What They Don't Tell You About Trolls - D&D

trolls are beastial Giants driven by unrelenting hunger occupying a niche between animal predator and the rest of giant kind these rubber skinned breeds price strength and they lost for slaughter on destruction caring little for anything else secure in the knowledge that most creatures cannot inflict lasting injuries on them they fight fearlessly and let's go over as always to the monster manual and first see what they tell us about these creatures it says here that they're born with horrific appetites trolls eat anything that they can catch and devour they have no society to speak of but they do serve as mercenaries to orcs ogres Eddins hacks and Giants as payment trolls demand food and treasure now trolls are difficult to control however doing as they please even when working with more powerful creatures a couple of notes though here is that trolls actually do have a bit of culture to them and they do gather in tribes al-bait fairly small ones so to say that they have no society to speak of it's a bit misleading there's also a reason why trolls gather coin and treasure though it doesn't seem like they mention it here in the monster manual but we will cover those later on let's keep going it says here that smashing a trolls bones and slashing through it's rubbery hide only makes it angry a trolls wounds close quickly if the monster loses an arm leg or even a head those dismembered parts can sometimes act with a life of their own a troll can even reattach several body parts untroubled by its momentary disability only acid and fire can arrest the regenerative properties of the trolls flesh the trolls enraged will attack individuals making acid and fire attacks against them above all other prey continuing on it says here that their regenerative capabilities make trolls especially susceptible to mutation although uncommon such transformations can result from what the troll has done or what has been done to it a decapitated troll might grow two heads from the stump of its neck while a troll that eats a fake creature might gain one or more of the creatures traits this here in my opinion is probably the coolest part of the troll and I'm very happy that they finally added it to the lore of the creature cuz believe it or not and this is the first time they have actually put this in writing as far as I can see Charles mutate ferociously and that's actually the reason why you see so many different kinds of them with different abilities from the feared two-headed trolls to the ice trolls through the desert trolls to even the scrags the water trolls in any case down here we got a chart that tells us what happens when you cut off a limb from a troll since the dismembered limbs will continue on fighting as if they had a will of their own a severed arm can still claw and choke whereas a severed head can still bite it doesn't here though very important that parts regrow in either a short rest or a long rest whereas the process of reattaching a body part is actually almost instantaneous as long as the severed piece is placed by the nob then here we have the stat block for the troll though there is nothing too crazy in here they are apparently really good at smelling which is probably where the proficiency and perception comes from they'd regenerate 10 points of health a turn which is insane and the only way to block it is via acid or fire lastly we can see the reason why these fairly intelligent creatures refuse to use weapons and that's because their claws are actually as strong as blades dealing to t6 dies of damage per strike pretty insane now let's talk about what the Monster Manual does not tell you about trolls first of all let's actually describe the creature this happens very often in 5th edition entries for monsters that we don't actually get an official description of how the monster is actually supposed to look like typically we just have to rely on the picture given which is not always 100% reliable quote their frame appears thin and frail but trolls possess surprising strength their arms and legs are long and ungainly the legs and in grade 3 toad feet their arms in wide powerful hands with sharpened claws the trolls rubbery hide is colored moss green mottled green and gray or putrid gray a writhing hair like mass grows out of their skulls and is usually greenish black or iron gray in color they're dull sunken black eyes possess 90-foot infra vision trolls walk upright but hunched forward with sagging shoulders the trolls gates uneven and running the arms dangle free and drag along the ground for all this seeming awkwardness trolls are very agile they are masterful climbers in Kent scale even sheer cliffs with an 80% chance of success they have poor hearing but their senses of smell is superior and quote see the reason why I think descriptions are important is because now we can see that what trolls grow on their head is not actually hair but odd writhing growths if you look at some of the older depictions of the DND troll you can see and more clearly how it's supposed to look like official the in Dr Tillis trations tend to be pretty good at catching that but fine art will sometimes miss it unfortunate as it is if there isn't a lot of art for the trolls so I'm gonna have to use stuff that it's not 100% correct but it is what it is trolls in D&D are supposed to be skinny and they're supposed to look very frail but most depictions of trolls in fantasy culture are more like hookers if you look at this picture which is a great representation of the range of trolls D&D trolls are more like this than anything else a really skinny and lanky with their arms dragging on the ground but anyways a typical troll stance about nine feet tall and weighs around 500 pounds they are huge which