Frost Giant Berserker

Frost Giant Berserker (Killer; CR 20)

Chaotic Evil - Gargantuan - Humanoid (Giant)

Lore:	Know (Local)
38		58
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

41

Perception:
45	+35
Passive	Active

Ambush:

8+

on a d20

• Ambush Notes: Number above only counts in icy and snowy areas, otherwise, Ambush chance is 13+

Senses:

• Standard Senses
• Low-Light Vision
• Keen Scent 40 ft.

Movement Types:

• Walk 110 ft.
• Vaulting 70 ft.

Defense

AC

45

Man Def

45

Monster Health
2,036	1,018	38
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+22
Refl:	+19
Will:	+17

Strong Against:

• See Catch Boulders
• Immune (no effect): Cold (energy, common)

Weak Against:

Offense

Size:	Gargantuan
20 ft.		20 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+29

Man Off

+36

Action

2

Points

• Maneuver Offense Notes: +5 on Cleaves

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 2x Arctic Warhammer +29 (5d8+42/19-20 x2)
  as bludgeoning (physical, common)
  plus: Burned, inflicting Cold (energy, common) damage

Full Attack (Melee):

• 4x Arctic Warhammer +29 (5d8+42/19-20 x2)
  as bludgeoning (physical, common)
  plus: Burned, inflicting Cold (energy, common) damage

Standard Attack (Ranged):

Full Attack (Ranged):

Siege Damage: Not siege capable

Statistics

48

STR

20

DEX

32

CON

8

INT

16

WIS

16

CHA

Skills:

• Bluff: 33
• Intimidate: 40
• Perception: 35
• Sense Motive: 35
• Survival: 33
• All other skills: 28 (no ranks)

Languages: Giant, Common

Feats:

• Combat Reflexes (EFFECT: Monsters with this feat make up to 4 attacks of opportunity per round instead of one.)

Special Abilities

Bitter Challenge (Ex) Swift Action 1/Rnd

Once per round as a swift action, a Frost Giant Berserker may challenge a foe to mortal combat. The foe challenged must be within fifty feet of the Frost Giant to issue this challenge, and the Giant must have line of effect to the foe so they may hear them issue the challenge. Deaf foes are immune to Bitter Challenge. The Giant does not have to share a language with the victim, nor is line of sight required. This challenge lasts until the beginning of the Giant's next turn. While Challenged, the victim takes a -2 to-hit penalty on any attacks, and a -2 penalty on any caster checks, when taking any attack or action that does not target or include the Challenging Giant. Note that it is possible for a single creature to be the target of multiple Bitter Challenges from multiple Frost Giants, but the penalty is never greater than a -2 to-hit or a -2 to concentration rolls. In such a case, that creature would suffer the penalty unless its attacks included or targeted each of the Challenging giants.

Catch Boulders (Ex) Free Action 2/Rnd

Twice per round as a free action, a Frost Giant may roll a d20 any time a thrown or projectile weapon is fired at them or passes anywhere within their reach. This applies to giant thrown weapons, siege weapon projectiles, arrows, bolts, bullets, or any other thrown weapon or ammo. Note that catching a projectile this way is a violent action that will set off alchemical bombs and items. If the Giant rolls an 8 or higher on this d20 roll, it successfully catches the attack, it is interrupted and lost unless it is an alchemical bomb or effect, in which case it effects the giant which caught it. Using this ability on a weapon with Returning means the attack is interrupted and lost but the weapon still returns to the wielder.

Cold Stare (Su) Immediate Action 1/Rnd

Once per round as an immediate action, a Frost Giant Berserker may direct a cold, murderer's stare at any creature who damaged it with any attack from beyond its reach. Cold Stare inflicts 5d8+42 points of Cold (energy, common) damage and inflicts the Paralyzed condition until the start of the Frost Giant's next turn. Making a Fort save against a DC of 30 reduces the Cold damage by half and lowers the Paralyzed condition to an Entangled condition instead, which still expires at the start of the Berserker's next turn.

