Stone Giant Defender

Stone Giant Defender (Tank; CR 18)

Neutral - Large - Humanoid (Giant)

Lore:	Know (Local)
36		51
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

27

Perception:
40	+30
Passive	Active

Ambush:

10+

on a d20

Senses:

• Standard Senses

Movement Types:

Defense

AC

42

Man Def

45

Monster Health
1,494	747	34
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+20
Refl:	+15
Will:	+18

Strong Against:

• DR 34/Common (Bludgeoning,  Crushing,  Piercing,  Slashing,  Slime), bypassed by weapons with Sunder (Quality)
• (Tank Role) Immunity (no effect): Tanks are immune to all effects which are not damage, except those they choose to allow to affect them. Attacks which deal damage and include a secondary effect (such as forced movement or a debuff) can only inflict the damage. (Abilities which specifically state they bypass the condition immunity of roles, such as a Prowler's Encroaching Jolt, also bypass this immunity.)
• Immune (no effect): forced movement, Quelled, Prone, Splayed

Weak Against:

Offense

Size:	Large
10 ft.		10 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+29

Man Off

+32

Action

1

Points

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 1x Stone Club +29 (0/19-20 x2)
  as bludgeoning (physical, common)
  plus: Slides target up to 1 square per hit

Full Attack (Melee):

• 3x Stone Club +29 (4d8+19/19-20 x2)
  as bludgeoning (physical, common)
  plus: Slides target up to 1 square per hit

Standard Attack (Ranged):

• 1x Hurled Stone +29 (0/19-20 x2)
  as bludgeoning (physical, common)
  (Increment: 150 ft.; Max Range: 1500 ft.)
  plus: Pushes target up to 2 squares per hit

Full Attack (Ranged):

• 3x Hurled Stone +29 (4d8+19/19-20 x2)
  as bludgeoning (physical, common)
  (Increment: 150 ft.; Max Range: 1500 ft.)
  plus: Pushes target up to 2 squares per hit

Siege Damage: Not siege capable

Statistics

44

STR

12

DEX

34

CON

12

INT

8

WIS

14

CHA

Skills:

• Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 30
• Might: 30
• Movement: 30
• Perception: 30
• Survival: 30
• All other skills: 25 (no ranks)

Languages: Giant, Common

Feats:

Special Abilities

Stony Skin (Su, Aura)

Any time a Stone Giant takes physical damage sufficient to pierce its Damage Resistance, sharp flakes of stone and stone dust are generated that affect all enemy creatures within its reach. Enemy creatures within its reach when it takes physical damage suffer 9 points of slashing (physical, common) damage, and are Dazzled by the stone dust. Note that unlike many conditions, Dazzled stacks! if you get enough stone dust in your sensory organs, it can render you quite ineffective.

Gravel Flick (Su)

As a swift action up to once per round, a Stone Giant may snap its fingers and fire off a small shard of stone at any creature who has damaged it from beyond its melee reach. Gravel Flick inflicts 4d8+19 points of bludgeoning (physical, common) damage, and allows the Giant to Push the target one square. Affected targets are allowed a Reflex saving throw, DC 28, to reduce the damage by half and negate the Push.

Improved Catch Boulders (Ex)

As a free action, a Stone Giant may roll a d20 any time a thrown or projectile weapon is fired at them or passes anywhere within their reach. This applies to giant thrown weapons, siege weapon projectiles, arrows, bolts, bullets, or any other thrown weapon or ammo. Note that catching a projectile this way is a violent action that will set off alchemical bombs and items. If the Giant rolls a 4 or higher on this d20 roll, it successfully catches the attack, it is interrupted and lost unless it is an alchemical bomb or effect, in which case it effects the giant which caught it. Using this ability on a weapon with Returning means the attack is interrupted and lost but the weapon still returns to the wielder.

Strength of Stone (Su)

A Stone Giant Defender gains morale and encouragement whenever it inflicts physical damage upon any creature past any applicable defenses. All points of physical damage it inflicts heal it for an equal amount. This works on all physical damage, even its aura, but area of effect attacks only heal it for the largest single amount inflicted. Any damage that is reduced by defenses such as DR, will also reduce the amount healed (i.e. only the damage that is actually dealt is applied as healing, not the damage before defenses are applied).

Splinterstrike (Ex)

If any foe that is within reach of a Stone Giant Defender makes an attack that does not include the Stone Giant either in an area of effect or in an attack roll, the Stone Giant gets may make an immediate bonus melee attack against that foe as a free action. Note that any damage they inflict with this attack feeds their Strength of Stone ability and potentially heals them.

