<aside> 📜 “Battle-worn and weary, bruised from her journey,
Diancastra entered the All-Father's hall.
With calm confidence she claimed her due
Under the birthright of her blood:
Her father's gift of godliness.
"Wise one, All-Father Annam, world-shaper of old,
Mighty were your deeds in time's dawning.
You scattered seeds of the sundered First World;
Your dreams created the cosmos,
The teeming worlds, full of wonders.
"Six sons, goddess-born, you sanctioned as rulers
To govern the mortal multitudes.
Boorish and bumbling, they bungled the task!
Surely I am more deserving of divinity
In spite of my mortal mother."
Scowling, all-wise Annam spoke to his daughter:
"Mighty are my sons in strength,
And Hiatea, your half sister, her heroism showed
In slaying a many-headed monster.
What such deeds have you done?"
"The sphinx's riddles I solved to claim her prize.
I plumbed the secrets of the sea.
I ventured to the vault of the venerated lobster-god
To steal her precious pearls—
And I found your secret sanctum."
"Pranks and rebellion! Prove your worth
Not with the willful choices of a child.
I will test your temper; try this challenge:
Bring me pure perfection—
Something my craft cannot better."
Diancastra, undaunted, departed the sanctum
And journeyed to the waters beyond worlds.
She sailed forgotten seas into storms of chaos
And claimed a mote of matter,
Shapeless, unformed, and ever-changing.
The All-Father mocked her and easily shaped it,
Making a fertile field.
But soon he scowled, not satisfied, and reshaped it
Into a storm-tossed sea,
Then a fiery furnace-peak.
At last, Diancastra, laughing, said to him,
"Forsake your cunning craft!
Chaos is a canvas for creation, unbounded,
Perfectly imperfect and unformed.
You cannot perfect potential."
Laughter filled Annam's hall, loud as thunder,
Shaking floor and firmament.
The All-Father acquiesced, admitting defeat,
And granted Diancastra's demand,
Kindling the god-spark he gave her.
"Too bitterly I judged the bungling of my sons,
In haste I quickly condemned them.
I will watch them and see whether perhaps they too
Share your clever capacity
To see perfection in potential."
A crown he then made, from chaos he shaped it,
And to her he gratefully gave it.
Divine Diancastra departed his sanctum,
With stirrings of hope for her harried kin,
The All-Father's favor foreseen.”
</aside>
Myths, fairy tales, folklore, and fantasy literature throughout the real world depict a tremendous range of giants. Some tales suggest that the humans of past ages were gigantic, and the relatively small stature of present-day humans is a mark of their degeneracy. Others imagine remote realms—cloud castles or lost continents—where Brobdingnagian people dwell, set apart from their puny relatives.
In the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons, the story of the giants is a tragic one that echoes this whole range of fantasy and myth. Begotten by the mighty god Annam, who intended them to rule the worlds with wisdom as well as might, giants have fallen far short of the lofty destiny their progenitor imagined for them. Now supplanted by myriad smaller peoples of the worlds, giants live apart in remote steadings, undersea palaces, subterranean realms, and flying citadels.
Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants explores giants' role in D&D and their realms across the worlds. It delves into the history of the giants and details the places where they live in isolation, as well as the ruins they left behind in their decline. Our guide in this exploration is the wizard Bigby, a former apprentice of Mordenkainen and creator of the spell Bigby's hand. Though he began his career determined to use magic to dominate and control others, he eventually changed his ways and has worked hard to make amends for his past villainy. One factor that influenced his change of heart was Bigby's recurring encounters with Diancastra, a demigod revered by many giants. Throughout this book, we see glimpses into the relationship between these two mighty figures of legend.
This introduction presents a portion of the saga of Diancastra. The saga is a window into important aspects of giants' life and thought, and it introduces themes that reappear throughout the book: Annam's retreat from his children, the giants' fall from grace, and the hope some giants hold for a future restoration of their ancient glory.
Chapter 1Â introduces giant-themed options for adventurers, including a subclass that allows characters to tap into the magic of giants (the Path of the Giant barbarian), two giant-related backgrounds (the giant foundling and the rune carver), and a wide selection of feats. The chapter also includes roleplaying suggestions to help you connect a character of any class to the grandeur of giants.
Chapter 2Â offers advice and tables to help Dungeon Masters use giants in play. It covers roleplaying tips, an overview of the hierarchical structure of the ordning and giants' religion, and ideas about giants' organizations and societies.
Chapter 3Â presents tools to help Dungeon Masters build encounters, adventures, and whole campaigns around giants. The chapter includes tables you can use to populate the giants' enclaves presented in chapter 4.
Chapter 4Â discusses the places where giants dwell: the remote enclaves and secret hideaways where they cling to the remnants of their ancient glory. Maps are a centerpiece of the chapter, presenting a range of sites steeped in giants' supernatural power that you can drop into any campaign.
Chapter 5Â details the treasures characters might find as they deal with giants or explore giants' hidden realms. These treasures range from the contents of a wandering giant's bag to the mightiest relics of giants' ancient civilization. The chapter includes more than two dozen new magic items.
Chapter 6 provides stat blocks and lore for a tremendous variety of giants. The chapter includes new giant kinds (such as the death giant) and new variations on the giants found in the Monster Manual. A range of other enormous creatures, from towering dinosaurs to magical giant geese, can help DMs populate a giant-sized environment.
“Dear reader,
This book represents a journey for me, and I am excited to take your hand and lead you along the same path. I never had much interest in giants, though I certainly respected their strength. My various encounters with Diancastra—who is no less than a daughter of Annam, the All-Father of the giants!—opened my eyes to the glories, the deep magic, and the wisdom of these ancient people.
I've asked Diancastra to review this text, and her notes appear throughout the book where her perspective can enlarge upon my own. I trust that her insight and my erudition will expand your horizons as she has broadened mine.”
— Bigby
Robson Michel