It’s Canon Now: Trolls Can Starve

In “War of the Burning Sky” the other night (youtube link), one of the characters came up with a unique way take care of a troll. As you know, trolls are tough hombres regularly, but their crowning glory is regeneration (scroll down).

As a DM, tossing a little troll-blood into a squishy antagonist that I don’t want to get zapped so quickly is a fun choice. Oh no he’s dead! [three rounds later] Oh no he’s back! Super fun.

In this case, one of the players came up with a unique way to bust a troll: as the rest of the party snuck into the mage’s camp and posted up in spots that would allow them deliver max trouble on the surprise round, this character took point on the troll that was chowing down on a largish pile of dead dwarves. When hostilities ultimately commenced, she did a couple things that (a) stopped the troll from coming into the primary combat, and (b) came up with a unique way to both capture the troll more or less permanently and (c) create a conundrum as to the eventual outcome of the troll. Let me explain:

• The PCs had advanced on the camp invisibly, with stealth well above what the guards could detect.
• The PC in question had posted behind a large outcropping AND under a tree, concealed even without the Invisibility, but close to the troll.
• The PCs attacked the big bad, invalidating their Invisibility spells one by one. The troll, alerted by the screaming, turned to started coming to help.

It was at this point, the PC acted.

• They first created a spiked pit underneath the troll during the surprise round.
  • The troll blew its save and fell in the pit.
• On the next round, this player cast Stoneshape, and declared that they were sealing the rocky walls of the pit over the top of the troll, as close as could be managed.
  • Note: this usage of Stoneshape does not conform to the traditional rules as written. It was too cool to not allow, however.

Now we got to the question. Under this scenario, when the spell elapses the pit collapses from the bottom up. This means that the troll would be crushed against the 8-inch stone cap, and compacted. This would obviously kill the troll. But trolls regenerate, and it’s compacted body would accrue hitpoints over time and try to reassemble itself.

What happens then? Can the troll regenerate more or less forever. Our agreement was no, and it was based on one item from the troll monster description: “trolls are the most likely to overeat and devastate the food supply in an area.” In short, they love to eat. What’s more, considering their near-miraculous healing abilities, voracious eating makes biological sense. Troll need that food to fuel their regenerative abilities, and they need a lot of it.

The scenario that transpired, however, the troll would not be able to access any food, nor would it be able to escape it’s tight quarters. The troll in this scenario would be able to regenerate based on stored food energy (fat), but as those resources were depleted and not replaced, the trolls ability to regenerate will over time slow and, eventually, stop. Trolls can indeed starve.