Dark Troll (PE inspired) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Dark Troll (PE inspired) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Lusiphur
01-08-05, 11:46 PM This is a creature that I am creating for my campaign world. They are the second race created by the Gods. They are inspired slightly by the dark trolls from the Poison Elves series (for those of you who are fans, i KNOW my name is spelled incorrectly, it was late, i was tired, ive regretted it ever since lol)

Anyway, i need to figure out the challenge rating on these. Obviously they are going to be very high, but thats okay because they are supposed to be extinct and the PCs would only run into them in a very high level campaign.

Dark Troll
Huge Giant
Hit Dice: 21d8+189 (283 hp)
Initiative: +2 (Dex)
Speed: 60 ft.
AC: 27 (-2 Size, +2 Dex, +5 Chain, +12 Natural)
Attacks: Colossal Greataxe +28/+23/+18/+13 or 2 Claws +23 and Bite +28
Damage: Greataxe 4d8+15, Claws 2d8+15 and Bite 2d6+15
Face/Reach: 10 ft. by 10 ft./15 ft.
Special Attacks: None
Special Qualities: Darkvision 120 ft., Regeneration 20, Scent, Soul Bound, SR 31, Sterile, Troll Consumption, Troll Generation
Saves: Fort +21, Ref +8, Will +7
Abilities: Str 40, Dex 14, Con 28, Int 11, Wis 13, Cha 9
Skills: Intimidate +10, Listen +7, Spot +7
Feats: Power Attack, Cleave, Great Cleave

Climate/Terrain: Any
Organization: Solitary, Gang (2-4), Band (5-10)
Challenge Rating: ???
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Always Chaotic Evil
Advancement: By character class

Towering 20 to 25 feet tall, the Dark Trolls are a race of pure evil. Originally created by the Gods in an attempt to recreate their success with the Elrigar, they are the second race to touch the soil of the earth. Twisted abominations, horned and fanged, evil to the core, they were considered a total failure. The Gods of good saw them for the evil they were and attempted to destroy them, but they were saved by the Greater God of Evil, Koldoth. Koldoth saw them as a useful tool to be used in the future, and sent them to live deep within the earth in caverns kept hidden from the other Gods of the Pantheon. There they developed a twisted culture and began to amass a population and society as great as the Elrigar.

The Dark God Koldoth caught word of a plot inwhich the Lesser Gods of Good planned to eradicate the Dark Trolls. They had exacted the location of the hidden city through powerful forms of scrying. Before the eradication of the Dark Trolls could take place, Koldoth stole an Elrigar child and used it in a horrific ceremony, binding the souls of the Dark Trolls to those of the Elrigar. To halt the creation of more of these evil creatures, the Gods of Good had to also halt the procreation of their beloved Elrigar. They used powerful magic to make all Elrigar and Dark Trolls sterile.

Combat
Dark Trolls lust for combat, and attack in a frenzied manor. They rarely rely on advanced tactics, but will follow them if commanded by a leader of considerably higher power. They prefer to attack outright, plowing through the masses with their gargantuan weapons.
Regeneration: Fire and acid deal normal damage to a troll.
Soul Bound: Each Dark Troll’s soul is bound to the soul of an Elrigar. If the Troll dies, the bound Elrigar falls as well, and vise-versa.
Troll Consumption: Dark Trolls may, as a full round action, grab a regular Troll that is within reach and devour it. No check is required, it merely grabs and eats. This heals the Dark Troll a number of hit points equal to ½ the devoured Trolls current hit point total. This may never inrcrease the Dark Trolls hit point total beyond its maximum.
Troll Generation: To combat the sterility curse, Koldoth gave them a new form of reproduction, but the result was considerably less powerful. If a Dark Troll takes 10 or more points of damage in a single blow, the pool of blood caused by the wound begins forming a new Troll (As per Monster Manual.) Within 1d6 rounds, the blood has formed into a full regular Troll with 50% of full hit points. These Trolls are immune to all physical damage until they have fully formed at the end of the 1d6 rounds. Magic attacks deal 50% damage to unformed Trolls. One pool of blood will never form more than one Troll (i.e.- a single blow dealing 45 points of damage still only yields one troll) but each attack effectively forms a new pool for the purposes of this ability.

