Uses Frostburn, Monster Manual I, Complete Arcane (Energy Substitution), Does not use Epic Level Handbook
Arianus, the Breath of Winter CR 22
Female Frost Giant Wizard 5/Frostmage 10
NE Large Giant (cold)
Init +5, Senses Listen +18; Spot +18; low-light vision
AC 33, touch 15, flat-footed 32
hp 245 (14d8+56 plus 5d4+20 plus 10d4+40 HD)
Immune Cold
Fort +17, Ref +9, Will +16
Weakness Fire
Spd 40 ft.
Melee +4 large frost greataxe +30/+25/+20/+15 melee (3d6+17 plus 1d6 cold/×3)
Base Atk +17; Grp +30
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Actions Rock Catching
Spells Prepared (CL 15; DC 21 plus spell level, evocation spells (E) +2 DC, cold spells (C) +2 DC (stacks with Evocation DC bonus))
8th — polar ray
7th — delayed blast fireball, piercing cold freezing sphere (×2)
6th — piercing cold cone of cold, undeath to death, mass bear's endurance, mass bull's strength
5th — cone of cold (×2), wall of force, waves of fatigue, teleport
4th — greater invisibility, ice storm (×2), resilient sphere, wall of ice
3rd — greater magic weapon, haste(×2), dispel magic (×2), fireball
2nd — conjure ice beast II (×2), flaming sphere (×2), scorching ray (×2)
1st — piercing ray of frost, burning hands, mage armor, shield, magic missile (×2)
Cantrips — detect magic, light, ray of frost, read magic
Abilities Str 29 (+9), Dex 12 (+1), Con 18 (+4), Int 25 (+7), Wis 12 (+1), Cha 10 (+0)
Feats Cold Focus, Cold Spell Specialization, Energy Substitution (cold), Frozen Magic Snowcasting, Improved Initiative, Greater Cold Focus, Maximize Spell, Piercing Cold, Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (Evocation), Spell Mastery
Skills Climb +42, Concentration +38, Craft (alchemy) +45, Intimidate +34, Jump +42, Knowledge (arcana, local, the planes) +45, Listen +18, Search +45, Spellcraft +45, Spot +18
Possessions large staff of frost (42 charges), +4 large frost greataxe, bracers of armor +5, robe of blending, ring of protection +5, crown of intellect +6
Spellbook
Cantrips — all
1st — burning hands E, conjure ice beast I B, feather fall, mage armor, magic missile E, shield, shocking grasp E
2nd — alter self, conjure ice beast II B, flaming sphere E, scorching ray E, whispering wind
3rd — dispel magic, haste, fireball E greater magic weapon,
4th — greater invisibility, ice storm E C, resilient sphere E, wall of ice E C
5th — cone of cold (15d6+15; ×2)E C, wall of force E, waves of fatigue, teleport
6th — animate snow B, freezing sphere (15d6+15)E C, undeath to death, mass bear's endurance, mass bull's strength
7th — delayed blast fireball E, greater teleport, mage's sword E, prismatic spray E
8th — polar ray (17d6+17)E C, horrid wilting
9th — frostfell B
crown of intellect +6 applied to Int score; 19 naturally
B Bonus class spell
Description[]
Smaller than most giants, Arianus is short and thin framed. Nevertheless, the sheer magical essence that lingers around her is intimidating enough to scare off most foes. Long pale blue hair frames a cold uninviting face and steel grey eyes. She wears a robe that seems to blend colors with her surroundings even as she walks, and carries a staff made of pure ice.
Plot Hook[]
Legend has it that a powerful frost giant wizard lives far to the north past the Spine of the World. These legends in the books say that the giant they call the Breath of Winter has been there since before time was time, when glaciers covered the world. She makes her fortress in a vale where a perpetual blizzard covers the land. So cold they say, that you'll freeze by the fifth step, and you're heart stops by the sixth. The legend always said that if you could reach her, the giantess would be willing to bargain with you, knowledge of anything you wish to know for something she finds valuable. What an immortal sorceress would find valuable I can only guess.
Now I'm not too sure about those fairy tales, never put much stock em. I have talked to some rangers that protect the Spine though. They say that if you pass the Spine for a few days ride you can see the vale, but the plains conceals an even greater mystery than the constant blizzard. The plains outside the vale house a massive standing army, or at least the remains. An entire army of thousands is frozen solid, still in their battle ranks and charging towards the vale. The rangers said they guessed them to be centuries old by their armor and weapons. What kind of power could freeze an army still you ask? Well I don't know or ever want to find out, but I'm sure there's gotta be something in that vale, and whatever it is has enough power to crush us like bugs.
--Gades Argos, the veteran knight
References[]
Abilities: Frost Giants start with racial abilities of: +14 Strength, -2 Dexterity, +8 Constitution, -4 Intelligence, -4 Charisma. Plus 15 class levels includes 3 ability score increases. Arianus started with stats of Str 15, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 16, Wis 12, Chr 14 (36 point buy), and increased Intelligence three times.
Frost Mage Class: (Frostburn (p. 58)) This prestige class allows arcane casters to specialize not in a school of magic, but in spells with the 'cold' descriptor (mostly found in the Frostburn rulebook. Arianus gains +4 natural AC, the knowledge of spells conjure ice beast I-IV, animate snow, frostfell (though she cannot memorize it yet), gains Piercing Cold as a bonus feat, and has casts spells as a 15th level Wizard because of this class.
animate snow spell: (Frostburn (p. 88)) This spell allows the caster to form a construct out of snow to fight alongside it. If not using the Frostburn rulebook, substitute animate object in place of this spell.
conjure ice beast I-IV spells: (Frostburn (p. 91)) This set of spells conjures an icy ally to fight alongside the caster. If not using the Frostburn rulebook, substitute summon nature's ally in place of these spells.
Piercing Cold feat: (Frostburn (p. 49)) The piercing cold metamagic feat increases the level of the spell by one in order to enable it to damage foes normally immune to cold damage. If not using the Frostburn rulebook, reduce all spells that have the 'piercing cold' prefix by one spell level, and swap out the Piercing Cold feat for another.