Curious Objects: Mighty Thews! Gauntlets of Ogre Power, Girdles and Potions of Giant Strength

Super-strength is a staple of fantasy and sci-fi. Whether it's superheroes, power armor, or magic items. It is literally a power fantasy. There's a reason Shazam/Captain Marvel was more a more popular title than Superman back in the early days of both comics. Billy Batson was a normal kid who got superpowers. Clark was born with them and had always had them. If you weren't the last son of a dying planet, you were out of luck on wearing a big "S" on your chest.

In BX, there are three main ways a character boosts their strength via magic (other than Wish spells or the like).

First we'll look at the one I've probably seen most often in play: The Gauntlets of Ogre Power. At first glance, it seems quite simple. It boosts you to an 18 strength. Closer reading shows it's a little bit more than that. First off, instead of the normal unarmed attack damage of 1d2 + STR adjustments, the wearer deals 1d4 with a +3 to hit only (not damage). It's an interesting choice by Moldvay and I assume a game balancing one. 1-4 damage vs 4-5 seems reasonable enough.

The other difference between the wearer and a character with a natural 18 strength is encumbrance. By the book, there is no strength-based adjustment to how much weight a character can carry. The wearer of the gauntlets gets +1000cn ENC "without being encumbered." (B50) That's a pretty sweet deal if the encumbrance rules are being used. It basically means they can lug an extra 100 pounds of gear or treasure without being additionally slowed. 

Next up we have the Girdle of Giant Strength. Very probably inspired by Megingjörð, Thor's mythological belt of strength. In some ways the girdle is simpler than the gauntlets. It lets the wearer attack as a Hill Giant, a 8HD creature (unless they're already better at combat than that) and do 2d8 damage, unless variable weapon damage is used (which, honestly, is probably 90% of the time), then damage is simply doubled. There are no rules for increased strength bonuses or carrying capacity, just potentially better to-hits and double damage. DMs are free to tweak this, of course.

 

Last we have the Potion of Giant Strength. Which is very similar to the belt, except it is temporary and boosts the imbiber to Frost Giant levels. This translates to chunking small boulders up to 200' and dealing 3d6 damage with them (not too shabby!) and also doing x2 damage in melee. The potion specifically states it will not combine effects with the gauntlets or the girdle. I could see drinking the potion during a siege and hurling boulders at the attacking forces, or at the parapets if I were outside the walls!

I've mostly seen the gauntlets show up in games. The last homebrew campaign that I ran, a bugbear chieftain had a pair and gave the party a fairly hard time before finally dropping. The melee fighter was beyond thrilled to discover the gloves. He and the cleric wrangled occasionally about who should wear them. Fun times! I would also offer some latitude on how the strength effects could manifest by using the ability check system (roll under your score on a d20) to let the fighter show off a little. But beyond that, he was just a strong human with a slightly tougher punch and more encumbrance.

I honestly don't see the "giant strength" items being too unbalancing in play, either. The potion wears off and the girdle is for the most part, simple combat buffs. Though I wouldn't let a normal person win an arm-wrestling contest against the character!

Fee Fie Fo- you get the idea

My group is getting ready for a run through of G1: Steading of the Hill Giant Chief. It's been over 20 years since I played any part of the module, so it should be a fun time. (We're using LL+AEC if you're interested.)

Anyhow, this got me thinking about GIANTS. Even in BX, you've got the six varieties, in escalating size and power: Hill, Stone, Frost, Fire. Cloud, and Storm. I've often wondered why so many? It's kind of like dragons, I suppose, where the authors wanted to include lots of good bits from mythology and folklore, but not lump them all together in one monster.

One thing that strikes me about all the giants is the treasure. They all have the same type ("E") plus 5000gp. (The ogre –aka "Giant Lite"– is similar with Type C + 1000gp). Where does this come from? Jack & the Beanstalk? Mythology? Probably a combination. Regardless, giants are a pretty lucrative monster to fight.

Hill Giants seem to be basically bigger, tougher ogres. Primitive brutes who eat just about anything.

Stone Giants are fun with their bouder flinging skills and pet bears. A pair of 9HD giants + up to four cave bears is a scary place!

Frost Giants are the first "supernatural" giants, obviously borrowing a little from the Norse myths with their cold immunity. They like to keep polar bears and wolves about. Even just one of these blue meanies is a truly challenging encounter.

Fire Giants –based (I think) on Surtr from the Norse as well– are also magical, with fire immunity. They also keep nasty pets (hell hounds and hydras).

Cloud Giants have got that castle in the sky/beanstalk thing going on. Giant Hawks hang out with them if their lair is airborne.

Storm Giants are frankly weird. Maybe they're in the sky, or MAYBE they're on a mountain, or MAYBE they're underwater! Who knows?? They are the biggest and toughest of the bunch, but like (gold) dragons, the toughest is also the most likely to be the nicest with their Lawful alignment. Their storm powers are impressive as well.

I'm not sure I have a point to all this other than reflecting on these iconic creatures and seeing all the interesting little rules that were included with them.

...Also to mention that a Girdle of Storm Giant Strength is a potential campaign wrecker!

RMA: Yeti

This one is more of an AD&D 1e monster, but since it's in the Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition Companion, I figured what the heck.

I think yetis are unusual encounters because extreme climates tend to be unusual in-game environments. As I have mentioned in other posts, I think this is a shame, because of the fun it can add to the game.

Yeti (Stats from AEC)

No. Enc.: 1d6 (2d4)

Alignment: Neutral

Movement: 150' (50')

Armor Class: 6

Hit Dice: 4+4

Attacks: 2 (claws)

Damage: 1d6/1d6

Save: F4

Morale: 8

At first glance, yetis are basically "polar ogres," with a similar –though not identical– stat block. There are a couple of fun things about these abominable snow critters to remember, though.

1. Hug: If either yeti claw hits with 20, it squeezes the target to its freezing body, causing an extra 2d8 damage from the cold.
2. Stare. Looking into the yeti's eyes forces a save vs. paralysis or the victim is "frozen" in fear for 3 rounds, during which time the yeti can automatically hit with its claws AND hug. That's 2d6 + 2d8 damage, for those keeping track at home. (The 1st edition MM says this only happens if the target is surprised, the AEC says anyone within 30' must make the saving throw.)
3. Camouflage: This beast is very difficult to spot in snowy/icy lands until it's practically on top of you (30% invisibility at 30+ feet). 
4. Cold adaptation: Yetis are immune to cold-based attacks, but suffer 150% damage from heat/fire attacks.

Even though their AC and HD are nothing amazing, encountering a half dozen of these while floundering through the snow would be less than amusing. 

"There's a what behind me? 

Pull the other one! It's got bells on!"