You mistakenly smash (due to your oafish clumsiness) what you believe to the last of a flower sacred to your tribe. You sneak out at night and join an adventuring band, hoping to find this flower somewhere in your travels. 20 levels later, you return to your tribe in shame because you couldn't find another flower to replace it... only to learn that it's actually a fairly common flower that only grows in your home forest.
Excellent way to punish murderhobo players, have a Firbolg wildshaped as a cat rub up against the players’ legs and follow them around. Then they inevitably try to kill the cat... Firbolg Fury.
JackoftheDead Muderhobos will try to kill the Firbolg. At least they got a good fight out of it. No need to absolutely punish players, just don’t make it the path of least resistance. If you are going to be killing people, prepare to have guards investigate it, try to arrest you or even kill you if necessary.
These guys remind me of the Ogier from the Wheel of Time book series. They're gentle giants that sing to plants to influence their growth, even producing wooden weapons with a minute of singing. They're awesome.
+Carson Rush yea they are. I think they were introduced into AD&D in the early 80's MMII for sure. But they weren't quite the tree huggers they are now. Nerdarchist Dave
Loial, son of Arent, son of Halan. Druid with Cloistered Scholar background, multiclass with a level in Barbarian for when your done singing to trees and need to rage and slice a trollac in half with an axe.
@@Year2047 outside of singing wood Loial has never showed any indications of spell-casting or wild shaping... The general feel of the character is similar but none of the mechanics are. If anything he's a barbarian when defending his friends or innocence from evil
If you still need to grab Volo's Guide to Monsters, grabbing it from Amazon (or anything else) here helps us out without costing you extra: amzn.to/2g6oDbM. -Nerdarchist Ryan
I like the thought of a Firbolg Tranquility Monk. She left her clan because she views humans and other "civilized" races as part of nature needing to be cared for. She sets out to quell the anger, hate, and cruelty that plagues so many intelligent races to create a peace that can aid nature as much as it can aid these civilized beings. Idk, food for thought
I tried creating a Firbolg fighter. The justification for it, and the background, is that he was captured by nomadic full giants as an adolescent and being large for his race, although still small to full giants, was forced to fight their kids as sport. Eventually he escapes but had to live on his own and evade recapture by becoming an expert in the natural terrain giving him the skills of an outlander. His tribe has thought him dead, or worse yet to have left voluntarily, and he is not welcome back so he adventures to become strong enough to repay any giants back for his forced upbringing.
My current character in the campaign my friend and I are doing is a circle of dreams druid. The height I rolled for my dear firbolg was like 7’10”. The rest of the party is a githyenki, a dwarf and a halfling so she just towers over the rest of them, speaking in a very heavy “canadian” accent eh? Whats all this fighting aboot anyways? Can’t we just talk this out? And yes. Her name is Maple
from what I read of the Firbolg mine is going to be a rune knight that is more in line with giants than his clan; maybe a tie to the fomorian's or the touch of the fey on his clan was the unseelie court
I have a homebrew Firbolg Druid of the moon who the DM and I reskinned as a huge 8' smooth barked, vine and moss haired Dryad. Summoned by the magics of the land, He is an emissary of nature to teach the humanoid races how to respect and better coexist with it, using his various strange animal forms (DM allowed a few very select Fey creature wildshape forms based on the fact his creation and very existence was Fey in nature) to punish those who don't. His personality is akin to that of a stoic shaman with no concept of monetary value or understanding of idle banter or social pleasantries, but in an attempt to fit in he often uses badly mixed metaphors, proverbs and sayings like "When the sun hangs low and the Owlbears begin to mate, Rock beats scissors but not Spock" when the party is asking for help in battle... oh and his name is Willos, Spruce Willos
Just an idea that popped to mind wen you mention Firbolg monk and how it might be odd. Well one idea I had is maybe the PC Firbolg's home was near or contained a hidden monk temple that had been there before the Firbolg moved in. The monks are just as respectful to nature as the Firbolg themselves and maybe even were the first to reach out and welcome their new monstrous neighbours. This leads to a happy co-existence for generations and some Firbolg even adopt the monk ways. That could even lead into a back story of maybe a monk pilgrimage for the PC or perhaps the temple was attacked for an artefact or writings and that leads them to venture out and join a party.
I played a one shot level 10 Firbolg druid circle of the moon 5/ warlock pact of the chain 5 and it was really interesting. He was a pact of the chain warlock with a pseudodragon named Pete, invocations: Beast Speech, Gift of the Ever-Living Ones, and Mask of Many Faces, with nature/illusion focused spells from warlock. Then picked up 5 levels of druid with circle of the moon keeping Pete within 100 ft channeling spell slots for health as a tank with max healing due to the Gift of the Ever-Living Ones invocation.
I’m interested in Firbulg warlock who gets lost in a winter storm and ends up making a pact with the promise that they will help him find his home. But that was over 100 years ago and he seems to be locked into this never ending contract.
we have two giant races of the goliath and firborg, now we need an extremely small race for the hell of it. I don't mean halfling. I mean something like a fairy/pixie. Is it even possible to play a tiny sized creature without it breaking the game? If it's possible then Ferngully could be a cool concept of a party, everyone is there to protect the forest.
