Fomorian (Dungeons & Dragons)

Infobox D&D creature
name=Fomorian
alignment=
type=Giant
subtype=
source=
mythical=Fomorians
first=

In the "Dungeons & Dragons" fantasy roleplaying game, the fomorian is a giant. Fomorians are hideously ugly, and grossly deformed behemoths. They may be loosely derived from the Fomorians of Irish mythology.

Publication history

The fomorian may be loosely derived from the Fomorians of Irish mythology.Fact|date=September 2008

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)

The fomorian first appears in the module "Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth" (1982), [Gygax, Gary. "The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth" (TSR, 1982)] and later appears in "Monster Manual II" (1983) under the giant entry. [Gygax, Gary. "Monster Manual II" (TSR, 1983)]

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)

The fomorian appears first in the Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989) under the giant-kin entry, [Cook, David, et al. "Monstrous Compendium Volume Two" (TSR, 1989)] and is reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993) under the giant entry. [Stewart, Doug, ed. "Monstrous Manual" (TSR, 1993)]

Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)

The fomorian appears in the "Monster Manual II" (2002) for this edition. [Bonny, Ed, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, Skip Williams, and Steve Winter. "Monster Manual II" (Wizards of the Coast, 2002)]

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)

The fomorian appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008), including the fomorian warrior and the fomorian painbringer. [Mearls, Mike, Stephen Schubert, and James Wyatt. "Monster Manual" (Wizards of the Coast, 2008)]

ociety

Fomorians are usually found in caves, abandoned mine shafts, or like areas, decorated by the half-eaten remains of their last meal. The strongest Fomorian rules over the rest, and women and children are treated no better than slaves. Violent acts are commonplace. Captives are usually tortured for their captors' amusement, then eaten. A fomorian is usually neutral evil in alignment, and, if classed, are usually barbarians.

Combat

Fomorians try to catch a foe off-guard and hit as hard as they can while they're unawares, since, unlike other giants, they don't throw boulders. They can be "convinced" to fight alongside a travelling party, but this companionship only lasts as long as the fomorian fears his dominator.

Religion

Fomorians primarily worship the god Karontor.

References