Gygans are a race of six-armed, one-eyed giants shaped to embody strength and unity by the Titan, Sydon. Their ancestors built grand city-states where athletic games honored the gods as much as war did. Boxing, wrestling, and contests of endurance filled their arenas, while poets sang of victory and discipline. When their empires fell, the gygans retreated into isolation, keeping fragments of that noble culture alive within proud family estates.
Gygans Today#
Today’s gygans still carry echoes of their golden age. They build stone villas and vineyards on lonely hillsides, crafting their own art and music. Their six arms grant them extraordinary balance and strength, and many channel this gift into martial arts, performance, or labor that celebrates precision and endurance.
Survival of the Fittest#
Among gygans, strength is both virtue and necessity. From birth, every child is judged by the elders of the family estate for signs of vigor and divine favor. Those born too small or malformed are cast out, believed to be marked by weakness or curse. The elders carry the infant to the edge of the estate, which is often a rocky cliff or the mouth of a desolate ravine. There they are left to die, exposed to the elements. To the gygans, mercy toward frailty is seen not as kindness but as defiance of the gods’ design.
Yet fate sometimes spares the forsaken. A few of these abandoned children are discovered by farmers or shepherds who raise them in secret, far from gygan estates. These outcasts grow into wanderers and warriors with complex hearts; torn between the discipline of their ancestors and the compassion of those who saved them.
You were born a gygan of unusually small stature, judged unworthy by your family’s elders and left outside to perish in the elements. Fate intervened when a wandering merchant or humble farmer found you and chose compassion over custom. Taken in and raised as their own, you survived the doom your birthright had decreed.
Gygan Names#
Gygan names are short, resonant, and powerful; echoes of their ancient Giantish tongue. Family or clan names often honor natural forces or sacred places that shaped their lineage.
Names: Brak, Vura, Torgan, Ilyra, Dhom, Kaelra, Surnak.
Family Names: Thunderous Echo, of Stonewatch, of the Howling Winds, of Stony Point.
Gygan Traits#
As a gygan, you have these special traits.
Six Arms. You have six arms and hands, which can be used for the Two-Handed property, Versatile property, and a free hand for casting a spell with a Somatic component. In addition, you can use three hands to wield a weapon with the Heavy property to ignore its Strength or Dexterity requirements. For example, you can hold a Shield in one hand, a Greatsword in three, and two daggers in one hand each.
For every two free hands you have, you can do one the following on your turn:
Take the Help action as a Bonus Action.
Make an Unarmed Strike as a Bonus Action. You must
use the Grapple option. Fire an additional piece of ammunition when using a
weapon with the Loading property. Interact with an additional object.
You are still bound to other restrictions that apply to a character. Examples include:
You can’t have more than one Shield equipped.
You can’t make the extra attack from a weapon with
the Light property or Nick mastery without making an attack using a Light weapon first.
Poor Depth Perception. You have Disadvantage on ranged attack rolls made against targets more than 30 feet away.
Towering Might. You have Advantage on any ability check you make to end the Grappled condition. You also count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity.