There you have it. The only things i emulated from Poison Elves are the appearance (mine are bigger however) and the Troll Generation ability (but mine grow regular trolls, in the comic they grow full-sized Dark Trolls, of whom generate thier own when bled, and so on and so forth) so you can see why i went with regular trolls :D

Suggestions for CR would be most appreciated. Thanks.
Aranamarunda
01-09-05, 07:15 AM I like it very much! But besides the issue of CR, I have one main problem with this fellow left... Or two...

Let's start with the first one: It is so easy to dominate this monster, or charm it, atleast, something that lets it use its will save, that he wouldn't be a big thread when it comes to that part. This is mainly due to the rest of it's CR calculation, or, rather, guessing. As a brute force, he will bang through every stoneskin in... well, that depends on the caster of the stoneskin, but rather quickly. The main concern here, is offcourse, the extra damage. A tenth level character has an ac of about 25 to 30, so, that means he hits quite regularly with atleast his 1st three attacks, when determining the CR should be about 12, so that is to low. Maybe around 15? But then we copme back to the Will save. A caster should be abkle to cast a 6th level spell, and having a main ab mod of about 4 to five, the save would be around 20, which is a major drawback for the Troll. The SR might be the last thing to stand between this, but it may be overcome about half of the time.... Mmm... that isn't so bad. Drop the damage a wee bit, make it CR 14, and it will do, I guess :D

The second thing I want to discuss, is the Consumption and Generation ability. It says it add these hp, but doesn't say when he looses them again. In an hour? Like is quite common? Or even after a day? When he spawns a Troll, the Troll will have 31 hp, 6 rounds later, this will be 61. On avg, it will take the troll 10 rounds to gain full hp. Now, when he is consumed, he will give the Dark Troll back 31 hp. A troll may now eat about 300 Trolls in an hour, and gain about 9300 hp in the process, whil loosing 3000. Which will give him a surpluss of 6100 hp! A dark troll with a bit of experience in this, will know how to wound himself exactly as much as is needed to spawn a new troll. Since it has reg, it will not really matter if it dies after the terroible fight form massive damage, cause he will regenerate to above zero afterwards.
Lusiphur
01-09-05, 12:55 PM First and foremost, thanks! im glad you like it :D

the damage i listed follows the progression for larger sized weapons, so it technically should do this much, plus the bonus for his strength. I originally figured this would be at least a CR 15, so instead of lowering damage, i think id rather take care of the charm monster thing and other weaknesses.

I think i might raise the spell resistance,since in i feel that it would fit the their backround and role in the campaign. Would this take care of the problem? Its 31 as it stands now, should I raise it to 36? I came to the original number by figuring 10+HD, changing it to 36 would mean 15+HD, which might make more sense because I am almost done writing the counterpart race, the Elrigar, and they get SR 15+HD... just realized the difference I had made. :D

also, my apologies for the generation/consumption ability. I wrote that incorrectly. The trolls do not give temporary HP, they merely heal wounds. This may never increase beyond Max HP. I hope that clears the ability up, ill go back and change that in the original post.

You originally said 15, then 14 if I dropped the damage, which makes me feel good because 15 is kinda what I figured. Maybe with higher spell resistance I should go 16?

[EDIT:] I forgot to say that the regeneration is negated by fire and acid attacks as per regular trolls. Ill add that also.

Thanks again for the input. Keep it comin'! :D
Lusiphur
01-11-05, 11:00 AM :bump: 50 views and only one person has responded.... idont know if thats good or bad.

you should reapond, because each time you do, WoTC donates 15 cents to help save underpriviledged chickens. Thats right, all you have to do is comment and you can give these little guys a chance for a better life. School books, clothing, chicken feed, and most importantly, the knowledge that a gamer, halfway across the world, loves them enough to post.