Frozen Frenzy (Ex) Swift Action, 1/Enc after damaged, plus 1/enc after Bloodied

Twice per encounter, as a swift action which can only be taken after they have suffered damage from an enemy, a Frost Giant Berserker can allow its cold-hearted anger to suffuse its body with strength. When triggered the first time, the Berserker is healed for 428 hit points, may make a single free-action Arctic Warhammer attack upon any enemy creature it can reach, to a maximum of four, no more than one per creature, and for the rest of the encounter receives a +2 Rage bonus to all attacks and damage rolls. When triggered the second time (after it reaches it's Bloodied value of 1018 hit points), the Berserker is healed for 428 hit points again (which may immediately remove the Bloodied condition), and the Berserker may make up to four free-action Arctic Warhammer attacks on any enemy creature it can reach (it can direct any number of attacks at any creature, up to a total of four attacks.)

Berserkers Gnashing Fury (Ex; Killer Role) Immediate Action 1/Rnd

After the Frost Giant Berserker is injured in battle by an enemy, their cold anger removes all constraints on their behavior, and the Berserker will begin to bite and gnash nearby foes. Once per round, at the time of their choosing, they may bite all enemies within their reach. There is no to-hit roll for this dire attack, which inflicts 6d6+24 points of Gnashing (physical, uncommon) damage on all foes in their melee reach when they use their Gnashing Fury power. If the foe is suffering from the Burned condition, inflicting cold (energy, common) damage, then they may make a Will-based saving throw against a DC of 30 when Gnashing Fury damages them. If they make the save, nothing further happens. if they fail this save, then that condition is escalated to Immolated, instead.

Swift As Death (Ex; Killer Role) Always On

Killers increase their speed by +30 feet with all movement types they possess (this is already included in the numbers listed in the Movement Types section, above).

Frost Giant Berserker

This creature possesses the Killer role, and therefore counts as 2 monsters for purposes of encounter size, XP award, and treasure.

This monster frequently has the Killer role, but may be set to different roles if desired.

In the world, there are places where summer never comes. There are vast frozen wastelands coated in permanent ice, there are gigantic boreal forests that lie cloaked in eternal winter, there are high, bright deserts where the utter cold of the Deep Dark has settled into the world's bones permanently.

Many races with the Spark of Civility can tolerate the cold very well, most notably the rocky Oreads, the deep-dwelling Dwarves, and the well-furred Gata, Kitsune, Nagdyr and Tengu. Humans, of course, live everywhere, and thrive.

But in the deepest and most bitter of the Cold Lands, there are no civilized races. Not because they cannot bear the numbing cold. But because there is something much older, much colder, much, much worse that already lives there.

The Cold Lands are the natural home of one of the coldest, cruelest races of Giants imaginable. They call themselves Aesir, or Frostborn, or even sometimes the Rimed Ones. To all other races they are known as the Frost Giants.

Frost Giants control vast areas of territory, cold, hard places, inhospitable lands where food is hard to find. Unfortunately for the world, Frost Giants have an eerie magical metabolism and they can survive, even thrive, on nothing but a diet of ice. In places where there is plentiful ice, Frost Giants are discouragingly common. In cold, dry places such as bright deserts, Frost Giants find ice, imported from their own territory, or stolen as water from warmer climes, is a long-lasting food store that never goes bad.

Frost Giants have many styles of 'civilization' in their lands. There are roving bands of barbaric cannibals, there are vast mountaintop fortress cities of blue, bitter ice, there are vast glacier-born towns of wrackwood and tusks sprawling down the sides of mountain ranges, there are vast log fortresses in dark, cold forests, there are entire plains sculpted into lost, empty Igloo Ruins. Frost Giants live in all these places and more, sometimes in hordes, sometimes as single wanderers and hunters.