I wouldn't know if it would be possible to play a tiny sized creature in 5e. I know in previous editions it was fine. they seem to want all the playable races in 5e to be small or medium. but nevertheless this would be a fun campaign to play.
wow, its been years (mabey decades now) since I've seen Ferngully: The Last Rainforest... it was one of my favorite movies as a child lol. I feel it might have made for a very different movie if they had a giant forest protecter to combat the bulldozers, but its an interesting idea nonetheless
I'm surprised you guys didn't think about ranger that much, firbolg's seem really cool as rangers, mixing their innate sneakiness with the ranger's stealth, as well as being an obvious choice to go down the animal companion path. Also interesting would be an evil druid firbolg who then becomes a light cleric or fiendish warlock, and suddenly is casting fireballs and burning down everything.
I created a Firbolg Druid character whose clan encountered a traveling circus that passed through their forest when he was young. The clan helped the group pass through and so he got to spend some time with them and it created this spark of wonderment. As an adolescent he decided that the best way for him to protect the forests of the world was to accumulate and spread knowledge to other protectors. He went to a university to learn, and since it is a rarity to have a firbolg attend a university, he was treasured by his teachers. With his natural druid abilities, he excelled in his classes. The university asked him to go into the world and learn and collect knowledge and to write and take notes about his travels. It is a much lighter story than most of the supplied lines, and it plays into our game as I will actually be keeping notes of the game progress. It gives me a reason to be writing everything down
{Big fans of Firbolg giant kin and the first time we encountered them was in the AD&D2 monsters. Forgotten Realms novel line has the Titans of Twilight trilogy where the protagonist is a Firbolg named Tavis armed with a powerful bow he named Bear Driller. Been fans of Firbolgs ever since.
Wild mage sorcerer, accidentally set a portion of the forest on fire when casting an otherwise non-harmful spell. This was the latest, and worst, incident in a long string of problems your magic has caused. You have been sent away until such a time as you are able to control your powers.
On a kingdom maker campaign I play a Shepherd firbolg named Beargrylls that was sent on a quest to help a group of adventures raise a kingdom in order to make sure they don’t miss use nature’s resources (don’t cut off to many trees, don’t over hunt and so on). The reason they chose him is because he was very curious about their way of life in their cities of stone. There is also a background story of how he met some of the party members before even going on this quest.
what about a passive firbolg with monk path of Tranquility....I don't want to hurt you... but don't hurt the squirrel... cant we talk about it ... gentle Giant lol
Mix it with beastmaster so you can control that squirrel and have it fight back. It would be cool to have a gentle giant with a small animal companion.
I have made a Firbolg Moon Druid I use wildshape to frontline but building as a battlefield controller. I play AL and he is currently lvl 2. Unless something changes him he will be the guy trying to befriend the warleaders mount mid combat. (He apologized to a giant demon goat for attacking it after the Goat hit him twice.)
Underdark Fantsy Scribe I think more Fomorians because their goal is to make everyone and every thing as ugly, cursed, pained, and twisted as they are in life. Verbeegs would probably piss off Firbolgs if they tried to take their land. It would be a problem sure, but could you imaging a Fomorian tribe spreading rot and decay and twisting the fauna by deforming them somehow? I could see a Firbolg tribe declaring outright war on the Fomorian tribe, or at the very least, that would be the reason the Firbolg was adventuring with the party to put an end to the Fomorian blight.
I'm about to start playing one in a campaign that has already started. They're currently in a forest and I'm going to be playing a wandering forest guardian that they come across. home is in danger from portals created during the current god war and after they help me close it, I'm going to be indebted to them (how I'm going to justify leaving home) class will be a Primeval Guardian ranger from UA. I'm basically going to be playing an ent. I'm excited.
I am making a Firbolg Bloodhunter. But the idea of a Firbolg Conquest Paladin smiting the defilers with a greatclud carved from the last tree to fall. And DM plot book for later
Sounds like the Firbolg and Sprites would get along well as they both are fierce protectors of nature. If someone was in the forest the sprite could use Heart sight on the creature to see if it might be a threat. Then sleep arrow them and get a Firbolg to help move the creature out of the forest.
I like to think that the Firbolgs in my world, including my own character don't really "revere" nature as if they believe in some life force, but instead just know the great value of being in harmony nature. Kind of like how a lot of humans see nature now days. I always thought this was the case since their homes are usually described as large fortresses made out of wood. They would have to fell a number of trees to make that fortress, they just make sure to not fell too many at one time or more than they need. And if they do happen to have leftovers of whatever material, they use it to give back to the surrounding nature in some way
My brain when I hear being exhiled is that say I in some way felled a tree unnecessarily and as a personal or traditional reminder of my horrid act and need of penance.
