Valonesse Hergrut

Defense

Offense

Statistics

Description

Female frost giant barbarian 9

Base Statistics: When not raging, Valonesse’s statistics are AC 35, touch 13, flat-footed 33; hp 259; Fort +21, Will +9; Melee +2 icy burst greataxe +33/+28/+23/+18 (3d6+20/×3) or 2 slams +30 (1d8+12); Ranged rock +20 (1d8+18); Str 35, Con 22; CMB 32, CMD 46; Skills Climb +26.

makes her crude bed on the rough ground; whatever family members the chieftain trusts are sometimes permitted to sleep in the shanty as well.

Among the highly fertile and promiscuous hill giants, family ties are complicated. Though hill giants openly practice polygamous and often incestuous partnerships, they nonetheless remain somewhat territorial regarding their favored mates. Only in the case of the chieftain is such covetousness allowed; any other members of the tribe who show signs of possessiveness over a mate are quickly reprimanded by their peers. The responsibility of taking care of hill giant children largely falls upon the women of the tribe, who nonetheless remain blundering and neglectful in their duties, a contributing factor to the high infant mortality rate among hill giants.

Though births are common in even small tribes, the arrival of a living hill giant baby is often marked with a great feast. The feast is not a celebration of birth, but rather a measurement of the tribe’s resources as the giants make preparations for another mouth to feed. If the tribe still has an abundant store or reliable source of food after the feast, the baby is celebrated and ritualistically scarified to symbolize its allegiance to the tribe. If after the meal the chieftain determines the tribe cannot sustain another member, the baby is killed. The chieftain kills the baby publicly to remind the tribe that its future depends on the hunt, and the corpse is used as bait to attract game so the tribe might have more food when the next child is born. This brutal tradition is often so ingrained in hill giant society that the mothers of sacrificed children hardly bat an eye at the barbaric act, and all accept the ceremony as a necessary part of hill giant life, oftentimes reveling in the bloodshed.

Hill giants hold strength above all other concepts, and learn to respect brawn early in their lives. Shows of strength need not necessarily entail spilt blood, and in raids or conflicts hill giants know that accepting the surrender of others can be as beneficial to the tribe as slaughtering such opponents. Rivals who surrender often regret their decision, as most victims are captured and taken back to the hill giant encampment as slaves, where they are forced to build structures, grow food, and commingle to produce even more servants for their ruthless masters. Hill giants apply their simple ideals to what they look for in a slave, and when possible take back only the strongest specimens. Even though their greatest need is for laborers in large numbers, hill giant tribes particularly enjoy enslaving enemy warriors for use in their own battles. Such enslaved fighters are the first to be sacrificed in frontal assaults and hastily HILL GIANT CHIEFTAINS Occasionally, a hill giant is born with a better head for survival than the rest of his peers. He sees his tribe as both an advantage and a liability, and understands what decisions must be made to ensure the survival of the tribe, as well as how to direct his people’s unabashed violence into productive raids and attacks. Such natural-born leaders are usually destined to become their tribes’ chieftains. Hill giant chieftains are not elected. More often than not, a chieftain is named simply because he is the strongest tribe member and because he claimed the title. His word becomes law, and is generally adhered to out of convenience, for those who disagree with the chieftain are also often the first ones culled from the tribe during food shortages. Tribes without chieftains exist, but tend to be poorly organized and even more barbaric than most hill giant tribes. When another member of the tribe thinks she can do a better job of leading (or simply wants the privileges afforded the chieftain, including the most food and first pick from among potential mates), the two brawl to the death for supremacy.

Hill giant tribes are generally too self-destructive and chaotic to establish any sort of government for more than a generation, but under the leadership of a particularly gifted chieftain, a hill giant tribe might come to dominate a small swath of hills or a valley.

Hill Giant planned raids, and are often set loose as distractions before the tribe makes a more organized attack. Slaves who show their prowess in the fight and manage to live through more than a couple battles may eventually be adopted into the hill giant tribe, though such instances are incredibly rare, and few non-hill giants desire such an allegiance. If a creature showcases power other than strength, such as spectacular magic or cunning tactics, hill giants give the captive no more respect than any other creature of like physical prowess, and set it to work as a common laborer.

