It’s getting hot in here
What are fire giants?
Giants are humanoid looking creatures with huge proportions. Each race of giant traces their lineage back to Annam All Father with fire giants primarily worshipping his son, Surtur.
Fire giants are master craftsmen. They were the officers, engineers and crafters of the ancient kingdom of Ostoria and maintain their skills even now making them haughty and arrogant individuals. They take their name from the volcanic homes they live in, the fiery forges they maintain and the ginger hair on their heads that looks like a flame. Often, they’re busy building increasingly powerful and formidable weaponry as their abilities in combat are considered only second to their craftsmanship.
| Creature | Fire Giant |
| Species | Giant |
| Size | Huge |
| Life span | 350 yrs |
| Height | 18-20 ft |
| Weight | 7,500 lb |
| Language | Giant |
| Alignment | Lawful Evil |
| Challenge Rating | 9 |
Fire Giant Stats
The following is the official stat block for a cloud giant in D&D 5e as published in the SRD and Monster Manual.
- Huge giant, Lawful Evil
- Armour Class: 18 (plate)
- Hit Points: 162 (13d12 + 78)
- Speed: 30ft
| Str | Dex | Con | Int | Wis | Cha |
| 25 (+7) | 9 (-1) | 23 (+6) | 10 (+0) | 14 (+2) | 13 (+1) |
- Saving Throws: Dex (+3), Con (+10), Cha (+5)
- Skills: Athletics (+11) Perception (+6)
- Damage Immunities: Fire
- Senses: Passive Perception 16
- Languages: Giant
- Challenge: 9 (5,000 XP)
Actions
Multiattack: The giant makes 2 greatsword attacks.
Greatsword: Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 28 (6d6 + 7) slashing damage.
Rock: Ranged Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, range 60/240 ft., one target. Hit: 29 (4d10 + 7) bludgeoning damage.
Fire giant tactics
Playing as a fire giant
While most giants have little tolerance for the “lesser races”, fire giants are particularly cruel and arrogant. Fire giants will rarely co-operate with other races unless it suits them. More typically, fire giants will simply enslave other creatures and force them to do what they want, or, if they have no use for that creature, simply kill them.
When playing as a fire giant, lean into these tropes. You’ll likely want to subjugate players that enter your domain. Consider capturing them and if you defeat them in combat, rather than killing them, place them into forced labour.
If you end up fighting with fire giants, consider using the following tactics:
- Hard as nails: With 18 AC, fire giants are one of the tougher giant races. Use their AC to get them into the frontlines of combat and soak up damage. They’re about as effective with ranged attacks as they are in melee combat, but having them absorb blows in melee combat works better for them.
- Enslaved minions: Fire giants like having creatures to do their bidding. They’ll often use them in combat and to protect their lairs. Use spellcasters, elementals, trolls, and other effective combatants alongside your fire giants. Have fire giants soak up attacks while spellcasters cast spells at range.
- Use fire to your advantage: Fire giants are immune to fire damage. Consider using the natural fire of their home and a spellcaster’s spells to cause problems for adventurers. You can effectively cast a fireball spell with a fire giant in the midst or use natural fire and lava to create environmental hazards. Consider a broken forge leaking molten lava across the battlefield or fighting over a bubbling volcano.
Fighting a fire giant
If you’re fighting a fire giant, I’d recommend using some of the following tactics:
- Impose saving throws: Fire giants may have a big AC, but other than for constitution saving throws, they’re average or poor. Wisdom and intelligence saving throws are the best to throw at a fire giant, but you’ll likely be better than them for charisma saving throws too. Fortunately, there are lots of spells that require a wisdom saving throw.
- Don’t use fire damage: Fire giants are immune to fire damage so avoid using this type of damage, it won’t do anything.
- Keep spellcasters out of range: Fire giants are capable of doing serious damage, especially to a spellcaster. Make sure you keep these characters out of range as much as possible. Rush fire giants with your tanks to prevent them hurling rocks at your weaker party members.
About fire giants
| Creature | Fire Giant |
| Species | Giant |
| Size | Huge |
| Life span | 350 yrs |
| Height | 18-20 ft |
| Weight | 7,500 lb |
| Language | Giant |
| Alignment | Lawful Evil |
| Challenge Rating | 9 |
Description
Fire giants stand about 18 feet tall and weigh over 7000 pounds. Proportionally, this is much heavier than a human of that height and this is primarily due to their stocky nature making them almost dwarf-like in their gigantic appearance. They tend to have dark, coal-like skin and orange or red hair with similarly red eyes.
Fire giants tend to wear armour of steel or dragonscale using flame-coloured or black, singed styling for their appearance.
Combat
Fire giants are excellent warriors and keep themselves in top physical condition through a process of exercise and combat drills. They each know a range of combat techniques making them formidable foes.
Fire giants are, however, poor tacticians. Back when the giants all worked cooperatively, it was the cloud and storm giants that operated as the tacticians determining where combat would be fought and how. Such knowledge is not widely held with fire giants.
Instead, fire giants tend to fight in many skirmishes, mainly to maintain land they already hold rather than extending their area of influence. If a fire giant leader ever did become a master tactician, the fire giants could become a formidable army, sweeping across the realms.
Labour
Fire giants will work with other races when it suits them. Typically, this is an enforced situation where “weaker” races will be subservient to the fire giants. Often, they will use things like mages to create fire elementals and other guardians for their forges and strongholds and creatures like trolls as guards too. Trolls tend to be viewed favourably as guards as they require little maintenance, are powerful enough to ward off most foes and are weak to fire making them little problem for a fire giant to dispatch.
Other creatures are used for general labour and the types of tasks fire giants do not want to engage in. Even intelligent creatures are usually given menial tasks as the skills that most humans have, are generally considered of little use to a fire giant.
Place in the ordning
The ordning is a method by which giants determine social status within their hierarchy. Fire giants retain elevated status among other giant types, but within fire giant society, their order in the ordning is dependant primarily based on their ability to craft fine weapons and structures of incredible artistry and technological genius. Prowess in combat is also considered important, but often, it is recognised that one’s ability to win in combat is dependent upon their ability to create weapons and armour to overpower their opponent.
Leaders of fire giants are chosen based on their crafting ability with masters of the craft often training students (usually children or siblings but sometimes other fire giants too).
Fire giants don’t tend to craft items of intricate artistry, though they do claim that their prowess in metal work is an art form of its own. They do however, mine for precious gems and metals with which to create items of great power. They will sometimes create jewellery but most of what they build is functional in purpose and the finest creations are displayed in a stronghold much like a museum might display the finest inventions or artwork within them.
One group of fire giants known as dreadnoughts, do not place their position in the ordning based on craftsmanship. Instead, they focus on their physical prowess with the strongest and most powerful dreadnought taking the position of leader among them. They tend to take on the function of guards of the forges with the crafters in turn supplying them with weapons and armour making their relationship mutually beneficial.
