Frostmourns are undead frost giants whose bodily tissues were completely desiccated by the intense cold of their environment. The things look like giant withered corpses with facial hair. Their eyes have an evil gleam common to all undead. A frostmourn can turn itself into a swirling white cloud or miniature blizzard but can't attack in the former shape.

Combat: Undeath gives frostmourns both increased Strength and decreased Dexterity. Thus, although they can hurl boulders to a distance of 250 yards, inflicting 2d12 hp damage, they can no longer catch similar missiles as they could in life. Greater Strength also means they cause more damage in melee combat, whether with weapons (2d20+9 hp damage) or the naked hand (1d10+9 hp damage).

Some frostmourns wear their old armor, but this is due to force of habit and nothing more, for their desiccated flesh is now so tough that they always have an armor class of 0, armor or no armor.

The most potent attack of a frostmourn is its freezing touch. lf the victim does not save vs. death magic when touched by the giant, he suffers an additional 2d20 hp damage; making the saving throw reduces the damage by half. In addition, all metallic items (weapons, armor, metallic flasks, or other containers, etc.) must save vs. cold or become brittle, falling apart almost immediately. Those slain by a frostmourn cannot be revived with a raise dead spell; a resurrection spell, however, works normally.

These creatures retain their immunity to cold-based attacks, and their undead status likewise gives them immunity to mind-affecting magic, sleep, hold, paralyzation, and poison. Fire-based attacks, however, inflict double damage, and a vial of holy water splashed on the frostmourn inflicts 2-8 hp damage. A raise dead spell slays a frostmourn instantly.

Like most undead, frostmourns detest sunlight and actively avoid it, even though it causes them no harm. In the chill northern environments they call home, however, the sun is often blotted out in the daytime by blizzards or thick cloud cover, so these creatures can come out in the daytime on those occasions. ln addition, once far enough north, the sun goes down for months at a time when true winter comes around; PCs who neglect their research and sit around praying for the sun to drive off their undead enemies are in for a disappointment.

Habitat/Society: Frostmourns are largely solitary creatures, although a quarter of all frostmourn lairs have two residents instead of one. All undead tend to hate companionship, and their innately chaotic nature only intensifies this hate. Frostmourns often seek out and destroy the enemies of their old tribe or clan, but they are just as likely to hunt their former kin.

Ecology: Life is less abundant in the frigid north than in the warmer lowlands. The barren conditions often disguise the desolation left by a frostmourn. Newcomers to the area can easily find themselves unknowingly trampling through the lair of these dangerous monsters. As they are sustained by the energy of the Negative Material Plane, frostmourns have no need to eat. Wizards often use their body parts as material components for cold-based spells or in the construction of cold related magical items. Their desiccated hides are used in experiments to create the equivalent of magical leather armor that also gives immunity to cold-based attacks, but so far as is known, no successes have been achieved.