Spelljammer Meet The Giff--Spelljammer's Space Pirate Hippos!

The Giff, a race of "gunslinging hippo-like pirates" will be appearing in Spelljammer: Adventures in Space, and D&D Beyond has a sneak preview of them.

Sneak Peek: Meet the Giff, a Race of Gunslinging Hippo-Like Pirates

What do you get when you cross a hippo with a space pirate? The giff! The playable race comes to us from Spelljammer: Adventures in Space. Here's a prev...

www.dndbeyond.com

 

[Corinnguard]

After seeing the picture of the three Giff, I was immediately reminded of the Egyptian goddess, Taweret, from the Moon Knight TV series as she greeted two of the hero's personas in the afterlife.

They also do remind me of the Umpani from Wizardry VII and Wizardry VIII.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

After seeing the picture of the three Giff, I was immediately reminded of the Egyptian goddess, Taweret, from the Moon Knight TV series as she greeted two of the hero's personas in the afterlife.

Thanks to Moonknight there will be an upsurge in giff clerics.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

I imagine it's not too hard to justify why magical artillery is more prevalent. On Earth, cannons were developed to knock down castle walls. In a D&D world, there's a much more pressing need for big monster killers. And two things about big monsters are that they're harder to hit than an immobile wall, and a lot of them are resistant to non-magical weapon damage. So if the choice is between a cannon you need to enchant anyway and a straight up magical lightning or fireball flinging artillery piece, why pick the former?

I mean, yes obviously there are a few good use cases. Which is why gunpowder weapons can still exist along side more overtly magical options. But they don't instantly overtake them.

Interestingly, the Eberron book talks about how adventurer-level spells like fireball aren't ideal for military use. Battlefield items and spells generally go for large areas and much lower damage, because you're using them against 10 hp soldiers and 4hp conscripts.

 

[Bill Zebub]

It feels like every new line is increasingly gonzo high-magic. I’m pretty sure I’m in a tiny minority who would love to see the opposite.

(Saltmarsh was good, though.)

 

[Vaalingrade]

It feels like every new line is increasingly gonzo high-magic.

It's... so... beautiful.

'O_O'

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

In the real life the hippopotamus (= "river horses") kill more people than lions.

I suspect WotC/Hasbro is interested into the antropomorphic-animal PC races because these characters can be more popular among members from different lands. How to say it with the right words? If a child from London is watching Disney's The Lion King or the Book of the Jungle he forget the main characters aren't from Europe. Sorry if I can't explain it better.

Hasbro needs to show signs their IPs are different, and the "iconic" creatures and characters send the message "this is original creation, don't accept imitations".

I guess Hasbro wants to sell toys based in the giffs and other D&D creatures. The parents will buy it thinking it is the new wave after the boom of the power rangers, and the preteens believeing they are playing with a product for "young adults" or older people.

* Don't you miss the insectares, bionoids, and the Vodonis?

 

[Vaalingrade]

Also because they were a thing in Spelljammer 30 years ago in in 2e.

Like the best thing that wasn't a giant space hamster.

 

[Audiomancer]

Thanks to Moonknight there will be an upsurge in giff clerics.

I rolled up a Giff Forge Cleric / Artificer for a campaign that starts on Sunday. Does this make me a trend-setter?

 

[Weiley31]

That advantage on strength checks would be a great addition to any race with powerful build.

It will probably become the updated version of Powerful Build for the 2024 updates, like how Astral Elves have the updated Trance and Kender have the updated version of Brave.

Because honestly, Powerful Build SHOULD be updated to provide advantage on STR checks and STR saving rolls.

 

[thundershot]

I got chills reading this. One of my favorite characters ever was in 2E.. a Giff named Prometheus. I can’t wait to take him out of retirement (since 3E hit) and update him.