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Storm giants are another classic giant type, present since at least the days of AD&D. In Fourth Edition they seem to have been merged with cloud giants, which used to be quite close in power to them and differed mostly on alignment. Both seem to have been inspired by the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk. They’re present only in the MM.

The Lore

Back at the dawn of time, storm titans and giants were the favored servants of the primordials, and were given command over the rest of their kind. In the present day there’s no unified giant society for them to rule, but storm giants are still closer to what they were at the height of their power than the other giants. They’re as much at home underwater or flying through the sky as they are on land.

I imagine that, unlike the other classic giants, these don’t usually raid or invade nearby mortal settlements. The domains of a storm giant would already be well-established and be located very far away from any “mundane” locations. That’s not to say they’re pleasant places for anyone but the giants themselves, at least not necessarily.

Storm giants build (or command their servants to build) marvelous castles in places mortals can’t usually reach, like the bottom of the sea or islands floating above the clouds. They might settle for the top of a tall mountain if they want to slum it. In these lordly palaces they keep all sorts of fantastical treasures.

When storm giants feel a need to make war, they summon enormous storms upon which their armies ride to battle. These are known as Harbinger Storms, and are likely one of the most sure omens that whoever they rain upon is fucked.

The Numbers

Storm giants and titans are Large and Huge Elemental Humanoids, respectively. They have the Aquatic and Giant keywords. They have resistance to lightning and thunder, along with both swim and fly speeds. They also have command of lightning and storms, being surrounded by mini-storms in combat.

These giants are quite sophisticated and intelligent, having a typical Int of 14. The ones presented here are Evil as befits the beanstalk giant, though you could certainly make a case for less nasty individuals in your stories.

Storm Giant

This is a Level 24 Controller with 228 HP. Its elemental resistances are set to 15; it runs and swims at speed 8, and flies at speed 10. In combat it surrounds itself with a small storm that acts as an Aura 2, inflicting 10 lightning and thunder damage to anyone caught inside, and preventing them from flying unless they’re other storm giants/titans.

The storm giant wields a Crackling Greatsword in combat (Reach 2 vs. AC) which does a mix of physical and lightning damage. The giant can sweep the sword in a wide arc (Close Burst 2 vs. AC; Recharge 6), damaging everyone it hits. It can also hurl thunderbolts (Ranged 10 vs. Reflex) for lightning and thunder damage. In addition to doing damage, they also push the target 3 squares and daze them (save ends) on a hit.

Finally, it can temporarily intensify its storm aura into a burst of Howling Winds (Close Burst 4 vs. Fortidude; Recharge 5-6) which does thunder damage, pushes 4 squares, and knocks prone on a hit. On a miss, this still does half damage and pushes 1 square.

Storm Titan

The Storm Titan is a Level 27 Elite Controller with 506 HP, and is basically a beefed-up storm giant in all respects. Its Huge in size, with the same movement speeds and modes. Its resistances are doubled to 30 as is the radius of its storm aura.

The titan has exact the same attacks as the giant, with melee Reach 3 where appropriate and increased accuracy and damage based on level. As an elite monster it can also perform two greatsword attacks per action.

Sample Encounter and Final Impressions

The MM gives us one sample encounter: Level 27, 1 storm titan, 1 thunderblast cyclone elemental, 2 storm gorgons. You can likely expect similarly themed elementals and blue dragons to make up the retinues of other storm giants and titans.

I like them, particularly due to the Jack and the Beanstalk associations. I don’t mind losing cloud giants in the conversion to 4e. It seems fitting that the giant you find atop the cloud is the one that wants to grind your bones for seasoning, not invite you to dinner. And if you really want to you could bring the good sky giants back using these same stats.

I also don’t mind that the storm giant and titan share similar abilities - conceptually, their set is fairly solid. The main problem here is that both suffer from the fairly severe form of the damage bug that afflicts epic-level creatures. You should definitely fix that before using them in your adventures.