I live in one of the most diverse (animal & plant species) countries in the world, & I can tell you that in the last 60 years more forrests were distroyed than in the 400-something years prior to that... but we haven't got Orcs nor Hobgoblins. thing is: early human settlements don't have the tools to wreak that havoc
Firbolg Cleric named Aust worshipping Chauntea with the life domain outlander background. Standing 8'2" tall weighing 463 lbs. Grey skin green eyes and hair. Tribe destroyed by a demon. He feels more comfortable with animals than people. He feels people need to bring the most happiness to the tribe. Trying to make sure the names of the tribe enter legend. He drinks a lot cause he's freaked out about so many people. Built for adventurer league play so Str 16 Dex 12 Con 13 Int 10 Wis 16 Cha 8
I play a Firbolg Circle of Life (homebrew) druid! He is an amazing healer and he can pack a punch when he needs to! He's the most optimistic character and always tries to keep his companions spirits up, even in the bleakest of times. He's my favorite 5e character so far.
Axel Tenveils Because they'd be too strong, literally. Their size alone would make their weapons too large and therefore have them do more damage. I mean, they could probably wield a greatsword in each hand and just tear through people
It could work with a good backstory. Have he/she be a kind person up until the breaking point. Maybe your sacred forest was burnt down or clear cut, now you're a ball of raging vengeance with a passion to make the culprits pay. I could see it working since the generic barbarian is the nomadic naturalists anyways.
How about an Adventurer Firbolg of Omen, who foresees the destructive natures of the other Outcasts paths as possible futures, who leaves to prevent themselves from causing damage, or to get help to protect the land from a war or natural disaster.
decado1628 If you have the money to spend on a single mini, you might even consider Hero Forge. You could probably custom-make the mini you're looking for.. Just a thought.
decado1628 I'd like to get a Hero Forge mini, but after customs, taxes, shipping, and US/CAN exchange, I'm looking at a $45.00 mini. That's ridiculous.
My firbolg character was a Druid with a big green beard and he thought himself one with nature that and nature was one with him he would kill anything that harmed plants but he gave no shits about animals he would slaughter them without a second thought
+harrysarso goliaths. Kind of both have been around for awhile. The idea is to introduce really big character races without increasing the actual size, because that would affect game mechanics. Nerdarchist Dave
Nerdarchy while get the idea I'm just saying 7-8 isn't giant they can fit in most houses were I live only need to duck for doors I also think part of playing a giant is mechanical being large size
+Nerdarchy I want to see a large player race as well as a tiny race. Make their appearance be the gimmick like the aarakroca with no bumps and (more or less) just their wings. Being a large or tiny race would open up a lot of fun encounters too. Imagine a barbarian half-giant fighting beside a tiny fairy/pixie, it seems really cool in theory and WotC just needs to incorporate huge downsides to the upsides. Maybe have the large sized creature have a disadvantage on all dexterity checks and a -2 to dex, symbolizing the clumsiness that comes with the sheer size. Same goes for the tiny race but with strength instead. Having this scale would be a fresh breath because most races are so similar mechanically, sure some have darkvision (a lot of them), but I feel it's more or less "+2 to X, and [insert one radical feature that's situational here]". The races now are good but I'd love to see more creativity and pushing the boundaries more.
I am groomed to be the next great arch druid of my people and serve the will of the Elder tree but the current arch druid tells me the tree says in order for me to be a wise spiritual leader I must adventure and learn of the outside world and then when the elder tree says I'm ready it will summon me back.
Firbolgs have some powerful mechanics that make them a strong race, and the only +2 Wisdom buff in the game. But the way they have been made to look like muppets is off-putting. This one artist has a knack for giving every picture cat-like noses and ears (look up his work in OoTA and CoS). I'm quite sure the original Irish legends didn't look like a guest appearance on the Fraggles. The "tie-dye and herbal remedy" outlook is a bit much too. Before Volo's, no race had a "favorite class". That was done away with in 5E. Some "optimized builds" were obvious, but there was no influence on who became what. Firbolgs broke this rule. True, a Firbolg character can become anything - which is totally up to the player - but even inferring that "most are druids" creates an influence over player choice (especially newer players). That's sketchy in my eyes. Say they have a druidic culture, or tend towards nature-based religions, and you're set. But more than that is "prejudicial to the jury". I'd rather them return to the red-haired/bearded giant-kin of the past. Make them elusive and aloof, sure. Elves tend to be, so why not? But get rid of this felt-covered Muppet Show hippy nonsense. I could see one as a great Tempest Cleric and warrior, who views the everlasting sky as a living thing. More shamanic than druidic. Living on secluded islands clouded in mist and rain. But drop the Jim Henson influence on the look. As always, just my opinions. EDIT: Aside from a martial Cleric, the following NON-DRUID classes work with both Strength and Wisdom for martial and spellcasting purposes: Strength Ranger/Hunter Matt Mercer's Blood Hunter/Profane Soul (Archfey)
The thing about firbolgs is that they are barely a playable race. They are creatures that are designed to be druids and farmers in their local area, not adventurers. Whereas other races have more options pretty much 100% of firbolgs will grow up to be druids unless their is a drastic change in their life. If they did this to another race it would be weird but firbolgs are so closely tied to being druids that leaving it out of their description would be like leaving out stone when describing a dwarf.
