Troll class, Grind your bones! Glarrrrrg!

Troll Thrasher v3

"By deh blood of Ymir, I smell n' elf. Get deh ear-shears out!"
-- Rockdar "Cragface" Gragfass, Troll Thrasher (Jotun Blessing: Warlock)/Barbarian


Requirements: Fey, Giant, Goblinoid subtype, Monstrous Humanoid, or Outsider


HP: d12
Base Attack: Full
Best Saves: Fortitude and Reflex
Skill Points: 4 + INT
Skills: As Barbarian, with Spot


Weapon Proficiencies: Simple
Armor Proficiencies: Light, Medium, and Heavy


Level : Abilities
1 Bite 1d6, Troll Subtype, Illiteracy, Fast Movement +10, Capped Healing, Strength Boost
2 Claws 1d6/Slam 1d8, Thick Skin, Magic Fang
3 Scent, Thrash, Endurance feat
4 Darkvision 60, Lesser Constrict, Trample
5 Diehard feat, Bonechewing, Stonepact
6 Size Increase, Fast Movement +20, Reach +5
7 Fast Healing, Catchgrab
8 Master Bite, Darkvision 90, Push Healing
9 Mangle, Burysmash
10 Rush, Constrict, Greater Stonepact
11 Claw Rend, Darkvision 120, Contingent Regeneration



Troll Subtype
Trolls tend to be long of nose and short of smarts.
Some have tails, and some do not, depending on species.
Color varies and can be of any tone but usually drab.
Size ranges from hand-held to enormous.
• Darkvision 30-foot range
• Low-light Vision
• Lesser Scent: As Scent but limited to melee reach distance for detecting.
• Dexterity +2 Racial bonus (does not stack with any non-template Racial DEX bonus)
• Intelligence -2 Racial penalty (but not below INT 3)
• +2 Racial bonus to Spot and Listen

Illiteracy: Barbarians are not the only characters who do not automatically know how to read and write. A Troll may spend 2 skill points to gain the ability to read and write all languages they are able to speak. A Troll who gains a level in any other class automatically gains literacy. Any other character that gains a Troll level does not lose the literacy he or she already had.

Fast Movement (Ex): Add the listed bonus to all movement speeds.

Bite (Ex): Secondary Bite attack dealing 1d6 + STR damage.

Capped Healing (Ex): This ability functions at the beginning of any round in which the Troll Thrasher's HP is half of maximum or less.
A Troll heals +1 HP for every odd class level at each beginning of their turn. Energy damage from 2 types of energy can not be recovered by this Fast Healing ability. Select 2 of the following: Fire, Acid, Electric, Cold, or Sonic.

Strength Boost (Ex): At every odd class level increase Strength by +1.

Claws/Slam (Ex): Primary Claw attack for each forelimb dealing 1d6 + STR damage (usually 2 attacks), or by foregoing all claw attacks the Troll may make a single primary Slam attack for 1d8 + 1.5 STR.

Thick Skin (Ex): At every even class level add +1 to Natural Armor bonus.

Magic Fang (Su): The Troll's entire body and all natural attacks are affected by the Magic Fang spell constantly, granting a magical +1 Enhancement bonus to attacks and damage .

Scent (Ex): As the monster ability of the same name.

Thrash (Ex): As part of a Charge attack the Troll may use all natural weapons against a flatfooted or helpless target in the same round.

Lesser Constrict (Ex): Deal Claw damage to the target of a grapple check each time one is made. As the Constrict monster ability, but limited to 1 grapple check each round.

Trample (Ex): As the monster ability of the same name. As a Full-round action deal Slam attack damage to all smaller creatures in spaces moved through when they fail Reflex save DC 10 + 1/2 character level + STR.

Bonechewing (Ex): The Troll masterfully sharpens teeth and claws on bones of prey. Add class levels as an Enhancement bonus to damage with natural weapons.

Stonepact (SpL): The Troll shapes stone by hand as a Standard action or sinks into natural unworked stone, just like the spells Stone Shape and Meld Into Stone.

Size Increase: The Troll grows one size category larger. Reach increase, movement increase, Ability score and Natural Armor bonuses or penalties are not gained but all other features of a bigger size are, including improved natural weapon damage dice.

Fast Healing (Ex): A Troll heals +1 HP for every odd class level at each beginning of their turn. Energy damage from 2 types of energy can not be recovered by this Fast Healing ability, as selected by the Capped Healing limitation.