comes partly from their four giant ancestry the mushroom I know doesn't tell you but the natural lifespan of the troll is about 100 years and they reach maturity after just ten in fact they can hunt and fend for themselves as early as in one year of age this comes from the fact that trolls are virtually immortal as long as they're not afflicted by fire or acid including of course being swallowed alive since then they would have to deal with the stomach acids which work in the same way they can basically just live forever the young trolls learn mostly through harsh experience since they can afford to and the only thing that they're taught to fear by their parents is of course mostly fire when it comes to the wild they have no natural predators but it doesn't mean that they are in things out there that aren't more than happy to attack and eat the troll the only monsters out there that give a troll pause tend to be the Anka ex the Dragons whose's REM races and of course the perp warms creatures that naturally produce either acid or fire or creatures that can straight-up just swallow them whole interestingly enough the lore says that trolls do tend to fear incorporeal undead creatures like shadows or ghosts who can kill a troll through non-standard means outside of these very specific things though trolls are said to never feel fear and they prey on all but the most powerful of creatures when it comes to most creatures in the world this is typically very easy since trolls are again basically immortal but when it comes to stronger or more organized enemies like humans they do this by traveling in small packs of three to twelve trolls let's actually talk a little bit about troll Society which the Monster Manual specifically refused to talk about for some reason but it's actually very interesting most troll gatherings are led by a dominant female which acts as a shift and slash shaman see the monster metal didn't tell you but the female trolls are very easy to distinguish from the males but the fact that they are much bigger and much stronger trolls live in mostly material societies were the strong typically rule so for the most part females tend to leave these gatherings class of trolls are by the very nature of their being chaotic and unruly trolls typically don't do well on their servitude and require constant harsh punishment for obedience if this is just based on how they have evolved psychologically thanks to the fact that nothing but fire and acid can stop a troll from getting what it wants this is why leadership in these clans is only retained by combat so fights for control are very frequent quote often trolls rend each other limb from limb but these battles are never fatal still it is the custom of trolls to toss the losers head a great distance from the fight scene and frequently losers must sit and stew for a week until the new head grows in the pact shifts Tain's duties are few she leads to trolls on nightly forages loping along sniffing the air for prey if a scent is found the trolls charge racing to get there first and letting out a great cry once the prey is spotted in return for being the hunt leader the shaman gets her choice of mates in the pack and quote it's interesting though that in spite of the fact that the strong rule and the leading female gets to choose her mate there is still a mating ritual that involves a courtship process typically the female will haunt a great meal and then present her intended with the meal for them both to share something that is typically never seen otherwise in troll culture girls are very greedy and solitary creatures for the most part and they never share a meal so these types of mating rituals only happen in times when food is very plenty especially so since a pregnant female is particularly more hungry and vicious than normal because of all of this typically trolls mate irregularly so you will only see this on average maybe once every five years and when it does happen that year long gestation period will only gild a single baby troll this is the reason why you don't see hordes of trolls in the very same way you might see hordes of orcs or goblins I mean you do but it's much much rarer they were produced very very slowly now this type of dominance that females show over others for mating is also present in other aspects of troll life in fact asserting dominance over weaker members of the tribe through violence it's most often than not the only way in which a troll can express itself in their society trolls don't really craft or perform any form of Agriculture the pastimes in this group of monsters are scarce and they mostly just haunt and beat each other up it's all I do though very rarely you do actually get to see the occasional troll that develops an interest in cave painting you'll definitely see these done in either charcoal blood clay or even filth and will usually depict scenes of hunts or Wars and often they will share the pictures of the dark gods that they worship this is rare though since most trolls won't even bother making crude garments to cover themselves but it does happen now intertribal relations can be very interesting because seldom can group of trolls actually kill each other thanks to their abilities two tribes fighting each other would yield no results except for a waste time and a lot of suffering so instead they haven't complex ritualistic offerings between different clans in order to keep each other happy and away they actually trade males between the clans sometimes as marriage alliances and other times just as a form of fosterage you might even see trades where the clan will trade in a male for treasure or magical items they do this in order to keep each other happy most clans do not trespass on another's territory for this very reason to