The Giff are large humanoids with thick skin, enormous mouths, and tiny ears. Their faces look similarly to hippos or the goddess Tuart. Giff have poor hearing and loud voices. They delight in noise levels that are oppressive or even painful to races with more sensitive auditory nerves.
The Giff language is loud, and the first instinct of a Giff who has not been understood is to simply repeat themselves even louder. The subtleties of spellcasting requiring careful intonations are largely lost upon the Giff, but their scholars fair better in other fields on endeavor such as alchemy and artifice. The alchemists of the Giff gleefully experiment with explosive agents such as alchemist's fire and gun cotton that give pause even to Gnomes.
The skin of a Giff is thick and insensitive, and it is layered over a padded layer of protective fat. Giff simply do not mind repeated punctures with a tattooing needle, and it is quite common for a Giff to acquire quite elaborate tattoos on much of their body. Between this resilience and their poor hearing, Giff find nearby explosions to be amusing rather than terrifying as most other races do.
Giff are quite heavy, but are fairly buoyant, allowing them to float effortlessly in water even while asleep. Many Giff elect to sleep in a pool of water rather than a bed. The homelands of the Giff are marshy and overgrown. Many of the alchemical preparations that Giff use to acclimatize themselves to other lands are mixed with alcohol, which the Giff then drink in large quantities.
The mouths of a Giff are very large, and a Giff can eat a tremendous amount in a single bite. Giff are omnivorous and can eat almost anything. In Giff culture it is considered impolite to refuse to eat something offered, and Giff can generally be convinced to eat whatever other races happen to claim is food.
Away from the Giff homeland, most Giff that are encountered will be part of a military company. These corporations allow themselves to be paid as mercenaries or simply create their own adventure by invading places with lootable goods. Giff care somewhat for gold and silver, but are more interested in steel and still more interested in chemical agents. Giff military companies are willing to travel far and fight long odds to get their hands on valuable plant products that can be used to make dyes, medicines, spices, and explosives by their alchemists.
The most feared Giff weapon is the portable bombard. Too heavy for all but the strongest Human to even lift, it is essentially a bell which is filled with gun cotton and a catapult stone. The back of the bell is then struck with a hammer, causing the gun cotton to explode and the stone to fly out and wreak havoc. Creatures less resistant to sonic effects than a Giff would be well advised to stand far back when this weapon is used.
+4 Str, +2 Con, -2 Wis: Great bulk and thick skin, but inattentive
Giff Giff are humanoids with the Giff subtype
Medium: Giff are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Giff have a base speed of 30 feet.
Natural Weapons: A giff has a bite attack that does 1d4 damage.
Thick Head: Giff have a +4 racial bonus against sonic effects
Iron Stomach: Giff have a +4 racial bonus against poisons
Tiny Ears: Giff has a -5 racial penalty to hearing-based Perception checks
Weapon Familiarity: Giff are always proficient with the portable bombard.
Languages: Giff begin play speaking Common and Giff. Giff with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following languages: Aklo, Draconic, Elven, Giant, Orc, and Undercommon.
Starting Age 16 years
Middle Age 30 years
Old Age 45 years
Venerable Age 60 years
Maximum Age 60+2d20 years
Base Height 6 ft. 4 in.
Base Weight 270 lbs.
Modifier 2d6
Weight Modifer x7 lbs.
Weapon Name Portable Bombard
Cost 400 gp
Damage (M) 2d8/x4
Range Increment 50 ft.
Misfire 0
Type B & P
Weight 80 lbs.
Ammunition 5gp & 10 lb per bombard stone, 10gp per dose of gun cotton
Alchemist +½ to bomb damage
Gunslinger Add +⅓ on critical hit confirmation rolls made with firearms (maximum bonus of +5). This bonus does not stack with Critical Focus.
Fighter Add +1 to the fighter's CMD when resisting a disarm or bullrush.
Typo on weapon(s)
The reason for the base misfire of zero is because Giff weapons technology is over-engineered for safety at the expense of accuracy and subtlety. It was tempting to add a low-end thunderstone effect for the explosive sound, but the the added complexity doesn't feel worth it.
Weapon Name Portable Bombard
Cost 400 gp
Damage (M) 3d8/x4
Range Increment 50 ft.
Misfire 0
Type B & P
Weight 80 lbs.
Ammunition 5gp & 10lbs per bombard stone, 20gp per dose of gun cotton
Special Wildly imprecise, targeting AC rather than touch AC.
Weapon Name Giff Snuffbox
Cost 75 gp
Damage (M) 1d10/x4
Range Increment 30 ft.
Misfire 0
Capacity 4
Type B & P
Weight 8 lbs.
Ammunition 10gp per paper cartridge
Special Wildly imprecise, targeting AC rather than touch AC.