+Mike Gould I kind of dig the idea of oath of ancient paladin or a feylock. I also liked their AD&D Monster Manual II way better. I could get behind the hippieness more if they were hippies of forest vengeance. Perhaps with swarms of devilish flying squirrels at their beck and call. Almost lost a druid to squirrels from that same book. Nerdarchist Dave
Nerdarchy I guess my major problem was the preconception built into the race. WoTC did exactly the same thing to the Kenku discussed earlier. The strong "druid" influence written into the description was evident in your discussion about the character concepts. Go back and count the number of times "druid/wildshape" came up in the concepts discussed - that was my point. WoTC said "druid druid druid" enough and it immediately affected and directed the discussion after that. Like with Kenku who somehow can't have an original thought (the DUMBEST thing ever said when introducing an ADVENTURER - which are defined by "thinking/acting differently"...ugh), the Firbolg have to have some sort of calamity to break their xenophobia and apparently SINGULAR class distinction. I'm not a big fan of the stat array either. A Giantkin with a +1 STR bump? I'd likely swap the two and go +2 STR and +1 WIS. For a race "so wise" they seem to be scared to leave the woods. ...And that "feed the animals to protect nature" thing. If you want to protect nature, remove outside influences and let it be. Hoi. The Firbolgs need to drop the ukeleles and gluten-free granola, discard the Birkenstocks and lose the knit toques.
Mike Gould I know this from a long time ago, however I actually really like the muppet look. I really wish I was a muppet lol. So to me I love it. I think they should have made two variants. One for the old fans and the new muppet one. However, I can see your complaints. It does fill a niche and I think there are better ones for you. Also they have preferred classes in all the new editions of the books and they also have races as the pictures of classes. And on dnd beyond they even have suggested backgrounds As someone newer I really like this, but I think as a more experienced player it becomes lame You have to understand that even with the Simplifies rules that this is 100% overwhelming
I came up with a barbarian firbolg who's a tempest monk hunting doen the red dragon that burned down his home and kill it so that it doesnt happen again.
Whoever decides the height and weight standards at wizards has no understanding of physiology. A 7-8 foot tall, semi-giant with a powerful build would way around 400 pounds minimum up to 600+, otherwise they would be rather emaciated, not have powerful enough heart and lung muscles, and their bone density would leave them fragile.
Hmmm... Fey... Giant... A Firbolg Descended from Winter fey, that tend to the evergrren forests of the north, and occasionally tending tp even the sparse life of the frozen tundra, lending them to a Druid, a Ranger... or even a Frost Giant Soul Sorcerer.
Chad-Solomon Dixon We all have our own opinions, but Tritons seem like reflavored Water Genasi but with the same haughty attitude as Elves. Seems pretty boring since a couple of other races have already have the same traits.
You mistakenly smash (due to your oafish clumsiness) what you believe to the last of a flower sacred to your tribe. You sneak out at night and join an adventuring band, hoping to find this flower somewhere in your travels. 20 levels later, you return to your tribe in shame because you couldn't find another flower to replace it... only to learn that it's actually a fairly common flower that only grows in your home forest.
Andrew O'Horo And now wear a mask of a troll's face as a visualization of what life has done to you.
Excellent way to punish murderhobo players, have a Firbolg wildshaped as a cat rub up against the players’ legs and follow them around. Then they inevitably try to kill the cat... Firbolg Fury.
JackoftheDead Muderhobos will try to kill the Firbolg. At least they got a good fight out of it. No need to absolutely punish players, just don’t make it the path of least resistance. If you are going to be killing people, prepare to have guards investigate it, try to arrest you or even kill you if necessary.
These guys remind me of the Ogier from the Wheel of Time book series. They're gentle giants that sing to plants to influence their growth, even producing wooden weapons with a minute of singing. They're awesome.
+Carson Rush yea they are. I think they were introduced into AD&D in the early 80's MMII for sure. But they weren't quite the tree huggers they are now.
Nerdarchist Dave
Carson Rush this was my sentiments exactly. I'm glad I'm not the only one.
Loial, son of Arent, son of Halan. Druid with Cloistered Scholar background, multiclass with a level in Barbarian for when your done singing to trees and need to rage and slice a trollac in half with an axe.
@@Year2047 outside of singing wood Loial has never showed any indications of spell-casting or wild shaping... The general feel of the character is similar but none of the mechanics are. If anything he's a barbarian when defending his friends or innocence from evil
If you still need to grab Volo's Guide to Monsters, grabbing it from Amazon (or anything else) here helps us out without costing you extra: amzn.to/2g6oDbM. -Nerdarchist Ryan
I want to play one as a old ones warlock who unlike the other firbolgs thinks of the great old ones as the ultimate form of nature
I like the thought of a Firbolg Tranquility Monk. She left her clan because she views humans and other "civilized" races as part of nature needing to be cared for. She sets out to quell the anger, hate, and cruelty that plagues so many intelligent races to create a peace that can aid nature as much as it can aid these civilized beings.
Idk, food for thought
I still like my ogre monk Fezzik who started being a monk when he was beaten by a monk in hand to hand combat.
I tried creating a Firbolg fighter. The justification for it, and the background, is that he was captured by nomadic full giants as an adolescent and being large for his race, although still small to full giants, was forced to fight their kids as sport. Eventually he escapes but had to live on his own and evade recapture by becoming an expert in the natural terrain giving him the skills of an outlander. His tribe has thought him dead, or worse yet to have left voluntarily, and he is not welcome back so he adventures to become strong enough to repay any giants back for his forced upbringing.