Defy Death (Ex; Tank Role) Auto Upon Death

The first time in an encounter that a Tank is reduced to zero or fewer hit points, it is not killed. Instead, it gains immunity to all damage and effects until the beginning of its next turn, and its hit points are set to half its normal maximum (747 hit points). The Tank remains standing throughout all of this, and its ability to take actions (e.g. making attacks of opportunity or using its Dangerous to Ignore special ability) is not hampered in any way during this period of immunity. Despite suffering no obvious in-game effects, the Tank will still use this opportunity to gloat and taunt its enemies as it stands unbroken against their assault. It is obvious to anyone who successfully hits the tank during this period of immunity that the Tank is suffering no damage from their attacks. At the beginning of its next turn, the Tank may immediately slide up to 10 feet (2 squares) as forced movement which does not provoke attacks of opportunity, and then perform a Pull on up to 4 creatures it can perceive, sliding them up to 5 squares closer to itself. Each square of this forced movement must bring each targeted creature closer to the tank (movement into squares that are the same distance as the current space or further away from the current space is not permitted). Since this is forced movement, it does not provoke attacks of opportunity, and the target creature(s) may fall voluntarily prone in order to halt the movement at any point, if they wish. Once the Pull is resolved, the Tank's immunity to damage expires, and it can perform its turn as normal. The Tank's immunity to damage expires at the start of its turn even if it elects not to slide itself or pull any creatures with this ability. The Tank is killed for good the second time its hit points are reduced to zero or less.

Dangerous to Ignore (Ex; Tank Role) Immediate Action

Once per round, when a creature within 15 feet of the Tank performs an attack against anyone who isn't the Tank, or fails to include the Tank in the attack, the Tank may, as an Immediate Action, Slide up to two squares (10 feet) and perform a bonus attack against that creature. This bonus attack is resolved before the target creature resolves their own attack. If the creature is still alive after the Tank finishes, the target can resolve their attack as normal.

Invigorating Bloodthirst (Ex; Tank Role) Auto At Start of Encounter

At the start of any encounter, even during an encounter with a surprise round, Tanks gain a number of temporary hit points equal to their Bloodied Hit Points value (747 hit points). This ability can never be used more than once per encounter.

Agitation (Ex; Tank Role) Free Action 1/Rnd

Up to once per round as a free action, the Tank can target a creature within 40 feet to which they have both line of sight and line of effect, and Pull that creature up to 5 squares closer to the Tank. Each square of this forced movement must bring the creature closer to the tank (movement into squares that are the same distance as the current space or further away from the current space is not permitted). Since this is forced movement, it does not provoke attacks of opportunity, and the target creature may fall voluntarily prone in order to halt the movement at any point, if they wish. In addition, if the target is an enemy creature, it gains the Vexed condition until the start of the Tank's next turn. If the target creature is an ally of the Tank, using Agitation on them removes any status condition they are currently affected by, and doing so does not cause a synergy to trigger.

Stone Giant Defender

This creature possesses the Tank role, and therefore counts as 2 monsters for purposes of encounter size, XP award, and treasure.

Dwarves like to say that they are the True Scions of the Stone, but that is a lie.

There are many creatures that are far more attuned to the mysteries of the Solid Dark than mere dwarves. Even the Dwarven cousins, the Duergar, are mere pretenders.

Of course, the most attuned out there to the joys of Structure are also among the most alien. Earth Elementals are barely comprehensible on their best days, the soutterrain are completely monstrous in their state of being as well as their form of body. The Xorn are paragons of reasonable intent compared to those two tribes, and everyone is familiar with how peculiar the Xorn are.

And then, there are the Stone Giants.

Stone Giants are easy to overlook. They are not actively horrible, like many tribes of giants. They do not raid and murder and campaign, they do not hurl lava or call storms, they do not revel in utter evil or enjoy cannibalism. As Giants go, they're fairly benign.

Stone Giants are also thought to be rare, although there are certainly strong hints that they may be far, far more common than people think, because Stone Giants live inside stone. Much as volcanoes have Fire Giants and glaciers have Frost Giants, stone has Stone Giants.

The problem is, there is a LOT more stone than their is volcanoes or glaciers. Every mountain, hill, and plain could be swarming with Stone Giants, in their deep nests, living contentedly in the solid stone like maggots in a fresh corpse. There is almost no way to know for sure.

Stone Giants, when they are encountered, tend to be seen underground, stepping silently out of cave walls and floors, or in mountains, emerging blinking from a cliff to peer about at the open space, bemused. Indeed, Stone Giants seem to come to the surface in the mountains mainly for the novelty of hurling huge boulders across insanely long distances, which they apparently can't do underground. It is not uncommon to find whole tribes of Stone Giants peppered across mountaintops, booming with laughter as they engage in weird contests, blocks of stone the size of carts lofting across the sky like improbable kites....

