Cyclops

Cyclopes are one-eyed giants that eke out a meager existence in wild lands. They are a terrifying threat in combat due to their size and strength, but they can often be tricked by clever foes.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Tall muscular bodies, bald spiked heads, and one-eye

Additional Information

Average Intelligence

Surface-dwelling cyclopes weren't great thinkers or strategists. Slow to learn and bound to their traditional ways, they found innovation difficult. Although they were a terrifying threat in combat due to their size and strength, they could often be tricked by clever foes. These cyclopes could be cowed and awed by obvious displays of magic. Rustics with little exposure to magic, they could be deceived into mistaking a warlock, cleric, or other caster for a powerful divine figure. However, their sense of pride caused them to react with vengeful, bloodthirsty violence once they learned that the individual they assumed was a "god" was a mere mortal.

Civilization and Culture

Culture and Cultural Heritage

yclopes dwelling on the surface lived simple, reclusive lives, keeping herds of animals for food. They preferred to dwell alone or in small family groups, lairing in caves, ruins, or rough structures of dry stone construction they built themselves. A cyclops would keep its herd animals with it at night, sealing the entrance to its home with boulders to let it serve double duty as a barn. Cyclopes laired within a day's journey of other cyclopes, so that they could meet to trade goods or seek mates.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

Cyclopes paid little heed to any deities. They saw little benefit in prayer and disliked ritual, which they perceived as complex and foreign.

Average Height

Cyclopes were one of the smallest types of giants, standing only twelve to twenty feet.

Average Weight

1200 Pounds

Average Physique

Cyclopes could throw boulders like all giant-kin, but with less accuracy than normal because of their single eye. They had great strength and made excellent warriors, but some were also very intelligent and made good wizards and clerics. Cyclopes that lived in the Underdark could move rather stealthily and were accustomed to the darkness of the underworld.