Martial adept giants?

[danielxcutter]

As title; also, this is for encounters, not PCs. Just to clarify.

Mostly I want to do a Fire Giant Swordsage 10, with at least a decent number of Desert Wind maneuvers - some are actually quite nice, especially the ones that aren't overtly magical. Two-handing a falchion, which should work well enough since Fire Giants have +20 to Str before elite array is applied. Probably a couple of Shadow Hand maneuvers as well, like Shadow Jaunt.

Of course, even in core, there are plenty of other giants that can greatly benefit from martial adept levels, to say nothing of other giants like Forest or Sun Giants - you get the idea.

I'd love some advice for the following points:

*Advice for the Fire Giant Swordsage idea mentioned above, aside from the stuff I've already decided on. Feats, strikes, boosts, stances... you get the idea.

*Giant/martial adept combinations that a) get at least one 9th-level maneuver before epic CR, and b) are quite flavorful or at least make a lot of sense. For example, I don't think that Desert Wind would be a typical pick for a Frost Giant! A Stone Giant focused on Stone Dragon though... and of course, many giants would be able to utilize Setting Sun throws quite well, so there's that idea too.

[Nifft]

NPCs with a lot of HD can be great Martial Adepts, if you allow the HD to count as half-IL.

Do you expect this NPC to be a short one-off encounter, or do you expect it to be in a longer & more drawn-out encounter?

If it's a short encounter:
- Stock up on Boosts & Counters
- Throw two of these guys at the party at once, with identical Maneuvers; their knowledge from the first one to drop will be rewarded

If it's a longer encounter:
- Pick more Strikes
- Take Adaptive Style
- Have a few mooks who can rush in to take the heat off while the Fire Giant uses Adaptive Style

[danielxcutter]

NPCs with a lot of HD can be great Martial Adepts, if you allow the HD to count as half-IL.

Yes, that's the plan.


Do you expect this NPC to be a short one-off encounter, or do you expect it to be in a longer & more drawn-out encounter?

If it's a short encounter:
- Stock up on Boosts & Counters
- Throw two of these guys at the party at once, with identical Maneuvers; their knowledge from the first one to drop will be rewarded

If it's a longer encounter:
- Pick more Strikes
- Take Adaptive Style
- Have a few mooks who can rush in to take the heat off while the Fire Giant uses Adaptive Style

Well, this is mostly a thought exercise, but if I had to choose, the latter.

[Darrin]

Switch it to Frost Giant/Swordsage 10.

BSF: "Frost Giant, huh? He's vulnerable to fire attacks! Get out your flaming burst weapons, guys."
Wizard: "Fireball coming online. Hold back until I can light him up."
DM: "The giant settles into a fighting stance and gives you the 'Come at me' sign."
Rogue: "Uh... guys... why is the DM smiling?"

[danielxcutter]

Switch it to Frost Giant/Swordsage 10.

BSF: "Frost Giant, huh? He's vulnerable to fire attacks! Get out your flaming burst weapons, guys."
Wizard: "Fireball coming online. Hold back until I can light him up."
DM: "The giant settles into a fighting stance and gives you the 'Come at me' sign."
Rogue: "Uh... guys... why is the DM smiling?"

Haha, I see what you mean - there's a Desert Wind stance that grants fire resistance equal to your Tumble check, wasn't there? For a short simple encounter, that would work I guess. Still want to do the original combination though - maybe some other martial adept class with Frost Giant? How about Crusader? Considering that the sample Frost Giant Jarl was a blackguard...