My current character in the campaign my friend and I are doing is a circle of dreams druid. The height I rolled for my dear firbolg was like 7’10”. The rest of the party is a githyenki, a dwarf and a halfling so she just towers over the rest of them, speaking in a very heavy “canadian” accent eh? Whats all this fighting aboot anyways? Can’t we just talk this out?
And yes. Her name is Maple
Firbulg Totem Barbarian nuff said. Splash in moon druid if you want.
from what I read of the Firbolg mine is going to be a rune knight that is more in line with giants than his clan; maybe a tie to the fomorian's or the touch of the fey on his clan was the unseelie court
I have a homebrew Firbolg Druid of the moon who the DM and I reskinned as a huge 8' smooth barked, vine and moss haired Dryad. Summoned by the magics of the land, He is an emissary of nature to teach the humanoid races how to respect and better coexist with it, using his various strange animal forms (DM allowed a few very select Fey creature wildshape forms based on the fact his creation and very existence was Fey in nature) to punish those who don't. His personality is akin to that of a stoic shaman with no concept of monetary value or understanding of idle banter or social pleasantries, but in an attempt to fit in he often uses badly mixed metaphors, proverbs and sayings like "When the sun hangs low and the Owlbears begin to mate, Rock beats scissors but not Spock" when the party is asking for help in battle... oh and his name is Willos, Spruce Willos
Brand new to this channel but i can already tell youre great DM's
Just an idea that popped to mind wen you mention Firbolg monk and how it might be odd. Well one idea I had is maybe the PC Firbolg's home was near or contained a hidden monk temple that had been there before the Firbolg moved in. The monks are just as respectful to nature as the Firbolg themselves and maybe even were the first to reach out and welcome their new monstrous neighbours. This leads to a happy co-existence for generations and some Firbolg even adopt the monk ways. That could even lead into a back story of maybe a monk pilgrimage for the PC or perhaps the temple was attacked for an artefact or writings and that leads them to venture out and join a party.
I played a one shot level 10 Firbolg druid circle of the moon 5/ warlock pact of the chain 5 and it was really interesting. He was a pact of the chain warlock with a pseudodragon named Pete, invocations: Beast Speech, Gift of the Ever-Living Ones, and Mask of Many Faces, with nature/illusion focused spells from warlock. Then picked up 5 levels of druid with circle of the moon keeping Pete within 100 ft channeling spell slots for health as a tank with max healing due to the Gift of the Ever-Living Ones invocation.
"We're Firbolg. resistance is futile"
I’m interested in Firbulg warlock who gets lost in a winter storm and ends up making a pact with the promise that they will help him find his home. But that was over 100 years ago and he seems to be locked into this never ending contract.
I feel that Firbolg would fit in very well in the movie Ferngully.
we have two giant races of the goliath and firborg, now we need an extremely small race for the hell of it. I don't mean halfling. I mean something like a fairy/pixie. Is it even possible to play a tiny sized creature without it breaking the game? If it's possible then Ferngully could be a cool concept of a party, everyone is there to protect the forest.
I wouldn't know if it would be possible to play a tiny sized creature in 5e. I know in previous editions it was fine. they seem to want all the playable races in 5e to be small or medium. but nevertheless this would be a fun campaign to play.
wow, its been years (mabey decades now) since I've seen Ferngully: The Last Rainforest... it was one of my favorite movies as a child lol. I feel it might have made for a very different movie if they had a giant forest protecter to combat the bulldozers, but its an interesting idea nonetheless
I'm surprised you guys didn't think about ranger that much, firbolg's seem really cool as rangers, mixing their innate sneakiness with the ranger's stealth, as well as being an obvious choice to go down the animal companion path. Also interesting would be an evil druid firbolg who then becomes a light cleric or fiendish warlock, and suddenly is casting fireballs and burning down everything.
I created a Firbolg Druid character whose clan encountered a traveling circus that passed through their forest when he was young. The clan helped the group pass through and so he got to spend some time with them and it created this spark of wonderment. As an adolescent he decided that the best way for him to protect the forests of the world was to accumulate and spread knowledge to other protectors. He went to a university to learn, and since it is a rarity to have a firbolg attend a university, he was treasured by his teachers. With his natural druid abilities, he excelled in his classes. The university asked him to go into the world and learn and collect knowledge and to write and take notes about his travels. It is a much lighter story than most of the supplied lines, and it plays into our game as I will actually be keeping notes of the game progress. It gives me a reason to be writing everything down
{Big fans of Firbolg giant kin and the first time we encountered them was in the AD&D2 monsters. Forgotten Realms novel line has the Titans of Twilight trilogy where the protagonist is a Firbolg named Tavis armed with a powerful bow he named Bear Driller. Been fans of Firbolgs ever since.
Wild mage sorcerer, accidentally set a portion of the forest on fire when casting an otherwise non-harmful spell. This was the latest, and worst, incident in a long string of problems your magic has caused. You have been sent away until such a time as you are able to control your powers.
