Desert Giant Chieftain | Free D&D 5e Monster

A massive figure rises from the shimmering heat ahead, his body coated in a thick layer of sand that seems almost fused to his skin. With every step, the ground beneath his feet loosens and churns. Then he begins to hum.

The sound carries strangely across the desert.

The wind picks up. Sand tears through the air. Your mouth goes dry, your eyes burn, and suddenly it feels as though the desert itself is trying to kill you.

That is exactly the kind of encounter the Desert Giant Chieftain is designed to create.

This CR 9 giant is more than a large creature with a big sword and a pile of hit points. He controls the battlefield, commands other desert giants, calls massive desert predators to his aid, and can literally pull the moisture from the bodies of nearby enemies.

Giants or Giant Kin?

Nobody is entirely sure where desert giants fit within giantkind.

They are physically inferior to most true giants, with hill giants being a possible exception, but even a casual observer can tell that they are closely related. The strange part is that desert giants do not fit comfortably into either of the usual categories of true giants or giant kin.

They may simply be giant kin that remained more closely related to true giants than other branches. They could instead be true giants that developed along a radically different path. There is even a third possibility: desert giants could represent a parallel branch of giantkind, sharing a distant ancestor with true giants but being more like cousins than descendants.

The truth is that nobody knows.

That uncertainty gives dungeon masters an easy way to turn the creature's lore into an adventure. Scholars, historians, giant experts, or wealthy collectors might pay adventurers handsomely for ancient desert giant artifacts, burial inscriptions, ruins, or anything else that could shed light on their origins.

The players might first encounter desert giants as enemies and later discover that understanding where they came from is considerably more complicated.

The Greatest Warriors of the Desert Giants

Desert Giant Chieftains are the mightiest warriors of their people and serve as leaders of their tribes. They may lack the druidic magic wielded by desert giant shamans, but chieftains possess a different kind of connection to the land.

They command the desert itself.

Sand gathers across their bodies to form protective armor. The ground loosens beneath their feet as they walk. They can summon great desert beasts from beneath the sands, and their most feared ability allows them to call upon the desert to rip moisture directly from the bodies of their enemies.

A chieftain surrounded by his tribe is therefore considerably more dangerous than the stat block's raw numbers might initially suggest.

Desert Giant Chieftain

Huge giant, neutral evil

Armor Class 18 (sand defense and shield)

Hit Points 161 (14d12 + 70)

Speed 45 ft.

 Saving Throws Str +11, Dex +6, Con + 10, Wis + 6

Skills Athletics +11, Intimidation +11, Perception +6, Persuasion +3

Damage Immunities fire

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons

Condition Immunities charmed, stunned, unconscious

Senses passive Perception 16

Languages Common, Giant

Challenge 9 (5,000 XP)               Proficiency Bonus +4

Desert Dweller. The desert giant is well acclimated to life in the desert. They need to drink half as much water as a creature usually needs. Additionally, the desert giant always knows the direction to the nearest water source, regardless of how far away it is.

Sand Defense. The desert giant has a layer of sand over its entire body, allowing it to add its constitution modifier to its armor class when it is not wearing any armor. The giant gains no benefit from this trait if there is no sand within 100 feet of it.

Quicksand Strider. When the desert giant chieftain moves, the area he walks through becomes like quicksand, making it difficult terrain.

Actions

Multiattack. The desert giant chieftain makes 2 greatsword attacks.

Greatsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 24 (4d8 + 6) slashing damage. If the target is Medium size or smaller, it must make a DC 18 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

Call of the Desert (Recharge 5-6). The chieftain hums a song that echoes across the desert. The sands whip up and the air becomes arid. All creatures that are not desert giants within 30 feet of the chieftain must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, they take 22 (4d10) necrotic damage as the water is pulled from their body and become blinded for 1 round as the sand tears at their eyes. On a success, they take half as much damage and are not blinded.

Bonus Actions

Command the Desert (1/day). The chieftain calls out to the desert for aid. He may select for either one giant sand monitor or two giant sand winders to respond. They immediately emerge from the ground at a point of the chieftain’s choice within 60 feet. They are under the chieftain’s command but act on their own initiative.

Command the Tribe (Recharge 4-6). The chieftain barks an order at up to two desert giants under his command. That order may be to use any action on their stat block, move up to its movement speed, or take the dodge action (the same order does not have to be given to both giants). The desert giants then immediately carry out the order.

How to Run the Desert Giant Chieftain

The biggest mistake you could make with this monster is treating him like a traditional giant that simply walks toward the characters and starts swinging.

The Desert Giant Chieftain should control the encounter from the moment combat begins.

His 45-foot movement speed already makes him unusually mobile for such a massive creature, and Quicksand Strider means every place he moves becomes harder for everyone else to traverse. Let him move across the battlefield aggressively, forcing characters to chase him through terrain he has already turned against them.