this point it is very interesting that even though trolls have no actual need for treasure it's in don't really go out to trade it for things they still do enjoy collecting it this is because two trolls they see treasure as a measure of their worth the more treasure you have the more powerful you are or the more you're worth or they're smarter you are very similar in that way to how dragons see their hoard now some trolls feel this way so strongly that they might even sell their power for gold in mercenary clans something very scary whenever it happens since trolls don't particularly write their culture and histories maintained through oral tradition including their language but because of how messy their oral tradition is because of the fact that they are below average in intellect because of the fact that they are also fairly nomadic group that constantly trades in males to other troll cultures their language is actually scuffed trolls speak with many have gone to call troll speak which is really just a glitter or sounding amalgamation of many different languages put together including common giant goblin or can even Hobgoblin it is said that trolls only have about a 25% chance of understanding any other particular society of trolls from another region so when the fifth edition Monster Manual tells you that they speak giant is really more like they speak 25% giant it's a very broken giant the history that they teach each other and their young typically revolves around religious beliefs shared by the clan believes that can be different depending on the region most clients though typically attribute a divine origin to the founder of their respective group typically female she's usually called the Great Mother and the trolls will associate her as a daughter of Barak god of trolls regardless of whether it is true or not the trolls will live on believing that they can trace our lineage back through the clan all the way back to vapp rack in one way or another and they actually gained great pride from that furthermore they believed themselves to be superior to the other giant races because they feel that they have quote maintained their connection to the primal chaotic forces of the earth by emulating its ability to destroy and regenerate end quote in fact several troll and even giant mythologies speak of Elder Gods that are no longer actively worshipped some of which trolls still teach to their young off to this day most of these focus on the existence of a dark earth mother now to finish of the video let's talk a little bit about be great regenerative process of the troll it's interesting that the speed at which trolls regenerate essentially opt for the bait mostly because the actual numbers are all over the place see when it comes to just normal HP regeneration it's pretty standard most trolls regenerate about 10% of their health and return that has typically never changed since first edition what has changed though is the speed at which a troll can grow back a limp in fifth edition it says here that all it takes is either a short rest or a long rest and in trouble can completely grow back a missing piece in first edition it only took three to thirteen rounds for a piece to completely regrow in second edition it took a whole week for a piece to grow back and then in third edition it says right here that it takes about three to six minutes for a piece to regrow it's interesting that the lore is just so varied on this topic very rare to see this level of variance between additions on something very objective like this in all editions however a troll can instantaneously piece back a limb that was cut off by simply putting the limb up to the knob to get it reformed back immediately and that has definitely not changed one thing though that is important that the Monster Mile doesn't tell you in this regard though is that in the case that a troll is completely dismembered and all of the pieces are scattered to the winds it is then the larger piece that will become the main piece and then that piece will be the one growing back into the full troll whereas the other pieces will simply wither way it is truly incredible the power of trolls blood which by the way is worth a small fortune the amount of blood that you can gather from a single troll body is worth around four hundred gold pieces thanks to its great healing potential in fact it is very common to use the blood in order to make both poison antidotes and potent healing potions it is said that typically with the amount of green blood that one can harvest from a single troll it is generally possible to make about three such potions I would like to personally thank my patron supporters Walker motley sack bowel ricado fan berry mask and 5e magic shop Daniel Umar rusty rain Morgan Johnson biotech no frag Daniel Luna doc feeder Brad Salazar the great Cody knee Terry Kolb Baracus law Omega scales Caracas de bulwark also sound Tech Siri Alice Cookson square chicken ariel nelson benjamin busters io is awesome fall key 951 jacob craz ed Griffin piers and serum King for supporting me on patreon at the $25 level if you would like to support me as well then please head on over to patreon comm slash mr. Rex to support all right guys we're still going strong don't worry I'm not gonna burn out at least it doesn't feel like it I do enjoy making the videos it's a lot of work but I'm hanging on I think I'm having a lot of fun if I start burning out I promise you I will slow down but so far things appear to be good so we'll keep going for as long as we can and it was guys I'll see you in a couple of days thank you once again for watching and I'll see you then

Channel: MrRhexx

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Length: 17min 11sec (1031 seconds)

Published: Fri May 08 2020