Firbolg as player characters pulls me back to the Dark Age of Camelot days when I was playing firbolg bard... Such fun
About to play a Firbolg Nature Cleric in Curse of Strahd. So stoked
On a kingdom maker campaign I play a Shepherd firbolg named Beargrylls that was sent on a quest to help a group of adventures raise a kingdom in order to make sure they don’t miss use nature’s resources (don’t cut off to many trees, don’t over hunt and so on).
The reason they chose him is because he was very curious about their way of life in their cities of stone.
There is also a background story of how he met some of the party members before even going on this quest.
Yeah... that would be the group I'm in, with the "Go for the eyes!" bit. XD
Love these ideas Dave & Ted! Great video! :)
+Kurt Terfloth Thanks brother.
Nerdarchist Dave
what about a passive firbolg with monk path of Tranquility....I don't want to hurt you... but don't hurt the squirrel... cant we talk about it ... gentle Giant lol
Mix it with beastmaster so you can control that squirrel and have it fight back. It would be cool to have a gentle giant with a small animal companion.
Go for the eyes squirrel boo
George L O.o squirrel girl firbolg
I have made a Firbolg Moon Druid I use wildshape to frontline but building as a battlefield controller. I play AL and he is currently lvl 2. Unless something changes him he will be the guy trying to befriend the warleaders mount mid combat. (He apologized to a giant demon goat for attacking it after the Goat hit him twice.)
Firbolgs would be natural enemies with Fomorians.
{Yes I believe so. Also Verbeeg giant kin.
Underdark Fantsy Scribe I think more Fomorians because their goal is to make everyone and every thing as ugly, cursed, pained, and twisted as they are in life. Verbeegs would probably piss off Firbolgs if they tried to take their land. It would be a problem sure, but could you imaging a Fomorian tribe spreading rot and decay and twisting the fauna by deforming them somehow? I could see a Firbolg tribe declaring outright war on the Fomorian tribe, or at the very least, that would be the reason the Firbolg was adventuring with the party to put an end to the Fomorian blight.
kingstewy ...Yeah, the Fomorians are a much uglier foe in every sense.
actually you aren't wrong, the tuatha de dannan enlisted the firbolgs in their war against the fomorian tribe in celtic mythology
I'm about to start playing one in a campaign that has already started. They're currently in a forest and I'm going to be playing a wandering forest guardian that they come across. home is in danger from portals created during the current god war and after they help me close it, I'm going to be indebted to them (how I'm going to justify leaving home)
class will be a Primeval Guardian ranger from UA. I'm basically going to be playing an ent. I'm excited.
I am making a Firbolg Bloodhunter. But the idea of a Firbolg Conquest Paladin smiting the defilers with a greatclud carved from the last tree to fall. And DM plot book for later
Sounds like the Firbolg and Sprites would get along well as they both are fierce protectors of nature. If someone was in the forest the sprite could use Heart sight on the creature to see if it might be a threat. Then sleep arrow them and get a Firbolg to help move the creature out of the forest.
"You can talk to a tree but it's not talking back". Bloody useful.
you can explaiin to that tree that you are not bad so it will not attack you....more useful than you think ;)
Another reason for Firbolg males to go adventuring: "Firbolg pregnancies were about two years long." :P ;)
I'm thinking about making a firbolg horizon walker. Or maybe a firbolg fighter. Idk but just playing a firbolg would be fun
I like to think that the Firbolgs in my world, including my own character don't really "revere" nature as if they believe in some life force, but instead just know the great value of being in harmony nature. Kind of like how a lot of humans see nature now days. I always thought this was the case since their homes are usually described as large fortresses made out of wood. They would have to fell a number of trees to make that fortress, they just make sure to not fell too many at one time or more than they need. And if they do happen to have leftovers of whatever material, they use it to give back to the surrounding nature in some way
I didn't like the Firblog as a player character when I first looked at it, but then I noticed +2 racial bonus to Wisdom! Score!
FIRBOLG Monk Way of Tranquility
My encounters with Firbolg have been fairly good. Of course, we don't have single human in our party, which is mostly elves...
I've been planning a Firbolg warlock pledged to the Archfey who was separated from his herd and claimed by the spirits of the forest...
Squirrels 'Firbolgs' protecting the forests, they were in the state farm commercial.
For a greatclub, I just change the Greataxe's damage type(or greatsword, whichever has lower damage die)
that Baldur's gate reference. what about a Bone Warhammer instead of the Club?
+Matt (ShyGuyWolf) Could work for me.
Nerdarchist Dave
Nerdarchy you can have it
They also said "Boo go for the eyes"
Good vid! Just rolled one as a ranger in my side campaign. However, it is pronounced "Feer-bolg"
13:30 so he's going to be Goblin Slayer?
I really enjoyed the video but I don't really consider firbolgs as giants. I mean they're not even out of the medium size.
I would really like to play a firbolg monk way of tranquility
and you can get the bamps to str and wis as a minotaur of kryn
My brain when I hear being exhiled is that say I in some way felled a tree unnecessarily and as a personal or traditional reminder of my horrid act and need of penance.
I live in one of the most diverse (animal & plant species) countries in the world, & I can tell you that in the last 60 years more forrests were distroyed than in the 400-something years prior to that... but we haven't got Orcs nor Hobgoblins.
thing is: early human settlements don't have the tools to wreak that havoc
+JG R yea true, but in a fantasy game you've got magic blade barrier, fireball, and meteor swarm to name a few Forrest killers.
