The Best New Monsters from Glory of the Giants
In the ongoing saga of my exploration into one of the latest Dungeons & Dragons sourcebooks, Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants, I'm diving into the aspects that excite me the most. While my last post delved into the rich lore surrounding Giants and Giantkin, this time around, let's revel in the thrill of discovering some truly exceptional new monsters concealed within the book's Bestiary.
Out of the whopping 71 new monsters, I found that many of them were just one type of monster reskinned across the different types of Giant. There are countless hulks, undead giants, evil giants, rune magic giants, and more where the book literally made one type and then just flavored them as storm, or fire, or frost. Those can be worthwhile additions to your game, certainly, but I'm here to spotlight the truly unique and creative options that deserve a prime spot in your upcoming sessions.
Death Giant Shrouded One
The book shares the lore of Death Giants, saying that they stem from a band of Cloud Giants who made a bet with the Raven Queen (A God of Death and Memory), lost, obviously, and now eternally serve the Raven Queen. Shrouded Ones are Death Giants that have spent that time learning the secrets of death magic and now use a death rune inscribed on the skull of a fallen Giant to do rune magic.
Looking like a Giant Grim Reaper with a collection of skulls, and being level 15 Challenge Rating, the Shrouded One is a formidable foe. Imagine this Giant, necromantic wizard approaching your party with its scythe in one hand and its Shroud of Souls surrounding it.
Doing three attacks each turn with the option of two different, crazily powerful attack options, one of which can fully kill you and negate death saving throws. And adding its spells, a teleporting action that can frighten you, and a shroud that can negate saving throws. This is a monster that has BBEG written all over it, or maybe the final boss before your players go toe to toe with the Raven Queen herself.
Echo of Demogorgon
The Demogorgon rose to the highest ranks of Dungeons and Dragons monsters even in the minds of people who have never rolled a single 20-sided die in their life thanks to Stranger Things. What you may not know is that in D&D, The Demogorgon is nothing like what we see terrorizing Hawkins, Indiana, and instead is an insanely powerful Prince of Demons.
Ettins on the other hand are one of the many Giantkin, gross, crude two-headed beings with ties to both Giants and Orcs. An Echo of Demogorgon is an Ettin that has been transformed by Demogorgon himself as thanks for their servitude.
Coming in at a Challenge Rating 6, these are perfect to throw at a lower-level party around 4 or 5 alongside maybe an Orc pal or two. Their resistance to magic will make them a bit of a pain for any magic-users. While its standard tentacle attack isn’t the most flavorful thing, it is its bonus action that makes it stand out. Its two heads will scream and yell at one another, inadvertently causing players to possibly attack their own party members or possibly take a bit of psychic damage.
Overall, I like this addition as a solid creepy, and weird monster to add a tough challenge at lower levels rather than just throwing another Hill Giant into the campaign.
Ettin Ceremorph
Give me a chance to put Mind Flayers into a campaign and I will jump on it in a heartbeat. Enter the Giant-sized Mind Flayer you never knew you needed and yet, here it is. For those who don’t know, outside of, once again, Stranger Things, Mind Flayers are one of the most feared and most intriguing monsters in the entire Multiverse of D&D. Also known as Illithid, they are powerful and sadistic psionic aliens whose overarching plan is to dominate all other lifeforms. How do they plan to do this? By devouring the brains of their foes, stealing their thoughts and personalities in the aftermath.
The Ettin Ceremorph is, at its core, a Mind Flayer Ettin, its body transformed by the insertion of tadpoles into both of its brains and one head eventually taking the forefront as it grew the signature tentacled mouth of a Mind Flayer and its skin turned purple.
At Challenge Rating 8, it is a perfect time in a campaign to start introducing some Mind Flayer machinations into the mix and why not start it out with one of these guys? Its Tentacle attack has an added bonus of possibly grappling (as all tentacle attacks should IMHO). In classic Mind Flayer fashion, it can extract your brain if it kills you while you’re grappled. And adding a bit of range to its action economy, it has mind bolts to shoot out some distanced damage and possibly stun you at the same time.
Seriously, folks. Add some Mind Flayers to your campaigns, nothing is scarier than psychic damage when it comes to D&D, and when you make that damage come from a Large creature it’s just that much scarier because, well, hulk smash and all that.