This becomes especially nasty against melee characters. The chieftain can reposition while leaving difficult terrain behind, then use his 10-foot reach to threaten characters who may struggle to close the distance.

And once they finally do reach him, one greatsword hit can knock a Medium or smaller character prone.

He should feel like a creature that owns the desert beneath everyone's feet.

Open with Call of the Desert

Call of the Desert is the chieftain's signature ability, and I would generally look for an opportunity to use it early.

The ability hits every non-desert giant within 30 feet, deals respectable area damage, and can blind anyone who fails the Constitution save. That blindness can dramatically change the first round of the fight, especially if the chieftain has allies nearby ready to capitalize on it.

The description is just as important as the mechanics. Do not simply tell the players they take necrotic damage.

Describe their mouths suddenly becoming impossibly dry. Their lips crack. Moisture seems to evaporate from their skin as abrasive sand tears across their faces. Their eyes burn so badly they cannot see.

This is not merely another area-of-effect attack. The desert itself is killing them.

Use His Allies

The chieftain becomes much more interesting when he is not fighting alone.

Command the Tribe allows him to grant additional movement or actions to other desert giants, meaning the encounter can suddenly shift even after those giants have already acted. He can order one ally to attack while another repositions, retreats, or takes the Dodge action.

That makes him feel like an actual battlefield commander rather than simply the desert giant with the most hit points.

Then there is Command the Desert.

Once per day, the chieftain can call either a giant sand monitor or two giant sand winders out of the ground. This is especially useful after the characters think they understand what they are fighting. The battle has been underway for a round or two, the players have established positions, and then suddenly the ground erupts and more creatures join the fight.

Even better, have those creatures appear somewhere inconvenient. Put them behind the party, next to the spellcasters, or in whatever location suddenly forces the players to reconsider their plans.

Want More Monsters Like the Desert Giant Chieftain?

The Desert Giant Chieftain comes from Loot & Lore 3, part of my Lairs & Legends 3 GM resource series.

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Make the Desert Matter

The Desert Giant Chieftain should almost never be encountered in a featureless room.

His abilities practically demand a desert battlefield.

Put him among towering dunes where characters cannot easily see what waits on the other side. Use rocky outcroppings, ruined desert temples, narrow canyons, dried riverbeds, or scattered patches of quicksand. Give the chieftain places to move so Quicksand Strider slowly changes the battlefield over the course of the encounter.

You can also use the environment before combat begins.

Perhaps the characters have been traveling for days with dwindling water supplies. They finally locate an oasis, only to discover that a desert giant tribe controls it. Suddenly the chieftain's Desert Dweller trait becomes more than flavor. His people know where every water source is, need less water themselves, and can control something the characters desperately need.

That creates an encounter where simply killing everything might not be the only consideration.

Turn the Chieftain into a Recurring Enemy

The Desert Giant Chieftain can also work well as more than a one-time boss.

A tribe might control a large section of desert the characters need to cross repeatedly. The chieftain could demand tribute from caravans, raid settlements, control access to water, or guard ruins that contain clues about the mysterious origins of desert giants.

The characters might initially fight members of his tribe without ever seeing him. Later, they hear stories about the chieftain commanding creatures beneath the sands or surviving battles that should have killed him.

By the time the party finally faces him, he already has a reputation.

You could even tie him directly into the mystery surrounding desert giant ancestry. Perhaps the chieftain possesses an artifact passed down through generations, or his tribe guards ruins containing inscriptions that contradict everything scholars believe about giant history.

Now defeating him is not just about treasure or experience points. The party might be holding the key to answering one of the great unanswered questions of giantkind.

Desert Giant Chieftain Encounter Ideas

One easy setup is to have the characters searching for a missing caravan. They eventually discover that a desert giant tribe has captured the survivors and taken control of their supplies. The chieftain may be willing to negotiate, but only if the characters offer something he values more than food, water, and treasure.

Another possibility is an oasis controlled by the chieftain's tribe. Travelers must pay tribute for water, and those who refuse are driven back into the desert. The characters can negotiate, sneak into the oasis, rally other travelers against the giants, or challenge the chieftain directly.

For a more exploration-focused adventure, scholars could hire the party to locate ancient desert giant ruins. Unfortunately, the chieftain considers those ruins sacred and has no intention of allowing outsiders anywhere near them. The characters now need to decide whether the academic mystery is worth risking war with an entire tribe.

You could also use the chieftain as the centerpiece of a large desert battle. Put several desert giants around him and let Command the Tribe turn the entire encounter into a coordinated assault. Once the characters begin gaining the upper hand, Command the Desert brings additional creatures onto the battlefield and changes everything again.