 | Massive cookpot |
| 69-70 | Crystal ball, cracked |
| 71-72 | Healing herbs |
| 73-74 | Huge wheel of cheese |
| 75-76 | Mirror that reflects the past |
| 77-78 | Gross of iron nails |
| 79-80 | Boots of water strolling |
| 81-82 | Live goblins |
| 83-84 | Deck of lewd playing cards |
| 85-86 | Jar of fireflies |
| 87-88 | Box of whispers |
| 89-90 | Chunk of coal |
| 91-92 | Wand of lies |
| 93-94 | Gross of incense |
| 95-96 | Hero's journal, ends abruptly |
| 97-98 | Prism |
| 99-00 | Bag of plucked faerie wings |
A given giant's motive directly affects how they interact with other creatures.
| d10 | Motive |
|---|---|
| 1 | Reclaim the lands stolen from them |
| 2 | Be left undisturbed in their claimed territory/castle to farm and hunt as they choose |
| 3 | Seize other creatures' lands, either alone or as allies of other giants or supernatural forces |
| 4 | Search out and gain mystical knowledge that offers advantages of craft and longevity |
| 5 | Call down storms and unnatural disasters to sow chaos and destruction |
| 6 | Found a hidden conclave of giant-kind that can exist away from violence and discord |
| 7 | Recover ancient artifacts taken from giant-kind by heroes of old |
| 8 | Topple the gods and place themselves as rulers of the heavens and hells beyond the world |
| 9 | Guard mystical knowledge, sacred sites, temples to elemental beings, or graves of gods |
| 10 | Accumulate and guard monetary and magical treasures to keep for themselves |
Giants may possess more abilities than mere size and strength. A few giants can generate storms, tidal waves, earthquakes, and similar phenomena that can lash an area up to 1,000 feet (300m) across for up to a minute, inflicting a moderate wound each round to all creatures and objects not protected by shelter designed to withstand a storm (though few shelters protect against an earthquake).
A subset of giants with more wit than their kin may know spells, usually spells capable of grounding enemy fliers, spells to put enemies to sleep, and spells allowing them to change their shape and size.
Giants usually get things done by brute strength, either smashing through foes and obstacles, or credibly threatening to do so.
Some giants are not very bright. When such a giant is rampaging, someone could attempt to distract them by singing, juggling, or doing some other trick, causing the giant to pause and watch for one or two rounds.
Being so large and strong, giants can carry lots of stuff around with them, often in ratty leather bags stuffed with all manner of detritus, but also sometimes surprisingly valuable bits.
Especially powerful giants can be adversaries to the gods themselves.
This section provides some ideas for involving giants in your game.
| d10 | Giant Encounters |
|---|---|
| 1 | A giant came down out of the mountains and laid waste to half the nearby village. Survivors will pay someone to venture into the giant's mountain lair and destroy the creature. |
| 2 | Merchants pull into town with a large wagon on which a young giant is securely(?) trussed. The giant might get loose, or the giant's relatives might come looking for their missing child. |
| 3 | A huge, dead giant washes up on the shore, easily 50 feet (15 m) long. It slowly decays over the course of months, helped along by nearby townsfolk harvesting portions of it for various needs. |
| 4 | A bank of clouds appears on the horizon; a massive castle sits atop the clouds, home to a handful of feuding giants. |
| 5 | A giant with elemental powers, but who isn't too bright, serves as an evil wizard's lackey and muscle. The giant is forced to serve the wizard because the wizard keeps the giant's daughter hostage. |
| 6 | The lake which the community depends upon for fresh water and fishing has been claimed by a giant with two heads. The two heads bicker with each other but usually put differences aside when threatened. |
| 7 | A giant guards the pass the characters wish to traverse, demanding they give one of their own for the giant to eat before they will allow the rest of the characters to pass. |
| 8 | A giant wearing well-cut clothing and speaking eloquently describes a hidden realm of giants just like them, but one which has come under threat by a "ghost army." The giant is looking for outside aid. |
| 9 | When ship travelers make landfall on an island in the middle of the sea, they are attacked by one or more giants. |
| 10 | Oversized items of all sorts—including dishes and silverware, articles of clothing, tools, and even a few weapons—have been showing up at market. If traced, it all comes from a thief who claims they're pilfering it from a giant's lair they have been sneaking in and out of for several months. |
Giant, two-headed: level 7; as giant but has extra action each round
Adventure Seed: Those sent to investigate thunder in the foothills that rumbles even without a storm discover giant footprints that lead to and from a massive cavemouth carved into a mountainside.