Hill Giant

Hill giants live to eat. Anyone who understands this one fact about them knows everything there is to know.

Culture

Ordning of Gluttony

Hill giants are the weakest of the true giants. They have the shortest stature, the smallest brains, and the least ambition. The only area in which they excel is girth.
Since eating is the only thing hill giants care about, a tribe is always led by its fattest, heaviest member — the most successful and thus the most admired one in the group. The qualities that other creatures expect or demand of their leaders — such as intellect, decision-making ability, and personal magnetism — have no importance to hill giants. They are neither recognized nor rewarded, except to the extent that a hill giant with slightly above average smarts might use trickery or intimidation to grab more food than its neighbors.

Dens of Squalor and Stench

Hill giants stuff the most repulsive, rotting things into their mouths without hesitation, suggesting that either they have no sense of taste or their hunger is so all-consuming that flavor isn’t a consideration. Whatever the reason, the upshot is that hill giant dens are filthy, reeking places. Decaying carcasses and cracked bones are strewn about. The ground is saturated with blood and with the giants’ own filth.
Not every hill giant’s digestive system is so indiscriminate; from time to time a giant does get sick, but most of them recover and don’t learn anything from the experience. The rare exceptions are called mouths of Grolantor — giants that are confined and starved to the point of emaciation before being unleashed during a battle or a raid.
The stench that exudes from a hill giant den might attract monstrous scavengers such as oozes, ropers, carrion crawlers, or otyughs. Hill giants don’t domesticate or tend these creatures but do tolerate their presence. A visit from a gelatinous cube or a carrion crawler probably is the only “housekeeping” a hill giant’s den ever sees.
Ghouls are known to lurk around the edges of hill giant encampments, but they’re less welcome than other kinds of scavengers. With their greater craftiness — especially if they’re led by a ghast — ghouls can use simple trickery to steal the giants’ meals. A hill giant wouldn’t mind if a roper dragged away a few scraps, but it would be angry if a trio of ghouls stole an entire carcass.

Stuffy-Gnomy

Hill giants sometimes amuse themselves with inane games that typically involve food or eating. One such game is called stuff-stuff or Stuffy gnomy, in which hill giants see how many halflings, gnomes, or goblins they can fit into their mouths at once without swallowing.

General Information

Scientific name
/
Geographic Distribution
Giant Island
Languages
Giant

Physiologie

Average Lifespan
200 years
Size
Huge

Others