Rune Giant
This towering muscular giant’s skin is nearly black in color, as if made from pitted iron and then etched with countless complex runes. As the creature moves, the runes flash and ripple, glowing from the strange internal fires that burn within it. The giant wears ornate armor with a grimacing full helm, and wields an immense sword that looks big enough to bisect a house.
Rune Giant CR 14
Always LE Gargantuan giant
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Listen +24, Spot +24
Defense
AC 29, touch 7, flat-footed 28
(+8 armor, +1 Dex, +14 natural, –4 size)
hp 230 (20d8+140)
Fort +19, Ref +7, Will +7
Immune cold, electricity, mind-affecting effects; Resist fire 30
Offense
Spd 35 ft. in full plate; base speed 50 ft.
Melee greatsword +27/+22/+17 (6d6+24/17–20) or
2 slams +27 (2d6+16)
Ranged rock +16 (3d8+16)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Special Attacks command giant, improved rock throwing, spark
shower, runes
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 20th)
At will—air walk, endure elements, suggestion (DC 24, affects giants only)
3/day—mass charm monster (DC 28; affects giants only), dominate
monster (DC 29; affects giants only)
Statistics
Abilities Str 42, Dex 13, Con 24, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 24
Base Atk +11; Grp +47
Feats Altitude Affinity, Awesome Blow, Cleave, Improved Bull Rush,
Improved Critical (great sword), Power Attack, Quick Draw
Skills Climb +34, Jump +38, Listen +24, Spot +24
Languages Giant, Thassilonian
SQ rock catching
Ecolo gy
Environment cold mountains
Organization solitary, pair, patrol (3–6), squad (7–12), or company
(13–30)
Treasure standard plus full plate and greatsword
Advancement by character class; Favored Class fighter
Level Adjustment —
Special Abilities
Command Giant (Su) Rune giants were created with a mystical link to
all giant kind. When a rune giant uses a skill against creatures of the
giant type, it gains a +10 bonus on the check. When a rune giant
uses any sort of charm or compulsion effect against a giant, it gains
a +4 bonus to its save DC—this bonus is included in its spell-like
abilities above.
Improved Rock Throwing (Ex) With their enhanced size and Strength,
rune giants are more adept at rock throwing then even their kin.
Rune giants receive a +4 racial bonus on attack rolls when throwing
rocks. A rune giant can hurl rocks weighing 100 to 150 pounds each
(Huge objects) up to five range increments. The range increment
is 240 feet for a rune giant’s thrown rocks. It uses both hands when
throwing a rock.
Rock Catching (Ex) A rune giant gains a +4 bonus on its Reflex save
when attempting to catch a thrown rock.
Runes (Su) The runes scribed across a rune giant’s body are the source
of its magic power. When it uses its spark shower or spell-like
abilities, the runes flash and glow brightly. Any creature within 10
feet of a rune giant at this time must make a DC 27 Fortitude save or
be blinded for one round—success indicates the creature is merely
dazzled for 1 round. A rune giant can make a Fortitude save to resist
the effects of an erase spell cast against his runes, but if he fails that
save, he loses access to his spell-like abilities and his spark shower
ability for 24 hours until his runes “grow back.”
Spark Shower (Su) The runes covering a rune giant’s flesh are infused
with magical power. Once every 1d4+1 rounds as a free action,
a rune giant can cause a 30-foot cone of sparks to discharge from
its runes. Those within the area of this cone take 12d6 points of
damage (half fire and half electricity), with a DC 27 Reflex save
halving the damage done. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Created long ago by the runelords of Thassilon, rune giants were
originally of fire giant stock, harvested from among the most
loyal of the Thassilonian troops. Given special affinity for the
rune magic of the runelords and put through grueling alchemical
processes and fleshwarping rituals, rune giants became the perfect
generals and leaders of other giant troops, exercising a unique
mental domination among their own kin. Their immunity to mental
control combined with their unwavering loyalty to their runelord
creators made them an invaluable component of the armies of
giants these ancient wizards commanded. Other giants of the time
viewed the rune giants as traitors and despots, and although their
existence has dwindled to the status of legend today, most tribes
think of them in the same way humans regard demon lords and
archdevils—as horrors best not spoken of.
Rune giants stand 40 feet tall and weigh 25,000 pounds. They
can live to be 1,200 years old. Their skin is warm to the touch from
the fires that burn within them, and they emit a faint grinding and
rumbling when they move. They wear elaborate armor and helms
designed to provide protection but still leave their rune-inscribed
bodies visible as much as possible. They use weapons of wicked
design intended to inspire fear in their opponents, with many rings
and spikes providing added flourish. They keep throwing rocks handy
in sacks made of mail that hang from their belts.
Ecology
Imbued with unyielding obedience and discipline, rune giants are
something more than normal giants, with an arcane flame within
them creating heat and electrical discharges. Though originally
taken from fire giant bloodlines long ago, they are now their
own race and, despite their strange physiology, they breed true.
Examination of the runes inscribed on the flesh of these giants
reveals them to be natural markings rather than tattoos or artificial
brands. A rune giant that mates with a fire giant has a 10% chance of
producing a rune giant child instead of a fire giant child. Newborn
rune giants have runes faintly visible on their flesh that grow more
distinct and take on the typical fiery glow as they reach maturity.
Rune giants of a single family bear similar runes on their flesh,
though marriages of different clans cause variation in this. It is
whispered that if anyone can gather together enough rune giants
to include all of the various runes, then that individual would have
the power of all Thassilon at his command.
Habitat & Society
Rune giants are fantastically rare, found only in remote locations
once held under Thassilonian rule. Those few who survive into
the modern day often serve as kings and lords to other giant
tribes, and with the exception of the high concentration in and
around Xin-Shalast, are never encountered in groups of more
than two or three. They have largely disappeared from the face
of Golarion and are only found in small pockets, usually high
in isolated mountain ranges close to the crumbling cities and
edifices their ancient ancestors once called home.
The Rune Giant Legacy
The runelords sought more than perfectly disciplined generals
and veritable war machines on the battlefield when they
created the rune giants. They wanted something much more,
something rooted in the giant stock from which the rune giants
were developed. The runelords, through their domination and
extensive studies of giants, discovered a certain primordial
timelessness to these creatures formed from the bones of
Golarion. Though individual giants lived out their allotted
spans and then died like other living creatures, the runelords
discovered a core running between them from generation to
generation reaching all the way back to the bedrock of time.
Individually mortal, it appeared that giants possessed a shared
immortal essence, preserving a timeless piece of primeval history
in their bones. The runelords discovered this and coveted it.
It was based on this eternal thread of existence that they
developed their runewells, allowing them to harvest similar
energies from other sentient creatures. And it was this discovery
that likewise brought about the creation of the rune giant race,
not just as all-powerful servants, but as living heralds of their
immortal ambition. The runes of power, sacred to the runelords,
are indelibly inscribed into the very flesh of these giants and
continually renew themselves with each new generation. The
bodies of the rune giants serve as repositories of the secrets
of the runelords, merely waiting for one with the power and
knowledge to unleash them. Immortality through their runewells
was only part of the runelords’ plans to resurface in another age,
and calling forth their rune giants who unknowingly carry within
them the heritage of the Thassilonian sin magic was the key to
regaining their power of old. Even if Karzoug is destroyed, this
unguessed truth may be all that stands in the way of the eventual
rise of the other six runelords and their rune giant minions.
