Monstrous Monday: Cave Trolls

They say necessity is the mother of invention. Well, I had needs today. I went to the Swords & Wizardry SRD today to grab some stats for a monster, only to discover that the site is now gone! 

I am sure it has a lot to do with the new licenses with Swords & Wizardry. While that is cool, it means to link out the stats I want I need to make them myself. No big. I can deal with that.

Troll, Cave

Large Giant (Fey)
Frequency: Very Rare
Number Appearing: 1 (1d2)
Alignment: Chaotic [Chaotic Evil]
Movement: 240' (80') [24"]
  Spider Climb: 180' (60') [18"]
Armor Class: 0 [19]
Hit Dice: 11d8**** (83 hp)
 Large: 11d10**** (94 hp)
To Hit AC 0: 7 (+12)
Attacks: 2 claws, 1 bite, rend
Damage: 1d6+4 x2, 1d6+4, 2d6
Special: Rend, regenerate 2 hp/round, haste, spider climb, camouflage
Save: Monster 11
Morale: 8 (10)
Treasure Hoard Class: II (Q)
XP: 4,300 (OSE) 4,400 (LL)

Str: 20 (+4) Dex: 22 (+5) Con: 18 (+3) Int: 8 (-1) Wis: 11 (0) Cha: 6 (-1)

This ugly humanoid appears to be about 8 feet tall. Its leathery skin is blackish-gray, and its eyes are yellow. It has long, upright ears, almost elven in nature. Its arms and legs are long and slender and end in wicked-looking claws.

Cave trolls are cousins of the regular troll and are found in all subterranean realms. They are as deadly, or more so, than their more common brethren. Cave trolls have the same voracious appetite as normal trolls and sustain themselves on whatever they can find in their underground realms. Cave trolls have blackish-gray hides and yellow eyes.

Cave trolls stand 8 feet tall and weigh 600 pounds. They do not walk with the same hunched gait of their larger relatives. They stand upright and move with blinding speed. They speak "Trollspeak," the language of trolls. Cave trolls rarely venture to the surface world, preferring the security and tranquility of the darkness they inhabit. If extremely hungry or if food is scarce, a cave troll ventures to the surface and attacks whatever it finds near its lair. 

Cave trolls often use deception when they first encounter prey, especially intelligent prey. Their natural skin coloring camouflage them in a subterranean environment, providing them with a 95% ability to hide in shadows (like a thief) and surprise on a roll of 1-3 on a d6. Their troll heritage often leads to the misconception that they are slow in combat, which they gladly allow their opponents to believe — until the cave troll strikes or moves. Only then is the ruse negated and the true nature of the troll revealed. Cave trolls attack by grabbing and rending an opponent. If a cave troll hits with both claw attacks, it latches onto the opponent’s body and tears the flesh. This attack automatically deals an additional 2d6 points of damage.

A cave troll is affected by permanent haste and spider climb effects. The haste ability can be dispelled, but the spider climb cannot.

Fire and acid deal normal damage to a cave troll. If a cave troll loses a limb or body part, the lost portion grows back in 3d6 minutes. The creature can reattach the severed member instantly by holding it to the stump.

SRD links

https://www.5esrd.com/database/creature/troll-cave/

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/humanoids/giants/troll/troll-cave-tohc/

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 6, Room 19

 Moving on to the next clearing there is a large gray-skinned troll coming towards the party. It was likely alerted by the noise of the owlbears.

This is a Cave Troll, it looks like a slightly shorter but broader troll.  

It carries a bag filled with bones and it's treasure (Type Q).

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 6, Room 18

 Moving on from the execution site, you stumble on a strange scene. Two large owlbears are rolling around in a depression filled with glowing mushrooms. The owlbears pause, stare at the characters, roar, and run to the characters.

The two owlbears are high on the mushrooms. They are frenzied, hallucinating, and like most things here, hungry.  They have a morale of 12, +1 to hit and damage but a -1 penalty to AC. 

They have no treasure, but the story of fighting two Owlbears tripping balls is worth more than any treasure.

--

This encounter was inspired by this art by Jacob Blackmon.

You can get it on a shirt here.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 6, Room 17

 Moving on from the Lizard's lair there is a large open place. There are places in the open square that appear to have had large fires at some point in the distant past.  This was the part of the town where executions were held and centuries ago three witches were burned at the stake. 