Catchgrab (Ex): As an Immediate action 1 attack or spell attempting to injure or change the condition of the Troll may treated as an automatic "miss" or "successful save" if the Troll beats that attack's hit roll or the effect's DC with a Grapple check.
If the attack was a ranged weapon, the object may be held (as long as the weight is light enough).
If the effect was an energy missile, the magical object persists for 1 round and may be thrown with range increment of 30 feet.
If the effect was an area of any kind, the Troll's space(s) is ignored for that effect for 1 round.

Master Bite (Ex): Bite attack dice improve by 1 step, or becomes 1d10 if not already. The Troll's Bite may ignore an amount of hardness equal to Base Attack bonus.

Push Healing (Su): As a Move action the Troll may simulate a single round duration of the Regenerate spell, but rather than restore 4d8+level HP instead heal character level + CON bonus HP for that round. If this ability is continued for 3 rounds or more, organs grow back as by the spell effect (lost limbs die). The head can not be regrown.

Mangle (Ex): As a Full-round action the Troll may make a Grapple check to destroy a Force effect or a non-Artifact object of any material.
Each check that exceeds either the spell DC of the spell-made object, or a value equal to double the hardness of any other kind of object, does the following effects at the same time:
• Deals 10 Physical damage per level to the object
• Destroys up to 10 pounds per level
• Opens a space wide enough to fit through
Beings made of stone, metal, or other traditionally inanimate solid materials take 10 Physical damage per level if the Troll's Grapple check beats their AC or opposed Grapple check.

Burysmash (Ex): As a Swift action 1 target standing on a solid surface hit by the Troll's melee attack may be forced to make an opposed Strength check. If the target fails, they are knocked prone and Blinded for 1 round as their faces are buried in the ground.

Rush (Ex): As a Swift action the Troll may add +60 Haste bonus to all movement speeds for 1 round. Once expired it may not be used until after 10 rounds of rest.

Constrict (Ex): Deal Claw damage to the target of a Grapple check each time one is made. As the Constrict monster ability.

Greater Stonepact (SpL): The Troll may turn their bodies to stone-like hardness. Once each hour the Troll may use Stoneskin as the spell but with duration "1 hour", as well as gain Energy Resistance 10 against all energy types and become immune to Polymorph and Death effects as long as the Stoneskin effect is active.

Claw Rend (Ex): As the Rend monster ability, dealing 2 Claw attack damages + 1.5 STR bonus after 2 Claw attacks hit the same target in one round.

Contingent Regeneration (Su): Once each day the Troll may grow and return from death to 1 HP no more than 24 hours later by regenerating from a piece of flesh as small as an eyeball or finger. The process takes 10 rounds and the Troll is treated as having been brought to life by the spell Raise Dead, but instead of losing a level the Troll is affected by a Negative Level for 24 hours.

This post has been edited by Sig on Oct 22 2008, 04:59 AM

It seems this' still incomplete, right? Anyway, nothing should ever have a reduced effective level, much less fractional.

It's mostly complete.
Indeed, 12 levels.

What do you mean by fractional? The emulated caster levels? That's like having "+1 spellcaster level of a class" but you get to pick the class, and it stacks if you actually add that class later. Class abilities aren't gained unless you add the real spellcaster class.

Was that it?

Sorry, I misread it before taking home. I thought at first it'd have its invocation list like the nymph and redcap, and that it was missing so far. As for the PrC-like level increase: if I read it correctly, it gives 3 levels out of 12; the bad news' no one even cares about that, mostly. Characters with levels in those classes will consider themselves at a loss by taking this one (since they will actually be); and, if what you want's someone with low-level stuff as backup (which does work if well-done), you might as well make the class have its own casting/manifesting/invoking/glamouring instead of laying a trap to some concepts.

Good point. I was trying to avoid making yet another Invoker but it seems to work so well with these monster-race classes.
I might even make the Sprite racial class an Invoker... grrrrk.. Maybe just a race.

So, what, Troll with a small selection of self-buffs belonging to the same class?
That would work.

Umm...is this a base class or a PrC? I have no issue with a 12-level PrC, but it needs a prerequisites section...and if it's a base class, it needs to go to level 20, just because they all do.

What? A Dex bonus? Are we talking about the same creature here?
And the -2 to Int is a penalty, not a bonus. I'm just sayin'.

Change to enhancement, please. Untyped leads to crazytown (as you no doubt noticed), but racial only provides a 2-point slowdown on the way to crazytown.

Either that or cut this back to 1/2 class level.

Is this:
~A natural armor bonus (replacing/overlapping any existing NA bonus)?
~An enhancement bonus to NA (as the barkskin spell)?
~An increase of the existing NA bonus (stacks with everything)?

