[MammonAzrael]

Primal Troll

Large Giant
Hit Dice: 12d8+84 (138 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 22 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +10 natural), 12 touch, 19 flat-footed
Base Attack/Grapple: +9/+21
Attack: Claw +17 melee (1d8+8)
Full Attack: 2 claws +17 melee (1d8+8) and a bite +12 melee (1d12+4/x3)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Rend 2d8+12
Special Qualities: Awareness, darkvision 90 ft., inescapable craving, low-light vision, regeneration 10, scent, toughened hide, trollflesh, viscous saliva
Saves: Fort +15, Ref +7, Will +5
Abilities: Str 27, Dex 16, Con 25, Int 6, Wis 9, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +8, Spot +9
Feats: Alertness, Endurance, Iron Will, Run, Track
Environment: Cold mountains
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 11
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Usually chaotic evil
Advancement: See trollflesh, or by class level
Level Adjustment: +7

This hulking humanoid figure looms above you, it’s shoulders hunched and it’s head lowered, but still towering over you. Muscles bulge on its torso and arms, unbelievably thick. Two huge tusks, worn and marked from years of use, jut from it’s lower lip. Thick, claw-like nails extend from each finger of massive hands, chipped and crusted with blood. Small green eyes look at you with a savage, ravenous intelligence. It pounds toward you on wide feet and powerful legs as a deep roar of hunger bellows from it’s gaping mouth.

At first glance, a primal troll doesn’t appear that much different from a standard troll. Even a casual eye, however, reveals them to be much more heavily muscled, and the huge lower teeth mark it as different. Primal trolls are typically extremely old, but new ones are very rarely born to standard trolls. As far as most creatures are concerned, primal trolls are simply another vicious, hungry troll to avoid.

Primal trolls are just as driven by carnivorous hunger as their more common cousins. Any moving creature can be considered food for a primal troll, regardless of size or ferocity. Their food of choice happens to be the one reason they aren’t more well known - each other. They have a unique connection and sense of other trolls, and will seek them out to challenge for dominance...and lunch. Given a choice, they will always choose to eat their fellow trolls, after chewing them to death. For this reason the mating of primal trolls is extremely dangerous, as only a male an female of equal power that happen to meet when both are extremely full and in good spirits have a chance.

The hunching posture of a primal troll is deceptive, often hiding it’s true height of nearly 12 feet tall. Weighing in at nearly 1,200 pounds, these monsters are covered in thick muscles, and leathery green skin with patches around their shoulders taking on nearly rock-like qualities.

Combat
Like standard trolls, primal trolls are typically very blunt in their approach to combat. They have even less fear of death, if that is possible, and are heedless of any dangers presented. They will often focus on the nearest and largest opponent with single-minded fury. However, if a troll is near by a primal troll will often only run past threats, ignoring them in favor of another meal. If a primal troll is killed, but not eaten, once it regenerates it will often bear a grudge and track down those responsible for a rematch (usually an ambush), but only if it isn’t too difficult and can easily sate it’s hunger. If it manages to slay another primal troll it will jealously guard it’s kill, eating as quickly as possible (uninterrupted it can consume the corpse in 4 days).

Awareness (Ex)
Primal trolls have an innate sense of other trolls, and use this sense to hunt and challenge others of their kind. A primal troll is aware of any troll within 1 mile per HD of the primal troll, and it is aware of any other primal troll within 10 miles per HD.

Inescapable Craving (Ex)
A primal troll has an inescapable craving (Libris Mortis page 8) for troll flesh, which must come from a fully dead troll. This craving has a satiation period of 1 week instead of 1 day.

Rend (Ex)
If a primal troll hits a creature with both claw attacks, it latches onto the opponent’s body and tears the flesh. This attack automatically deals an additional 2d8+12 points of damage.

Regeneration (Ex)
Fire and acid deal normal damage to a primal troll. If a primal troll loses a limb or body part, the lost portion regrows in 1d6 minutes. The creature can reattach the severed member instantly by holding it to the stump. If a primal troll fails its save against a spell or effect that would kill it instantly (such as a disintegrate spell or a death effect), the spell or effect instead deals nonlethal damage equal to the creature’s full normal hit points +10 (or 148 hp). A primal troll is immune to effects that produce incurable or bleeding wounds, such as mummy rot, a sword with the wounding special ability, or a clay golem’s cursed wound ability.

If a primal troll is reduced to -10 HP its corpse will slowly regenerate over the course of a week, regardless of the condition of the remains. At the end of the week a primal troll is fully reformed and healthy. The only method of preventing this regeneration is for a living creature to consume the entirety of the corpse before the end of the week; not even a wish or miracle can prevent a dead primal troll from regenerating.

Toughened Hide (Ex)
A primal troll naturally has incredibly tough skin, which makes it hard to injure, granting it resistance to acid and fire damage equal to it’s natural armor bonus.

Trollflesh (Ex)
Primal trolls are nearly impossible to kill, the only method is to consume its corpse. If a primal troll kills and fully consumes the corpse of another primal troll it permanently gains 1 HD and it’s strength, constitution, natural armor, and regeneration increase by 1. If any other type of troll fully consumes the corpse of a primal troll that troll will transform into a primal troll at the end of the week (It will lose all traits gained from its race, including attribute modifiers, and half its class levels if any. It will retain any HD it had over 12, but will not gain the Str, Con, NA, and regeneration bonuses a primal troll gains for those HD).

If any living non-troll fully consumes the corpse of a primal troll, it undergoes a number of startling changes. It becomes more trollish, gaining a +2 bonus to strength, enlarged teeth granting a bite attack (1d6+Str), and the viscous saliva ability. In addition it gains a insatiable craving (see Libris Mortis page 8) for troll flesh (it must kill and eat a troll; it cannot eat off one and allow it to regenerate each day). If the creature does not eat any troll flesh for one month, these effects end.

