Week of Trolls - Day Four - Ethnic Diversity

As pointed out on the wikipedia Troll (Dungeons and Dragons) page, there are a large number of variant trolls. Here is a partial list.

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 pseudo-natural 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.

While these trolls are certainly a good coverage it has come to my attention that there currently at least two subtypes of trolls missing. The Cloud Troll, and the Trider.

The Cloud Troll is a creature specially bred by magical means by Ogre Magi serving Vaprak. They were intended, originally, to wage ware against the holdings of Cloud Giants, and have several abilities that mimic a cloud giant. It is reported that Cloud Trolls have a natural affinity for a special breed of giant wyverns (known simply as flying wyrms), and have been known to use them as mounts. Cloud Trolls use weapons and armor, and so are definitely among the more advanced subspecies (see the article on Trolls and Technology).

Cloud Troll
NO. ENCOUNTERED: 1, 2-7
SIZE: Large
HD: 9(d8)
MOVE: 40 ft.
AC: 17
ATTACKS: Bite (2d6), Weapon (+4 str dam)
SPECIAL: Fog, Mist, Levitate, Dark Vision 60 ft., Regeneration
SAVES: P
INT: Ave.
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Evil
TYPE: Giant
TREASURE: 7
XP:

The Cloud Troll is encountered singularly if by random encounter or in a dungeon or wilderness setting. If encountered in a cloud realm, then there will be a group of 2-7 (1d6+1) on a mission against a particular cloud giant. In such a case, one of the cloud trolls will be a leader, with 11hd(d8) and spell caster ability as a level 4 cleric. In all cases, the cloud giant is almost always (75%) accompanied by his flying wyrm.
Combat: The Cloud Troll will prefer to fight with weapons, if available. He will employ either a great sword and shield (the great sword does 2d8dam +4 for STR; speed factor 8), and the shield will add +2 to the AC of the Cloud Troll. In certain circumstances, a great club will be substituted, but it is a two handed weapon (3d6 dam +4 for STR; speed factor 10).
Fog: The Cloud Troll can create a fog cloud as a 9th level Wizard casting the 2nd level Wizard spell. Usable 1x per day.
Mist: The Cloud Troll can create an obscuring mist as a 9th level Druid casting the 1st level Druid spell. Usable 3x per day.
Levitate: The Cloud Troll can levitate as a 9th level Wizard casting the 2nd level Wizard spell. Usable 3x per day.
Regeneration: The Cloud Troll regenerates as does his earthly cousins. 2HP regenerated per round. Damage suffered from fire or acid cannot be regenerated. The Cloud Troll that falls in combat, will reform 3d6 rounds later.

The Trider, on the other hand, is the results of an effort at deliberate cross-breeding (with the assistance of dark magic, etc). It seems that a renegade enclave of Drow Elves, tired of being on the losing end of things with aggressive neighbors. So, in the meantime, it seemed like it was a good idea to pump things up. This was done by taking the magical constructs known as Driders (part giant spider, part male drow elf), and cross-mixing it with the brutish Troll. The result is a large, barbaric, troll-spider hybrid, that has a number of unusual abilities of regeneration, and phasing through stone structures.

Trider
NO. ENCOUNTERED: 1, 1-4
SIZE: Large
HD: 8(d8)
MOVE: 30 ft., 15ft. (climb)
AC: 18
ATTACKS: Bite (2d6), 2 Claws (2d4) or Weapon (+4 str dam)
SPECIAL: Web, Poison, Dark Vision 60 ft., Regeneration, SR3
SAVES: P
INT: Low
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Evil
TYPE: Aberration
TREASURE: 6
XP:
The Trider is a creature arising from magical manipulation of a troll and a giant spider. It appears as the upper torso of a troll (green, lanky, rubbery skin, etc.) attached to the body of a very big spider. The creature was originally created by renegade dark elves to counter driders, but some have escaped and now live on their own. They may be encountered singly or in small hunting groups. They will sometimes be accompanied by (50%) troll spiders (1d3 per trider), (30%) trolls (1-4) or (10%) dark elves (2-12 per trider).
Combat: The Trider will sometimes (50%) fight with weapons (favoring a great trident, 2d8dam +4 from STR; speed factor 10), or with his claws. Both bite and claw can deliver poison (see below). Triders fighting with weapons will usually wear bits of armor as well, giving a +2 to AC.
Web: The Trider is able to create a web as per the Web spell, 3x per day.
Poison: Whenever a successful Trider bite or claw attack is made, the victim must make a constitution save. If the save is successful, the victim is temporarily paralyzed for 1-2 rounds. If the save is failed, then the victim is paralyzed for 4d6 rounds, and takes 2d6 damage.
Regeneration: The Trider regenerates in a manner similar to Trolls. The Trider regenerates 4HP per round. If the Trider is slain, but not by flame or acid, then it reforms in 3d6 rounds.

Note that the statistics on both the Flying Wyrm and the Troll Spider appear in a supplemental posting.

Tags: trolls