Please,, think of the chickens. :chicken:

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lusiphur 01-08-05, 11:46 PM	This is a creature that I am creating for my campaign world. They are the second race created by the Gods. They are inspired slightly by the dark trolls from the Poison Elves series (for those of you who are fans, i KNOW my name is spelled incorrectly, it was late, i was tired, ive regretted it ever since lol) Anyway, i need to figure out the challenge rating on these. Obviously they are going to be very high, but thats okay because they are supposed to be extinct and the PCs would only run into them in a very high level campaign. Dark Troll Huge Giant Hit Dice: 21d8+189 (283 hp) Initiative: +2 (Dex) Speed: 60 ft. AC: 27 (-2 Size, +2 Dex, +5 Chain, +12 Natural) Attacks: Colossal Greataxe +28/+23/+18/+13 or 2 Claws +23 and Bite +28 Damage: Greataxe 4d8+15, Claws 2d8+15 and Bite 2d6+15 Face/Reach: 10 ft. by 10 ft./15 ft. Special Attacks: None Special Qualities: Darkvision 120 ft., Regeneration 20, Scent, Soul Bound, SR 31, Sterile, Troll Consumption, Troll Generation Saves: Fort +21, Ref +8, Will +7 Abilities: Str 40, Dex 14, Con 28, Int 11, Wis 13, Cha 9 Skills: Intimidate +10, Listen +7, Spot +7 Feats: Power Attack, Cleave, Great Cleave Climate/Terrain: Any Organization: Solitary, Gang (2-4), Band (5-10) Challenge Rating: ??? Treasure: Standard Alignment: Always Chaotic Evil Advancement: By character class Towering 20 to 25 feet tall, the Dark Trolls are a race of pure evil. Originally created by the Gods in an attempt to recreate their success with the Elrigar, they are the second race to touch the soil of the earth. Twisted abominations, horned and fanged, evil to the core, they were considered a total failure. The Gods of good saw them for the evil they were and attempted to destroy them, but they were saved by the Greater God of Evil, Koldoth. Koldoth saw them as a useful tool to be used in the future, and sent them to live deep within the earth in caverns kept hidden from the other Gods of the Pantheon. There they developed a twisted culture and began to amass a population and society as great as the Elrigar. The Dark God Koldoth caught word of a plot inwhich the Lesser Gods of Good planned to eradicate the Dark Trolls. They had exacted the location of the hidden city through powerful forms of scrying. Before the eradication of the Dark Trolls could take place, Koldoth stole an Elrigar child and used it in a horrific ceremony, binding the souls of the Dark Trolls to those of the Elrigar. To halt the creation of more of these evil creatures, the Gods of Good had to also halt the procreation of their beloved Elrigar. They used powerful magic to make all Elrigar and Dark Trolls sterile. Combat Dark Trolls lust for combat, and attack in a frenzied manor. They rarely rely on advanced tactics, but will follow them if commanded by a leader of considerably higher power. They prefer to attack outright, plowing through the masses with their gargantuan weapons. Regeneration: Fire and acid deal normal damage to a troll. Soul Bound: Each Dark Troll’s soul is bound to the soul of an Elrigar. If the Troll dies, the bound Elrigar falls as well, and vise-versa. Troll Consumption: Dark Trolls may, as a full round action, grab a regular Troll that is within reach and devour it. No check is required, it merely grabs and eats. This heals the Dark Troll a number of hit points equal to ½ the devoured Trolls current hit point total. This may never inrcrease the Dark Trolls hit point total beyond its maximum. Troll Generation: To combat the sterility curse, Koldoth gave them a new form of reproduction, but the result was considerably less powerful. If a Dark Troll takes 10 or more points of damage in a single blow, the pool of blood caused by the wound begins forming a new Troll (As per Monster Manual.) Within 1d6 rounds, the blood has formed into a full regular Troll with 50% of full hit points. These Trolls are immune to all physical damage until they have fully formed at the end of the 1d6 rounds. Magic attacks deal 50% damage to unformed Trolls. One pool of blood will never form more than one Troll (i.e.- a single blow dealing 45 points of damage still only yields one troll) but each attack effectively forms a new pool for the purposes of this ability. There you have it. The only things i emulated from Poison Elves are the appearance (mine are bigger however) and the Troll Generation ability (but mine grow regular trolls, in the comic they grow full-sized Dark Trolls, of whom generate thier own when bled, and so on and so forth) so you can see why i went with regular trolls :D Suggestions for CR would be most appreciated. Thanks.