If that creature fully consumes another primal troll corpse while under the effects of the first it gains an additional +2 bonus to strength, a +2 bonus to constitution, gains regeneration 1 (overcome by acid and fire), and the DC to resist its insatiable craving increases by 5 (these effects still end at the end of a month).

If that creature fully consumes a third primal troll corpse while under the previous effects it undergoes its final, week long, metamorphosis. At the end of the week, it becomes a new primal troll, loosing half it’s class levels in the process as it’s mind and body are altered.

Viscous Saliva (Ex)
A primal trolls saliva has some of the same properties as trollbane. Any creature struck by a primal troll’s bite attack loses the benefit of it’s regeneration ability (if any) against that attack.The saliva functions as an injury poison.

Lore

Spoiler

In an age long past, near the beginnings of the world when gods still walked the fields and created their mighty works, the greedy Garnath, after much work, created his favored race or intelligent immortal creatures while most other gods were still exploring the world or creating animals or warring with one another. These creatures favored him heavily in body and mind. Feasting and fighting were the greatest joys of Garnath, and his children, the primal trolls, reveled in these activities as their god did.

As the other gods created their own favored races, the world gradually took shape, different races forming their own societies and personalities, largely mirrored from their gods. Most races, while taking after their deities, did not have the physical stature of the primal trolls, nor the simple-minded inclination for fighting and food. And nearly all were more particular about their diet. Garnath had imbued much of himself in his children, making them incredibly tough and difficult to kill, so much that they were wreaking havok across the world.

A coalition of gods, those who’s followers had born the brunt of the primal troll’s hunger, confronted Garnath, demanding that he reign in his children. They said their own children were suffering, and Garnath need to control his creations, and make them less resilient, as their virtual immortality was too close to the divine for comfort. Garnath could see that he had no hope of consuming all those confronting him, but neither did he take their concerns with any seriousness. He paid them lip service, acceding to their demands and creating the race of trolls that are still known today and promising to pull back his children from their feasting. And when they left he laughed at their foolishness and returned to consuming the great beast he had been enjoying when they arrived, with no intention of honoring their demands.

As the next several years passed it became clear that Garnath had not kept his promise to speak with his children, and worse, his new creations bred at a much faster rate, more than making up for their weaker constitution. Enraged, the group of gods banded together a second time, going to confront Garnath, killing him in vengeance and then exterminating his ravenous trolls.

The battle was long and fierce, as the primal trolls strength and resilience was a mere shadow of their god’s invulnerability. Ultimately, however, the combined might of many gods were able to overcome and defeat the great troll god’s defenses. As Garnath lay dying he cursed his enemies, and he swore he would return, that his children would be the vessel of his return, and they would feast upon all the races of the world, and there would be nothing the gods could do to stop them.

With the last of his divine power, he laid a great curse upon his own people, fading from existence, but imbuing the primal trolls all with a hint of his own godhood. Born in them was a hunger greater than they had ever before known, a hunger for each other, and the knowledge that they would grow more powerful the more they ate. Their natural resilience had been heightened to the point where even in death they would get back up. Their hunger drove them towards each other, and spared the lesser races, and in time the gods forgot about the primal trolls.

Once in a while normal trolls will give birth to an exceptional child, incredibly powerful and tough, as the divine spark breeds true and a primal troll is born. Dark myth and rumored legend states, however, that Garnath is not truly gone, as he resides in all of his children. The inhuman hunger that drives the primal trolls serves a greater purpose, one of rebirth and revenge. When there is only one primal troll left in all the world, one that has felled and consumed all other primal trolls, it will ascend, and Garnath will be reborn, greater, stronger, and hungrier than ever.

Character Lore: Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) or Knowledge (religion) can learn more about primal trolls. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

Knowledge (nature)

DC	Result
15	The great creature is obviously a hulking troll. Acid and fire should be effective weapons against it.
20	These creatures are resistant to small amounts of fire and acid damage, requiring great amounts to be felled.
25	The dripping saliva of these creatures can be used against them, preventing their natural ability to recover from wounds.
30	The only way to completely destroy these creatures is to consume their fallen bodies, flesh and bone, until nothing is left.
35	Easting these creatures grants some of their power, but can cause a dangerous hunger that can consumer you utterly.

Knowledge (religion)

DC	Result
20	These creatures, called primal trolls, were once the scourge of the land, eating all in their path indiscriminately.
25	Primal trolls were created eons ago by the dead god of trolls, Garnath. it is said a band of gods gathered to bring him low for sending his children out to feed on the creations of others.
30	Garnath, who is thought by some scholars to have created such monstrosities as the tarrasque, is rumored to have sworn vengeance with his dying breath, though little threat is credited to it.
35	The most studied of the histories suspect that primal trolls are more than they appear, and somehow their current focus of warring and eating themselves is part of a grander plan to return Garnath to power so that he may exact his revenge.

Recommended Improvements

Spoiler

Improving monsters to handle more seasoned players can be a chore for any DM. The following are some options that improve the primal troll without too much effort.

• Replace Iron Will with Steadfast Determination from Player’s Handbook II. This will give a tremendous boost to the primal troll’s will save (+6), shoring up a major weakness.
• Replace Alertness with Improved Natural Attack (claws). This will added a solid boost in damage, changing the claws from 1d8 to 2d6.
• Run and Track can be replaced for more combat oriented feats if you do not want the primal troll to give chase. Feats like Inured to Energy and Detach (Savage Species) can be interesting, thematic choices.
• Barbarian levels are a terrific complement to the primal troll’s combat style.