I vote for #3.

I agree with Bigode...either make it a full caster/invoker or scrap this...1/4 casting is pointless.

Personally, I vote for no casting...trolls, IMO, aren't magical, mystical casters/invokers/whateverers. They're big, tough and mean, and any magic they have is as innate and continuous as an elemental's.

Aside from that, I like this. It looks like fun to play. A suggestion: if you need to bulk it out to reach 20th level, you can always add bonus feats (everybody likes getting more feats) and special abilities a la the rogue's SA's and the riastradh's bua laoch list.

Base class, 12 levels. Considering cutting down to 11... it's meant to produce a Troll and nothing more!
If a gamer wants more they can splash in barbarian, riastradh, or warblade. Warriors multiclass well.

After this I'm touching up the Sprite in the same way, but that will be tricky since it's traditionally a caster-type. Perhaps Invocations, perhaps just unlimited Cantrips, maybe both, I don't know.

Race bonus/penalty: woops... I'll edit my TXT copy and repost soon, as with other changes.

Stat Boost: EjoThims recommended same. I'll do that, but keeping Racial bonus (which is not untyped, btw, it doesn't stack with anything from a race).
Stacking with items is fine IMO but stacking on top of, say, Ogre or Orc with another +8 or +4 STR would just be ridiculous.
As by EjoThim's advice, cut out CON bonus at all and keep up to STR +6 Racial bonus. Boost HD type to d12.

Natural Armor bonus: You need to read up on bonus types and how they stack!
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/thebasics.htm
It turns out that Barkskin and similar are actually Enhancement bonuses to Natural Armor bonus, but NAC + NAC does not stack in itself. ~(o_O)~
In sum, if a creature has any pre-existing NAC not coming from Enhancement and then gains more NAC from Troll here, the new NAC doesn't even count until it's greater than the previous NAC and instead overlaps (does not stack).


Scrapping spellcasting entirely. If a gamer wants 'half-caster' or similar they'll have to use houserules as discussed in BG forum.

Weird.

See I have less of a problem with stacking with a racial bonus (half-orc, +2, is the highest most players will see) than with enhancement bonuses from spells or items (+6 easily).

Ehh, it'll be fine. I'm just being picky.

That's...exactly what I said. I guess I wasn't clear.

It looks like what you mean is my #1 option...your NA from troll levels doesn't count until it exceeds your NA from any other source.

Well try this on for size.

Making it a spellcaster, hell, even perhaps an invoker, was the easy way to avoid sucking, so beware now. But I do admit it eases my work, since I'm trying to scrap invocations from everyone. Lastly, "troll and nothing more" is a joke: a) nothing in D&D is "and nothing more", everything always can advance; trolls are CR five, so you guess how many levels the class should have by that argument? And I'd rather have a level 5 rogue than the Monster Manual troll, still ...

I'm pretty sure Sig meant "Troll of various real-world legends," not "Troll as described in the MM." At least I hope so.

adult Troll from MM:

Giant HD 6 + Level Adjustment 5 = Level 11

CR is so fluid I'm not even going to go there, but at least with a fully scaling Troll racial class one can say "Welp, it'll be a CR 2 encounter... throwing a Troll Thrasher 2 at them."

Talisman: if one meant "mythical troll", there wouldn't be half a reason for them not to be spellcasters/invokers/whatever.

Sigma: hopefully, the class won't resemble a MM troll so much (in fact, it doesn't already, and that's a good thing); but that official troll being somehow ECL 11 is just plain insulting; it might vaguely deserve to be counted as ECL 5 for Leadership (for those that use it - not my case), because it sure as hell isn't a complete character, or level 11 in any fashion.

Yeah the spellcasting attempt was a nod to the more semidivine Norse trolls/ice giants but I suppose they would be better represented

It was meant to provide things like Magic Fang or various Invocations as desired just to splash the repetoire a little, but by adding certain flavored or combat-ready abilities directly to the class it might actually save the effort of digging up the right match of spellcaster for buffs.

A BG member was concerned that various Cleric buffs would stack with Ur-Priest using the 1/4 CL as a jumpstart, but I see the problem in the spells itself really.

In sum if a Troll player wants caster levels they can just take the other classes. This will be straight Troll with a few utility, defense, or defense-bypass effects thrown in.

Also, Talisman's Spirit of X feats for SLAs works fine for a splash.

The ur-priest breaks everything it touches. Mentioning it causes you to lose any argument. I'm serious.