In the earliest ages, the first giants were believed to have been spawned from the primordial matter at the heart of the world. Because of this, they decided that they were to be the world’s masters. They formed great empires and were rivaled only by the dragons, but these empires waned in power over the millennia as “smallfolk” such as elves, humans, and dwarfs became more powerful, and eventually the giants were left in their current, much reduced state.
At some point, a new heritage arose: the colossi (singular: colossus). Whether they were created by the mingling of giants and humanoids, through divine or magical intervention, or the world itself created them as it had originally created the giants, nobody is certain. Regardless of their origins, colossi are kin to both the true giants and the much smaller humans, elves, and dwarfs, and are torn between those two ways of being.
Colossi typically resemble humans, but their stout limbs, slightly oversized heads, and barrel chests give them a somewhat dwarfish appearance. Both sexes are often completely devoid of hair (although some instead grow copious amounts), and their thick, leathery skin comes in a variety of colors. Their hair, should they have it, is typically black, dark brown, dark auburn, or honey blond. Most bear a close resemblance to a particular type of giant and consider themselves to be distant cousins to them.
Characters with the colossus heritage share a variety of traits in common with one another.
Age. Colossi lead long, slow lives. They reach adulthood in their late twenties and can live to be approximately 250 years old.
Size. Colossi are, as their name suggests, quite large. They typically stand about 8 feet tall (2.4 meters) and weigh about 550 pounds (249 kg). Your size is Medium. However, some colossi have the Large Size gift, detailed below.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Giant Ancestry. You have the Giant creature type in addition to the Humanoid type.
Battering Ram. If you are wielding a weapon with the Breaker trait or are using an unarmed attack, and you are attacking an object, you may add your proficiency bonus to the damage you inflict.
Giant Toughness. Your hit point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by 1 every time you gain a level.
Mighty Muscles. Colossi are inherently very strong. You gain an expertise die in Strength ability checks.
In addition, you count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.
Colossi share many qualities with true giants. In addition to the traits found in your colossus heritage, select one of the following colossus gifts to determine your giant nature.
Rough-featured and long of limb, these colossi usually have thick skin the color of dirt, sand, or stone. Their eyes often resemble pale, polished agates. Colossi with this gift have the following features:
Unstoppable Stone. You have advantage on Strength saving throws to avoid being knocked prone and when making the Overrun maneuver. When you use the Grapple, Knockdown, or Shove maneuvers, your target has disadvantage on their saving throws.
Strider. Your walking speed is 35 feet. You can move across difficult terrain made of earth, mud, sand, or rock without expending extra movement.
Tied to the wind and water, mist-veined colossi typically have blue, gray, or cloud-white skin, and their eyes are dark and stormy. Colossi with this gift have the following features:
Mist-Veined Magic. Imbued with the power of storm clouds and concealing mists, you know your choice of either the minor illusion or shocking grasp cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast fog cloud once and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma (your choice) is your spellcasting attribute for this trait.
Storm Resistance. You have resistance to your choice of either lightning or thunder damage.
The fey-touched sprouted colossi frequently have bark-colored skin and berry-colored hair and eyes. Legends say that they were once all powerful shapechangers who chose to give up the bulk of their changing ability in exchange for a closer tie to the mortal plane. Colossi with this gift have the following features:
Fey Ancestry. You gain an expertise die on saving throws against being charmed and against any effect that would cause you to fall unconscious or change your shape against your will.
Sprouted Magic. You know your choice of either the druidcraft or minor illusion cantrip and can cast detect magic once per long rest. At third level, you learn the alter self spell and can cast it on yourself once per long rest. When you use the Altered State version of the spell, you can change your height to be up to three feet shorter. At 11th level, you can cast this spell as if with a 5th-level slot, although you can’t use the Mask of the Grave version. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for this trait.
Squallish colossi embody nature’s extremes of fire and ice. Many physically reflect this duality, with skin that ranges from charcoal-gray to slushy off-white and eyes and hair that are typically blue or white-gold—colors that be of either snow or flame. Colossi with this gift have the following features:
Master of the Wild. You ignore all naturally created difficult terrain relating to mountain and arctic terrain. Additionally, you gain an expertise die on Survival checks made within this terrain type. You also gain an expertise die on checks made when dealing with weather that involves fire or snow.
Fire and Ice. You are resistant to your choice of cold damage or fire damage. After you complete a long rest, you may choose to change your resistance to the other type of damage.
As colossi progress in life, they become more and more like their true giant relatives. Choose one of the following paragon gifts.
Thick-Skinned. Giants can ignore great injury, and so can colossi. When you take damage, you can use your reaction to roll 1d12 + your Constitution modifier and reduce the damage you take by that amount. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest. You can also use your reaction to gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage until the end of your next turn. Once you do so, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
Stomp. Your footfalls are like miniature earthquakes when you want them to be. By using your action to stomp the ground hard, you can send out a shockwave. Each creature within 15 feet of you must make a Dexterity saving throw, using your maneuver save DC, or fall prone.
Colossi generally keep to themselves. They often feel their giant ancestry creates a rift between them and other humanoids, and only rarely do they choose to adopt another heritage’s culture. Those that are comfortable with other heritages often find those people too small to be easy neighbors—while a rockbone colossus and a dwarf may have a lot in common, it’s difficult for the colossus to move around in a dwarf’s mine. They may still work together, though, with the colossus working in the quarries outside the mountain or using the rubble from the dwarfs’ mines for their own constructions.
Colossus settlements typically take the form of small villages, clans, or tribes and they rarely build larger towns or cities.
While you can choose any culture for your colossus character, the following cultures are linked closely with this heritage: giant-kept, hidden city, stoneworthy, villager. Cultures marked with a star are detailed in Part 3.
Most colossi are quite tall and tower over humans and orcs, but a rare few are even bigger. With the Narrator’s approval, a character can also have the gift Large-Sized in addition to their other heritage gift
Giant Blows. When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon, you roll the damage dice three times instead of twice. You can also use oversized weapons, such as those created for Huge or Gargantuan creatures, without penalty.
Large-Sized. You are Large, not Medium. You stand between 10 and 13 feet tall (3 to 4 meters) and weigh up to 1,500 pounds (680 kg).
Long-Limbed. When you make a melee attack on your turn, your reach for it is 5 feet greater than normal.
Unwieldy Size. Because of your Large size, you suffer from numerous restrictions: