Comments on: The Goliath, A Giant Waste

By: Johndro

Johndro — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 03:41:55 +0000

I have run with a Goliath before but never like I am now. My Goliath it a Warden and @ lv 7 I have him doing 112 damage in one hit then geting 10 health back because of one of his encounter abilites that allows him to roll twice and with my enhanced double axe it just destroys people. PLANE AND SIMPLE.

By: Metavosk

Metavosk — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:51:57 +0000

I tend to disagree, as long as you stick to one of the ‘ideal’ classes. I just ran a year-long paragon tier game with a highly effective Goliath Barbarian. Stone’s Endurance allowed him to be reckless — he could get himself into trouble, then throw up the resistance rather than taking the beating a Striker deserves when they stray from their Defender. A couple of the Goliath racial feats proved handy as well.

As for fluff, we actually had a decent chunk of the plot revolving around the enslavement of the scattered Goliath tribes at the hands of an Eldrich Giant empire. The competitive nature of the Goliaths kept the proud tribes from unifying until it was too late, and the PC was a survivor of the prison camps. Any race, and I do mean any, can be given depth if you’re willing to apply a little creativity. Rock-for-brains super-jocks may not be terribly inspiring on the surface, but the stone men in our little story had flesh&blood hearts.

By: Bardic

Bardic — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 19:42:53 +0000

Personally, I feel that Goliaths are distinct enough for me to not confuse them with Dwarves; true, both are mountain-dwellers, but Dwarves have always felt more Nordic to me, while Goliaths are more primal, tribal people. I apologize if I am simply adding on or repeating earlier comments, but I believe they are sound: the usefulness of the Goliath’s Athletic’s reroll is quite comparable to, say, the Dwarven saving throw bonus for poison or the Elf’s Wild Step ability: it depends on what your DM is going to throw at you. I can see a use for all three powers in different common combat situations.

By: guy

guy — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 06:18:38 +0000

I remember in one game a friend who used a barbarian goliath did an athletic’s check to jump onto a roof to kill the poison crossbow wielding halfling rogue douchebag trying to kill our wizard. Sure, the wizard still died in the end, but it was a badass maneuver to reach the rogue where he thought he was safe and bloody him. Another time he climbed up the side of a staircase to slaughter some kobolds. In the final encounter of the campaign he jumped into a pit of lava as a dead ancient dragon was sinking into it to rip out its heart so he could use it to reinvigorate the seed of his religion’s sacred tree. The second roll and training bonuses he took allowed him to be a badass no one else around could match.

Of COURSE someone’s going to view these bonuses as a waste if the DM sucks and the player has no imagination!

By: doctorbadwolf

doctorbadwolf — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 02:38:38 +0000

I rather like the Goliath. I love their flavour, and their mechanics actually make them rather good for a few striker(and even leader) classes, not just defenders.

As a melee striker, for instance, being hard to kill can increase the efficiency with which you take down enemies, due to your increased ability to -stay in melee-. Same thing with melee leaders, like the runepriest.

As far as them being huge dwarfs, I don’t really see it. They archetype that they fill is closer to Andre the Giant’s character in Princess Bride, Fezzik, than it is to Gimli from LoTR.
It’s not perfect, but certainly closer. Mountain Top nomads, revering the spirits of that land as often, or even more often, than any gods. The focus on competition for it’s own sake, without any great prevalence of bitterness toward someone who beats you at something.

Divine Goliath leaders or defenders have an awesome racial feat, which extends the benefit of Stones Endurance to adjacent allies, arcane Goliaths have one that allows them to ignore any resistance after using Stone’s Endurance. The Markings feats are both good feats in general, even though they only effect the first attack or saving throw of the encounter. Primal Goliaths have two awesome feats.

The flavour potential of things like a Goliath Star Pact Warlock/Shaman are just awesome. Goliaths may not have the primary stat for Monks, but they still make great Stone Fists. Same thing with Bleak Disciple Assassins. Their Assassin feat isn’t great, but it can help mitigate the damage loss from not being a Nightstalker.

And it’s just awesome to have a race that fills the gentle giant (or at least not horribly stupid/psychotic giant) archetype.

No, the only thing they have in common with dwarves is that they both live in mountains, and have an affinity with stone. Even then, the affinities are different, and Goliaths love the open sky, while dwarves love finely built stone halls.

By: Corvex Corvidae

Corvex Corvidae — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:41:55 +0000

I’m playing a Goliath Monk right now, and damned if Powerful Athlete isn’t getting tons of use with the Crane’s Wings move action. I’m jumping all over the place like you wouldn’t believe. Perhaps they’re not the most interesting race per se, but I’m enjoying some rather unique mechanical synergies.

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:31:13 +0000

I wanted to disagree. I really did. But then I remembered that I’ve never liked the Goliath at all. I think, from a fluff point of view, they are far too rare to be a normal part of an adventuring party. I agree that they don’t fit in well with the lore of the game (as it currently stands, this may be changing with 4e). The idea that they make the amazing defenders is true, but in a personal anecdote, when I was creating a paladin recently, I started out making the character as a goliath, but after looking over all the options and thinking about the PC more, I ended up a dwarf. Of course.

By: franciolli araujo

franciolli araujo — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:51:21 +0000

A player at my table is playing with a Goliath Swordmage. He like a lot the concept, but I see goliaths as primal characters that don't rely on arcane technics, even if the role is defender. .-= franciolli araujo´s last blog ..Masterplan [P2] =-.

By: no_sushi

no_sushi — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:22:45 +0000

For more fluff about the Goliath, I recommend reading the 3.5 supplement, Races of Stone, wherein their culture and society are explored in more detail. One of my players is playing a Goliath Barbarian, and he said the strongest draw he had to the race was the incredulous social game they play: Goat Ball. Look it up, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as my player did ^^

By: Matthew Arcilla

Matthew Arcilla — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:20:48 +0000

Athletics is one of my favorite skills.

Everyone loves showing off by using Dungeoneering, Nature or Arcana checks to get a leg up on encounters, while others pat themselves on the back by using their Perception and Insight to see if the NPCs mean what they say and using their gift of gab to use Diplomacy.

But few things are more embarrassing than being unable to jump, climb or swim across terrain of moderate to easy DC.
.-= Matthew Arcilla´s last blog ..February 2010 Blog Roundup: Choice Bits =-.