Giant-Killer

Requirements

Base Attack Bonus: +5.

Feats: Dodge, Mobility, Toughness.

Skills: Hide 2 ranks, Wilderness Lore 4 ranks.

Special: The character must have already slain at least one giant of any type. He need not have accomplished this alone, but he must have damaged the giant with at least one melee attack.

Summary

Giant-killers are great heroes so long as they are killing giants. When they are not out doing what they do best, giant-killers tend to drink a lot and pick fights with people bigger than themselves. Some kindly giant-killers break the stereotype, but everyone expects giant-killers to be rude and boastful, so many live down to expectations. Giant-killers are found most frequently in regions where giants are common.

Most giant-killers begin their careers as barbarians, fighters, or rangers, but clerics of certain deities, paladins, and rogues also choose this path. Not all giants are evil, and not all giant-killers are good. There are a few sorcerers and wizards among their number, but hardly any druids.

Most giant-killers prefer to operate alone or with a small group of like-minded allies. Many of them have sworn to avenge some past wrong or foul deed committed by giants, such as the destruction of their homes or the murder of a member of their family. Where giants gather in strength, several giant-killers sometimes pool their resources in order to more effectively defeat their sworn enemies.

The recent invasion of giants in the Evermoor region, and the subsequent influx of displaced trolls into the Silver Marches, has resulted in a boom in the giant-killing business. Giant-killers from around Faerûn have arrived in the vicinity to ply their trade, offering their services to the highest bidders. Giant-killers charge whatever the market will bear, and the more unscrupulous of the lot often refuse the first offer from a prospective employer, hoping that the problem will worsen and result in a better, more lucrative offer.

A bona fide giant-killer is an expert in his field, and several of them have made themselves invaluable on the outskirts of the Evermoors and in the town of Nesmé. There are also native giant-killers among the dwarves of Citadel Felbarr and Mithral Hall, but while the latter sometimes make themselves available to other communities, those living in the former most often serve the interests only of their own home. Lady Alustriel has recently appealed to King Warcrown on the matter, asking him to consider sending one or two of his kingdom’s giant-killers to help scour the lands around the Silverwood for trolls, before the creatures become an even worse problem for the farmsteads outlying the city of Everlund.

Role: Tank

Characteristics: Fighting folk that specialize in slaying the big folk and are incredibly difficult to kill

Source: Silver Marches

Game Rule Information

The Giant Killer has the following game statistics.

Abilities: Strength and Constitution, are the gold standard for physical combatants as most of their abilities revolve around those two stats, to reach the next level you do need a fair amount of wisdom to track down your chosen foes.

Alignment: Any

Hit Die: d10

Starting Gold: N/A

Class Skills

The Giant Killer's class skills are Climb (Str), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Tumble (Dex), and Wilderness Lore (Wis)

Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) × 4

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Giant Killer.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Giant Killer is proficient with simple and martial weapons

Smite Big Folk Su: Giant-killers know how and where to hit their foes so that every blow counts. Once a day, a giant-killer can smite a foe of at least Large size (provided the foe is larger than the giant-killer) with one melee attack. He adds his Wisdom modifier (if positive) to his attack roll and inflicts 1 extra point of damage per class level. The giantkiller can only use this ability a certain number of times per day as determined by his level. Barbarian giant-killers can use the smite big folk ability when raging. Bonuses from the smite big folk ability stack with ranger bonuses for a favored enemy and can be combined with a smite ability conferred by another class (such as a paladin’s smite evil ability).

Improved Mobility Ex: Sometimes fighting a giant within range of the creature’s mighty limbs is unavoidable. Fortunately, the giant-killer learns how to make himself harder to hit when he must be underfoot. This ability works exactly as the Mobility feat, except that the giant-killer’s bonus to AC is +8 instead of +4.

Giant Lore: The giant-killer is a repository of knowledge and information concerning his chosen foes. Beginning at 1st level, a giant-killer adds this bonus to skill checks used in situations that directly concern giants, such as a Knowledge (local) check to determine where a giant’s lair might be located, a Move Silently check to creep past a sleeping giant, or a Wilderness Lore check when tracking a giant.

Damage Reduction Ex: Beginning at 2nd level, a giantkiller gains the extraordinary ability to shrug off some amount of injury from each blow or attacked. Subtract this number from the damage the giant-killer takes each time he is dealt damage. Damage reduction can reduce damage to 0 but not below 0.

Diehard Ex: At 4th level, if reduced to from –1 to –9 hit points, a giant-killer may remain conscious and take a partial action each round. The giant-killer still loses 1 hit point each round when at negative hit points (unless stabilized) and dies when he reaches –10 hit points. If he is stabilized, the giant-killer is disabled. At 8th level, a giant-killer may act normally each round when at from –1 to –9 hit points, although he still loses 1 hit point per round (unless stabilized) until dead at –10 or lower. At 10th level, instead of dying at –10 hit points or lower, he may make a Constitution check (DC 10 + 1 per previous check) to remain alive for another round. He dies immediately if reduced to –30 hit points or lower.

Table 1-1: Giant-Killer Progression

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+1	+2	+0	+0	Giant lore +1, improved mobility, smite big folk 1/day
2nd	+2	+3	+0	+0	Damage reduction 1/—
3rd	+3	+3	+1	+1	Giant lore +2, smite big folk 2/day
4th	+4	+4	+1	+1	Diehard
5th	+5	+4	+1	+1	Giant lore +3, smite big folk 3/day
6th	+6	+5	+2	+2	Damage reduction 2/—
7th	+7	+5	+2	+2	Giant lore +4, smite big folk 4/day
8th	+8	+6	+2	+2	Diehard 2
9th	+9	+6	+3	+3	Giant lore +5, smite big folk 5/day
10th	+10	+7	+3	+3	Damage reduction 3/—, diehard 3