Nerdarchist Dave
Nerdarchy & those Orcs & Hobgoblins
One of the first character concepts that came to mind was a Firbolg Path of Tranquility Monk.
+Kyle Copeland yea it would be a great concept.
Nerdarchist Dave
Firbolg Cleric named Aust worshipping Chauntea with the life domain outlander background. Standing 8'2" tall weighing 463 lbs. Grey skin green eyes and hair. Tribe destroyed by a demon. He feels more comfortable with animals than people. He feels people need to bring the most happiness to the tribe. Trying to make sure the names of the tribe enter legend. He drinks a lot cause he's freaked out about so many people. Built for adventurer league play so Str 16 Dex 12 Con 13 Int 10 Wis 16 Cha 8
I play a Firbolg Circle of Life (homebrew) druid! He is an amazing healer and he can pack a punch when he needs to! He's the most optimistic character and always tries to keep his companions spirits up, even in the bleakest of times. He's my favorite 5e character so far.
Brandon Van Meter Awwww
Why aren't there large adventurers in 5E.
I wish my grappler Bard was large...
Axel Tenveils Probably difficult to balance without making them bland
+Axel Tenveils Changes the game mechanics to much. Even just increasing the size of weapons created an imbalance.
Nerdarchist Dave
Axel Tenveils Because they'd be too strong, literally. Their size alone would make their weapons too large and therefore have them do more damage. I mean, they could probably wield a greatsword in each hand and just tear through people
Firbolg barbarian druid? would that work?
It could work with a good backstory. Have he/she be a kind person up until the breaking point. Maybe your sacred forest was burnt down or clear cut, now you're a ball of raging vengeance with a passion to make the culprits pay. I could see it working since the generic barbarian is the nomadic naturalists anyways.
I want to play a Fire giant. LOL
How about an Adventurer Firbolg of Omen, who foresees the destructive natures of the other Outcasts paths as possible futures, who leaves to prevent themselves from causing damage, or to get help to protect the land from a war or natural disaster.
I would love to play a firbolg, if I could find a good mini to represent my character.
I would use Reaper minis, and look up some of the Half-Orc or Ogre minis. I little custom paint, and you're gold.
I have been searching. I will look at Reaper again. Thanks.
decado1628 If you have the money to spend on a single mini, you might even consider Hero Forge. You could probably custom-make the mini you're looking for.. Just a thought.
Good suggestion. I did find one from Reaper that I really like. At some point I will order a custom figure of some kind from Hero Forge.
decado1628 I'd like to get a Hero Forge mini, but after customs, taxes, shipping, and US/CAN exchange, I'm looking at a $45.00 mini. That's ridiculous.
Was curious how "firbolg" is pronounced. Found out it's feer-buhl-uhg, at least in its original pronunciation.
trouble is ....you cant walk around all day shifted as a circle of the moon druid its 4th lvl before you can even get up to 2 hrs of time shifted
My firbolg character was a Druid with a big green beard and he thought himself one with nature that and nature was one with him he would kill anything that harmed plants but he gave no shits about animals he would slaughter them without a second thought
so firbolg are not giant just 7-8 feet ? thats pretty wierd
seems almost like a forest version of the mountain giant peole (forgot thier name)
+harrysarso goliaths. Kind of both have been around for awhile. The idea is to introduce really big character races without increasing the actual size, because that would affect game mechanics.
Nerdarchist Dave
Nerdarchy while get the idea I'm just saying 7-8 isn't giant they can fit in most houses were I live only need to duck for doors
I also think part of playing a giant is mechanical being large size
+Nerdarchy I want to see a large player race as well as a tiny race. Make their appearance be the gimmick like the aarakroca with no bumps and (more or less) just their wings. Being a large or tiny race would open up a lot of fun encounters too. Imagine a barbarian half-giant fighting beside a tiny fairy/pixie, it seems really cool in theory and WotC just needs to incorporate huge downsides to the upsides. Maybe have the large sized creature have a disadvantage on all dexterity checks and a -2 to dex, symbolizing the clumsiness that comes with the sheer size. Same goes for the tiny race but with strength instead. Having this scale would be a fresh breath because most races are so similar mechanically, sure some have darkvision (a lot of them), but I feel it's more or less "+2 to X, and [insert one radical feature that's situational here]". The races now are good but I'd love to see more creativity and pushing the boundaries more.
I am groomed to be the next great arch druid of my people and serve the will of the Elder tree but the current arch druid tells me the tree says in order for me to be a wise spiritual leader I must adventure and learn of the outside world and then when the elder tree says I'm ready it will summon me back.
Is it me or does Dave fm sound super different in this video?
The Firbolg where the first folk of Ireland in Celtic mythology
Firbolgs have some powerful mechanics that make them a strong race, and the only +2 Wisdom buff in the game. But the way they have been made to look like muppets is off-putting. This one artist has a knack for giving every picture cat-like noses and ears (look up his work in OoTA and CoS). I'm quite sure the original Irish legends didn't look like a guest appearance on the Fraggles.
