Can you apply the Skeleton or Zombie template to a Troll?

[Darkness]

OK, I guess from now on we will use all this rope we have, hang 'em high, and be done with it.

That's pretty good tactics, actually.

 

[Deset Gled]

Captain Obvious to the Rescue!

Just in case none of you guys noticed yet - there is actually an entry in the SRD for a Troll Skeleton.

 

[Caliban]

That's a cool idea, but a troll can't become a standard MM vampire (spawn) by the RAW. (It's a Giant, not a (Monstrous) Humanoid.)

Oddly enough, the War Troll from MM III is a Monstrous Humanoid. (Anyone else notice that most of the troll descriptions from MM III seem to be lifted from Rolemaster/MERPS?)

 

[Lasher Dragon]

Really? Man we fought a war troll once... he was nasty

 

[Darkness]

Oddly enough, the War Troll from MM III is a Monstrous Humanoid.

Hey, that opens up some... interesting possibilities...

 

[Zappo]

Where does it say that cutting off a troll's head kills it? IMC, you can cut off a troll's head. That doesn't stop the regeneration, though. The largest bit left regenerates the entire body eventually. Yeah, you could carry a troll steak with you, but it would require constant damaging to prevent it from regenerating a troll, so it's kinda impractical.

 

[Darkness]

Where does it say that cutting off a troll's head kills it?

If you aren't using a vorpal weapon - nowhere, which isn't very surprising, given that you can't cut off its head in the first place. (D&D normally has no called shot rules, nor does the troll description rule otherwise.)

If you're using a vorpal weapon:

Regeneration
... Attack forms that don’t deal hit point damage ignore regeneration. ...

Vorpal weapon
This potent and feared ability allows the weapon to sever the heads of those it strikes. Upon a roll of natural 20 (followed by a successful roll to confirm the critical hit), the weapon severs the opponent’s head (if it has one) from its body. Some creatures, such as many aberrations and all oozes, have no heads. Others, such as golems and undead creatures other than vampires, are not affected by the loss of their heads. Most other creatures, however, die when their heads are cut off.

 

[hong]

Where does it say that cutting off a troll's head kills it? IMC, you can cut off a troll's head. That doesn't stop the regeneration, though.

Yep. Heck, the original D&D troll (in Poul Anderson's 3 Hearts & 3 Lions) got its head chopped off, and the head (and the rest of it) just kept fighting.

 

[3d6]

An undead troll wouldn't have regeneration because it doesn't have a Con score.

Regeneration (Ex): A creature with this ability is difficult to kill. Damage dealt to the creature is treated as nonlethal damage. The creature automatically heals nonlethal damage at a fixed rate per round, as given in the entry. Certain attack forms, typically fire and acid, deal lethal damage to the creature, which doesn’t go away. The creature’s descriptive text describes the details. A regenerating creature that has been rendered unconscious through nonlethal damage can be killed with a coup de grace. The attack cannot be of a type that automatically converts to nonlethal damage.

Attack forms that don’t deal hit point damage ignore regeneration. Regeneration also does not restore hit points lost from starvation, thirst, or suffocation. Regenerating creatures can regrow lost portions of their bodies and can reattach severed limbs or body parts; details are in the creature’s descriptive text. Severed parts that are not reattached wither and die normally.

A creature must have a Constitution score to have the regeneration ability.

 

[sdt]

Do you really want to eat a Troll steak? No thanks, I just ate last week!