All D&D trolls are male?

[Baron Opal]

Just struck me: all D&D trolls are male?

Yes, and all hags are female.

And, they both like swamps.

Hag claws do a lot of damage, but trolls regenerate.

Wise folk stay out of the swamps at the full of the moon, when those haunting calls echo out into the fog...

 

[Thanael]

I seem to recall an older Dungeon magazine that had a picture of a female troll on the cover. The adventure inside was a 2ed 'humanoid' adventure. I'm too lazy to go look through my magazines at the moment, but I do seem to recall it.

The humanoid adventure is in #22 but on the cover there are only ogres. (incl one female ogre) Issues 37 and 56 feature trolls on the cover but no females.

D&D trolls != Tolkien Trolls == D&D Ogres

 

[Ydars]

I like what they did with trolls in Beowulf and Grendel; a recent film from Scandinavia/Canada.

There the troll seemed to reproduce by mating with human females who would then give birth to a troll baby that was always male. This gives lots of great plot hooks for trolls carrying off women etc.

Although the scandinavian idea of the troll is different to the D&D version, I like it much better. D&D trolls have always looked really odd to me.

 

[Thanael]

BTW the troll is further detailed in Dragon #301 (November 2002), in The Ecology of the Troll. And I do seem to recall that there are female trolls mentioned in there.

 

[Thanael]

I like what they did with trolls in Beowulf and Grendel; a recent film from Scandinavia/Canada.

There the troll seemed to reproduce by mating with human females who would then give birth to a troll baby that was always male. This gives lots of great plot hooks for trolls carrying off women etc.

Although the scandinavian idea of the troll is different to the D&D version, I like it much better. D&D trolls have always looked really odd to me.

That origin sounds similar to how hags reproduce in D&D.

BTW D&D trolls were inspired by Poul Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions and fairy tale trolls.

While there are lots of references to trolls in Norse mythology and related folk tales, I took my inspiration from the fairy tale of The Great Ugly Troll, the one what lived under the bridge, had a nose as long as a poker and eyes as big as saucers. Then, drawing from Poul Anderson's troll in Three Hearts and Three Lions, the D&D troll was born, just after ogre and before the various giants.Gary Gygax, February 2, 2004, EN World Q&A VI

from D&D Monster Origins T-U

 

[GrumpyOldMan]

The correct term for a female troll is a trollop.

Isn’t it?

 

[Aeolius]

That origin sounds similar to how hags reproduce in D&D.

That depends on which hag ecology you choose to follow. While later ecologies explored the option of hags making other hags from human stock in mysterious rituals, others detailed how a hag was born of a human mother and appeared human until she matured.

I still subscribe to the ecology as presented in "Ecology of the Greenhag" by Nigel Findley in DRAGON #125. A night hag gives birth to a greenhag by a human or elven father, while a greenhag gives birth to an annis by her union with either an ogre or hill giant father. The annis gives birth to a blue-skinned female of the father's race.

Granted, I modified the above-mentioned information a bit, including adding unique hags by a greenhag's union with scrags (aquatic troll), wasteland trolls, ice trolls, and forest trolls. Which sort of brings us back on topic.

The PCs in my game are currently heading to a region where a captive shellycoat (aquatic greenhag) is being held captive by two tribes, one merrow (ogre) and one scrag. The shellycoat/merrow producing sea hags while the shellycoat/scrag union produces a shoal hag. I may throw in some half-scrag merrow and half-merrow scrag for good measure.

 

[Evilhalfling]

Since 65-82% of D&D players are male and Human males tend to be more aggressive, most of those instigating conflict on the internet are likely to be male.



(Maggoth Castle 2ed also had a tribe of Trolls led by a matriarch, in a pocket of dead magic)

 

[avin]

Posted the Matriarch Witch Troll idea over Wotc's miniature forum and had some interesting feedback:

Some good suggestions here. (I especially like the female troll witch idea.)

DDM RPG wishlist - Wizards Community

 

[Fifth Element]

I like what they did with trolls in Beowulf and Grendel; a recent film from Scandinavia/Canada.

There the troll seemed to reproduce by mating with human females who would then give birth to a troll baby that was always male.

...and then they put him in a cheap-looking muscle suit so people will know he's a troll.

Good movie in a lot of ways, but man that was a cheap-looking troll.