The "tie-dye and herbal remedy" outlook is a bit much too. Before Volo's, no race had a "favorite class". That was done away with in 5E. Some "optimized builds" were obvious, but there was no influence on who became what. Firbolgs broke this rule. True, a Firbolg character can become anything - which is totally up to the player - but even inferring that "most are druids" creates an influence over player choice (especially newer players). That's sketchy in my eyes. Say they have a druidic culture, or tend towards nature-based religions, and you're set. But more than that is "prejudicial to the jury".
I'd rather them return to the red-haired/bearded giant-kin of the past. Make them elusive and aloof, sure. Elves tend to be, so why not? But get rid of this felt-covered Muppet Show hippy nonsense.
I could see one as a great Tempest Cleric and warrior, who views the everlasting sky as a living thing. More shamanic than druidic. Living on secluded islands clouded in mist and rain. But drop the Jim Henson influence on the look.
As always, just my opinions.
EDIT:
Aside from a martial Cleric, the following NON-DRUID classes work with both Strength and Wisdom for martial and spellcasting purposes:
Strength Ranger/Hunter
Matt Mercer's Blood Hunter/Profane Soul (Archfey)
The thing about firbolgs is that they are barely a playable race. They are creatures that are designed to be druids and farmers in their local area, not adventurers. Whereas other races have more options pretty much 100% of firbolgs will grow up to be druids unless their is a drastic change in their life. If they did this to another race it would be weird but firbolgs are so closely tied to being druids that leaving it out of their description would be like leaving out stone when describing a dwarf.
+Mike Gould I kind of dig the idea of oath of ancient paladin or a feylock. I also liked their AD&D Monster Manual II way better. I could get behind the hippieness more if they were hippies of forest vengeance. Perhaps with swarms of devilish flying squirrels at their beck and call. Almost lost a druid to squirrels from that same book.
Nerdarchist Dave
Nerdarchy I guess my major problem was the preconception built into the race. WoTC did exactly the same thing to the Kenku discussed earlier.
The strong "druid" influence written into the description was evident in your discussion about the character concepts. Go back and count the number of times "druid/wildshape" came up in the concepts discussed - that was my point. WoTC said "druid druid druid" enough and it immediately affected and directed the discussion after that.
Like with Kenku who somehow can't have an original thought (the DUMBEST thing ever said when introducing an ADVENTURER - which are defined by "thinking/acting differently"...ugh), the Firbolg have to have some sort of calamity to break their xenophobia and apparently SINGULAR class distinction.
I'm not a big fan of the stat array either. A Giantkin with a +1 STR bump? I'd likely swap the two and go +2 STR and +1 WIS. For a race "so wise" they seem to be scared to leave the woods.
...And that "feed the animals to protect nature" thing. If you want to protect nature, remove outside influences and let it be. Hoi.
The Firbolgs need to drop the ukeleles and gluten-free granola, discard the Birkenstocks and lose the knit toques.
Mike Gould I know this from a long time ago, however I actually really like the muppet look. I really wish I was a muppet lol. So to me I love it. I think they should have made two variants. One for the old fans and the new muppet one. However, I can see your complaints. It does fill a niche and I think there are better ones for you.
Also they have preferred classes in all the new editions of the books and they also have races as the pictures of classes. And on dnd beyond they even have suggested backgrounds
As someone newer I really like this, but I think as a more experienced player it becomes lame
You have to understand that even with the Simplifies rules that this is 100% overwhelming
I came up with a barbarian firbolg who's a tempest monk hunting doen the red dragon that burned down his home and kill it so that it doesnt happen again.
Whoever decides the height and weight standards at wizards has no understanding of physiology. A 7-8 foot tall, semi-giant with a powerful build would way around 400 pounds minimum up to 600+, otherwise they would be rather emaciated, not have powerful enough heart and lung muscles, and their bone density would leave them fragile.
Hmmm... Fey... Giant...
A Firbolg Descended from Winter fey, that tend to the evergrren forests of the north, and occasionally tending tp even the sparse life of the frozen tundra, lending them to a Druid, a Ranger... or even a Frost Giant Soul Sorcerer.
No detect alignment in 5e
there is a detect good and evil spell though so good firbolgs could root out evil ones
Made a Firbolg Bard, no regrets
I replace Elvish with Sylvan...sounds more thematic
Firbolgs make me think of Disney's Gummi Bears
I want to play a Firbolg, but we play 3.5 still....lol
you could be a ranger firbolg that hunt down the evil firbolg. join a party to go futher then you normaly would to hunt this one down and kill them
Maybe Bigfoot is a Firbolg Druid? 🦶🏻
firbog wildwalker
Firbolg Monk that lives out of their Qi force?
I believe it's pronounced feer-bolg not fur-bolg
Framed by an evil.
Firbolg kenesi monk
My name Bob😂
Dreams?! It's BFG
My First thought was the BFG from DooM and I was confused. Then I realized that "BFG" a movie now
You guys look young here lol
IMO Firbolgs are the least interesting race.
More boring than Tritons?
Derek Cash Yis
Chad-Solomon Dixon
We all have our own opinions, but Tritons seem like reflavored Water Genasi but with the same haughty attitude as Elves. Seems pretty boring since a couple of other races have already have the same traits.