The various true giant races are among the iconic monsters of Dungeons and Dragons, most having been in the game since those original three booklets way back in 1974. The G, or Giant, series of modules (1978) were some of the most popular adventures ever published for 1st edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. The 2nd edition AD&D designers decided that giants needed a significant boost in order to justify their fearsome reputation, as well as to provide readily available monsters for higher level characters, since demons had been removed from the game. So the true giants were all given additional HD to make them tougher for 2nd edition. This power boost was preserved in the 3e revision.
Daniel R. Collins provides a pretty persuasive analysis that 3e giants have too many HD for their type and size, at least when compared to other 3e monsters. I would further argue that, in 3e, where all monsters get ability scores and can readily take character classes, the additional HD are unnecessary and actually limiting. A standard 3e fire giant, for example, has 15 HD and a level adjustment of +4, making it very nearly an epic character right out of the gate. I say better to scale the base HD back to more reasonable levels and thus give DMs and players more opportunities to add classes and templates to these monsters.
Dan did a very nice 1st edition conversion of the true giants for 3e. I've built on this work, updating the monsters to 3.5e and adding advanced versions that are comparable to the 3e Monster Manual versions, for those DM who want to have their cake and eat it, too. The following text is Open Game Content:
Often LE Large giant (fire)
Init -1; Senses low-light vision; Listen +0, Spot +6
Languages Giant, Common
AC 19, touch 8, flat-footed 19
(-1 size, -1 Dex, +6 natural, +5 chainmail)
hp 104 (11 HD)
Immune fire
Fort +12, Ref +2, Will +3
Weakness vulnerability to fire
Spd 30 ft in chainmail armor (6 squares); base speed 40 ft.
Melee* greatsword +15/+10 (3d6+15/19-20)
or 2 slams +15 (1d4+10)
Ranged rock +7 (2d6+9 and 2d6 fire)
Space 10 ft; Reach 10 ft
Base Atk +8; Grp +21
Atk Options Great Cleave, Improved Sunder
Special Atk rock throwing (40 ft increment)
*1-point Power Attack
Abilities Str 29, Dex 9, Con 21, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 11
SQ rock catching
Feats Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Sunder, Power Attack
Skills Climb +9, Craft (any) +5, Intimidate +11, Jump +9, Spot +6
Environment warm mountains
Organization solitary, gang (2-5), band (6-9 plus 35% noncombatants plus 1 adept or cleric of 1st or 2nd level), hunting/raiding party (6-9 plus 1 adept or sorcerer of 3rd-5th level plus 2-4 hell hounds and 2-3 trolls or ettins), or tribe (20-24 plus 1-6 marauders plus 1 adept, cleric, or sorcerer of 6th or 7th level plus 12-30 hell hounds, 12-22 trolls, 5-12 ettins, and 1-2 young red dragons)
Treasure standard
Advancement by character class; Favored Class barbarian
Level Adjustment +4
Rock Catching (Ex) A fire giant can catch Small, Medium, or Large rocks (or projectiles of similar shape). Once per round, a fire giant that would normally be hit by a rock can make a Reflex save to catch it as a free action. The DC is 15 for a Small rock, 20 for a Medium one, and 25 for a Large one. (If the projectile provides a magical bonus on attack rolls, the DC increases by that amount.) The fire giant must be ready for and aware of the attack in order to make a rock catching attempt.
Rock Throwing (Ex) Adult fire giants are accomplished rock throwers and receive a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls when throwing rocks. A fire giant can hurl rocks weighing 40 to 50 pounds each (Small objects) up to five range increments of 40 feet.
Fire giant warrior 4
LE Large giant (fire)
Init -1; Senses low-light vision; Listen +0, Spot +6
Languages Giant, Common
AC 19, touch 8, flat-footed 19
hp 142 (15 HD)
Immune fire
Fort +16, Ref +3, Will +6
Weakness vulnerability to cold
Spd 30 ft (6 squares)
Melee* greatsword +18/+12/+8 (3d6+21/19-20)
Ranged rock +11 (2d6+10 and 2d6 fire)
Space 10 ft; Reach 10 ft
Base Atk +12; Grp +25
Atk Options Great Cleave, Improved Sunder
Special Atk rock throwing (40 ft increment)
*3-point Power Attack
Abilities Str 30, Dex 9, Con 21, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 11
SQ rock catching
Feats Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Sunder, Iron Will, Power Attack
Skills Climb +12, Craft (any) +5, Intimidate +15, Jump +12, Spot +6
Possessions chainmail, greatsword
Some fire giants have bright orange hair. An adult male is 12 feet tall, has a chest that measures 9 feet around, and weighs about 7,000 pounds. Females are slightly shorter and lighter. Fire giants can live to be 350 years old.
Fire giants wear sturdy cloth or leather garments colored red, orange, yellow, or black. Warriors wear helmets and half-plate armor of blackened steel.
Fire giants heat their rocks in a nearby fire, geyser, or lava pools, so that they deal extra fire damage. They favor magic flaming swords in melee (when they can get them). They are also fond of grabbing smaller opponents and tossing them somewhere very hot.
Most groups of fire giants include clerics. A fire giant cleric has access to two of the following domains: Evil, Law, Trickery, or War (most choose Trickery or War, some choose both). Fire giant characters possess the following racial traits.