Trolls of the Great Dungeon

Sir Will Garnfellow runs into the loathsome inhabitants of the Troll Warrens.

“Thin and rubbery, loathsome Trolls are able to regenerate…" —D&D Book II, Monster and Treasures (1974).

Trolls are one of my favorite D&D monsters, going all the way back to my first encounter with the Dungeon! board game. D&D trolls are terrifying creatures with three attacks, no fear of death, and their signature regeneration ability. Although I already have plenty of decent-looking pre-painted plastic miniatures of trolls, the trolls from the Reaper Bones 5: Escape from Pizza Dungeon Kickerstarter looked so good I couldn’t resist dropping them into my painting queue. Three of these trolls appeared in the Bones 5 core set, while a fourth was part of the Dungeon Dwellers expansion pack.

All four models appear to have been sculpted by Jason Wiebe, who did a very similar troll is part of the Trolls expansion pack for the earlier Reaper Bones 4: Mr. Bones EPIC Adventure Kickstarer. I painted all five of these models by first spraying them with Army Painter gray primer, then using the airbrush to base coat them with Army Painter Air Greenskin, which is a pretty bold shade of green. The paint goes on with a slight gloss and it made the models look like plastic toys. Fortunately, a Vallejo umber wash and some drybrushing helped reduce the plasticky look. I used brushes to get the smaller details and then hit all five models with Testor's Dullcote varnish.

Moor Troll (44121) by Jason Wiebe, from the Reaper Bones 4 Trolls expansion pack.

I now have a largish number of green trolls, but one of the nice things about 5e is that it makes it easier to throw larger numbers of monsters at PCs, which was a common peril in earlier editions. In 3e, in contrast, the maximum number of monsters of one type that could be reasonably used in an encounter was twelve or so. More monsters would be hard to run and would indicate that the power disparity between the PCs and monsters was so great that additional numbers wouldn’t result in a very challenging encounter. By flattening the power curve and simplifying monster design, 5e makes it much easier to throw large hordes of opponents against PCs, much like in earlier editions. (And coincidentally justifying the acquisition of yet more miniatures!)

For example, the “Stinking Caverns” encounter area from AD&D Module G3, Hall of the Fire Giant King (1978), consists of three interconnected caves. These areas have 13, 16, and 27 trolls each; the latter total includes a chieftain and his two lieutenants. Such a large encounter would be difficult to run in 1e, but would induce a Sanity check in 3e.

Reaper Bones 5 Loathsome Troll A (1104).

Reaper Bones 5 Loathsome Troll B (1105).

Reaper Bones 5 Loathsome Troll C (1106).

Reaper Bones 5 Dungeon Dwellers Expansion Troll (315).

All five trolls models are really nice sculpts in a variety of poses and were fun to paint. The two trolls with equipment have many fun small details. One has a witch’s cauldron for a helmet, a repurposed grate for a chestplate, and giant turtle shell as a shield. The other uses human-sized barrels for arm bracers, ropes for a belt, and a smaller turtle shell for a codpiece.

Although the appearance of many monsters have evolved greatly over the years, the troll has remained remarkably similar to the Dave Sutherland illustrations from the 1e Monster Manual (1977), which in turn recalls the vivid description in Poul Anderson’s 1961 fantasy novel Three Hearts and Three Lions:

The troll shambled closer. He was perhaps eight feet tall, perhaps more. His forward stoop, with arms dangling past thick claw-footed legs to the ground, made it hard to tell. The hairless green skin moved upon his body. His head was a gash of a mouth, a yard-long nose, and two eyes which were black pools, without pupil or white, eyes which drank the torchlight and never gave back a gleam

Although I like the thought of trolls, like sharks, having black eyes, like doll’s eyes, I found the miniatures weren’t really working without a little white dot in the eye sockets. It’s always amazing to me how much difference that one little touch can make.

Trolls in the Great Dungeon

Trolls have plagued the lands of the North for centuries. Scattered groups of trolls followed the dwarves and giants into the North from their origins in the Far Reaches. Once established they dispersed across the deep forests, bogs, and high mountains of the North, inevitably finding their way to the Great Dungeon.

The Trolls of the Warrens are a chaotic evil faction, a clan of loathsome, hateful giants, led by a great troll chieftainess. The Trolls are aligned with several different factions, including the Aintry Clan, the Plundering Giants, the Rapacious Gnolls, and the Ravenous Troglodytes. Their enemies include the Berserkers and Long Death Hobgoblins. Holdings include the Troll Warrens, their main lair on the 6th Level; the cave of their chieftainess on the 7th Level; and another outpost of the 7th Level.

The Trolls of the Warrens include a number of giant trolls, which appear to be the foul cross of a standard troll and a hill giant. These monsters appear much like green-skinned, pot-bellied hill giants with enormous black eyes.

The following text is Open Game Content.

Giant Troll

Giant Trolls, like their smaller cousins, have no fear of death: they launch themselves into combat without hesitation, flailing wildly at the closest opponent. Even when confronted with fire, they try to get around the flames and attack. Giant trolls usually fight to the death.

Giant Troll

Huge giant, chaotic evil
Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 138 (10d12 + 50)
Speed 40 ft.
Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
20 (+5)	11 (+0)	20 (+5)	6 (-2)	9 (-1)	7 (-2)
Skills Perception +3
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages Giant
Challenge 9 (5,000 XP)
Keen Smell. The giant troll has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
Regeneration. The giant troll regains 10 hit points at the start of its turn. If the giant troll takes acid or fire damage, this trait doesn’t function at the start of the giant troll’s next turn. The giant troll dies only if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and doesn’t regenerate.
Actions
Multiattack. The giant troll makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 5) piercing damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (3d6 + 5) slashing damage.
Rock. Ranged Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, range 60/240 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d10 + 5) bludgeoning damage.

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