Troll (Dungeons & Dragons)

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Infobox D&D creature


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name=Troll
alignment=Chaotic evil
type=Giant
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OGL_stats_URL=http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/monstersTtoZ.html#troll

Trolls are fictional monsters in the "Dungeons & Dragons" roleplaying game.

Publication history

While trolls can be found throughout folklores worldwide, the "D&D" troll has little in common with these. Instead it was clearly inspired by Poul Anderson's "Three Hearts and Three Lions". This includes their appearance, as tall skinny humanoids with long noses and rubbery skin, their ability to regenerate, and their weakness to fire.Fact|date=July 2008 Despite (or because of) these differences, the "D&D" troll has become a distinguishing characteristic of this roleplaying game and a long-time fan favorite. For example, the trolls in Warcraft are similar in appearance.Or|date=August 2008

Dungeons & Dragons (1974-1976)

The troll was one of the first monsters introduced in the earliest edition of the game, in the Dungeons & Dragons "white box" set (1974), where they are described as thin and rubbery, loathsome creatures able to regenerate. [Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson. "Dungeons & Dragons" (3-Volume Set) (TSR, 1974)]

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)

The troll appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), [Gygax, Gary. "Monster Manual" (TSR, 1977)] where they are described as horrid carnivores that know no fear and are able to regenerate damage taken.

Several new varieties of troll were introduced in the "Fiend Folio" (1981), including the giant two-headed troll, the giant troll, the ice troll, and the spirit troll. [Turnbull, Don, ed. "Fiend Folio" (TSR, 1981)] The module "Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth" (1982) [Gygax, Gary. "The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth" (TSR, 1982)] introduced the marine troll, also known as the scrag, which was later reprinted in "Monster Manual II" (1983). [Gygax, Gary. "Monster Manual II" (TSR, 1983)]

The black troll and rock troll were introduced in "Dragon" #141, in the "Dragon's Bestiary" column (January 1989). [Szarmach, Michael J. and Linda Hankins. "The Dragon's Bestiary: Those Nonhuman creatures - with human form." "Dragon" #141 (TSR, 1989)]

Dungeons & Dragons (1977-1999)

This edition of the D&D game included its own version of the troll, in the "Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set" (1977), [Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson [1974] , edited by J. Eric Holmes. "Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set" (TSR, 1977)] and "Expert Set" (1981 & 1983). [Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson [1974] , edited by Dave Cook. "Dungeons & Dragons Expert Set" (TSR, 1981)] [Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson [1974] , edited by Frank Mentzer. "Dungeons & Dragons Set 2: Expert Rules" (TSR, 1983)] The troll was featured as a player character race in the "Orcs of Thar" gazetteer (1989). Trolls were also later featured in the "Dungeons & Dragons Game" set (1991), the "Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia" (1991), [Schend, Steven E., Jon Pickens, and Dori Warty Editors). "Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia" (TSR, 1991)] the "Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game" set (1994), and the "Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game" set (1999).

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)

The troll appears first in the Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989), [Cook, David, et al. "Monstrous Compendium Volume One" (TSR, 1989)] and is reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993) along with several troll variants. [Stewart, Doug, ed. "Monstrous Manual" (TSR, 1993)]

The "Monstrous Compendium Fiend Folio Appendix" (1992) reintroduced the ice troll. [Williams, Skip, et al. "Monstrous Compendium Fiend Folio Appendix" (TSR, 1992)] The snow troll first appeared in "Dungeon" #43 (September 1993), and was later reprinted in the "Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume One" (1994).

Several new types of trolls were introduced in "Dragon" #199's " Dragon's Bestiary" column (November 1993), including the fire troll the gray troll, the phaze troll, the stone troll, and the trollhound. [Baclawski, Alec. "The Dragon's Bestiary: Those Terrible Trolls." "Dragon" #199 (TSR, 1993)] The fire troll was later reintroduced in Paizo's "Dragon Compendium, Volume 1" (2005).

"Monstrous Compendium Annual Four" (1998) included the Far Realm creature, the troll mutate.

Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)

The troll appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2000). [Cook, Monte, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams. "Monster Manual" (Wizards of the Coast, 2000)]

The troll is further detailed in "Dragon" #301 (November 2002), in "The Ecology of the Troll", which also introduced the deep sea troll, the fiendish troll, the ice troll, the rock troll, and the scrag. [Leach, Paul. "Malignant Growth: The Ecology of the Troll." "Dragon" #301 (Paizo Publishing, 2002)]

"Savage Species" (2003) presented the troll as both a race and a playable class. [Eckelberry, David, Rich Redman, and Jennifer Clarke Wilkes. "Savage Species" (Wizards of the Coast, 2003)] The Forgotten Realms product "Unapproachable East" (2003) introduced the fell troll, the ice troll, the mur-zhagul (or demon troll), and the slime troll. [Baker, Richard, Matt Forbeck, and Sean K Reynolds. "Unapproachable East" (Wizards of the Coast, 2003)]

Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003-2007)

The troll appears in the revised Monster Manual for this edition (2003), which also included information on the scrag. Several new trolls were introduced in "Monster Manual III" (2004), including the cave troll, the crystalline troll, the forest troll, the mountain troll, and the war troll. [Burlew, Rich, "et al". "Monster Manual III" (Wizards of the Coast, 2004)] The wasteland troll was introduced in "Sandstorm: Mastering the Perils of Fire and Sand" (2005), the filth-eater troll and the tunnel thug troll were introduced in "Drow of the Underdark" (2007), and the bladerager troll was introduced in "Monster Manual V" (2007).

