Trolls

Ravenous trolls rampage through the wild to quell their fathomless hunger, leaving only destruction in their wake. Tall and gangly, they have mottled green skin covered by a mane of matted hair that runs down their neck and back. In many ways, they resemble massive humanoids, but their exaggerated features belie this comparison. A troll's lower jaw hangs unhinged and distended, and their long arms end in claws that drag along the ground as they walk.

Hypermetabolism

A troll's constant hunger and aggression beget a life of violence. Like a grotesque miracle, they quickly assimilate consumed flesh into themselves to regenerate their body. Some scholars think this extreme metabolic process is the source of their hunger, but none know for certain which came first.

Phases of Destruction

Fortunately for the ecosystems they inhabit, trolls can't be active all the time. Their natural behavior is to hunt relentlessly for a few days, then return to their dens to rest for as much as a week. Patient troll hunters can wait for this torpor and catch their quarry by surprise—though the cost of waiting can be high thanks to the damage a troll might do in the meantime.

Strange Mutations

Trolls prefer to prey upon humanoids and animals, but stories tell of them feeding on fetid demons and undead, assimilating those creatures' flesh to magnificent and horrifying effect. A troll with loose hanging skin, curling nails, or exposed bone might be in better health than their appearance would suggest.

Limbjumbles

When a suitably large piece of a troll is torn off in battle, it does its very best to keep on living. Deep-seated survival instinct goes into overdrive, causing the detached piece to sprout unthinkable assortments of malformed arms and legs. Though these limbjumbles are ultimately short-lived, they can often be found tumbling awkwardly behind living trolls.

Mutating Your Trolls

At the Director's discretion, a troll can mutate after consuming the flesh of any creature and gain some of their damage immunities, traits, abilities, and movement options. For instance, a troll who devours the carcass of a dead draconian might grow wings and gain their signature ability!

Be aware that this can increase the difficulty category of an encounter while one or more of these mutated trolls are present—especially if their mutations enable them to deal more damage than normal or grant them an acid or fire damage immunity.

Troll Languages

Most trolls speak High Kuric or Variac, while a few also know Caelian. Trolls are notably difficult to negotiate with unless heroes can provide more appetizing food than themselves.

Troll Malice (Malice Features)

At the start of any troll's turn, you can spend Malice to activate one of the following features.

🔳 Foul Spew (3 Malice)

One troll acting this turn spews out a half-digested meal in a 5 x 1 line within 1 square of them. Each troll in the area regains 3 Stamina. Each enemy in the area makes a Might test.

• ≤11: 12 acid damage; dazed (EoT)
• 12-16: 10 acid damage; weakened (EoT)
• 17+: 6 acid damage

🗡 Emergency Meal (5 Malice)

Each troll in the encounter can make a free strike against a creature adjacent to them, and regains Stamina equal to the damage dealt.

❇️ Bloody Banquet (7 Malice)

Each winded troll in the encounter disgorges the contents of their stomach onto the ground around them, creating a 1 burst of foul vomitus that lasts until the end of the encounter. Each non-troll who enters this area for the first time in a round or starts their turn there takes 5 acid damage. Each troll in the area has a double edge on power rolls.

Troll Limbjumble

🗡 Arm and a Leg (Signature Ability)

Melee, Strike, Weapon	Main action
📏 Melee 1	🎯 One creature or object per minion

Power Roll + 3:

• ≤11: 3 damage; A < 2 prone
• 12-16: 5 damage; A < 3 prone
• 17+: 6 damage; prone

Effect: If a target made prone this way is already prone, they are grabbed instead.

⭐️ Hyper-Regeneration

At the start of each of the limbjumble's squad's turns, the squad's Stamina pool increases as if each limbjumble were at full Stamina.

Troll Whelp

🗡 Jaws and Claws (Signature Ability)

Melee, Strike, Weapon	Main action
📏 Melee 1	🎯 One creature or object per minion

Power Roll + 3:

• ≤11: 3 damage
• 12-16: 6 damage; slide 1
• 17+: 7 damage; slide 2; M < 2 bleeding (save ends)

⭐️ Lingering Hunger

Whenever two or more whelps are simultaneously reduced to 0 Stamina by damage that isn't acid or fire damage, half of those whelps become troll limbjumbles with 4 Stamina.

