Titans: What Are They Good For?

Orcus and Demogorgon, solars and planetars, but whence the titans? These big guys and gals seem to be on a pretty even footing with the demon lords and archangels (depending on which version of the game you adhere to), but they don't get much love or use. I think this is a shame. To my way of thinking, titans represent a third way when it comes to the solars and the demon princes and dukes of Hell - neutral powers that can stand with the powers of Law and Chaos.

Perhaps the titans are the children of minor gods and goddesses. I'm talking Alala and Eleos, here, not Zeus and Aphrodite. Their parentage is divine and immortal, but they're not. Well, maybe they are immortal in terms of aging, but they are creatures of the Material Plane and thus mortal in terms of "can be killed". Where demon lords and solars hang out in the outer planes, titans live in the Material Plane, lording it over lesser beings as kings and queens by dent of their divine birth and tremendous power. How much more interesting to discover that the city-state you just wandered into is ruled by King Criomenos, the son of Moros, demi-god of impending doom and Eunomia, demi-goddess of law and legislation. You walk into this court to announce yourselves as great heroes, and find not a little man with a long, white beard, but a titan, head wreathed in gold, hand resting atop a golden sceptre as tall as your paladin and eyes that have seen centuries.

With that in mind, I decided that any titan that shows up in Nod is going to have a name, a heritage and powers commensurate with that heritage. According to S-n-W, the primary power of titans is spells - two spells of first to seventh level from both the magic-user and cleric lists, for a total of 28 spells. I decided to alter that a bit. Drawing on the old d20 SRD, I decided to instead give them all the spells (level 1 to 9) from the two cleric domains that most befit their parents. Since that gives them only 18 spells (still probably plenty), I decided to make up for it with a special defense (see below) and with the ability to commune with mommy and daddy once per day.

To determine the titan's parentage, I decided to just make a random table of the cleric domains, rolling once for mom and once for dad. I listed some potential parents from Greek mythology behind each domain.

Roll D30 - Parent

1. Air - Aello (F), Aeolus (M), Aura (F)
2. Animal - Britomartis (F), Ichnaea (F), Krotos (M), Priapus (M)
3. Artifice - Acmon (M), Aristaeus (M), Hecaterus (M), Philomelus (M), Rhapso (F)
4. Chaos/Evil - Adikia (F), Eris (F), Dysnomia (F), Kakia (F), Kydoimos (M)
5. Charm - Eros (M), Hedone (F), Iynx (F), Peitho (F)
6. Community - Eunomia (F), Harmonia (F), Hymenaios (M), Nomos (M), Praxidike (F)
7. Creation - Euporie (F), Othorsie (F), Porus (M)
8. Darkness - Charon (M), Erebos (M), Nyx (F), Tartarus (M)
9. Death - Macaria (F), Melinoe (F), Thanatos (M)
10. Destruction - Alecto (F), Enyo (F), Moros (M), Nemesis (F)
11. Earth - Chrysus (M), Plutus (M)
12. Fire - Phlegethon (M)
13. Glory - Agon (M) , Eucleia (F), Kalokagathia (F), Nike (F), Pheme (F)
14. Good/Law - Arete (F), Astraea (F), Dike (F), Eunomia (F), Nomos (M), Peitharch (F)
15. Healing - Aceso (F), Eirene (F), Eleos (M), Eupraxia (F), Panacea (F), Philophrosyne (F)
16. Knowledge - Polymatheia (F)
17. Liberation - Momus (M)
18. Luck - Tyeche (F)
19. Madness - Deimos (M), Lyssa (F), Epiales (M)
20. Magic - Astraios (M), Circe (F), Despoina (F), Telete (F), Zagreus (M)
21. Nobility - Kalokagathia (F)
22. Plant - Amphictyonis (F), Carmanor (M), Chloris (F), Karpo (F), Silenus (M), Thallo (F)
23. Protection - Soter (M)
24. Strength - Bia (F), Kratos (M), Ponos (M)
25. Sun - Alectrona (F), Eos (F), Helios (M), Hemera (F)
26. Travel - Angelia (F), Arke (M), Ioke (F), Iris (F)
27. Trickery - Apate (F), Ate (F), Dolos (M)
28. War - Alala (F), Enyalius (M), Homandos (M), Polemos (M)
29. Water - Amphitrite (F), Galene (F), Glaucus (M), Proteus (M), Thetis (F), Thalassa (F)
30. Weather - Briareus (M), Chione (F), Tethys (F), Typhon (M)

A few of the categories are pretty sparse when it comes to divine representation, but what can you do.

You can find the various domains HERE and HERE. The spells that don't show up in your favorite version of the game are easy enough to convert. If you don't like conversions, use another spell that fits. Personally, I like the idea of a titan throwing down a spell the party clerics and magic-users have never heard of - maybe if they make a good impression and grovel a bit, the titan will teach them the secret!

Special Defenses
Special defenses should relate to the parentage, and the Ref might want to give them more than one special defense. Defenses for the titan might include:

+5 to save vs. poison or disease
Cannot be attacked by different kinds of creatures like reptiles, birds or plant creatures
Cannot be surprised
Immune to energy drain or falling damage
Immune to a class of spells - i.e. illusions, death spells or mind control
Magic resistance (maybe 15% for the least titans, with a 5% bump per additional hit dice)
Only harmed by +1 weapons
Resistance (half damage) from iron weapons or missile weapons, etc.
Resistance (half damage) to cold, fire, electricity, acid, etc.

You can probably think of others.

Using the example above, King Criomenos might have the following stats:

KING CRIOMENOS, Titan: HD 20 (109 hp); AC –1 [20]; Atk 1 sceptre (2d8) or javelin (2d6); Move 21; Save 3; CL/XP 22/5100; Special: Immune to death spells, spells (bless, cause disease, cause critical wounds, cause light wounds, disintegrate, earthquake, greater status, harm, heroes' feast, implosion, mass cause light wounds, mass heal, prayer, refuge, shatter, status, sympathy, telepathic bond), commune with Eunomia and Moros.