Firbolg

Note: The Firbolg race may only be selected by spending a Major Award!

Description

Firbolg

Firbolgs typically resembled large Illuskan humans. The Firbolgs of the Moonshae isles were known to have misshapen, ugly features - large sloping foreheads that are bald.

On the server, Firbolgs are a race that uses 4e as inspiration for their lore. This is why they are racially fey instead of giant.

Along with this their alignment is restricted to all neutrals, all chaotics - and you may never deviate to lawful.

Alignment: Neutral, but often Chaotic Good

Skin color(s) Fleshy Pink, Freckled

Hair color(s) Blonde to Red

Hairstyle(s) Long, Uncut Hair & Bushy Beards among Males

Height Males: 10′6″‒11′4″ (3.2‒3.45 m) Females: 9′10″‒10′8″ (3‒3.25 m)

Weight Males: 610‒710 lb (280‒320 kg) Females: 460‒560 lb (210‒250 kg)

Aging & Lifespan: Firbolg pregnancies were typically about two years long. This was much longer than other giant-kin, who had pregnancies roughly equivalent to humans. Firbolgs reached adulthood at about 30 years, and could live as many as 500 years.

Habitat: Temperate hills and forests

Attitudes & Habits:

Firbolgs are like many nature dwelling peoples in the Realms - they proudly saw themselves as the caretakers of nature. They tend to see "civilized" realms who are overly reliant on technology to be weak or corrupt and so avoided contact with their denizens. They try to keep to their own but do get along best with fey creatures in the wilderness, nature dwelling elves, foresters, and druids. They were on good terms with storm giants despite being considered "maug" or unholy/evil in the Ordning due to their perception that they are the bastard spawn of the adulterous Othea. They emulate them due to their closeness to nature and similar temperament. They avoided other giants and giantkin and actively fought the more destructive and evil ones.

Firbolgs considered greed to be one of the worst vices. They believed that one should only ever take what one needs and no more. They saw no value in material wealth such as gems and gold and would even take it from people in pranks when more wholesome or by force when less so.

Firbolgs believed that charity was a virtue but also believed that it was harmful for the recipient to know the identity of the provider; because of this they appeared to be reclusive amongst the other races, although they were very sociable with established friends. They were extremely honest and could not lie without feeling physical discomfort, even if the lie was by omission.

Firbolgs tended to be over-confident and fearless, except for a pervasive phobia of humanoid mobs. They saw the wearing of armor as cowardly, and thus did not usually wear armor and avoided using shields.

The Firbolgs of the Moonshae isles were involved in a plot by a servant of the dead God Bhaal and avatar of Malar known as "the Beast", for their local deity Grond Peaksmasher had long been slumbering and many believed him dead or have forsaken them. Corrupted by the Beast's influence they became berserk villains and began raiding - killing and even eating the dwarves, elves, and men of the isles. When their god was woke again by the deity Helm and the Earthmother- they turned on these dark practices and began to atone for their deeds. Much of what they did however is remembered and it has caused them to be far more cautious with outsiders and the peoples there remember well the evil they did.

Society:

The firbolgs had rejected the ordning, the customary social order amongst giants and giant-kin, and preferred to exercise free will by using a system called "the code" - this code in their dialect of jotun was;

Prakt, Strev, Rang, glang byrd. Stomm rang glang du. Blod ettin er blod kong. Gi tusen val nul. Trut zund stommpaart.

Translated it meant:

Bravery, Effort, and Honor over birth. The tribe's honor over yours. The blood of the runt is the blood of a king. Give a thousand for nothing. Truth is the honor of the tribe.

Each firbolg community interpreted this code differently as it was ancient and its origin long forgotten.

It promoted the idea that the society was the most important aspect and superseded the individual. Actions were more important than relatives or heritage. If "the code" was breached, a firbolg might be enslaved within his or her own tribe or banished completely, although transgressions were uncommon.The implications of "the code" meant that the firbolgs would treat all intelligent creatures as equals, and thus they did not exhibit the same superior attitude that other giants and giant-kin displayed. For every decision made, they considered the effects on the forest and the rest of the natural world. During a famine, they would rather go hungry themselves than strain the land.

Firbolgs had a rough form of democracy known as "the cast". This involved summoning all the firbolgs in a tribe who then would cast their vote on an issue by using a rune-engraved stone. The actual "casting" of votes varied from clan to clan. In some cases, it involved literally tossing the stones.

Exile was often used as a form of punishment for an unforgivable act, such as killing a rare or beautiful animal or starting a forest fire. An outcast firbolg was never permitted to return home.

Nearby clans would gather once a year at the fall solstice at an enclave to settle any disputes among the clans. Shamans would preside over such events, which often simply were a time of celebration.

Names:

Firbolgs tend to have vaguely Norse, Saxon, Gaelic, and Welsh type names. Another common factor are names that are also natural forces or animals. Bear, Wind, Shining Moon, and so forth.

Religion

While truthfully they were the spawn of the goddess Othea in her tryst with Ulutiu - many Firbolgs believed they were the children of Hiatea (who among the Moonshae Firbolgs is believed as the mother of Grond Peaksmasher) and they also venerated her sister, Iallanis. Both being kind giant gods of healing and nature. Outside of this the other benign and wholesome deities of nature such as Silvanus and Mielikki may be venerated - as well as beast cults and nature totems. Some Firbolgs even venerate the nature gods within the Seldarine or invoke the powers of the Seelie Court.

The firbolgs of the Moonshaes believed that Grond Peaksmasher carved them from stone and that the dwarves were the result of the "leftovers" of this process. Before Grond was reawakened, many of the firbolgs of the Isles were ruled by Kazgaroth "the Beast", an aspect of Malar. The worship of Grond was originally led by shamans, but after Grond's reawakening, he began to also have priests became active. Grond's priests were allied with the druids of the Earthmother - a deity also venerated by their kind.

Creating a New Character on Arelith

Prerequisites:

• Alignment Restriction: Non-Lawful.
• Requires Major Award.

Abilities

+4 STR, +2 CON, -2 DEX, -4 CHA

Darkvision

10% Cold Immunity

Fast Healing (+1 Regen at level 1, +2 at 15, +3 at 30

Bonus Feat: Deflect Arrow

Can use the -track command

ECL +3

Base race: Human

Bloodlines

At character creation, a firbolg may select a bloodline at the cost of an increased +1 ECL. Only one can be chosen and once chosen it cannot be modified.

• Bloodline of the Moon-Seer: +2 WIS, -2 STR (net total of +2 STR, +2 CON, +2 WIS, -2 DEX, -4 CHA)

Notes

• Racial Model: Human (Not to be confused with Base Race)
  • Height: 140% Upscaled Human

A relative height representation can be found on the Half-Giant page.

• Bonus Language: Giant, Elven
• Large-sized:

• They may use the -twohand command to two-hand-wield large weapons (normally, due to their size, they wield them in one hand).
• They never get extra attacks when wielding double-sized weapons, even though the character sheet may say otherwise.
• It is mechanically impossible to wield a large weapon on the left hand.

• They cannot use any tiny weapon.

Starting city: Cordor or Skal