I'm running a dwarf-cleric (vanilla variety) with a focus on necromancy. Our party has run across the bones of a cloud giant and I had an idea.
The GM has ruled that it's large enough that I can fit inside its ribcage, so I'm getting a seat added and a view-port installed in its armour.
I can now ride around inside it Pacific Rim style, buffing it from within and sling spells out through the view-port.
So the question is: How can I make this cooler feature-wise. Not necessarily more powerful, just more fun.
For example, I've created what I call the skeleton-fastball. It's a barrel stuffed with corpses and straw and enchanted with a glyph of warding that sets off an animate dead spell when the barrel is opened/smashed. The giant can sling the barrel and boom, instant skeletons at the impact point.
So I'm looking for ideas on that kind of stuff, could be fun magic items, mechanical ideas, tactics, whatever sounds like fun.
Cool!
How about a floating skull drone?
SKULLS FOR THE SKULL DRONE!
Could you maybe fit a catapault of some kind onto the giant's shoulders? Or small ballistae? They'd need a way to be aimed and reloaded, but hey: it could be fun.
I was hoping to find a way to add STR to acrobatics, but the only way I could find was the Bulette Style feat. Reasoning: if your giant skeleton could get a Ring of Jumping (or an improved one) and STR to acrobatics, you could have it leap-tackle monsters and stuff like that.
On that note, spiked armor seems important if you ever want it to grapple Kaiju.
Grappling hooks!
Bolas with skulls for weights!
A way to become incorporeal as an immediate action.
A spectral shadow that blinds and/or frightens opponents.
See if you can get a second seat in the skull, if your party archer or mage is small enough to fit. Also, a wagon or way to haul the rest of the party in out-of-combat situations. If you can find a way to sleep while carried by the giant, you can cover multiple times the distance you normally are able to. Consider that the giant is an undead creature that moves the same speed as a horse. Since it's undead, it's immune to fatigue and nonlethal damage, so overland travel restrictions of hustling and forced marching shouldn't affect it (but ask your GM). Normal characters can only walk (1x speed) for 8 hours a day before having to save against fatigue. Undead can probably hustle (2x speed) for 24 hours a day, with no chance of nonlethal damage for hustling or going 24 hours, and no chance of fatigue. That means, aside from bathroom breaks, you should be moving at 6x the total speed you would as on horseback. Your undead Storm Giant's light carrying capacity should be 466*4*4 lbs or less, which means it should be fine to carry your entire party and camping gear. Perhaps a wagon for party members to sleep in would make life easier for the party.
Also, see if you can get an item that does Air Walk, Fly, Overland Flight, or something similar.
Oh wow, I just realised, the Necro-Jaeger totally needs a Pacific Rim-style name. Any ideas?
And thanks for these ideas guys! These are gold!
SmiloDan wrote: Cool!
How about a floating skull drone?
Hmm, sounds fun. Maybe the skull of a beholder since creatures that flew by magical means will still fly as animated skeletons. Better yet, replace the giant's skull with the beholder skull and use it as an emergency escape vehicle (climb into it, detach it and fly off inside it!)
Inlaa wrote: Could you maybe fit a catapault of some kind onto the giant's shoulders? Or small ballistae? They'd need a way to be aimed and reloaded, but hey: it could be fun.
On that note, spiked armor seems important if you ever want it to grapple Kaiju.
ARMOUR SPIKES! YES! FEAR THE CRUSHING STABBING EMBRACE!
Catapault probably wouldn't be necessary since a Cloud Giant has STR35, he can literally just pick up and hurl boulders at people. I've got a light ballista at the moment that my character floats around on a disk of force. Given the relative sizes the Necro-Jaeger could probably fire it like a giant crossbow (which would allow him to reload it as well).
My Self wrote: See if you can get a second seat in the skull, if your party archer or mage is small enough to fit. Also, a wagon or way to haul the rest of the party in out-of-combat situations. If you can find a way to sleep while carried by the giant, you can cover multiple times the distance you normally are able to.
We've got a Goblin Gunslinger in the party, so the old sniper's-nest-in-the-skull trick just might work. And I do have a caravan (backstory is that my character was a travelling trader who was too stingy to hire assistants and so turned to necromancy to keep his overheads down. So the fast-travel idea would totally work.
A small rotating theme-cafe balanced on top of its collarbones?
A mounted catapult would let you multiply your firepower. While a cloud giant on its own can toss every round you have rocks, a catapult will let you shoot two rocks in a turn every so often. This catapult can be manned by other undead, given the appropriate instructions. But if your GM doesn't let you use your turns to both shoot/load a catapult and have your giant throw rocks, then ditch the catapult idea.
Gunslingers are only good within a very short range, unlike casters and traditional archers. Even base Kineticists have better range than all non-advanced firearms that aren't mounted guns or muskets. On the other hand, a giant head would be the perfect place to mount something like a double hackbut. If your gunslinger is specialized in double hackbuts, two-handed firearms (Musket Master), or did not select an archetype that alters your gun selection, this could be a good place to start. Or instead of a double hackbut, you could try to install a full-on mortar. Bolt Ace gunslingers would also benefit from a crow's nest - you could hide and shoot out of the emptied-out eye sockets.
Make sure to buy one of those little pine-scent air freshener hanger thingies. If you can get it custom-made with Gentle Repose, all the better. Maybe also some pink fuzzy rearview mirror dice (d20s, of course.) Add a giant samurai helmet for good luck - especially if it comes with a lower-face mask.
Remember that travel is only as fast as the slowest member. If you have more of a caravan, you'll need more undead who are relatively unburdened. Also, your giant moves slower when in medium armor, which means you'll "only" move at 35 ft/round if your giant is armored. (As compared to a regular humanoid, who can hustle at 30 ft/round, or walk at 15/round). Boots of Striding and Springing (in men's size 50) is probably a good option, to boost your giant travel speed (and party speed, assuming they will ride on the giant or in a wagon it pulls).
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