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 CE Large giant (cold)
Init -1; Senses low-light vision; Listen +0, Spot +5
Languages Giant, Common
AC 17, touch 8, flat-footed 17
(-1 size, -1 Dex, +5 natural, +4 chain shirt)
hp 95 (10 HD)
Immune cold
Fort +12, Ref +2, Will +3
Weakness vulnerability to fire
Spd 40 ft (8 squares)
Melee* greataxe +13/+8 (3d6+14/x3) or
2 slams +13 (1d4+9)
Ranged rock +6 (2d6+8)
Space 10 ft; Reach 10 ft
Base Atk +7; Grp +19
Atk Options Great Cleave, Improved Overrun
Special Atk rock throwing (40 ft increment)
*1-point Power Attack
Abilities Str 27, Dex 9, Con 21, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 11
SQ rock catching
Feats Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Overrun, Power Attack
Skills Climb +11, Craft (any) +5, Intimidate +10, Jump +19, Spot +5
Environment cold 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 35% noncombatants plus 1 adept or sorcerer of 3rd-5th level plus 2-4 winter wolves and 2-3 ogres), or tribe (20-24 plus 1-6 raiders plus plus 1 adept, cleric, or sorcerer of 6th or 7th level plus 12-30 winter wolves, 12-22 ogres, and 1-2 young white dragons)
Treasure standard
Advancement by character class; Favored Class barbarian
Level Adjustment +4
Rock Catching (Ex) A frost giant can catch Small, Medium, or Large rocks (or projectiles of similar shape). Once per round, a frost 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 frost giant must be ready for and aware of the attack in order to make a rock catching attempt.
Rock Throwing (Ex) Adult frost giants are accomplished rock throwers and receive a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls when throwing rocks. A frost giant can hurl rocks weighing 40 to 50 pounds each (Small objects) up to five range increments of 40 feet.
Frost giant warrior 4
CE Large giant (cold)
Init -1; Senses low-light vision; Listen +0, Spot +5
Languages Giant, Common
AC 17, touch 8, flat-footed 17
hp 133 (14 HD)
Immune cold
Fort +16, Ref +3, Will +4
Weakness vulnerability to fire
Spd 40 ft (8 squares)
Melee* greataxe +17/+12/+7 (3d6+17/x3)
Ranged rock +10 (2d6+9)
Space 10 ft; Reach 10 ft
Base Atk +11; Grp +24
Atk Options Great Cleave, Improved Overrun, Improved Sunder
Special Atk rock throwing (40 ft increment)
*2-point Power Attack
Abilities Str 28, Dex 9, Con 21, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 11
SQ rock catching
Feats Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Overrun, Improved Sunder, Power Attack
Skills Climb +14, Craft (any) +5, Intimidate +14, Jump +22, Spot +5
Possessions chain shirt, greataxe
A frost giant's hair can be light blue or dirty yellow, and its eyes usually match its hair color. Frost giants dress in skins and pelts, along with any jewelry they own. Frost giant warriors add chain shirts and metal helmets decorated with horns or feathers.
An adult male is about 15 feet tall and weighs about 2,800 pounds. Females are slightly shorter and lighter, but otherwise identical with males. Frost giants can live to be 250 years old.
Frost giants usually start combat at a distance, throwing rocks until they run out of ammunition or the opponent closes, then wading in with their enormous battleaxes.
A favorite tactic is to lay an ambush by hiding buried in the snow at the top of an icy or snowy slope, where opponents will have difficulty reaching them.
Many groups of frost giants include clerics. A frost giant cleric has access to two of the following domains: Chaos, Destruction, Evil, or War (most choose Destruction or War, some choose both).
Frost giant characters possess the following racial traits.