Fensir Devourer
Fensirs are another Giantkin that stem from Trolls who accompanied Frost Giants in conquering the outdoor plane of Ysgard with the goal of winning Annam’s favor. There they found they could not die and would regenerate and this cycle of rebirth changed these Trolls into entirely different beings.
While I don’t necessarily see Fensir Devourers as an inherently terrifying monster, I do see them as an interesting monster, akin to a Stone Giant. Devourers are a rare type of Fensir that has lived on Ysgard for at least a thousand years and then rapidly grows to a height of 25 feet and is insatiable. Just based on that alone, I just see these as an option to add in a powerful monster that is also just really sad. It may lead the players to question how to handle it instead of simply killing it, and as I’ve said before, I always like adding moral quandaries into D&D campaigns.
At Challenge Rating 8, the one thing that really makes these scary monsters, even though they can do a solid amount of damage and are hard to hit with a 17 AC, is their Death Curse. The Death Curse has the possibility of stopping any short or long rests for 24 hours and 2d10 psychic damage every hour for the next 24 hours. After a fight with this, not being able to regain Hit Points outside of downing potions or wasting spells is at the least annoying and at worst, deadly.
Fire Hellion
A blend of Fire Giant and a devil, a match made in, well, The Nine Hells, I guess. It should come as no surprise that some Fire Giants would be interested in The Blood War, the everlasting conflict between demons and devils. The Fire Hellion is the outcome of this fascination.
Of the monsters in Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants that are tied to the six main types of Giant, this is my absolute favorite. It’s a Giant turned Fiend and it looks rad as hell, like a miniature Balrog.
At Challenge Rating 11, the Fire Hellion has some really awesome abilities. Its main attack is a fiery morningstar that temporarily blocks HP recovery. It has an Infernal Orb, which would wreck a party of adventurers in an enclosed space. Best of all, its Soul Taker feature sends players who are reduced to 0 points straight to Avernus. Better get your party headed to The Nine Hells if they wish to save their friend’s soul.
Fomorian Noble
You really like the Giantkin monsters, you might be thinking. Guess what? You’re rightio. And guess what else? This is my favorite of them found here. Why? Well, because if you know anything about Fomorians it is that they are known as the nastiest, ugliest, most wicked of all the Giantkin as they and their fallen god Karontor were banished and they were cursed for attacking the Feywild.
However, these Nobles show us what Fomorians once looked like when they sat in the Ordning between Hill and Stone Giants. They are tall, lithe, angular-faced, almost beautiful like elves are meant to be. I’m glad they’re here merely for the chance to see them.
To be honest though, for a CR 15 creature, the stat block here is extremely boring. Crazy high health at 253 HP. A rod that does about 25 damage per hit. A couple of spells, none of which are much fun. And Beguiling Presence which is basically a Charm Spell. Boring for a fight, but the idea of bringing in these Nobles after the party has interacted with traditional Fomorians is intriguing, maybe having them try to re-enter the Ordning or something like that. All I’m saying is, I’m glad they’re here even though they’re boring.
Fomorian Warlock of the Dark
For as boring as the Nobles are, they had to immediately follow them up with these, which are just so not boring. These are the Fomorians who have been cursed and banished and are hideous and seen as evil. And yet, they strive to regain the arcane glory they had before, and through magical pacts are able to make that happen.
Much like the Death Giant Shrouded One, these have a rune that allows them to do powerful magic acts. At a Challenge Rating 12, they honestly seem like they could be a bit overpowered, especially since they come with three Legendary Resistances. Remember how the CR15 Nobles had attacks for about 25 HP, these have a greatclub attack that averages 26. They also have a hex that deals 27 damage and curses victims of the hex. They have an Eldritch Burst that does 32 damage. They have spellcasting. They have a Bonus Action that can blind you and a reaction that can poison you.
What I’m saying is these are badasses that have so much action economy that it makes the Nobles look like little weaklings and maybe my football coach was right to say, “No pain, no gain.”
Gargantua
In a world of Giants, the Gargantua stands out as a giant even to the Giants themselves. Born as any other Giant is, they grow out of control to a point where they are too large to exist amongst their own kind. Towering behemoths, over 40 feet tall, they often leave their societies to find areas where they can live, some in peace, some with a chip on their shoulder, angry with the world.
As always, if given the chance, I like taking monsters and making them not so monstrous. Gargantua are built for this type of encounter, a misunderstood, gentle giant who has never fit in. I like the idea of one of these accidentally destroying a large item, maybe a caravan, maybe a small house, and it’s being attacked and the players come in and have to save it and befriend it. That to me is more satisfying than making it evil and stomping around killing livestock, killing people, and the party has to go kill it.
