The Verbeeg: D&D's (almost) forgotten giant-kin

©Wizards of the Coast

Malicious tricksters, Verbeegs are seen as a mixture of deception and brutality. But is that true?

They didn't appear in all of D&D's editions and when they did, only as monsters. Here's the wiki entry for them. They do not have much lore, but I'd say that like other giant-kin they experience a distinct quota of sadness. Doesn't matter how much they try, they will never be maat enough for the Ordning. Goliaths are sufficiently stubborn to keep trying, while Firbolgs appear already enough satisfied with what they are. Verbeegs instead, like their patron god Karontor, are somewhat bittered and may have mostly abandoned any idea of rising within the Ordning. But to me Verbeegs can also be expected to worship deities (or demideities) like Memnor, Othea, Ulutiu and Diancastra (to remain strictly in the Giant Pantheon); those who choose such a path and stray from their cultural heritage (or are removed from it early on in life) do not naturally fall to evil. Interestingly enough, Verbeegs have some ties to the Feywild, even more than Firbolgs. Outside of the Giant Pantheon, they could serve or worship members of the Seelie or Unseelie Court. They value very much promises and commitment, but sometimes twist them in order to get a better result for them out of every situation. Like Devils do.

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Ability Score Increase. +2 Charisma, +1 Strength.

Age. Up to 500 years.

Alignment. Verbeegs that embrace their heritage tend to be neutral evil, while those who have deeper ties to the Feywild live a more chaotic (either good or evil) life. Lafwul Verbeegs are rare, but not unheard of.

Size. Between 8 and 9 feet tall and 300 to 450 pounds of weight. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 35 feet.

Senses. Darkvision 30 feet.

Trickster Influence. You are proficient in Deception and know the Prestidigitation cantrip.

Accomplished spear-figher. You are proficient with spears and shields.

Powerful Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag or lift.

Languages. Common, Giant, Sylvan.

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For this playable race I made some daring choices, mainly for two reasons: first there is almost no material on Verbeegs; second, what we have depicts them in an awful way.

We do not actually know how much do Verbeegs live, so figured that their lifespan was similar to the Firbolgs'. I chose to leave them at Medium size for simplicity (in 4e and 2e they were Large, in 3e Medium), but like other "big" races (Goliaths, Firbolgs, Loxodons...) I gave them the Powerful Build trait; I also figured that being so tall means having longer legs, thus comes the 35 feet speed. I swapped Elven with Sylvan, since it is the "official" language of fey creatures (I would argue that Sylvan should be to Elven what Primordial is to Ignan, Aquan, etc, but that is for another time). Darkvision is something the other giant-kin playable races do not have, but being the Verbeeg tied with the fey I figured that a little 30 feet wouldn't hurt (also, Verbeegs are supposed to have darkvision anyway).

Alignment is what troubled me the most. I personally don't believe in "racial evilness", but I believe in cultural conditioning. I understand that most of the out of the book alignments in D&D are a weird mixture of racial and cultural heritage, with the bar progressively tilting towards cultural to be fair. For an example, me and my friends have substantially ignored this aspect of the game since 5e came out. It should be more of a "general reference" for characters and collective NPC than rules written in stone like in previous editions (remember when paladins had to be Lawful Good and Assassins evil?). This interpretation is also supported by the devs, you know. So, when I started reflecting on how Verbeegs would be, I understood that it is simply stupid assuming that all of them are just neutral evil. From a cultural standpoint, they are between the lawful giant society and the chaotic nature of the fey. They can be selfish and greedy sure, but also honorable and inclined towards a good laugh. But all of this things depends on a simple fact: where did they were born? Which kind of education did they receive? Did they knew their parents? So you see, racial alignment is stupid and in the end, a lazy way to justify the antagonist's actions. Be creative, be original. That said, I think that gamers should be less strict both in defending and in criticizing this aspect of the game.

Verbeegs make natural Bards (College of Swords in particular), Paladin and Warlocks (Archfey Otherwordly Patron). Their bonus to Charisma makes Verbeeg Sorcerers (Wild Magic on top) possible, which should find the shield proficiency quite interesting. And even if it doesn't seem a perfect fit statwise, Clerics of the Trickery Domain works thematically well. Other classes are not worth of mention, but that Strength bonus should help in some way. Just avoid Wizards and Druids.

Be kind to each other.

Daniele