Introduction
James: Mutant Runt
Freeman: Skraggly
Source: Bestiary 1 pg. 314, Bestiary 2 pgs. 264-265
Reading List:
Pathfinder Lore
Appearance
· 12 to 16 feet tall, gangly, green-skinned and maned, with massive slobbering fanged jaws and vicious claws.
· What more do you need?
· How about a slighter frame at 11 feet tall, 900 pounds (408 kg), adorned with trophies bone and flayed hide, rime-stained claws and hoarfrost teeth?
· “sickly, cracked flesh of icy, cerulean pallor”
· Or….14 feet tall, 2,000 pounds (907kg) with flinty skin covered in minerals and crystals, iron-sharp claws with mouths replete with crystalline fangs?
We gonna cover all tree with the classic Troll, Frost Troll and Cavern Troll!
General Troll Ecology
· The common troll is considered to be a dim-witted creature, generally stalking the outskirts for civilization.
· They tend to rely on their incredible strength to overpower their foes with brute force and aggression. However, they hunch for both comfort and to cleverly lull their foes into a false sense of security (perhaps their only clever trait…or maybe just dumb luck).
· They are endlessly hungry (hence the aggression…imagine being hangry all the time!). They will eat any manner of living creature, and their constant feasting has led to infamy.
o Said infamy also includes the legends of its regenerative abilities.
· The common tale of the troll describes them thusly: Slavering, cruel and invincible.
· However, this doesn’t even do justice to the capacity for destruction.
· As capable of bloodthirst as Orcs [FI1] but completely lacking in discipline, combine that with being the same size as giants and their regenerative abilities rebinding wounded flesh on the spot, and considered nearly as reprobate[FI2] as Ogres but with double the strength.
· Direct Quote: “The only way to really understand the wanton violence of a troll is to experience it firsthand—a fate few would wish even upon their worst enemies.”
· I’m quoting this because it specifically makes me think about that the one time a troll came up in any of our 2e play….you found a diplomatic solution….
· WHERE DID I GO WRONG?!
· As the lore reads, it sorta repeatedly implies that what a troll is, what it can and will do, and how to stop it (if you can) is common knowledge.
· This is important for reasons we’ll explore in the stat block.
· Expecting violence is one thing, but the regeneration is another.
· It is known that acid or fire can stop the regeneration, but simply slaying it with a flaming weapon or a flask of acid is not enough.
· Even the smallest scrap left behind can regenerate into a full grown troll given enough time.
o You gotta BURN IT ALL.
· They are known to be solitary hunters (probably tend to eat each other), even other giant related creatures what nothing to do with them.
· On occasion they’ll wander in groups of two to four, but only when there’s plenty of food, or if they have crossed territories with a particular powerful common enemy.
· In very rare cases an old and powerful troll will come to lead a small tribe. These are known as “Troll Kings” (which we will cover in Part 2) and have managed enough cunning to lead their followers into brutal raids and massacres.
· The presence of such a group I bound to permanently alter any ecosystem it marches through.
· The common troll is but one creature though, and there are a number of varieties that exist out there.
· Regional types like the mountain trolls or moss trolls in swamps or marshes., and even water-dwelling trolls known as Skrags or hybrid Flood trolls.
Frost Troll Ecology
· No less nightmarish than the common troll is the Frost Troll.
· And probably because they come with a little more cunning than the average.
· They often hunt in packs of three. One will attack openly and aggressively, while the other lay in wait to suss out any weakness and then move in for the kill.
· They prefer the taste of human flesh (CLASSIC) and will adjust their hunting grounds accordingly.
Cavern Troll Ecology
· Wouldn’t you know it…these guys live underground and travel the Darklands!
· While they still prefer living creatures, they have no problem just eating rocks and minerals to get by.
· They very rarely venture to the surface world. They are nearly as sensitive to the sun as red-headed Irishman (Conan O’Brian).
· No but for real…the sun can petrify them.
· Unlike their kin they don’t share a weakness to fire and it doesn’t affect their regeneration.
· However, their crystalline makeup adds sonic damage to the mix as an alternative.
Sidebar
· Should a troll manage to become “devout”, they may become what is known as an Augur. (CONTENT WARNING: GOREY IMAGE)
· They said to have the “gift of sight” which they believe is given to them by a demon lord known as Urxehl (demon lord of storms & disasters, no 2e entry yet).
· They practice a super-macabre future-telling where they (or another troll) slash open their own abdomen and read signs and prophecies in the literal quivering of their own entrails.
· Others present for the ritual will prod and poke at the troll that cut itself in order to keep it conscious throughout.
· The blood of trolls is considered quite valuable (no surprise there really).
· While generally thought to be nothing special beyond having a vibrant hue, in the right hands and using the right applications, impressive things have been produced.
· Such as oils that restore lost limbs, potions that grant supernatural strength, or even smoke bombs that cause anyone inhaling it to fly into an unstoppable rage.
· (No particular items were listed).
· Historically Frost Trolls were known to isolated to the Saga Lands in the Northwestern reaches of Avistan. But they have been sighted in more temperate regions across Golarion. And some while no one knows why, there are suspicions they are being driven from their homelands by demonic machinations.
