# ****Giff**** > ##### The Journal of Svori Afninson, Human Privateer > The main ship in the fleet was taken out by an enemy warship today. The warship was commanded by a Giff admiral. He was precise and had a love of battle that I have never seen in all my time in the fleet. He is the only enemy that has given me a sense of despair when preparing for attack. I knew, everyone knew that one of our ships would perish. This was because we knew not to underestimate them, for they were formidable enemies. The Giff are a race of powerfully muscled mercenaries. They are civilized, though due to their non-magical nature, spellcasters are rare amongst them. Giff regularly hire themselves with various groups as mercenaries, bodyguards, enforcers, and general legbreakers. ## Strong and Study Giff are a humanoid race with stocky, flat, cylindrical legs a barrel chested torso, muscular arms and thick fingers. The head is the most striking feature, as it greatly resembles that of a Hippopotamus with a natural helmet of flexible, chitinous plates. Giff come in colors ranging from black to gray to gold, and many have colorful tattoos that leave their bodies a patchwork record of past deeds. ## Born to Be Soldiers Giff typically conduct themselves as soldiers. Asking little beyond what is their due, and priding themselves on their weapon skill, and past victories. They are generally a straightforward and honest race, usually willing to let others do the thinking, and leave the fighting to them. Giff adore war stories of all kinds, and often engage in soulful retellings of past glories. They collect weapons as others might collect fine wines, attaching a vast storehouse of honors to the keeping of fine weapons. Within the giff military society, male and female giff are considered equals in every way, and once the children are on to solid foods, there is no such thing as "woman's work". Marriage customs are similar to humans, but skewed with the military lifestyle, and sense of loyalty. A giff family is known as a Platoon, and usually contains the various relations of a leading married couple. ## Giff Names Giff names are blunt, and uncomplicated. Often originating in the Giff language. **Male Names**: *Pomj, Dromb, Lewmur, Hurst, Ularn.* **Female Names**: *Ulyrn, Weelso, Hrusta, Beluarr, Yuralsha.* <div class='descriptive'> ##### Without a home Giff have no lands, wandering the world in the service of one race or another. The Giff homeland is the stuff of legend, as no living Giff has seen it. Some tales say that the Giff themselves destroyed this homeland. Others say that the Giff sold their lands and their lives for a magical apparatus that the Giff could not use. Whatever the truth, The Giff describe their homeland in legendary terms, a thick verdant jungle, covered with swamps, mangrove trees, and fruit plants. The few mountains are rich in metals, and gunpowder. </div> ## Giff Traits Giff have traits that reflect their strength, lifestyle and usual lack of magical ability. __________________________________________________________________________________ **Age** Giff mature at a faster rate humans do and reach adulthood by age 14. __________________________________________________________________________________ **Alignment** Giff are nearly Lawful in alignment, as their military upbringing is extremely structured, though there are those who rebel. The mercenary emotional detachment generally breeds a Neutral leaning to their alignment as well. __________________________________________________________________________________ **Size** Giff our larger than humans by one or two feet. Your Size is Medium. __________________________________________________________________________________ **Speed** Giff land speed is 30 feet. __________________________________________________________________________________ **Malfunctioning Magic** Giff are resistant to magic spells, which extends to magic items worn or used by the giff. Any magic item activated via spell completion (such as scrolls), spell trigger (such as wands and staffs), or a command word or mental activation (such as a ring of invisibility) has a 10% chance of simply not functioning when activated by a giff. Thus, most giff stick to magic items that don't require such activation, such as weapons, armor, potions, and the like. __________________________________________________________________________________ **Spell Resistance** Giff are naturally resistant to magic and has spell resistance equal to 6 plus its HD from class levels. A giff cannot voluntarily lower his spell resistance, even for benefical magic such as healing. __________________________________________________________________________________ **Poison Resistance** Giff are hardy and resistant to toxins. __________________________________________________________________________________ **Languages** Giff speak Common, Giff and one additional language. __________________________________________________________________________________ **Ability Score Modifier** Your Strength score increases by 2 and your Intelligence score decreases by 1.