I mean, it’s a CR 21 monster. By the time your players could ostensibly go up against it, they would be so powerful that it would be a rather mundane fight against something that likely doesn’t even really care to fight them. However, you send in a party of level 10 characters and let them save it, they now have themselves a powerful and loyal friend to join them when the campaign is coming to a close and they need all the help they can get. 388 Hit Points. A Hex that can Incapacitate. An ability to mimic spells cast on it. A Weird Aura that causes serious psychic damage and possibly frightens.
All of this will make this an awesome ally in the final battle if having a 40-foot-tall monster isn’t enough for you. Remember the Ents in The Return of the King? Well, here ya go.
Giant Goose
It’s a Giant Goose that lays one massive golden egg a year and the eggs hold trinkets. That’s it. You players are going to go and steal an egg from a goose and you’re going to put an important magic item in there for them. Normal geese are terrifying enough. Giant Goose is infinitely scarier. Its Thunderous Honk, something I never knew I needed, but love so much, can be heard within 300 feet and can deal out thunder damage and deafen players.
Bonus points for you if you somehow run a version of Untitled Goose Game starring a Giant Goose that is leaving a path of destruction through a small country village.
Grinning Cat
Hmm, wonder where they got the inspiration for this one? Maybe we should go ask Alice? I don’t really care though, I’m a big fan of the Cheshire Cat. And having a stat block to add him to my campaign is something I’m excited about. The Grinning Cat is a large Fey creature that is known to be mischievous.
Much like the Goose, it’s not going to be much of a monster you fight as opposed to a monster that just adds to the immersive feeling of the world. Have it trade some riddles, or knowledge with the players in an area using its Fade Away ability to weave in and out of sight, making sure to always bring that grinning smile back into view.
One interesting part of the cat is its whiskers allowing anyone holding one to cast Misty Step once. While your players could kill the cat and take 2d12 of these. I think it would be more fun for the cat to send them on a quick quest and in return it will award them a few of its whiskers. And who knows, maybe the Grinning Cat will be there in the endgame as well, fighting alongside a Gargantua, he’s only a CR 1, so maybe not, but it’s your world, it can be whatever you want.
Maw of Yeenoghu
If you’re familiar with the vast lore of Dungeons & Dragons then you would recognize that Yeenoghu is a demon lord of Gnolls aka the Beast of Butchery. And you may wonder what a god of canine humanoids has to do with Giants. Well, according to the book, Hill Giants, who are known for their endless desire to devour, can also attract the attention of Yeenoghu as he sees them as pawns in his plans.
Looking like a gruesome Gnoll and Giant hybrid, a maw of Yeenoghu is the perfect monster to send after your players to up the yuck factor in a campaign. Their jaws hang loose and wide, filled with rows of teeth that continually grow, coming in so quickly that they rip their own teeth out to relieve pain and to use as throwable weapons.
At Challenge Rating 10, a maw of Yeenoghu working alongside a warband of blood-hungry gnolls would be a terrifying mid-game threat, especially if you are running a campaign where Yeenoghu himself is either the BBEG or one where the Bloodwar plays part in the overarching story, bringing your players head to head with many Devils and Demons. Its abilities aren’t anything too excited bites, throwing fangs, a charge attack, and a rebuke. Nevertheless, the visceral and disgusting way that you could describe combat against this makes it a monster to keep in your mind as it would remain in your players’ minds for sessions to come.
Scions of Giants’ Gods
Now, I know I said I wouldn’t focus on any of this. But, as an added bonus here at the end, I just wanted to point out that they exist and that there are twelve of them that you could focus on using if you are doing a Giant-focused campaign. These are the Grandchildren of Annam, the All-Father, whom I wrote in-depth about in my post on Giant lore.
Ranging in Challenge Rating from Level 22 - 27, these are end-game monsters no matter which way you look at it. And, truly, if you’re looking for new, exciting monsters to throw at players who have played the game a long time and may know most of what’s out there, the Scion of Skoraeus or the Scion of Stronmaus are worth taking a look at. Another fun way to use them would be having the players travel around the world throughout the entire campaign trying to converse with these Scions and working to get them to join their side in bringing Annam back to the Material Plane, ending in an all-out war where you get to describe the players fighting alongside these Giant demigods.