Approaching the center of the square three howling spectres appear. They have the appearance of elven women with robes and shawls pulled over their thin bodies. On close inspection it can be seen that they are all horribly burned. 

The specters are Bánánach.  The howl and scream like Banshees (Groaning Spirits) but their wail is not the same as a banshee's.

After their first round of attacking they will summon 1d4+2 Wraiths. 

There is no treasure here. 

If there is a witch or cleric in the party and they offer apologies in the names of their Patrons/Gods the witches will depart and wraiths will disappear. Off the characters a 50% bonus on XP.

Kickstart Your Weekend: Heroes Fall, Gods Rise!

 What is this scene below?

That is the sad battle of the characters in the Wasted Lands playtest going up against the minions of the Cult of the King in Yellow.

My oldest is playtesting the Wasted Lands, and the last session resulted in a complete TPK!

In my son's game he has gone to the past of his own world and the players are now playing as the Gods of his 5th Edition game. His campaign has always dealt with the Gods and their interference of the lives of the mortals (the characters) now they get to play those gods way, way back in the past of his world.

They were shocked that their big arch nemesis, The King in Yellow, was around at this time.

Better luck next time guys!

This group of dedicated 5e players are loving the Wasted Lands. They do have experience with a lot of games, but 5e D&D is their favorite. The old-school style of Wasted Lands though is really drawing them into their characters and the play.

Elf Lair Games is looking for a few more sign-ups on their Kickstarter for this.  My kids are having a blast with this now and I think most gamers will too.

So check it out!

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 6, Room 16

 A little ways off from this depression is a small cave opening.  Inside, the party finds another treasure trove.

Inside this room are hundreds of giant lizard eggs. The room is much warmer than the previous areas of this dungeon so the giant lizards come here to lay their eggs. 

The eggs can be eaten. Three of them will provide enough nourishment for an adult for one day. If removed from this environment, the eggs will begin to go bad as soon as their temperature drops (about 3 hours). If opened after that the character must save vs. poison or be nauseated for a number of turns equal to 20 minus their Constitution score.

There is a 1 in 6 chance that a Giant Lizard will come to this room to lay eggs. They will attack.

--

Note: This room is so warm due to thermal vents.

Deities & Demigods II: Part 1, Hecate

Let's kick off this inaugural Deities & Demigods II post by trying to figure out what should be in the standard stat block for these gods. Let me begin with some assumptions.

The Triple Hecate, 1795. William Blake

1. I will favor AD&D 1st Edition. This is the system I have used the most. This is also the system that was the genesis of my original One Man's God feature. So I would like as much overlap as I can.
2. I will pull in material from any other edition or variation of D&D as I see fit. In particular, some of the Avatar details from AD&D2 and D&D3 as well as any other material that might fit the bill.
3. I am working under the assumption that these stat blocks ARE NOT designed as super-powerful monsters to kill. In already borrowing from AD&D2, and a house rule we used in the 80s, these stat blocks represent their avatars or mortal manifestations on/in the Prime Material. Their true forms on their own plane are at least 10x more powerful. Likely more.

Now these assumptions are working under a much larger assumption of how my Deities & Demigods II posts will be like moving forward.

Today I want to focus on the stat block. I am not detailing anything about this god, yet nor am I even defining things like standard divine abilities or power levels. Let's go with AD&D 1st Ed standard until I have reason to do otherwise and see where this goes.

I am going to start with the example of Hecate from Greek Mythology. After this, I will use her and this example to develop a new pantheon of gods. I spent a lot of time with her yesterday in preparation for this post. 

Let's look at how Hecate is presented in the various D&D books.

Deities & Demigods: AD&D 1st Edition

For this I want to break down the AD&D 1st Ed Deities stat block.

HECATE (goddess of magic)
Lesser goddess

ARMOR CLASS: -2
MOVE: 12"
HIT POINTS: 289
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: See below
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 89%

SIZE: M (51⁄4')
ALIGNMENT: Lawful evil
WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: Any being working with magic
SYMBOL: Setting moon
PLANE: Nine Hells

CLERIC/DRUID: 14th level druid
FIGHTER: Nil
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: Special
THIEF/ASSASSIN: Nil
MONK/BARD: Nil
PSIONIC ABILITY: I
S: 12 1:25 W: 9 D: 20 C: 22 CH:25

I separated the sections with hard returns. I would use color, but that gives some screen readers for the visually impaired issues. So instead, I will go with the sections.

