| Game background | |
|---|---|
| Home plane | Tarterian Depths of Carceri |
| Power level | Intermediate |
| Alignment | Chaotic Evil |
| Portfolio | Hunting, combat |
| Domains | Chaos, Death, Earth, Evil |
| Design details | |
In many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Grolantor is the deity worshiped by the hill giant race, as well as ettins, and some frost giants and ogres. His sacred animal is the dire wolf. His holy symbol is a wooden club.
Grolantor's home is the Steading, on the Outer Plane of Carceri.
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Grolantor was created by James M. Ward for the Deities and Demigods Cyclopedia (1980).[1]
Grolantor was detailed in the book Monster Mythology (1992), including details about his priesthood.[2] His role in the cosmology of the Planescape campaign setting was described in On Hallowed Ground (1996).[3] His role in the giant pantheon of the Forgotten Realms setting is detailed in Giantcraft (1995).[4]
Grolantor was described briefly in Defenders of the Faith (2000).[5] His priesthood is detailed for 3rd edition in Complete Divine (2004).[6]
Grolantor looks like a 25-foot-tall (7.6 m) hill giant, wearing several belts of woven dwarf beards. He wields an oversized club named Dwarfcrusher.
In many campaign settings, the giantish pantheon of gods consists of the leader Annam, as well as Grolantor, Hiatea, Iallanis, Karontor, Memnor, Skoraeus Stonebones, and Stronmaus. Other powers worshipped by giants or giant-type creatures include Baphomet, Kostchtchie, and Vaprak.
Grolantor is one of the third generation of giant gods, disdainfully called the "runts" by their elders - the other is Karontor. His mother is an unnamed sky goddess. He was banished to Carceri by his father Annam for allying himself with treacherous Memnor, but now that Annam has retreated from the rest of the multiverse, the ban no longer applies. He now splits his time between Carceri and the Abyss.
Grolantor is evil second and stupid first, disowned by his brothers for his foolishness and relative weakness. Some say he created the race of hill giants by collecting and interbreeding the runts of earlier giant broods, then further polluted this stock by mating with various serpents, medusa-like hags, and the goddess Cegilune. The ettins are said to have descended from Grolantor and a monstrous serpent with a head on both ends of her coiled body.
The god has had to flee the wrath of his sister Hiatea on many occasions. He also has many enemies among the goblinoid and dwarven deities.
Grolantor's realm in Cathrys, the second layer of Carceri, is called the Steading. The orbs above his realm are ruled by shator demodands, a weak-willed, toadying lot that cede to him their vassalage, more out of fear of the giant petitioners that make up the armies of Grolantor than out of any love for the hill giant god. His realm itself is little more than a wooden house.
Grolantor is strong and willfully stupid. He teaches his followers to persecute "lesser races" - that is, those smaller than hill giants. His hill giant shamans stubbornly refuse to admit they are smaller than any other giant breeds.
Ettins worship Grolantor in a dual-aspected manner, and their dogma differs from that of the hill giants in many crucial respects, often preventing alliances between the two races.
The most important thing for a follower of Grolantor is to never admit weakness, and to crush the weak.
Grolantor is worshiped by hill giants, ettins, and some frost giants and ogres.
Grolantor's priests wear dark brown armor made from horn, and adorn their heads with skulls. They regularly organize hunting parties and skirmishing warbands, and take it upon themselves to root out what they perceive as weakness among their kind and elsewhere. They are not permitted to ever back down from a challenge. Grolantor's favored weapon is the club.
Grolantor has no particular holy days, and is unusual among evil deities in that he demands no sacrifices. The closest thing to formal ritual among his worshipers is eating and drinking contests.
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