Hill giants are barely more intelligent than animals, and their animalistic nature is particularly evident in battle. They intimidate opponents with bearlike posturing, and possess wolflike tactics, often chasing their victims for a short time to wear them down before killing them. It is perhaps unsurprising, then, that hill giants commonly raise wolves as hunting companions, as well as other beasts native to the region that prove both loyal and useful.

Religion is a relatively unimportant fixture in hill giant society, though each tribe tends to have its own origin story. Those tribes that do practice religion usually do so in the form of shamanism or through primitive superstitions, and many make living sacrifices to their brutal gods. Hill giants capable of understanding the concept of divinity usually worship Fandarra, Norgorber, Rovagug, or Urazra, favoring these violent deities for their aid in battle and the hunt. Particularly independent and wise hill giants have been known to stray from their tribes, seeking something more to life than the brutal and meaningless destruction inherent within the hill giant tribal structure. Such hill giants either wander for the rest of their days as dreamy loners or eventually come into contact with more peaceful races of humanoids; in the latter case, such reformed hill giants may adapt the habits of their new allies, and some individuals have even managed to rise completely above the baser desires of other members of their race. Among other hill giants, independent-minded loners of this sort are shunned at best and hunted down at worst, and a hill giant seen associating with the “puny races” is regarded as worse than a traitor by members of his old tribe.

CAMPAIGN ROLE Hill giants make excellent mid-level threats in physical encounters, and groups of hill giants can pose significant dangers even to parties whose average level is notably higher than the hill giant’s CR of 7. Hill giants deal damage both up close and from incredible distances thanks to their rock throwing ability and handiness with a club. They are easily advanced, and can be customized with combat-oriented class levels to make them even more devastating, and hence useful in significant encounters or as villains for PCs of 6th level and up.

Of all the giants, hill giants are perhaps the least tied to a single theme or environment, and can be found nearly anywhere there are hills and a viable food source.

Vile masterminds often recruit hill giants to act as muscle for their extensive plots, and so hill giants can prove a suitable gateway monster to more powerful threats in a long-running campaign. Hill giants are also somewhat morally diverse, and tend to be more redeemable than other wicked foes. Stray hill giant NPCs of a peaceful bent may be used to trigger sympathetic responses in encounters that can be solved with diplomacy instead of violence.

Because of their low Will saves and poor mental ability scores, hill giants are particularly susceptible to manipulation and mind-affecting magic. Even mediocre Charisma-based skill checks and low-level enchantment magic can trick the brawniest hill giants. Battles with hill giants can take a drastic turn when a magic-user casts charm person on several of the brutes, and GMs should be prepared for such outcomes and refrain from viewing such trickery as circumventing an encounter. Numerous pieces of folklore about giants feature characters overcoming them through guile, and a silver-tongued bard should be equally rewarded for magically befriending a hill giant as would be a barbarian who deals the killing blow.

TREASURE Hill giants do not care about gold, have no concept of money, and are baffled by the idea of trading goods for anything other than necessities like food and shelter. Regardless, hill giants substantially exposed to smaller races notice the great importance they place upon coins and other items of arbitrary value, and some mimic such behaviors. These avaricious hill giants loot various Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Giants Revisited treasures from their fallen foes, but which gems and riches they keep are more a matter of personal taste and a primitive grasp of aesthetics than anything else.

Particularly clever hill giants can recognize magic items when they see them, though such insightful individuals are usually limited to tribal chieftains and shamans. Those hill giants who think to equip themselves with magic weapons and armor soon find themselves substantially elevated in their tribe, and more superstitious groups sometimes regard a magically garbed member as a tamer of wild magic and powerful forces of nature. Bludgeoning weapons such as clubs and maces are particularly prized among hill giant leaders, who use such implements to great effect in combat and often wind up living considerably longer than most hill giants as a result. Other items that may have some use in combat also frequently end up in hill giants’ bags, though particular hill giants’ intentions can be hard to judge from their collections of seemingly random battle gear, which might include any range of items, from stolen flasks of alchemist’s fire to badly damaged wagon axles. Hill giants’ minds work in odd ways, and what treasure they choose to keep is inevitably a reflection of their strange and often misguided mental processes.

