Goliaths are mountain-dwelling nomads who see life as a grand competition. Their scattered bands have never been major players in the politics of the lowland world, but they have wandered the mountain ranges of the world since the primordials first shaped the peaks and valleys. Tall and massive, goliaths revere the primal power of nature and use it to enhance their own strength.
Description and Homelands
Strong and enduring as the rock of the mountains where they reside, goliaths live mostly in the little-known ranges of eastern Faerûn—the Thesk Mountains, the Mountains of Copper, the Sunrise Mountains, and even the bitterly cold Icerim Mountains. The lands around those ranges were lightly populated even before the Spellplague, and in the century since they have become desolate. Few people venture into the goliaths' domain any more, and the goliaths find little reason to leave their high vales for the insidious dangers of the lowlands. However, the natural wanderlust of their kind leads some goliaths to venture down into the lands they gaze over from their mountainsides simply to see what might be there—or, more rarely, to test their mettle by raiding livestock or hunting dangerous monsters.
Goliaths who wander far from home soon find that their great size and talent for combat opens up a world of possibilities among the smaller races of Faerûn. A small number of goliath sellswords can be found as far away as the Sword Coast.
Goliaths tower over even dragonborn, standing between 7 and 8 feet tall. Their skin is gray or brown, mottled with darker patches that they believe hint at some aspect of each goliath’s fate or destiny. Their skin is speckled with lithoderms, coin-sized growths of bone that appear like pebbles studding their arms, shoulders, torso, and head. A bony ridge juts over their gleaming blue or green eyes. Male goliaths are bald, and females have dark hair they typically grow long and wear in braids.
Goliaths have life spans comparable to those of humans.
Playing a Goliath in Toril
Goliaths are driven by a fierce love of competition. Anything that can be conceived as a challenge invites goliaths to keep score, tracking their progress against both their comrades and themselves. A goliath fighter might remark on how many times he has drawn first blood in battle within a particular dungeon compared to the party's rogue, and he's certainly mentally tracking his own performance against his last adventure. This competitiveness takes the form of good-natured rivalry among goliaths. As a race they have no patience for cheaters, gloaters, or sore losers, but goliaths can be very hard on themselves when they fail to measure up to their own past accomplishments.
Daring that borders on foolhardiness is also a common trait among goliaths. They have no fear of heights, climbing sheer mountain cliffs and leaping great chasms with ease. Their nomadic lifestyle of hunting and gathering instills in them an inquisitive interest in whatever lies over the next ridge or at the head of a canyon. To a wandering hunter’s mind, that curiosity can lead to better hunting grounds or a good water source that would otherwise go undiscovered.
Goliaths respect and revere the natural world, and goliath adventurers commonly draw on the primal power source. Druids and shamans are more common among them than clerics, and goliath priests—called skywatchers—invoke the spirits of nature and their ancestors far more often than they call on the distant gods of the Astral Sea. Some goliath tribes also honor Tempus, Chauntea, and Waukeen, particularly those tribes that have frequent contact with other races. Tribes that regularly trade with dwarves sometimes offer sacrifices to Moradin as well.
Goliath Characteristics: Competitive, daring, driven, inquisitive, powerful, reliable, restless, trusting
Male Names: Aukan, Eglath, Gauthak, Ilikan, Kavaki, Keothi, Lo-Kag, Maveith, Meavoi, Thotham, Vimak.
Female Names: Gae-Al, Kuori, Manneo, Nalla, Orilo, Paavu, Pethani, Thalai, Uthal, Vaunea.
Goliath Racial Traits
Average Height: 7'2" - 7'8"
Average Weight: 280 - 340 lb.
Ability scores: +2 Constitution, +2 Strength
Size: Medium
Speed: 6 squares
Vision: Normal
Languages: Common, either Dwarven or Giant
Skill Bonuses: +2 Athletics, +2 Nature.
Mountain's Tenacity: You have a +1 racial bonus to Will.
Powerful Athlete: When you make an Athletics check to jump or climb, roll twice and use either result.
Stone's Endurance: You have the stone's endurance power.
| Stone's Endurance | Goliath Racial Power |
| Your foes' attacks bounce off your stony hide. |
| Encounter |
| Minor Action | Personal |
| Effect: You gain resist 5 to all damage until the end of your next turn. |
| Level 11: Resist 10 to all damage. |
| Level 21: Resist 15 to all damage. |
Play a Goliath if you want…
- to be tougher and stronger than nearly anyone else.
- to master the rugged mountain slopes.
- to be a member of a race that favors the barbarian, fighter, and warden classes.
| Character Races |
| Player's Handbook | Dragonborn ✦ Dwarves ✦ Eladrin ✦ Elves ✦ Half-Elves ✦ Halflings ✦ Humans ✦ Tieflings |
| Player's Handbook 2 | Devas ✦ Gnomes ✦ Goliaths ✦ Half-Orcs ✦ Shifters |
| Player's Handbook 3 | Githzerai ✦ Minotaur ✦ Shardmind ✦ Wilden |
| Forgotten Realms Player's Guide | Drow ✦ Genasi |
| Character Races |