One unifying feature of the Frost Giant 'culture' is the fact that Frost Giant hearts are as cold and unforgiving as their territory. Frost Giants do not understand such concepts as friendship, love, mercy, or compassion. Every Frost Giant, from the most exalted to the lowliest, truly cares about only one thing, which is themselves. Frost Giants are capable of working together to raise mighty works, create vast fortresses and cities, and march in terrible armies, but the driving motivation behind every one of them in the masses is pure selfishness.

Another feature of Frost Giants is their pure, unrelenting evil. The cold that drives them and makes up so much of their mindset leaves no room for kindness or gentleness or weal. There is no such thing as a kindly Frost Giant, they are every one as vicious, nasty, and unfeeling as the worst monster ever spawned.

Some Frost Giants are berserkers, a cold rage driving them to maddened heights of murder. Others are cowards and connivers, seeking allies and pets to do the hard work of making them enriched. Some Frost Giants are twisted by terrible cold magic, their bones fuming with hoarfrost, and others are as patient and unforgiving as a frozen sea.

Frost Giants delight in owning slaves, and use them in every low, demeaning way possible. They especially value Stone Giants and any of the Civilized races as slaves, both for their valuable skills and abilities as well as the way they provide a fun and easy outlet for their basest urges toward rapine, torture, murder, and cannibalism.

In addition to slaves, Frost Giants count many creatures as allies and pets. Trolls and ogres, of course, delight in Giantish company. Remorhazes, winter wolves, yetis and even wendigoes are valuable pets, chattel, and allies. Frost Giants also frequently have Hill Giants as serfs, the hardy creatures enduring the cold without trouble and providing a cheap source of unending labor. Frost Giants have even been known to capture and enslave White Dragons, much to their own delight and the chagrin of such proud creatures, although anyone who crosses the Dragons must be careful indeed.

Frost Giants spend much of their time raiding, warring, and murdering among themselves, in their dark, cold fastnesses. Unfortunately, those Giantish lands that lie close to the lands of the Civilized races are considered to be Giantish lands as well, just momentarily too hot for comfort. Frost Giants delight in raiding into civilized territory, and they have developed a type of magically chilled glacier which serves as their preferred vehicle for such depredations.

A Frost Giant Glacier is a vast block of ice, easily the size of a Civilized Galleon that has been scaled up to size Huge, and each one has a full complement of Frost Giants, siege weapons, and looting/pillaging space. Such Galleons can 'sail' across dry land for up to a year before melting, and provide the Frost Giants aboard a comfortable place from which to kill and raid to their hearts content.

The Glaciers hearken back to the ages of Frost Giant glory in the past, the so called Ice Ages, when glaciers covered the world, carrying utterly victorious Frost Giant hordes to the ends of the world to crush and rule everywhere. In a Frost Giant's mind, it is just a matter of time until the next Ice Age begins, and when it does, the world will belong to them once again.

Frost Giant Berserkers are BIG. They tower over other giants, and they use their size and power to inflict massive damage in fights. Despite their gargantuan size, they are still quick as massive cats, a fact that has ended many an adventurers career over the years.

Frost Giant Berserkers are members of Frost Giant 'society' that are well-known for their ability to fly into a cold, murderous rage in battle, making them some of the most dangerous Frost Giants in a melee battle. Berserkers are often seen in raiding parties, serving as muscle for a Frost Giant Jarl, or even occasionally leading their own small dysfunctional band of cold-natured killers. In combat Berserkers have few compunctions or fears, and will close to melee combat without fear or hesitation.

Berserkers tend to fight with a cold fury, and will strive to close to melee range immediately. Despite their size they are good at laying in ambush, and will work to spring out of hiding into melee combat immediately. Many people think that Berserkers do not have a ranged attack, since they don't carry snowballs or throw icicles, but survivors of Berserker attacks often mention their freezing cold eyes covering them in frost at a distance. There is nothing that takes the danger from a Berserker.

