Can Trolls eat themselves?

[Rhamphoryncus]

My approach to trolls is that all the cells in their body are connected via their soul, and if a limb is removed all the "energy" is shunted back to the largest remaining piece to supply the regeneration process. The drained limbs would then be nutritionally empty, not being a useful as food and perhaps even turning to dust. However, neither would the troll get hungry from regeneration; only exercise and normal metabolism make them hungry.

Fire and acid would be the exception, breaking the connection to their soul faster than energy can be drained out. Burn the pieces as you remove them and they'd retain nutrition, but the troll would become ravenous. Remove enough "energy" from their system this way and it collapses, unable to reach a self-sustaining state and eventually burning away into nothing.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I had a sealed tomb complex once - as someone earlier noted, you only expect to meet constructs and undead, because nothing else could survive. However, this particular tomb was teeming with carrion crawlers.

The PCs killed them all off, and made their way into the tomb, found what they were looking for, and prepared to leave.

However, the way out was blocked by a few decidedly ticked-off trolls.

They'd been the food source for the carrion crawler colony, kept perpetually paralyzed by seething generations of the things, and gnawed upon for decades. They were not in a good mood, and not at all sane...

-Hyp.

 

[Thunderfoot]

How about this one - it depends on which source you read...
No official source exists on this question of which I am aware, however, there are two sources that have made mention of the possibility.
1) A Dragon "Ecology of the Troll" article (Issue unkown) that said it was possible but that the troll would eventually starve.
2) "The Slayers Guide to Trolls" Mongoose Publishing - on pg 6 under the heading Dietary Considerations it states "As an absolutely last resort, these creatures can subsist on their own flesh, if the need arises. ...have been documented cases of trolls surviving for several years in this manner."

While neither is an official source, both are well written and presented in a manner that proves plausible given the evidence presented. I chose the later, but have seen it done many ways. If you are asking as a player trying to figure out if your DM screwed you, you're out of luck. If you are a DM wanting an "official" ruling, I don't believe there is one. Whatever works for your campaign is good. Just stick to whatever ruling you come up with.
Happy gaming.

 

[William drake]

ahhh

Is this a serious question? I hope not.

 

[Gog]

The idea is somehow interesting... and explains, why Trolls are ugly and brutal:

Once, millennia ago, a group of holy warriors has sworn to protect their leader, even in his grave. They enchanted themselves to become nigh-immortal, gaining the ability to regrow wounds, to regrow old tissue (staying young this way), but never realized the psychological impact of their powers:
Hunger. Thirst. Pain.

Hmmm... just a short write-up, but perhaps I'll snatch it for my (eternally unfinished) home-brew campaign.

Dude consider this stolen for my campaign. There are all sorts of cool things I can do with this.

 

[Bardsandsages]

Of course they can eat themselves - even humans can do that trick when starving (and have occasionally IRL).

It is a net loss for the troll, though. It requires more energy to regenerate the body part than it gains from eating it, so it only increases the rate of starvation.
Of course the troll might not realize that.

This would be the most logical view scientifically. Regeneration would require a lot of energy in the form of calories. The amount of energy available in flesh would probably not be enough to regenerate the flesh.

This reminds me of those goth geeks I use to torment at a vampire forum. The ones who claimed to be "real" campires and who would claim they drank their own blood when they couldn't get "real" blood. Drinking their own blood was like siphoning gas from your own car. Even if you put it back in, you don't get any more out of it.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Is this a serious question? I hope not.

Excellent response! I hope to see more of this sort!

 

[RFisher]

This would be the most logical view scientifically.

Which, incidentally, is exactly the reason I'd most likely rule the opposite. (^_^)

 

[Rhamphoryncus]

My approach to trolls is that all the cells in their body are connected via their soul, and if a limb is removed all the "energy" is shunted back to the largest remaining piece to supply the regeneration process. The drained limbs would then be nutritionally empty, not being a useful as food and perhaps even turning to dust. However, neither would the troll get hungry from regeneration; only exercise and normal metabolism make them hungry.

Fire and acid would be the exception, breaking the connection to their soul faster than energy can be drained out. Burn the pieces as you remove them and they'd retain nutrition, but the troll would become ravenous. Remove enough "energy" from their system this way and it collapses, unable to reach a self-sustaining state and eventually burning away into nothing.

I think I need to clarify my reasoning for this. A troll can regenerate a limb in 3d6 minutes. That's a lot of body mass. Over a day of fighting it could regenerate more than it's own body weight. It may even be reduced to a fairly small chunk, maybe one tenth of it's normal size, and regenerate its full body within a fairly short period of time, and without taking in any food.

To do that it either has to have an incredible energy density, be able to transfer energy from the lost pieces, or have a more or less unlimited magical source of energy. Magic is reasonable, but they wouldn't starve to death, so you need another reason for their behaviour.

And besides, why does chopping off an arm not produce a second troll? The arm has to be connected somehow so they can determine which piece is largest and which pieces gets to die.

 

[Tonguez]

I once wrote up an "ecology of the troll" sort of article for my website but never got 'round to posting it, so here's the gist of it:

The great stupidity of trolls comes from the fact that their brains have evolved a mechanism to defend themselves from prion-based diseases as trolls eat everything of their targets, including the brains. Sometimes, especially the brains. Unfortunately the same chemical defense that prevents the prion disorders also severely retards cognitive abilities, leaving trolls as great, towering louts with few motivations beyond eating and committing evil acts.

Yoink! IMC Trolls are Male Hags so I'm yoinking this as a genetic defect which only affects males and thus explains the dimorphism....

anyway would love to see more of your ecology...