A small offshoot of the goliath race, feral garguns tear their livelihood out of the frigid northern regions with tooth and claw. Feral garguns derive from goliath and giant parentage. These large, savage humanoids fight in quick, furious bursts of energy. In the barren areas of the north, there is little room for mercy, and the feral garguns have had to learn to be aggressive just to survive.
Even more than their goliath kindred, feral garguns find cities and the trappings of civilization confusing and intimidating. Although individual feral garguns have found ways to adapt to the cities and villages of other races, the majority prefers the simple, nomadic lifestyle of the far north.
Personality: Fierce, quick-tempered warriors, feral garguns usually assume that the strongest individual is the leader, and they usually settle disagreements with some non-lethal test of strength. Despite this outward ferocity, feral garguns have a deep sense of personal honour and place a great deal of importance on self-reliance.
Physical Description: A typical feral gargun is as big as a goliath and larger than the largest half-orc. Most stand between 7 and 8 feet tall and weigh between 280 and 340 pounds. As with their goliath kindred, there is no appreciable difference in height or weight between male and female feral garguns.
Feral garguns are covered in smooth, thick fur. This fur ranges in colour from white to light grey to dark brown. Although their bodies are humanoid in shape, the faces of feral garguns are similar to those of bears, and they have longer, narrower faces than other humanoids.
Relations: Most feral garguns have little to no interaction with other humanoid races, so when they do interact, they remain curious and polite, at least by their standards. They get along well with goliaths, who trade the feral garguns metal weapons and armour when they have them to spare. Feral garguns also enjoy the company of halflings, valuing their success at maintaining a nomadic lifestyle. Feral garguns some times see halflings as mentor figures because of this attitude — a role that most halflings find both amusing and appealing.
Feral garguns hate giants. Bigger and better equipped than the feral garguns, a tribe of giants can usually drive a group of feral garguns from an area, or worse, capture and enslave them. Feral garguns attack and kill giants whenever they have the opportunity.
Alignment: Feral garguns tend toward chaotic alignments, valuing freedom and personal choice very highly. Even the most organized group of feral garguns is really just a collection of self-sufficient individuals travelling together for safety.
Feral Gargun Lands: Feral garguns roam the plains and tundra of the far north, covering huge areas in the search for food, shelter and tools. Small bands of feral garguns join together once or twice a season to share stories, trade tools and goods, and discuss the dangers of the coming season. Feral gargun lands face constant pressure from groups of giants, orcs and goblinoids, as well as from powerful individual creatures such as dragons. When such foes appear, the feral garguns meet and decide as a group whether to move on or to fight.
Religion: Feral garguns pay homage to their own deities, chief among them Galtha, the Mother of Winter. Galtha teaches her people to survive even in the harshest cold and when food is scarces. “When you can thrive where others cannot even eke out an existence”, says the teachings of Galtha, “then survival and success are assured”.
Language: Feral garguns speak the goliath language of Gol-Kaa. Gol-Kaa has only recently been put down in written form using the Dwarven alphabet, and no feral gargun tribe has yet warmed to the concept of a written language. Individual feral garguns who have moved away from their homelands and adventured among other races have learned to read and write in other languages, but they remain the exceptional few.
Names: All feral garguns remain unnamed until their second birthday. The infant mortality rate is high in the cold northlands, and leaving infants unnamed makes it easier for the tribe to accept the death of a young feral gargun when it occurs. On his or her second birthday, a feral gargun is given two names: a first name, and a last name taken from his mother’s name. The last name translates roughly into “son/daughter of [the mother’s name]”. A feral gargun can earn the right to adopt his father’s name by performing some great deed. This deed is never specified beforehand, and only a council of elder feral garguns can make this award. Few feral garguns actually earn their father’s name, and not failing to do so carries no shame or stigma.
Male Names: Agam, Agath, Gethik, Gothan, Thokan.
Female Names: Evva, Maka, Makin, Prenna, Vulla.
Adventurers: Feral gargun adventurers seek to explore the world. They often wish to learn from other races and cultures, seeking to return to their people with treasure, tools and knowledge that will make life in the northern reaches easier. Some feral garguns leave their tribe hoping to perform some deed great enough for them to earn their father’s name. Because of their size and ferocity, feral gargun barbarians easily find a place in adventuring groups, mercenary squads or other martial organizations. Feral garguns find the sea fascinating, and the few who learn to make their way as sailors seldom abandon that profession.
Source: Races of Stone (Page 89)
Your character can be either male or female.
Every player character starts as an adult. You can choose or randomly generate your character’s age. If you choose it, it must be at least the minimum age for the character’s race and class (see Table: Starting Ages). Your character’s minimum starting age is the adulthood age of his or her race plus the number of dice indicated in the entry corresponding to the character’s race and class on Table: Starting Ages.
Alternatively, refer to Table: Starting Ages and roll dice to determine how old your character is.
| Adulthood | Intuitive1 | Self-Taught2 | Trained3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 years | +1d4 (15—18) years | +1d6 (15—20) years | +2d6 (16—26) years |
1 This category includes barbarians, rogues and sorcerers.
2 This category includes bards, fighters, paladins and rangers.
3 This category includes clerics, druids, monks and wizards.
With age, a character’s physical ability scores decrease and his or her mental ability scores increase (see Table: Aging Effects). The effects of each aging step are cumulative. However, none of a character’s ability scores can be reduced below 1 in this way.
| Middle Age1 | Old Age2 | Venerable3 | Maximum Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 35 years | 53 years | 70 years | +2d10 years |
1 -1 to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution; +1 to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
2 -2 to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution; +1 to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
3 -3 to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution; +1 to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
When a character reaches venerable age, the DM secretly rolls his or her maximum age, which is the number from the Venerable column on Table: Aging Effects plus the result of the dice roll indicated on the Maximum Age column on that table, and records the result, which the player does not know. A character who reaches his or her maximum age dies of old age at some time during the following year, as determined by the DM.
The maximum ages are for player characters. Most people in the world at large die from pestilence, accidents, infections or violence before getting to venerable age.
Choose your character’s height and weight from the ranges mentioned in the appropriate race description or from the ranges found on Table: Height and Weight. Think about what your character’s abilities might say about his or her height and weight. A weak but agile character may be thin. A strong and tough character may be tall or just heavy.
Alternatively, roll randomly for your character’s height and weight on Table: Height and Weight. The dice roll given in the Height Modifier column determines the character’s extra height beyond the base height. That same number multiplied by the dice roll or quantity given in the Weight Modifier column determines the character’s extra weight beyond the base weight.
| Gender | Base Height | Height Modifier | Base Weight | Weight Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 6’ 0" | +2d12 (6’ 2"—8’ 0") | 220 lbs. | ×2d6 (224—508 lbs.) |
| Female | 6’ 0" | +2d12 (6’ 2"—8’ 0") | 220 lbs. | ×2d6 (224—508 lbs.) |
Source: Races of Stone (Page 86)