Combat Tactics

Frost Giant Berserkers will typically charge directly into melee combat as fast as possible, and will seek to stay between any ranged attackers and their back ranks, so they can use their Catch Boulders power to swat away attacks going past them. Anyone foolish enough to shoot them at range with enough skill and force to overcome their Catch Boulders ability will be frozen immediately with their fearsome Cold Stare ability, which is usually more than enough to stop further ranged attacks.

Melee attackers will not find Berserkers an easy foe, however. Berserkers will step back with five-foot steps, knowing their great size gives them equally gigantic reach with their freezing warhammers, and they will try to sucker foes into letting them use their Combat Reflexes. Something as big as a Berserker has no right to be as quick-wristed as they are.

As a Berserker starts taking damage they actually get WORSE. They will often hold their first Frozen Frenzy to try and maximize the healing burst they receive and catch as many enemies as they can in the flailing burst of attacks, but they're also likely to trigger it early, to gain the bonus to-hit and damage. Their second Frozen Frenzy they will use as quickly as they can, and will throw all the attacks at a single foe or two, trying to drop them.

If they have their normal Killer role, they will use their Gnashing Fury automatic bite attack on everything they can reach, and are likely to spread Warhammer attacks around to try and get as many of their foes Immolated with cold as they can manage.

They will throw a Bitter Challenge when they think of it, treating it like a game, to always challenge a foe that can't reach them.

In battle, Berserkers are far too chaotic to work out in advance things like flanks and tactics. They charge in and let their natural abilities carry them through the battle. They try to attack bunched-up foes so they can try Cleaves as often as possible, and will use five foot steps in melee to force non-reach foes to move, thus risking Attacks of Opportunity. In general, if there is a way for a Berserker to weasel its way into an additional attack, it will take it. That said, if they happen to see an opportunity for an easy flank, or an opening where a Bull Rush, Trip, or a Reposition will work in their favor, they are plenty cagey enough to try it.

Once combat begins, Berserkers are true berserkers: Their anger is cold, but burns like diamonds. Unlike most Frost Giants, Berserkers will not even try to flee on battle begins, the damage coming from them in savage waves, unrelenting as Winter.

Out of Combat

Berserkers are cold, greedy, calculating creatures, whose quick hands and ruthless thirst for murder, rapine, and mayhem means they are best kept out in the field, away from other Frost Giants. As a result, they are valued in Frost Giant society...from afar. Berserkers get out a lot, and they are frequently encountered by a group of victims stumbling into an ambush.

When Berserkers are integrated into a larger Giantish society, they are not held in reserve as guards, but instead sent out on endless, relentless raids and attacks, attacking at night and under the cover of storms. This suits Berserkers just fine, and if they are ever found in a 'civilized' setting, they will be even more eager than most Frost Giants to start a fight or stage a home invasion on a sleeping party.

Rewards

XP: 614,400 (Killer role included.)

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 239,333 gp.

Weight: 400 lbs.     Volume: 16 cu. ft.

Optional Treasure Rules: Roll a d20 on Table 1 below once per encounter (NOT per creature). Any items discovered are in addition to the normal treasure for the encounter.

Table 1: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 8	Nothing Found
9 - 12	1 Languid Remnant (tier 1)
13 - 15	1 Pale Remnant (tier 2)
16 - 18	1 Bright Remnant (tier 3)
19 - 20	Roll on Table 2
###	Nothing to see here!
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 2: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 3	4 Languid Remnants (tier 1)
4 - 7	4 Pale Remnants (tier 2)
8 - 11	1 Intense Remnant (tier 4)
12 - 15	1 Blazing Remnant (tier 5)
16 - 18	1 Vital Remnant (tier 6)
19 - 20	Roll on Table 3
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 3: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 3	4 Bright Remnants (tier 3)
4 - 5	4 Intense Remnants (tier 4)
6 - 8	4 Blazing Remnants (tier 5)
9 - 11	4 Vital Remnants (tier 6)
12 - 15	1 Prime Remnant (tier 7)
16 - 18	1 Mythic Remnant (tier 8)
19 - 20	1 Empyrean Remnant (tier 9)