Race: Trolls
Savage and terrifying, trolls stalk nearly every world in the D&D multiverse. While there are many variations, even within a single world, trolls are usually monstrous creatures that prey upon helpless travelers and serve as adversaries to be slain by adventures.
However, sometimes the occasional troll breaks away from the tendencies of its kin and strikes out to make its own fate, often becoming a wandering adventurer. In some settings, trolls overall are less monstrous and prone to evil, resulting in many who regularly interact with other races and take up a life of adventuring. While these troll adventurers typically lack the raw size and power of their classical kin, they make up for it with increased cunning and versatility.
Regenerate and Mutate
While trolls come in many forms with different traits and abilities from world to world, there are some common characteristics that most of them share. The most iconic of which is their regenerative abilities. The degree of healing factor varies between trolls, with the more monstrous trolls able to heal wounds and regrow limbs within seconds. Other trolls have more modest regeneration abilities, which can wane if overtaxed. Nearly all troll regeneration can be halted by fire and acid, and trolls are naturally wary of such elements.
The regenerative abilities of trolls are thought to be responsible for their ability to rapidly mutate and adapt to new environments. Trolls exposed to and damaged by magical emanations or other supernatural forces are prone to taking on aspects of those phenomena when they regenerate. Likewise, clans of trolls living in a particular environment for long periods of time quickly take on physical features that adapt them to their home.
Smaller More Adaptable Adventurers
Most trolls outsize the typical adventurer. They rely on size, strength, and a rapid healing factor to overcome challenges. Troll adventurers tend to be smaller than their classical kin. Some may have simply been the runt of their family, standing a foot or two shorter than the typical troll with underdeveloped claws and regenerative abilities. Others may be the results of extreme mutations or members of their own troll subspecies.
Whatever the case, these troll adventurers have learned to offset their physical deficiencies with greater mental capabilities and specialized training or abilities. They might train in the use of weapons and battle tactics, learn to channel potent magical powers, or gain the aid of gods and supernatural beings. Their natural troll adaptability, combined with the unusual circumstances of their background, makes these adventurers unpredictable but invaluable allies.
Primordial Civilizations
On some worlds, trolls aren't regulated to being savage monsters roaming dangerous wilds. In these settings, trolls maintain their own primal civilization, which blends their savage nature with a collective order that creates a cohesive society. These civilizations are generally very old and often maintain practices that more modern societies would consider barbaric. But the savage aspects of troll society give them more profound insights into the natural world. These societies produce masterful hunters, mystic leaders who call upon primordial spirits for aid, and menageries of trained primordial beasts ready to tear apart any who stand against their troll masters.
Troll Names
While naming conventions can vary significantly from world to world, most trolls put little thought into the niceties of naming convention, and most troll cultures don't even bother with surnames. Trolls who take up a surname usually have one which reflects their deeds, and it usually originates from a nickname given to them by others.
Male Troll Names: Thrag, Kazko, Grendal, Veckuzz, Zinjo
Female Troll Names: Vak, Kranki, Juljin, Vinji, Razzel
Troll Traits
Despite the multitude of trolls across the multiverse, troll adventurers share a many common traits with each other.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2.
Age. Trolls grow rapidly through childhood, reaching maturity around age 10. Their healing factor allows them to live about a century before it ceases to sustain them.
Alignment. In most worlds, trolls are known for being chaotic evil, though exceptions exist, particularly among exiles living near other races. Other worlds feature trolls with more varied alignments.
Size. Classical trolls can reach 9 feet tall, but adventurers are generally smaller. Your size range depends on which subrace you choose.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Keen Smell. You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
Limited Regeneration. At the start or your turn, you can expend one of your hit die to regain hit points as if you finished a short rest. You cannot use this ability if you have taken fire or acid damage since the end of your last turn.
You can use this ability a number of times equal to your proficiency modifier and regain all uses after you complete a long rest.
Environmental Adaptation. You've inherited natural adaptations suited to your home environment. Choose an environment from the Environmental Adaptation table on the next page to gain the associated traits for that environment.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Giant.
Subraces. While there are many variations of trolls across the multiverse, for the purposes of a player character, these variations are divided into two groups: giant trolls, which are closer to the classical monster troll, and humanoid trolls, which are smaller and have more human characteristics. Choose one of them for your character.
Voracious Appetites
In many settings, trolls are known for their insatiable appetites, high metabolism, and willingness to devour anything remotely edible. If you wish to reflect this with your troll character, you can add the following traits:
The amount of food you need to consume each day is doubled.
Creatures foraging for rations for you do so with advantage, as you are far less picky in what you will consume.