· Cavern Trolls share their voracious appetites and munchies for minerals and gems with the famous Xorn.
· Should they encounter each other…it’s a frenzy of aggression and feasting occurs until only one side remains.
· Cavern trolls that consume a “critical mass[FI3] ” of xorns can actually gain a tremorsense ability and become ruling monarchs over their kin in the Darklands.
1e Common Troll
· Males were 8 feet tall at about 300 pounds. Females were larger at 10-12 feet tall and 500 pounds.
· Females were darker shades of green than Males.
· Females raise the young (after driving away the male mate, who would eat the young).
· Females would also live in family groups.
· They also cast out or killed those showed weakness (killing was usually by drowning or starvation[FI4] ).
· Males were the solitary hunters.
· Obviously 2e has made this less gender specific but it’s hard to dislike the ecology if it.
· Urxehl, the demon lord of storms and disasters (and worshiped by trolls as their patron), loved to toy with trolls by sending groups of ogres or humans after them.
· Or storms even…and worst yet forest fires….
1e Ice Troll
· A.k.a. Frost Troll, of course.
· Particularly common in Irrisen where they served the White Witches as enforcers.
· Ice Trolls were even granted control of an entire district in the capital of Whitethrone
· They were still considered more cunning, and known for using weapons and armor.
· But they also known for abandoning their weapons for the “sheer joy of tearing an opponent to pieces with their own claws”.
· Sharing the 2e love for human flesh…they would sometimes capture humans and fatten them up to make a better meal for later.
· Ice Trolls were sometimes known to keep Winter Wolves as pets (though they were terribly abused), and their own regeneration was what allowed them to survive the regular bites and frost breaths.
· (This also came up under Common Trolls, but it made more sense here.)
· It was apparently common to find Ice Trolls working alongside Ice Giants.
· No more was specified, and this is in contrast to the 2e lore of giants of any kind avoiding trolls like the plague.
· Ice/Frost Trolls in 1e seem to have been made out to much more civilized (or at least reasonable) than in 2e.
1e Rock Troll
· A.k.a. Cavern troll, of course.
· Pretty everything on their wiki and in the Bestiary is shared with the 2e Cavern troll entry.
· 16 ft. tall 1200 lbs
· However, on the Common troll page of the wiki, the “Rock” Troll is referred too as “alchemically enhanced” alongside the “thin, plant-like moss troll”.
· Reference is Classic Monsters Revisited by James Jacobs, 2008.
§ Paizo…maybe reduce your legacy PDF pricing? Still $15.99 USD.
1e Mountain Troll
· Not inherently evil. But still grotesque and prone to fits of violence.
· Knuckle around like gorilla in shallow ravines.
· When they rear up, they get to about 30ft. tall.
· Known to have a connection to the First World akin to Gnomes.
· Sometimes gave advice or directions to travelers so long as they are treated with respect.
· Other trolls sometimes take advantage of their generosity while sheltering in their homes…but are careful since these guys are muuuuch larger.
· That’s it. Reference is Lands of the Linnorm Kings.
1e Moss Troll
· Thinner, smaller and gangly AF.
· 9ft tall, about 550 lbs.
· Moss and mold grows on its skin
· Hangs out in the trees and attacks from above (usually without care of the height).
· Can even just reach down a lot of the time because of the length of it’s limbs.
· Predictably fears fire, but acid has no special effect on its regeneration.
1e Sewer Troll
· Smaller and lankier
· About 200 lbs. and 6 feet tall.
· Their eyes would absorb ambient light and be damage by it.
· But their regeneration would kick in and then their eyes would start to glow during this continual process.
1e Skrag & Flood Troll
· Skrags were an aquatic troll with distant relations to the Mountain Troll.
· Swim speed, amphibious trait and regeneration only worked when in contact with water.
· They would have litters of two to six offspring and one would often be a mutant runt called a aruk-taii (half-skrag).
· These runts would live in the shadows of their siblings unless the rare time there were twin runts. These were seen as omens of storms and floods and thus pampered by their mother.
· These “runts” were still 7ft. tall and about 250 lbs.
1e Chimney Troll
· Urban-dwelling trolls. They could not regenerate normally, instead consumed fire instead of being weak to it. This was their only way to heal their wounds.
· So they stalk rooftops, hide in chimneys and suck up the flames in fireplaces.
1e Troggle
· A Half-ogre half-troll.
· Barely more intelligent than your average animal.
· Tend to kill on sight, but had a natural aptitude for hunting and tracking.
· Ogres found them useful as hunting pets and sometimes outfitted them with weapons and armor.
1e Canopy Troll
· Smaller in size at 3 ft. tall, but still 150lbs.
· Big ol’ tusks and claws.
· Hands were the normal Troll size.
· Prehensile tails double the length of their body and with a venomous stinger
Spark Troll (2e PFS Season 2)
· Tiny creature with affinity for electricity.
· Horned with long barbed tongues.
· Connected to Fiends in the abyss.
· Had limited flight capacity.
Mechanics
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