Inspired by the giff from classic Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition Spelljammer campaign setting.

Source: adapted by Charles W. Plemons III

Giff

Giff are a powerful race of militant humanoids who have widely adopted life in wildspace. They are raised from birth into a military structure learning siege warfare, firearms expertise, and martial prowess.

Physical Description: Giff are strong and muscular with barrel chests, stocky limbs, and heads like a hippopotamus. Their skin is gold, gray, or black and often heavily tattooed. They often wear formal military uniforms or elaborate armor. Giff are rarely seen without weapons, especially firearms.

Society: Giff live militant structured lives based around order, discipline, and training. They seek glory and honor and take great pride in their physical prowess.

Relations: Giff view humans and demihumans as too fragile; however, they are nervous around tremendously strong creatures like giants.

Alignment and Religion: Giff tend toward lawful alignments and are often not religious. However, those giff who do follow deities tend to revere gods of war, strength, or glory.

Adventurers: Giff mercenaries and adventurers can be found throughout spacefaring civilizations. Giff tend to become fighters or paladins, or even surprisingly rogues.

Male Names: Giff often take names in Common as their own, especially upper-class-sounding names such as Algernon or Horatio.

Female Names: Beatrice, Ophelia.

Giff Racial Traits

+2 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence: Giff are bastions of muscle and durability, but they are also somewhat narrow-minded.

Medium: Giff are Medium creatures and receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size. Larger giff can be created using Powerful Build and Tremendous Size feats.

Giff: Giff are humanoids with the giff subtype.

Ponderous Pillar: Giff have a base speed of 20 feet, but their speed is never modified by armor or encumbrance.

Fearless (Ex): Giff gain a +2 racial bonus on all saving throws against fear effects.

Firearms Training: Giff gain Exotic Weapon Proficiency (firearms) as a bonus feat.

Gatecrasher (Ex): Giff gain a +2 racial bonus on Strength checks to break objects and a +2 racial bonus on combat maneuver checks to sunder.

Headbutt (Ex): Giff have a headbutt attack that deals 1d3 points of damage. This is a primary attack, or a secondary attack if wielding manufactured weapons.

Hold Breath (Ex): Giff can hold their breath for a number of rounds equal to four times their Constitution score before risking drowning or suffocating.

Military Engineering: Giff gain a +1 racial bonus on Knowledge (engineering) and Profession (siege engineer) checks.

Languages: Giff begin play speaking Common and Giff. Giff with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Aquan, Dracon, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Grommam, and Orc.

Age, Height, and Weight Charts

Table: Racial Age and Aging

¹ This category includes barbarians, oracles, rogues, and sorcerers.

² This category includes bards, cavaliers, fighters, gunslingers, paladins, rangers, summoners, and witches.

³ This category includes alchemists, clerics, druids, inquisitors, magi, monks, and wizards.

Table: Racial Aging Effects

¹ At middle age, -1 to Str, Dex, and Con and +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

² At old age, -2 to Str, Dex, and Con and +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

³ At venerable age, -3 to Str, Dex, and Con and +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

Table: Random Height & Weight