Aranamarunda 01-09-05, 07:15 AM	I like it very much! But besides the issue of CR, I have one main problem with this fellow left... Or two... Let's start with the first one: It is so easy to dominate this monster, or charm it, atleast, something that lets it use its will save, that he wouldn't be a big thread when it comes to that part. This is mainly due to the rest of it's CR calculation, or, rather, guessing. As a brute force, he will bang through every stoneskin in... well, that depends on the caster of the stoneskin, but rather quickly. The main concern here, is offcourse, the extra damage. A tenth level character has an ac of about 25 to 30, so, that means he hits quite regularly with atleast his 1st three attacks, when determining the CR should be about 12, so that is to low. Maybe around 15? But then we copme back to the Will save. A caster should be abkle to cast a 6th level spell, and having a main ab mod of about 4 to five, the save would be around 20, which is a major drawback for the Troll. The SR might be the last thing to stand between this, but it may be overcome about half of the time.... Mmm... that isn't so bad. Drop the damage a wee bit, make it CR 14, and it will do, I guess :D The second thing I want to discuss, is the Consumption and Generation ability. It says it add these hp, but doesn't say when he looses them again. In an hour? Like is quite common? Or even after a day? When he spawns a Troll, the Troll will have 31 hp, 6 rounds later, this will be 61. On avg, it will take the troll 10 rounds to gain full hp. Now, when he is consumed, he will give the Dark Troll back 31 hp. A troll may now eat about 300 Trolls in an hour, and gain about 9300 hp in the process, whil loosing 3000. Which will give him a surpluss of 6100 hp! A dark troll with a bit of experience in this, will know how to wound himself exactly as much as is needed to spawn a new troll. Since it has reg, it will not really matter if it dies after the terroible fight form massive damage, cause he will regenerate to above zero afterwards.
Lusiphur 01-09-05, 12:55 PM	First and foremost, thanks! im glad you like it :D the damage i listed follows the progression for larger sized weapons, so it technically should do this much, plus the bonus for his strength. I originally figured this would be at least a CR 15, so instead of lowering damage, i think id rather take care of the charm monster thing and other weaknesses. I think i might raise the spell resistance,since in i feel that it would fit the their backround and role in the campaign. Would this take care of the problem? Its 31 as it stands now, should I raise it to 36? I came to the original number by figuring 10+HD, changing it to 36 would mean 15+HD, which might make more sense because I am almost done writing the counterpart race, the Elrigar, and they get SR 15+HD... just realized the difference I had made. :D also, my apologies for the generation/consumption ability. I wrote that incorrectly. The trolls do not give temporary HP, they merely heal wounds. This may never increase beyond Max HP. I hope that clears the ability up, ill go back and change that in the original post. You originally said 15, then 14 if I dropped the damage, which makes me feel good because 15 is kinda what I figured. Maybe with higher spell resistance I should go 16? [EDIT:] I forgot to say that the regeneration is negated by fire and acid attacks as per regular trolls. Ill add that also. Thanks again for the input. Keep it comin'! :D
Lusiphur 01-11-05, 11:00 AM	:bump: 50 views and only one person has responded.... idont know if thats good or bad. you should reapond, because each time you do, WoTC donates 15 cents to help save underpriviledged chickens. Thats right, all you have to do is comment and you can give these little guys a chance for a better life. School books, clothing, chicken feed, and most importantly, the knowledge that a gamer, halfway across the world, loves them enough to post. Please,, think of the chickens. :chicken: