

Estimated Duration: 30 minutes

Suggested Music: "Belly of the Beast Combat" by Music d20 Storm Giant Conflicts
d6 Loot
 The characters must rescue an important NPC from
1 the storm giants who plan on sacrificing the NPC to
Storm giants are wisest of all the giants but also the most the storm gods upon Storm Top's altar.
superstitious. Thanks to their connection to the wide world
and the elemental might of rain, lightning, and thunder, they An important magic item is in the possesion of the
can see beyond the range of mortal men and can predict 2
storm giants and being kept on Storm Top. The
events that have yet to occur. giants cannot allow the magic item to leave Storm
While storm giants are innately good, their portents Top.
sometimes lead to conflicts of interest. After all, those who The storm giants arrive at Storm Top the same time
are unable to envision what the giants can only focus on the 3 that the characters do; they both seek the same
here and now and less on the "greater picture." magic item that is being kept there.
The giants wish to kill a villain that the characters are
 4 protecting at Storm Top. After a failed parley with
This side trek is designed for three to seven 17th- to 20th- the giants, the characters must battle them.
level characters and is optimized for five characters with The characters were given a different prophecy that
an average party level (APL) of 20. conflicts with the storm giant's. By protecting the
This encounter can be added at an important turning point 5
person/resource on Storm Top from the giants they
in an ongoing game or even as the climax of an important will fulfill that prophecy.
story arc. The characters must find or protect a special item The storm giants have prophesized that the
or person. Meanwhile, the storm giants will do everything in 6 characters themselves must be destroyed and have
their power to ensure that the item or person doesn't fall into no other choice but to face them in combat.
the wrong hands—even if it means destroying the characters
to accomplish this. As good creatures, the giants offer plenty
of warnings. As chaotic and wise creatures, however, they will 
not take "no" for an answer.
The battle happens on Storm Top, an earth mote nearly four
 miles off the ground that was once part of a cloud or storm
giant's hold or whatever else is appropriate to your storyline.
Before the encounter occurs, determine the reason for the The item or person of value to the characters and giants
potential conflict between the giants and the characters. waits within a canyon upon an altar. Thanks to the storm
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Get this high-resolution map of the Mountaintop Altar on Cze and Peku's Patreon which includes multiple variations.
giants' presence, a mighty storm rages on all around Storm One of the giants will need to maintain its control of the
Top. weather, so it will stay in the rear. Meanwhile, the other giants
will use levitate to stay above the combat, happy to lob rocks
 (even with a disadvantage from the rain) and Lightning
Storm Top has the following features. A map of Storm Top Strikes when available. If knocked out of the sky, they have
can be seen on the previous page. feather fall to slow their descent.
Dimensions & Terrain. Storm Top is an earth mote that As an action, the giant can attempt to grab and throw a
measures 1 mile in diameter. The actual battle between the Small or Medium creature within 10 feet of it. The target
characters and the giants begins within a canyon that is must succeed on a DC 22 Dexterity saving throw or be hurled
approximately 75-feet wide and 150-feet long. up to 60 feet horizontally in a direction of the giant's choice
Falling. Because Storm Top is so high off the ground, and land prone, taking 1d8 bludgeoning damage for every 10
falling is a serious hazard. Any creature that falls off of Storm feet it was thrown. If the creature is thrown off the edge of
Top's edge that is unable to halt its own fall takes 20d6 Storm Top, it takes falling damage instead. The giants will
damage from the fall. use this against slower creatures who lack flying and
Weather. The storm giants have created dangerous teleporting abilities (such as the aforementioned pesky melee
weather conditions for the fight using their control weather combatants).
innate spellcasting ability. The following conditions apply As a last-ditch effort, the giant may even opt to grapple a
during the battle: particularly dangerous character then leap off Storm Top
with the character in its hands. The giant will take the
Extreme cold. At the start of combat, each creature except damage from the fall, but will likely have a better chance at
for the giant must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving survival the character. Furthermore, if the giant lands in
throw or gain one level of exhaustion. Creatures with water below (your discretion), the giant can take the fight into
resistance or immunity to cold damage automatically the water where it continues to have advantages.
succeed on the saving throw, as do creatures wearing
cold-weather gear and creatures naturally adapted to cold 
climates.
Strong wind. Ranged weapon attack rolls and Wisdom 
(Perception) checks that rely on hearing are made with If the characters win the battle, they take control of the asset
disadvantage. Open flames are extinguished, fogs are they fought to protect. And if the giants win, they reclaim the
dispersed, and flying by nonmagical means is impossible. asset, likely moving it to a safer location. Where the
A flying creature in the wind must land at the end of its adventure happens from here is ultimately up to you. Of
turn or fall. course, if the characters demonstrate that they are
Heavy precipitation. Everything in the area is lightly particularly nasty and/or evil opponents, they may invoke the
obscured, and creatures in the area other than the giants wrath of the local storm giants for years to come.
have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that
rely on sight.
Lightning. On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties),
each storm giant present that isn't incapacitated can Giants in Omeria
choose a point that it can see within 120 feet of it. A bolt
of lightning flashes down from the cloud to that point. If you are playing the DMDave campaign setting of
Each creature within 5 feet of the point must make a DC Omerian Throne, then you may want to learn a little
17 Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 3d10 lightning more about giants and their place in Casar.
damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a Giants are rare. Since the Hand of the Third, when
the danaavrakts killed nearly 90% of all living
successful one. giants, most giants have gone into hiding. Slow to
reproduce, they've yet to regain their numbers
 prior to 625 AT.
There is one storm giant for each character present. This Giants no longer trust humanoids. Overall, the
makes this encounter particularly deadly, therefore, it is majority of the surviving giants blame the
recommended that you only use this combat if the characters humanoids for their near extinction at the hands of
are completed rested going into it (and potentially directly the Obsidian Plain fiends (the exception being hill
giants, as explained below). When conflicts arise
after it). between giants and humanoids, rarely do the giants
What Do The Giants Want? The giants do not wish to offer the benefit of the doubt.
have a conflict with the characters, nor can they allow the Hill giants are the most common of giant kin.
characters to succeed in their task (as detailed above). The Because of their smaller size compared to the
giants will avoid killing the characters unless absolutely other giant subspecies, hill giants frequently work
necessary unless the characters prove themselves to be and mingle with humanoids, particularly the
villains worthy of eradication. Vaskilish Anorian elves.
Tactics. Storm giants are excellent combatants and will Stone giants are thought to be extinct. After 650
use their terrain to their advantage. They will do all they can AT, the stone giants vanished into the Low and
to keep their distances from the characters, recognizing that haven't been seen since. However, the Von Dorals
many of the characters will likely have powers that can stop claim that they are locked in perpetual war with the
them if they come too close (such as the monk's pesky inak.
stunning strike or a paladin's smite).
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