Troll Butcher

🗡 Savoring Bite (Signature Ability)

Melee, Strike, Weapon	Main action
📏 Melee 1	🎯 Two creatures or objects

Power Roll + 3:

• ≤11: 9 damage; M < 1 bleeding (save ends)
• 12-16: 14 damage; M < 2 bleeding (save ends)
• 17+: 17 damage; M < 3 bleeding (save ends)

1 Malice: The butcher regains Stamina equal to the damage dealt.

🔳 Rotten Scraps

Area, Ranged	Main action
📏 3 cube within 10	🎯 Each creature in the area

Power Roll + 3:

• ≤11: 5 poison damage; M < 1 weakened (save ends)
• 12-16: 9 poison damage; M < 2 weakened (save ends)
• 17+: 11 poison damage; M < 3 weakened (save ends)

Effect: Each troll in the area ignores the damage and instead regains 3 Stamina.

👤 Gourmet Flesh (2 Malice)

-	Maneuver
📏 Self	🎯 Self

Effect: The butcher enhances their next use of Savoring Bite, changing the damage type and condition imposed to one of the following pairs: corruption damage and dazed, acid damage and restrained, or lightning damage and frightened.

❗️ Acquired Taste

Melee	Triggered action
📏 Melee 1	🎯 The triggering creature

Trigger: A creature within distance deals damage to the butcher with an ability that gains an edge, has a double edge, or uses a surge.

Effect: The butcher makes a free strike against the target. Until the end of their next turn, the butcher gains an edge on power rolls and deals an extra 3 damage with strikes.

⭐️ Bloody Feast

Each ally within 5 squares of the butcher gains an edge on power rolls against any enemy affected by a condition.

⭐️ Relentless Hunger

The butcher dies only if they are reduced to 0 Stamina by acid or fire damage, if they end their turn with 0 Stamina, or if they take acid or fire damage while at 0 Stamina.

Troll Glutton

🗡 Voracious Mastication (Signature Ability)

Melee, Strike, Weapon	Main action
📏 Melee 1	🎯 Two creatures or objects

Power Roll + 3:

• ≤11: 10 damage
• 12-16: 15 damage; M < 2 slowed (save ends)
• 17+: 18 damage; M < 3 slowed (save ends)

1 Malice: The glutton regains Stamina equal to the damage dealt.

👤 Crash Through (3 Malice)

-	Main action
📏 Self	🎯 Self

Effect: The glutton shifts up to their speed in a straight line, ignoring difficult terrain. The first time during this movement that the glutton moves through the space of a creature or object their size or smaller, that creature or object takes 10 damage, or a creature can choose to fall prone instead. If the glutton moves into a creature or object larger than them and doesn't knock the creature prone or destroy the object, the glutton's movement ends and they are dazed until the end of their next turn.

👤 Food Frenzy

-	Maneuver
📏 Self	🎯 Self

Effect: Until the start of their next turn, the glutton has a double edge on strikes, and strikes made against them gain an edge.

❗️ Spiteful Retort (1 Malice)

Melee	Free triggered action
📏 Melee 1	🎯 The triggering creature

Trigger: The glutton is reduced to 0 Stamina but doesn't die.

Effect: The glutton uses Voracious Mastication against an adjacent creature.

⭐️ Insatiable Appetite

Once per turn, the glutton can use the Charge main actionas a free maneuver if they target a winded creature.

⭐️ Relentless Hunger

The glutton dies only if they are reduced to 0 Stamina by acid or fire damage, if they end their turn with 0 Stamina, or if they take acid or fire damage while at 0 Stamina.

Troll Crack Trooper

🗡 Charging Chomp (Signature Ability)

Charge, Melee, Strike, Weapon	Main action
📏 Melee 1	🎯 One creature or object per minion

Power Roll + 4:

• ≤11: 5 damage; push 2
• 12-16: 7 damage; push 3; A < 3 3 damage
• 17+: 9 damage; push 4; A < 4 5 damage

Effect: The crack trooper's squad's Stamina pool regains Stamina equal to half the damage dealt.

⭐️ Group Appetite

The crack trooper dies only if their squad's Stamina pool is reduced to 0 Stamina by acid or fire damage, if they end their turn with 0 Stamina in their squad's Stamina pool, or if they take acid or fire damage while their squad's Stamina pool is at 0 Stamina.

Troll Ravager

🗡 Dine and Dash (Signature Ability)

Melee, Strike, Weapon	Main action
📏 Melee 1	🎯 One creature or object per minion

Power Roll + 4:

• ≤11: 4 damage; the ravager can shift 1 square
• 12-16: 6 damage; the ravager shifts up to 2 squares
• 17+: 8 damage; the ravager shifts up to 3 squares

Effect: The ravager's squad's Stamina pool regains Stamina equal to half the damage dealt.

⭐️ Group Appetite

The ravager dies only if their squad's Stamina pool is reduced to 0 Stamina by acid or fire damage, if they end their turn with 0 Stamina in their squad's Stamina pool, or if they take acid or fire damage while their squad's Stamina pool is at 0 Stamina.