Stone Giant 5e: Stats, Boulders and Running the Fight

A stone giant is a CR 7 Huge giant with AC 17, 126 hit points, a 15-foot-reach club and a thrown rock that hits for 28 damage and can knock a character prone from 240 feet away. Among the SRD giants, only the fire giant has higher AC, and the stone giant is the only one with a reaction. In 2014 that reaction is Rock Catching and it blends into rocky terrain. In 2024 it gets Deflect Missile, which turns arrows back on the archer, and it can throw two boulders a turn instead of one.

Table of Contents

• •Stone Giant Stat Block (2014)
• •The Stone Giant in the 2024 Rules
• •How Stone Giants Fight
• •Stone Giants Compared With Other Giants
• •Running a Stone Giant Encounter
• •How Players Beat a Stone Giant
• •Stone Giant Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Stone Giant Stat Block (2014)

This is the stone giant from SRD 5.1, matching the 2014 Monster Manual.

Two traits make it different from its cousins:

• •Stone Camouflage. It has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks to hide in rocky terrain. It has no Stealth proficiency, so that is a +2 roll with advantage, which averages about 16. Even a level 7 character with Wisdom +2 and Perception proficiency has only passive Perception 15, so a giant crouched among boulders is usually not spotted until it throws.
• •Rock Catching. As a reaction, when a rock or similar object is hurled at it, it makes a DC 10 Dexterity save (it has +5) and on a success catches it and takes no bludgeoning damage. It succeeds 80% of the time. This rarely comes up against player characters, who seldom throw rocks. It matters against other giants' thrown rocks, catapult stones, or a character hurling a rock as an improvised weapon.

The 2014 rock is its own action. Multiattack is two greatclub attacks, so on a given turn the giant either swings twice (19 each) or throws one rock (28 and a DC 17 Strength save against prone).

The Stone Giant in the 2024 Rules

The 2024 stone giant (SRD 5.2.1) keeps its AC, hit points, saves and CR, and rebuilds both its offense and its reaction.

The changes that matter:

• •Two boulders a turn. A 2014 stone giant at range makes one 28-damage attack. A 2024 stone giant makes two 15-damage attacks, and every hit knocks a Large or smaller target prone with no save.
• •Deflect Missile hurts archers. When a ranged attack hits it for bludgeoning, piercing or slashing damage, it reduces the damage by 11 (1d10 + 6). A typical arrow (1d8 + 3, about 7.5) usually drops to 0. When it does, the giant redirects the force: one creature within 60 feet it can see makes a DC 17 Dexterity save or takes 11 force damage. It recharges on a 5 or 6, so it doesn't fire every round.
• •No more camouflage trait. The 2024 giant hides with a flat +5 Stealth. That is better than 2014 on open ground (+5 against +2) and about the same in rocky terrain, where the 2014 giant rolled with advantage.

How Stone Giants Fight

The math below assumes AC 16. A +9 attack hits on a 7 or higher, 70% of the time.

Open from range. Stone giants pick fights in canyons, ridges and mountain passes, where they can see the party coming from 240 feet away. In 2014, throw a rock at whoever looks most dangerous, then hide again with advantage among the stones. In 2024, throw two boulders at two different characters. Both end up prone and spend half their movement standing up.

Mind the prone rule. Ranged attacks against a prone creature have disadvantage, and melee attacks from more than 5 feet away do too. So a 2024 giant shouldn't throw its second boulder at a target the first one already knocked down. And its 15-foot reach works against it here: a club swing at a prone character two squares away is made with disadvantage. If the giant wants the advantage that prone gives, it has to step adjacent to the fallen character first.

Use the height. A Huge giant on a ledge 20 feet above the party is out of reach of most melee characters, and every one of them is a valid boulder target. Under the 2014 rules a shove is an Athletics contest, and at +12 the giant wins almost every one. Under the 2024 rules the target makes a Strength or Dexterity save against DC 17 (8 + Strength +6 + proficiency +3). Either way, a giant near a cliff edge can push someone off.

Retreat when it's losing. The SRD gives stone giants Neutral alignment, not evil. A stone giant that's down to a third of its hit points doesn't need to fight to the death. Let it back away into the rocks and negotiate.

Stone Giants Compared With Other Giants

Every other SRD giant swings at 10 feet; the stone giant reaches 15. Its rock hits as hard as a frost giant's (28 in 2014) at a lower CR. If you want a giant that ambushes and fights from ground it chose, rather than one that simply out-damages the party, this is the one.

Running a Stone Giant Encounter

A stone giant is 2,900 XP.

Under the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (which our encounter calculator uses), one stone giant is a Medium fight for four level 6 characters. Two giants are 8,700 adjusted XP with the ×1.5 multiplier: Deadly at level 8, Hard at level 9.

The terrain is part of the CR. A single stone giant in an open field is a solid Medium fight. The same giant on a canyon wall, hidden until it throws, is much harder, because the party may spend two rounds crossing open ground while being knocked prone.

How Players Beat a Stone Giant

• •Close the distance or get out of sight. At range the giant gets free boulders. Melee characters should approach from cover. Casters should use spells that don't need an attack roll.
• •Ranged attackers: watch Deflect Missile (2024). Light arrows bounce off. Spell attacks like Eldritch Blast deal force damage and aren't affected. Deflect Missile only recharges on a 5 or 6, so once the giant uses it, the archers have a window of a round or two.
• •Target Charisma or Intelligence. Its Strength, Dexterity, Constitution and Wisdom are all strong or proficient. Charisma is −1. Banishment removes it for the fight.
• •Hold Person won't work. It is a Giant, not a Humanoid.
• •Fight in a clearing. Stone Camouflage (2014) only works in rocky terrain.

Stone Giant Encounter Ideas

The quarry dispute. Miners have started blasting a new quarry face, and stone giants have begun throwing boulders at the work crews. The giants consider the cliff sacred ground. Fighting is possible, but a party that talks to them (they speak Giant) can find a deal: a different cliff, or an offering.

The rockslide pass. A trade route crosses a narrow pass watched by a stone giant. It hides among scree with Stone Camouflage and throws from 200 feet up. The party has to climb toward it while dodging boulders, and the scree that hides it is loose enough that a fall means sliding back down to the start.

The arrows return. A 2024 stone giant sentry has learned that elf archers come for it every spring. It sits where arrows must come from one direction, and its Deflect Missile sends their force back. The party's archer finds out the hard way, and a clever party learns to rush it instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a stone giant in 5e?

A stone giant is CR 7 (2,900 XP) in both editions, with AC 17 and 126 hit points.

How much damage does a stone giant's rock do?

In 2014 its Rock deals 28 (4d10 + 6) bludgeoning damage, range 60/240 feet, and the target makes a DC 17 Strength save or falls prone. In 2024 its Boulder deals 15 (2d8 + 6) and knocks any Large or smaller target prone, and it can throw two per turn.

What is Rock Catching?

It's the 2014 stone giant's reaction. When a rock or similar object is hurled at it, it makes a DC 10 Dexterity save; on a success it catches the missile and takes no bludgeoning damage. The 2024 stone giant replaces it with Deflect Missile.

Can stone giants hide?

Yes. The 2014 stone giant has Stone Camouflage, giving it advantage on Stealth checks to hide in rocky terrain. The 2024 version has Stealth +5 instead.

Are stone giants evil?

No. Both the 2014 and 2024 stat blocks list stone giants as Neutral, so they make good candidates for negotiation as well as combat.

Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.