Jotun

The Jotun race and the Jotun Paragon class are designed to give players a chance to bring classical giants into the game without unbalancing it, yet still remaining a fun and rewarding experience.

Relations: Jotun prize friendship with others and even have a special relationship with their hereditary foes. For all others they tend to have a general apathy and do not place any value on the opinion of non-giants, deeming them unworthy and inferior in the same way that humans view gnats. Jotun view gnomes as thieving rats who will cheat you at everything. While dwarves are looked upon like scavengers, forever grumbling like small clouds of depression, for what can a dwarf do that a giant cannot do more mightily? This is not say that jotun do not become friends with dwarves or gnomes, for we share much in common with a love of good craftsmanship, drinking, eating and the telling of tales. It is just that they seem to have a distrust and dislike of us and that we view their distrust and dislike with disdain, rather than hating the dwarves or gnomes themselves.

The jotun races true foes are dragons. Nothing in the entire world is as glorious an enemy to a giant, and no spectacle as great as a giant grappling with these fell serpents and no sport as enjoyable as bringing a flying wyrm crashing to the earth with a well placed boulder.

Alignment and Religion: The majority jotun are Lawful Neutral. However, those who embrace a specific aspect of their giantish nature often adopt the outlook of that lineage. For example, a jotun who embraced the aspect of storm would most likely become chaotic good in the same manner an aspect of the troll might become chaotic evil. Yet these are the standard bearers and there are always glorious rebels seeking to make their own path.

The jotun worship the gods as a pantheon, each one controlling an aspect of reality and each one worthy of the same level of devotion. Favored deities tend to be gods of feasting, drinking (wine and ale), adventure, laughter, joy, hedonism, avarice, gluttony, pride, battle, glory, and gods of the elements, and gods of the earth, sea, and sky.

Adventurers: Jotunnar find great joy in the lifestyle of the adventurer. The drinking, feasting, and the chance to become part of a great tale are a siren’s call to their nature. Further appeal comes from the chance of challenging oneselves from wrestling with dragons, to tossing boulders with the Titans; and consider every battle to be the greatest of sport. Many also use this as a chance to explore our elemental nature. The few that peruse a different path often choose the life of an adventurer so as to avoid the stigma of giantish society.

Names: Outside of formal introductions between giants, Jotunnar only use personal names with a byname. Nicknames are common, for they are also a form of story to be told. But patronymics, more so: “son” meaning “Son of” or “dottir” meaning “Daughter of” are added after the genitive case of the father’s personal name for males and the mother’s personal name for females.

Jotun Age Table
Middle Age Old Venerable Maximum Age
150 years 450 years 700 years +3d100 years

Age, Height, and Weight Characters age, and with age comes change. Characters become feebler and yet grow wise from their experiences. A player can choose any starting age she wishes for her character but, when in doubt, assume a jotun character starts adventuring at 1st level about halfway to middle age (75 years old). When a character becomes venerable, the GM secretly determines her maximum age. When the character reaches her personal maximum age, she dies of old age at some time during the following year, as determined by the GM. Aging effects are cumulative.

Each player should choose an appropriate height and weight for his character’s size and record it. To determine height and weight randomly, use the “Jotun Height and Weight” table below. Roll the height modifier and add that many inches to the base height to get the character’s height. Take that same height modifier result and multiply it by the weight modifier result. Add that many pounds to the base weight to get the character’s weight.

Random Jotun Height and Weight
Gender Base Height Height Modifier Base Weight Weight Modifier
Medium 6 ft. 5 in. +2d6″ 250 lbs. x2d6 lbs.
Large 9 ft. 3 in. +2d8″ 900 lbs. x2d12 lbs.
Huge 20 ft. 1 in. +2d10″ 11,800 lbs. x3d8 lbs.
Gargantuan 38 ft. 4 in. +3d12″ 24,700 lbs. x4d8 lbs.
Colossal 58 ft. 6 in. +4d8″ 49,500 lbs. x3d20 lbs.

Standard Racial Traits

  • Ability Score Modifiers: The Jotunnar’s massive physique grants them prodigious Strength and Constitution. They enjoy choosing to focus on their physique granting a single +2 racial bonus to Strength; or focusing on physical and mental fortitude granting a +2 racial bonus to Constitution, a +2 racial bonus to Wisdom, and a -2 penalty to Intelligence.
  • Type: Jotunnar are humanoids with the giant subtype.
  • Size: Medium: As Medium creatures, Jotunnar have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size. Jotunnar can grow to even greater size.
  • Base Speed: Jotun have a base speed of 30 feet.
  • Languages: Jotun begin play speaking Common and Giant. jotun with high Intelligence scores can choose any language as a bonus language. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.

Feat and Skill Racial Traits

Senses Racial Traits

  • Low-Light Vision: Jotunnar can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Section 15: Copyright Notice

In The Company of Monsters © 2011, Rite Publishing, Authors Jonathan McAnulty, T.H. Gulliver and Steven D. Russell.

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