Dungeons & Dragons Monsters — The Voracious Troll Eats Adventurers as Appetizers
Hello Fans it is Ted and hopefully welcome back to another edition of Dungeons and Dragons Monsters. Today I will hopefully broaden your horizons in the views of the Voracious Troll.
Trolls are often used as just mindless killing machines, hell bent on killing and eating and the D&D Monster Manual says that they can be used as just that, but there is no reason to stop at what the book says.
First Trolls have a reputation that experienced gamers tend to see as more annoying and thus know the solution to the problem by the time it arises and as DMs/GMs we can either be lazy and not describe the monster thus just saying a troll attacks you or as you place the monster down on the grid the players see the mini and call it out as a troll.
When players see a Troll they either “know” or know to look for how to beat a troll. A trolls greatest strength as we all know if the ability to regenerate and you typically need fire or acid to bring it down. When players use knowledge their character does not have it detracts from the excitement of the fight and the memorability of the encounter.
Now as players some of us tire of going through these inane scenes that we have done before, but as role-players it is not only great for the scene but great for the character to overcome using their own set of skills.
The mage in the party might be out of fire/acid magic or not posses it at all and when that happens you have the marking of a truly memorable encounter. How great would it be for the front line fighters trying to fight defensively while the cleric heals and the ranger or rogue is trying to light a fire in the back ground.
The other side of the picture is the troll is over confident and cocky and can possess intelligence. Why not throw an encounter out with a troll who actually role-plays with the party. You can actually have the troll capture the party and while preparing to cook them they could hatch a plan.
You could have a mission that the pcs either need to hunt for food for the troll or pretend to and try to make an escape from them. Either way it would be new and interesting for the players and a story the characters will talk about around a tankard of mead at the local inn.
I saw in a monster manual a while back a two headed troll. This could be used in new and interesting ways as the troll could be disagreeing with itself. It could have Split personality and cause the players no end of grief and gain all at once. You could even make something like this a reoccurring character.
If you are unable to find this specific monster I know that there is a multi-headed template.
This brings up another point, you can add all sorts of crazy additions or changes to mask the troll portion of your creature with effects granted by being a half breed.
We also should not over look the cunning hunter that trolls are.
He/they could be stalking the party possible doing some damage before the monster is even spotted. Trolls living in a swamp could easily use the terrain to their advantage. With the damage a troll can sling out this can be a game changer for the troll and could spell certain defeat for your party.
Using trolls in an adventure.
Low levels 5 and under – Here players should have little to no exposure to Trolls as they will just get eaten alive. A single encounter can be sized up to see how the party can handle a fearsome foe such as this.
Mid level 6-11 – Perhaps a cluster of Trolls have moved into the local area and have started eating everything in site. I do mean literally everything. All plant life, wild life, and anything sentient is either run off or eaten in this swath of digestion. The Pcs need find the cause and put a stop to it.
High 12-16 – Advanced trolls are collecting an army of creatures and have set up residence near the players. They could encounter the armies advance scouts or foraging parties at first. When the army of trolls are confronted the players do not at first realize the vast array set up against them
Epic 17+ War Trolls, Mountain Trolls, and every other kind are springing out if the wood work and assaulting everything. Not only do the Players have to confront and deal with the threat, but figure out what is causing it. Could it be a mad wizard bent on destruction of all things or a gods power unchecked.
So as the storyteller it is up to you to make sure that when you place a troll in front of characters who have never encountered one to make them think through the problem and punish them for metagaming if they do it. Use a fake mini and give an accurate but loose description of them so the players need to find out why this thing “will not die”
As players it is our responsibility to react as our characters would and not use the knowledge we possess even if it should spare the character pain. Look for the solution at hand.
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