The Goblin Races, painted for this archiveCave Troll
Creature, The Goblin Races
The largest troll, ten to twelve feet tall with green scaly hide and pupil-less, blind eyes, whose origin is disputed (troll-reptile crossbreed, or stone animated by black magic). It senses vibration, uses bat-like sonar and smell, tunnels through rock with great speed, frenzies at the smell of blood, and turns to stone in daylight; too stupid to be useful as a captive digger.
From the book
No one agrees on what the cave troll really is; some scholars deny it is a true troll at all. One persuasive theory makes it a cross between mountain trolls and a huge, now-extinct underground reptile, though naturalists still argue the point. A rival theory, which sounds absurd yet has its followers, claims cave trolls are stone brought to life by dark sorcery in mockery of ordinary trolls, since daylight turns them back to stone.
Like the mountain troll it is a massive, muscular, hairless humanoid with broad, flat features and long ears, but it is far bigger than any other troll, ten to twelve feet tall when grown, and covered in greenish scales. Its fangs are fewer and smaller, as it usually hunts smaller prey, and its eyes have no pupils: it is completely blind. To make up for this it feels the faintest tremor in rock up to 1,000 feet away, senses nearby obstacles with a bat-like sonar, and follows prey by an unerring nose. Mining, fighting or a noisy party can quickly draw one, and the smell of blood sends it into a terrible killing frenzy. Because it is blind, spells of Illusion have no effect on it.
Cave trolls dig superbly, tearing out a five-foot cube of stone each minute. Rock trolls and some goblins capture them as miners, but they are so dim they need constant watching, and efforts to crossbreed them with rock trolls for a smarter digger have always failed.
At a glance
- Size
- 10-12 feet
- Appearance
- Massive, hairless humanoid with broad flat features, elongated ears, greenish scaly hide, fewer and smaller fangs
- Senses
- Blind; detects vibrations in rock up to 1000 feet; sonar-like sense for nearby obstacles; very keen smell
- Tunneling
- Clears a five-foot cube of rock per minute
- Weakness
- Turns to stone when exposed to daylight
- Use by others
- Rock trolls and some goblins try to train them for mining; crossbreeding with rock trolls has failed
- Origin theories
- Mountain troll crossed with an extinct subterranean reptile; or magically animated stone
- Height/Length
- 10+ feet
- Weight
- 1,400 + lbs.
- STR
- 22
- SPD
- 5
- DEX
- 7
- CON
- 22
- INT
- 4
- WILL
- 8
- CHA
- 2
- PER
- 16-20
- Level
- 6-10
- Alignment
- Chaotic Evil
- Damage
- Bite: 1-6, Claw/Fist: 2-16 each
- Special Attributes
- Senses vibrations out to 1,000 feet; keen nose; tunnels at 5 feet per minute; immune to illusions (it is blind); daylight turns it to stone
- Armor
- As chain mail
- Hit Points
- 30-70
- Found in
- Atlantis, Hesperia, Lemuria/Mu/Elysium Sea, Eria/Anostos, Mediterranea, North Sea Region
- Comments
- Daylight turns a Cave Troll to stone; because it is blind, Illusion spells have no effect on it