June 2026 RPG Blog Carnival Round-up: Cyclopes, Ettins, Hill Giants, and Ogres
This June I have been the host of the RPG Blog Carnival and my chosen topic was "Cyclopes, Ettins, Hill Giants, and Ogres." My intention was that we could collectively make these big folk more interesting: "I've chosen this topic for a simple reason: ogres and their ilk are too often boring, and I'm hoping you can help me fix that."
And, boy, did everyone deliver! Let's look at the contributions in chronological order.
7 June 2026 - At Vulcan Stev's Database, Vulcan Stev writes, "Cyclopes, Ettins, Hill Giants, and Ogres – Psyclopes, Day-Nighttens, G.I.Ants and 00 Gher," which really takes the prompt seriously. He recreates these giants in creative, unexpected ways: cyclopes with psychic lances (reminiscent of Balor, I think?); ettins who have two heads but only one at a time; ant soldiers; and superspy ogres, my favourite of the four. (System: 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons)
12 June 2026 - At Lonely Star, Havoc writes, "The Land Cannot Hold Us (Giant-Type Class)," which has goblins that grow into ogres and, eventually, full giants. It also features a massive talking giant's head in a cave that coaches a goblin through these changes, which is such a neat way to introduce a class. Because, on top of it all, that's what this is: the goblin-ogre-giant metamorphosis is a playable class. (System: GLOG)
13 June 2026 - At Seed of Worlds, xaosseed writes, "How Ogres and the like show up in-world (RPG Blog Carnival)," which examines each of the four giants in turn. He considers them all socially: how do they relate to themselves, to others of their kind, or to the people around them? I think this is an excellent way of making giants compelling without having to change anything about them mechanically. Of particular interest to me is how the hill giants' place in the Ordning influences their behaviour. (System: agnostic, lore ties to Dungeons & Dragons)
18 June 2026 - At Sea of Stars, Sean Holland writes, "Ogri, Hill Giants, and Cyclopsians (RPG Blog Carnival)," which takes a similar approach to xaosseed's, considering them each in turn (but mostly skipping the ettins). As well as the social, however, Sean also looks at the material: what specific needs do such large folk have, and what kinds of tools, knowledge, and organization do they use to meet those needs? I'm thinking about whether I might include those hill giants in my own future games. (System: agnostic)1
21 June 2026 - At 52 Monsters, Brian Garthwaite writes, "Consider the Cyclops," which does just that. He takes a winding, thoughtful tour through Greek myth and the intersection of paleontology and Classics before delivering for us a really fantastic cyclops with a self-inflected doom of prophecy. I'm deliberating withholding some details because I want you to go discover it for yourself. (System: Whitehack)
30 June 2026 - Here at Advantage on Arcana, I write, "Ogre and Ogre-folk," which, as usual for my own entries in carnivals I host, elaborates an element in my weird post-apocalypse setting. In the Lakelands, ogre is a combat drug that can turn its user into an ogre-folk: large muscular people with poor impulse control that evoke stories of giants. I describe not just what happens physically, but also what role ogre and ogre-folk play in the Lakelands and in Lakelands games. (System: agnostic)
My sincere thanks to everyone who participated. I have to admit I was surprised by the results, but that was the point of the exercise, after all! The two giants I was least interested in to begin with, hill giants and cyclopes, got some of the most extensive treatment, and I now want to include them in my games. I think we collectively did a great job of imagining the titular giants.
If you think I missed a contribution, or if you're running late, please let me know in the comments of this post (hosted on Bluesky) or at cerhendriks[at]proton[dot]me.
Odysseus and Polyphemus, Arnold Böcklin, 1896.
Although he did not submit it as a contribution to the Carnival, Sean also wrote "Tuesday Magic Item – Ogre Skull Helm" this month, on 23 June 2026, which deserves a mention because I would have readily accepted it as a post by the letter and spirit of the prompt.↩