The first section starting with AC is very combat-focused. The number of attacks, damage per attack, special attacks, and more.

The second section starting with size is personal information and worshiper's information. This one is great for expansion.

The last section starting with classes is somewhat combat-focused and somewhat personal. For Hecate here, we expect she has some spellcasting ability but maybe not a lot of fighting.  Though as a personal note, I disagree with her Wisdom being so low.

After this follows her description. 

Ok. One of the most common complaints about the presentation in the D&DG is that this is too much like a monster. I high-level monster, but a monster all the same. It has AC and HP, so it must be able to be attacked and killed.  This is not what we want or need. We have nothing here about her Clerics (save for those that use magic), holy days, or anything a worshiper might need/want.

There is a table in back that is actually much more useful than anything in the stat-block above.

This includes their name, Sphere of Control, Clerics [M,F,N-H], Rainment [head, body], Colors, Holy Days, Sacrifice [Frequency, Form], and Place of Worship.

For Hecate, these are: Magic, Hell Hound, yes, yes, no, bare head, tunic, blue-white, fall equinox, monthly on the full moon, ox, and mountain glen. 

This is good material. 

Legends & Lore: AD&D 2nd Edition

I don't need to go into as much detail here since the entries for all gods are typically shorter. But let's have a look at what we have anyway.

Here we get into the concept that the stats are not the God, but their avatars on the Mortal plane.

Ok, so you can't fight the god, but their avatar instead. A little better I guess.

There is mention here of the duties of the priesthood, what spell domains they gain, what Weapon and Non-Weapon prophecies they have access to, and so on. Though nothing about holy days, animals, colors or the like. Each pantheon/mythos does have some new spells and artifacts listed so that is also nice. 

So the avatar and details on the priest characters are a good takeaways from this one.

Deities & Demigods: D&D 3rd Edition

Lastly, let's look at 3rd Edition, even if it is very different than the first two.

Ok I did pick this for a reason. There is a lot of information here for the players of the Clerics of these gods, which also gives us a Rosetta Stone of how to talk about the gods of other editions. That Rosetta Stone is the D&D Patheon, which at this time was primarily the Greyhawk one. Other editions use a similar set of gods and talk about what their priests can, can't, and could do.  BUT that is all for another time. Let's get back to Hecate.

We get Domains, Divine Rank, her Alignment, favored weapons (which can be used by her priests) and Portfolio.  All good information.

Unfortunately, 3.x goes on to embrace the worse parts of the 1st and 2nd Ed's books and then makes a bunch of their own. 

I mean yeah, there is lot of information here, but is any of it needed by her clergy? Ok the sections on Dogma and Clergy and Temples is good. But do I *really* need to know or care how many Feats she has. No. Not unless she is going into combat. Which she shouldn't do.

There is an "Avatar of Hecate" on the next page that is reminiscent of the AD&D 2nd Ed one, but still, not exactly something we need.

What, if anything, can I get from all of this?

Well. Sadly the default presentation for the first 25 years of D&D appears to be "God as High-level Monster," which is not at all helpful.

I broke down these stat-blocks WAY back in 2010 when I was detailing a new cult, the Church of Lolth Ascendant, for the Drow Goddess Araushnee. There I captured the stats that seemed most valuable to the clerics (and players of the clerics) of that particular Goddess.

This has me wondering.

What should the format of a "Deities & Demigods II" be? What is the purpose of a book of gods for a D&D-like game?

Given what I have worked through here and in previous posts, I can see two different but related projects.

First, I can see a need/desire/want for a continuation of the format of the 1st Ed AD&D Deities & Demigods, monster-like stats, and all. 

Secondly, I also see a need for a book of gods, demi-gods, and heroes, along with all the above-identified positive things like duties of the priesthood, holy days, and more. I would add new divine spells that are only available to those priesthoods. That's a much larger and more exciting project to be sure.

Deities & Demigods II is something I can do here, with some work.  The other project, the so far unnamed one, that will be something that will take longer. 

I think for the next post, I should first figure out what would be needed for a D&D-game god write-up.