Of course, there are also the occasional towns, villages, and even cities that are found...empty. No sign of the inhabitants aside from gore, gravel, stone, and sand scattered all over, and no sign of any attackers that ever breached the gates, as if the attackers appeared from the ground, or just walked right through the walls.... Stone giants seem to be fairly benign most of the time, but they sometimes attack without warning, for reasons likely related to their internal politics, which are mysterious at best.

In battle, Stone Giants are terrible foes, their blows knocking you around like a drunken sailor, and their stony skins shedding bedeviling grit and shards as you battle them. Stone Giants are able to step into and out of stone like most creatures walk across a floor, which can make fighting them a travail. Shooting at a Stone Giant is not a good plan either, as they can pluck missiles out of the air like they were born to do it, and then they will flick stones back at you like sling bullets.

Stone Giant Defenders are big, burly types, wearing more armor than most and with reflexes like a cat, who take a professors joy in battle. They will wade right in, daring you to attack them at range, and set to battle with a will. There is simply no good way to fight them, so putting your head down and getting through the battle is the only viable thing to try. If you can concentrate your attacks, do so, but don't let them get you mobbed up, as they will hit you from your blindside with every swing.

Combat Tactics

Stone Giant Defenders are Tank-class creatures, meaning they are all about the defense. And they have defense in spades.

In melee, their Stony Skin aura surrounds them in clouds of gritty dust and flying stone shards as they suffer physical attacks. The Dazzled condition can quickly stack so high it renders a melee combatant ineffective, forcing melee fighters to take pauses or move around. If you try to attack them from range, their Improved Catch Boulder ability renders them nearly immune to such things, and their Gravel Flick ability makes anything which pierces that defense painful. Plus, Gravel Flick heals them, due to their Strength of Stone ability.

In short, there is no good way to attack them in melee without being punished, and there is no good way to attack them at range without being punished.

To make matters even worse, they have a very good Earth Glide movement and Tremorsense. Stone Giants are completely at home in battles on stone, and 'pop in and out' with nigh-impunity. If you try to fly to avoid them, they are happy to throw stones at you, and their ranged boulder attacks are both deadly and Push their enemies further away. Trying to out-range a Stone Giant is a fools errand, because if pressed, they will simply vanish into the stone under their feet.

Stone Giants are certainly not cowards, but neither are they fanatical killers like most other sorts of giants. If they realize a battle is lost, they will withdraw promptly and without hesitation. Forcing Stone Giants to withdraw in this way counts as a victory for the player characters in most cases, subject to GM decisions.

Out of Combat

Very little is known about the Stone Giants deep, secluded culture. They seem to be organized into tribal units, and there are hints that there are at the least confederations of tribes, if not entire Stone Giant nations. How many Stone Giants there are is difficult to tell, although some sages and cyphers have calculated, given the number of Stone Giant sightings, that there are probably at least as many Stone Giants as there are Hill Giants. Given the considerably higher strength of Stone Giants, and their ability to appear anywhere, these calculations give people pause.

Above ground, Stone Giants are often found as skilled workers for other types of giants. They are also quite commonly found as captives and slaves of less scrupulous giant tribes. It seems that Stone Giants can be easily restrained from using their Earth Glide, perhaps by special manacles, or the intervention of professional slave-takers such as Hobgoblins of Aranea. As a result, it is not uncommon to see Stone Giants enslaved by Frost Giants, or serving in economic serf-hood to Fire Giants. More powerful giant clans also make use of Stone Giant skills, such as the dread Fomaori.

In the Unterwelt, Stone Giants are surprisingly rare, but when they do show up, it tends to be in considerable force, as they apparently have some sort of migratory nomadic system underway.

Rewards

XP: 307,200 (Tank role included.)

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 135,778 gp.

Weight: 360 lbs.     Volume: 14.4 cu. ft.

Optional Treasure Rules: Roll a d20 on Table 1 below once per encounter (NOT per creature). Any items discovered are in addition to the normal treasure for the encounter.

Table 1: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 8	Nothing Found
9 - 12	1 Languid Remnant (tier 1)
13 - 15	1 Pale Remnant (tier 2)
16 - 18	1 Bright Remnant (tier 3)
19 - 20	Roll on Table 2
###	Nothing to see here!
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 2: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 3	4 Languid Remnants (tier 1)
4 - 7	4 Pale Remnants (tier 2)
8 - 11	1 Intense Remnant (tier 4)
12 - 15	1 Blazing Remnant (tier 5)
16 - 18	1 Vital Remnant (tier 6)
19 - 20	Roll on Table 3
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 3: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 3	4 Bright Remnants (tier 3)
4 - 5	4 Intense Remnants (tier 4)
6 - 8	4 Blazing Remnants (tier 5)
9 - 11	4 Vital Remnants (tier 6)
12 - 15	1 Prime Remnant (tier 7)
16 - 18	1 Mythic Remnant (tier 8)
19 - 20	1 Empyrean Remnant (tier 9)