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)

The troll appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008), along with the war troll and fell troll. [Mearls, Mike, Stephen Schubert, and James Wyatt. "Monster Manual" (Wizards of the Coast, 2008)]

Ecology

Environment

Trolls are most often found in cold, mountainous regions, but can be encountered nearly anywhere.

Typical physical characteristics

The average troll stands nine feet high and weighs roughly 500 pounds, though females tend to be a bit larger than males. The hide of trolls is rubbery, and usually either moss green, putrid grey, or mottled gray and green. Their coarse hair is typically iron grey, or greenish-black.

Trolls initially seem to be somewhat shorter, due to their sagging shoulders and tendency to hunch forward. They walk with an uneven gait, and their arms dangle and drag the ground when running. Despite this apparent awkwardness, trolls are quite agile.

Trolls are infamous for their regenerative abilities, able to recover from the most grievous of wounds or regenerate entire limbs given time. Severing a troll's head results merely in temporary incapacitation, rather than death. After cutting off a troll's head or other limbs, one must seal the wounds with fire or acid to prevent regeneration. Because of this, most adventurers will typically carry some sort of implement capable of creating fire.

Alignment

Trolls are usually chaotic evil.

ociety

Trolls speak Giant, and usually worship Vaprak the Destroyer.

Troll Variants

*Black troll - Also known as demon trolls, these horned trolls reside in the Abyss and possess powerful magical abilities.
*Blood troll - Lawful evil red-skinned trolls who often serve devils.
*Cave troll - Powerful, feral trolls that often live underground.
*Crystalline troll - Charismatic troll with crystalline skin.
*Deep Sea troll - These trolls have a primal connection to water. They terrorize the oceans and coastlines.
*Desert troll - Chameleon-like, intelligent ambush hunters.
*Fell troll - Huge, two-headed troll.
*Fire troll - Immune to fire and acid.
*Forest troll - Includes variant "muskwart".
*Giant troll - Giant trolls are the result of trolls breeding with hill giants.
*Gray troll - Having been nearly energy drained to death by undead creatures, these emaciated trolls forge strong ties to negative energy and have venomous spittle.
*Ice troll - Cold-dwelling trolls.
*Mountain troll - Massive trolls that prowl mountains. Includes variant Halruuan mountain troll.
*Mur-Zhagul - Planetouched creatures descended from the mingling of trolls and demons.
*Phaze troll - Mutated by great concentrations of magic or Underdark radiations, these trolls possess some magical powers and are more intelligent than their brethren.
*Pseudo-troll - Troll from the Far Realm with the pseudonatural creature template.
*Rock troll - Trolls with an affinity for earth, they possess natural camouflage in areas of stone. Rock trolls sometimes are found on the Elemental Plane of Earth.
*Scrag - These are aquatic cousins of the troll.
*Slime troll - The bodies of these underground-dwelling trolls constantly secrete acid.
*Spirit troll - Spirit trolls are a crossbreed of troll and invisible stalker.
*Stone troll - Stone Trolls have rough, somewhat rocky skin and are generally native to mountain ranges
*Tree troll - Small arboreal trolls created by magic gone awry.
*Troll hunter - An ordinary, though more cunning than usual troll who is not satisfied with merely eating civilized beings but trains to hunt them relentlessly.
*Two-headed troll - These creatures are a horrendous crossbreed of troll and ettin.
*War troll - Trolls bred for war that form mercenary companies.
*Wasteland troll - Found in mountains and badlands of the deserts.

Related creatures

*Llort - (Llort is "Troll" spelt backwards) A creature visually indistinguishable from a troll, with similar methods of attacking. Llorts, however, have at some point been affected by a temporal magic effect which means that damage done to them heals them. To kill a llort, once damage has been done to it, it is necessary to use healing magic in order to reduce its hit points. It is also the case that, once its hit points fall below its original level, trollish regeneration kicks in and will also heal the llort.

*Thoul - A combination of a troll, hobgoblin, and ghoul.

*Trollhound - Wolflike creatures that share many of the same traits as trolls, including the powerful regenerative capabilities. They often associate with trolls.

*Gnoll - back when the Gnoll creature was still in development, it was meant to be a hybrid between a Gnome and a Troll (hence the name Gnoll!) but the designers abandoned the hybrid idea, and gave it a Hyena-like appearance for unknown reasons.

Additional reading

*Cook, Monte. " [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20020427a D&D Adventures: Black Rain] " (Wizards of the Coast, 2002).

Miniatures

Trolls appear in the D&D Miniatures: Harbinger set #77 (2003).

References

External links

*System Reference Document listing for trolls [http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/troll.htm]
* [http://heroesonly.com/monstrousdb/detail.php?monster=6479 Previous edition statistics]