Environmental Adaptations
| Environment | Abilities |
|---|---|
| River/Sea | You can hold your breath for up to 15 minutes, you gain a 30 ft. swim speed, and you gain darkvision out to 60 feet. |
| Mountain | You ignore the harmful effects of high altitudes, you gain a 20 ft. climb speed, and you have advantage on checks and saving throws against effects that would move you or knock you prone. |
| Arctic | You ignore the harmful effects of cold climates up to -50 degrees Fahrenheit and you gain resistance to cold damage. |
| Desert | You ignore the harmful effects of hot climates up to 150 degrees Fahrenheit and you gain resistance to radiant damage. |
| Forest/Jungle | Your movement is not impeded by rough terrain caused by plants, you gain a 20 ft. climb speed, and you gain darkvision out to 60 feet. |
| Grasslands | Your movement speed increases by 5 ft. |
| Swamp | Your movement is not impeded by rough terrain caused by plants or mud, you gain a 30 ft. swim speed, and you have advantage on saving throws against diseases. |
| Cave | You gain darvision out to 60 feet, and areas of dim light are not considered lightly obscured to you |
Giant Troll
These trolls are the most similar to the classic monstrous troll in terms of size and strength. While they are slightly smaller than the standard troll, they still tower over most other humanoid races.
Size. Giant troll adventurers reach 7 to 8 feet in height. Their weight can range from 300 to 360 pounds. Your size is medium.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength increases by 2.
Powerful Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag or lift.
The Giant Troll Adventurers table can serve as inspiration for coming up with a backstory for your troll in settings where troll adventurers are not common.
Giant Troll Adventurers
| d8 | Adventurer Origin |
|---|---|
| 1 | You were the runt of your troll family. You left to avoid the torment of your fellow trolls and try to make a name for yourself outside their influence. |
| 2 | An extreme magical phenomenon severely mutated you, granting you unusual powers but leaving you a freak, even by troll standards. |
| 3 | You were orphaned at birth and adopted by one or more humanoids who have done their best to "civilize" you. |
| 4 | You may seem smaller and weaker than your fellow trolls, but you've gained abilities that demand their respect. Now you hire your services out to the highest bidder. |
| 5 | You made a mystical bargain that involved trading in a portion of your trollish power for increased mental abilities. |
| 6 | You were abandoned by your fellow trolls who saw you as small and weak, but one or more powerful otherworldly beings saw potential in you and took you under their wing. |
| 7 | Your tribe of trolls has always been known for having keener mental capabilities, and you are no exception. |
| 8 | You weren't originally a troll, and this form is the result of a magical experiment gone awry. |
Humanoid Troll
These trolls are more similar to other humanoids in size and compensate for their smaller frames with an expanded skill set. They are excellent survivalists, and in some settings, they may be the predominant form of troll.
Size. The size of humanoid trolls depends on their world of origin, but some can reach 7 to 8 feet tall. Even at this height, they are much lighter than giant trolls, reaching weights of 230 to 300 pounds.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity increases by 1.
Natural Surviver. You gain proficiency in two of the following skills of your choice: Acrobatics, Animal Handling, Athletics, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Stealth, Survival. When making a skill check with one of the chosen skills to interact with creatures, plants, or terrain from an environment chosen with your Environmental Adaptation feature, you have advantage on the check.
The Humanoid Troll Adventurers table can serve as inspiration for coming up with a backstory for your troll in settings where humanoid sized trolls generally would not exist.
Humanoid Troll Adventurers
| d8 | Adventurer Origin |
|---|---|
| 1 | You were birthed by 'normal' trolls but quickly considered malformed and abandoned at a young age. You survived only by your wits and cunning. |
| 2 | You were once the largest and stupidest troll in the land. A fey curse has now caused the reverse to be true. |
| 3 | You are the offspring from a union between a troll and another fey or humanoid. |
| 4 | Though you appear small and deformed to the other trolls, you possess strange powers that cause them to regard you with a mix of fear and reverence. |
| 5 | You were once a typical troll who made a mystical bargain to become more like "the other races." |
| 6 | You were once a typical troll who was almost completely destroyed by a magical disaster. You regenerated yourself from what scraps were left but didn't come back the same. |
| 7 | You hail from a tribe of pygmy island trolls who've adapted to their environment by becoming smaller and more cunning. |
| 8 | You weren't originally a troll but are the result of an attempt to create magical super-soldiers with regenerative abilities. |
Art Credit
- Harvester Troll - Greg Staples, Wizards of the Coast
- Novice Dissector - Mads Ahm, Wizards of the Coast
- Icehide Troll - Andrey Kuzinskiy, Wizards of the Coast
- Blood Sacrifice - Bayard Wu
Giants or Humanoids?
In most D&D settings, trolls are considered giants for the purposes of their creature type. At your DM's discretion, you can change the creature type of your troll character from humanoid to giant. This will usually result in a slight boost to your character's power level, as abilities that specifically target humanoids are more common than ones that target giants.
New Feat
Enhanced Regeneration
Prerequisite : Troll Race
You've further developed your innate troll regeneration, making you even more difficult to kill. You gain the following benefits:
- Increase your Constitution score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
- You gain additional Troll Hit Die equal to your proficiency modifier. These hit die are d6s and can be used to regain hit points over a short rest just like your normal hit die. You can use your Troll Regeneration feature to regain health using Troll Hit Die without expending a use of that feature.
1.0.1 Changes
- Public Release & Updates