HILL GIANTS ON GOLARION Hill giants span relatively large regions of Golarion, and can be found in many parts of Avistan as well as swaths of Garund. Being nomadic, tribes never stay at a specific location for long, though the regions they roam remain somewhat fixed throughout the generations. The frostbite-ravaged Black Pox tribe in the salt marshes of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings has proven a thorn in the side of numerous settlements in Southmoor, and the people of these scattered homesteads and townships desperately seek a permanent solution to the gigantic raiders. In the Mana Wastes near the small city of Martel, cannon-wielding Hrugor Gurstweld has united a band of mutated followers and led them in commandeering an abandoned dwarven factory, claiming untold numbers of firearms and explosives that they hardly understand—a fact that only serves to make the raiders even more dangerous. Older hill giant tribes sometimes find it an order of duty to settle in Central Varisia near the burial site of Chieftain Ruk Heelcrunch in the northern Storval Plateau, while younger tribes spread to the rural corners of Varisia looking to bully unfortified communities. The gnarled hill giants in the Realm of the Mammoth Lords alternate between warring with and working as mercenaries for the Kellid tribes of the region.

Legendary hill giant chieftains include the club-handed chief Urgo Axbiter, whose influence over as many as 30 tribes earned him infamy throughout Numeria until his death during a final confrontation with the Kellid warrior-queen Queen Boliga Bharsolm. The charismatic chieftain Gorgnak rules the fortress of Thunderhold on the isle of Flintyreach in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, where he oversees a semi-loyal band of hill giant, ettin, and troll warriors.

Where tribe populations are thin, stray hill giants scatter throughout the wilderness regions of Golarion. Hill giant hunters occasionally return to their tribe only after it has moved on or been wiped out, and enslaved hill giants who free themselves often find themselves stranded and alone in a foreign land. Such strays may stumble into new homes, be adopted by another open-minded tribe, or be quickly slain by fearful locals. A hill giant’s naivete allows it to be habituated to the ideals of virtually any culture—from a halfling village in need of brute strength for rebuilding to a sadistic medusa who can supply the hill giant with endless “rocks” to hurl. Coupled with hill giants’ ability to survive in myriad climates, such strays are rarely alone for long.

HILL GIANT BAGS The following list of random treasure includes items one might normally find either on a hill giant’s person or in his dwelling.

d% Result 1–5 Salted animal jerky 6–10 Mangled wizard’s spell book, 1d4 legible pages of spells 11–15 Spoiled horse meat (30 lbs.) 16–20 Filthy giant bedroll (5 gp, 20 lbs.) 21–25 Crossbow bolt case with 1d10 cold iron crossbow bolts 26–30 Leather strips (6 lbs.) 31–35 Small exotic riding saddle 36–40 Human gambling chips (140 gp) 41–45 Scroll of detect secret doors 46–50 Ornate painting of an elven maiden (250 gp, 10 lbs.) 51–55 Large broken bastard sword 56–60 Hooded lantern 61–65 Crude necklace of random gems (roll d%; 1–50: 100 gp, 51–95: 250 gp, 96–100: 500 gp) 66–70 Cloth bag of golden pearls (1d12, 100 gp each) 71–75 Large masterwork greatclub 76–80 Small torn noble’s outfit (50 gp, 2 lbs.) 81–84 Landmark map written in Giant 85–88 Green dragonhide satchel (200 gp, 6 lbs.) 89–92 5 oversized torches 93–96 Stone of alarm 97–100 Tanglefoot bag Hill Giant SAMPLE HILL GIANT CHIEFTAIN This heavily scarred, towering giant wears the hide of a black dragon, and wields a massive club studded with dragon’s teeth.

Source: Giants Revisited, p. 27