D&D: Bigby Presents ‘Glory of the Giants’ Does High-Level Monsters Better
The Giant Scions in Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants are an example of how to do high-level monsters without them being trivial.
High-level encounters are one of the sticking points of 5th Edition. It isn’t that they’re especially hard, it’s just that they take a lot of extra work to actually be challenging. The designers know this, and you can find a few stopgap measures out there to try and make your “climactic encounter” actually feel like a cool fight instead of a curb stomping.
Some monsters have Legendary Resistance which lets them succeed on saves vs. spells that would potentially end the fight, even if they fail. Others have legendary actions to reflect the fact that in 5th Edition the real advantage is on whoever has the most actions.
That’s usually the heroes.
In spite of these measures, most fights against a single enemy, no matter how powerful, end up being just absolute beatdowns anyway. That’s why the most common DM advice out there is “have them fight more dudes.” That alone solves, like, 50% of the problems. Another 15% can be solved by having more dudes show up once the fight has gone on for a couple of rounds.
But even with all that in consideration, it still takes a lot of work to make a high-level encounter feel both challenging and satisfying. Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants offers up a new take on how to make “boss fights” actually feel that way. And as you’ll see, Mythic Monsters from the Mythic Odysseys of Theros are just the jumping-off point.
Glory of the Giants – High-Level Monsters Get Better, But Still Have Room to Improve
Specifically, we’re talking about the Scions of the Giant Gods introduced in the new book. These are new monsters introduced as the children of the giants’ gods. They’re the grandchildren of Annam, the all-father of the giants. And their role in the world might take on mythological importance, whether it’s holding up the pillars of the world, as folks who stole the secrets of magic from the gods, or darker things still.
But whatever their role, what really makes them interesting are the new mechanics they employ. Because each Scion of the Giants is actually a two-part encounter.
Each Scion is a bastion of primeval energy. So intense and so influential to the world are they, that the world seeks to protect them (and often, to protect itself from them) by encasing them in the elements during their long, deep slumber. Scions are enclosed in stasis inside a powerful Elemental known as a Cradle. Cradles of the Scions protect their slumbering charges but also carry out their subconscious instructions—which can include reacting to nightmarish dreams or outside intruders.
Practically speaking, every encounter with a Scion is actually two encounters. Let’s take a look at the Scion of Thrym, the Frost Giant Scion, and the accompanying Cradle.
A Cradle of the Frost Scion is a CR 24 monster on its own. It often takes the shape of a glacier or iceberg, nestled in a valley or drifting out in the polar sea. But when disturbed, the cradle animates, becoming a massive bipedal figure of ice and snow. And it’s mean, too. With five uses of Legendary Resistance, a damaging AoE bonus action as well as a breath weapon that can, potentially, let the elemental kill anyone who it drops to 0 hit points, it’s a pretty heavy bludgeon.
But then, when you reduce it to 0 hit points (from an average of 499), it instantly shatters and the encounter with the Scion of Thrym begins.
The Scion of Thrym is another CR 24 monster. With its own pool of 499 average hit points, which means these scions have more hit points than most dragons. Already a step in the right direction. But it has a completely different set of attacks. Instead of freezing breath, it can hurl foes on a block of ice 100 feet into the air, dealing big damage (an average of 55) and then dropping them to the ground for another potential 10d6 falling damage. And then on the next turn, the hurled block of ice becomes a deadly Ice Storm (per the spell) for free.
What makes these encounters feel tough is the two different encounters. Personally, these stat blocks could be even more divergent from each other and could still feel coherent. Also, the lack of Legendary Actions is a bit of a disappointment since these monsters do hurt for being able to take on parties. This could be because they’re meant to be accompanied by minions.
A Scion of Thrym has a swath of regional effects which are built into its CR; Frost Giants within 1,000 feet of the Scion get a +7 to attack and damage rolls, and creatures in the area without immunity or resistance to cold damage are at a disadvantage on strength and dexterity checks.
But it still falls short of giving them enough to do. Even so, this is a giant step in the right direction for how to make high-level encounters feel challenging and epic.
What do you think of the new monster design?
