trolls and subdual damage

[Ice man]

As i understand it a troll takes subdual damage from anything but fire and acid...so my question is what happens when a troll hits 0 hp from subdual? How long is it unconscious? what effect does his 3 hp regeneration have on the subdual damage, what would a cure wounds do in this instance? once unconscious how many hp of damage from a fire or acid source are needed to kill him?

 

[Shin Okada]

*what happens when a troll hits 0 hp from subdual?

Strictly speaking subdual damage (now called nonlethal damage in 3.5e) does not hits 0 hp. You must realize that nonlethal damage does not reduce hp, but the total nonlethal damage is recorded separately (a positive number). And when the total of nonlethal damage = his current hp, he is staggered. When the total of nonlethal damage exceeds his current hp, he is unconscious. Read P.146 of PHB for more detail.

*How long is it unconscious?

Until his total nonlethal damage is reduced (or his current hp increased) and that is no more greater than his current hp. Or, he has a 10% chance every minutes to wake up. Read P.314 of PHB for more detail.

*What effect does his 3 hp regeneration have on the subdual damage

Regeneration ability heals nonlethal damage (only). So the troll heals regenerate 5 (not 3, actually) nonlethal damage per round.

*What would a cure wounds do in this instance?

Something heals hp also heals the same amount of nonlethal damage. So, if a Cure Light Wounds spell heals 5 hp, now his current hp is cured by 5hp, and also, his nonlethal damage is reduced by 5.

*Once unconscious how many hp of damage from a fire or acid source are needed to kill him?

Unconscious or not, he dies when his hp is reduced to -10. Or, he can be killed by coup de grace and such.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Trolls

Trolls are really stupidly difficult to kill. You can just keep hitting them, chop them into hamburger, feed them through the lawnmower, mix them with sand, and build a little fort out of them, but they'll eventually recover. The only way to kill a troll is with fire, acid, or magic. Your best bet is to coup-de-grace the troll with a torch once you've got him down.

 

[James McMurray]

Noe though that he can only be coup de graced with a weapon capable of dealing normal damage, i.e. fire or acid attacks.

 

[Chorn]

You can always just drown or suffocate the things. Regeneration doesn't stop things like lack of air. Just drop it into your bag of holding or ditch it in a lake.

 

[James McMurray]

I wouldn't drop it into my bag of holding for fear it would wake up and tear the bag apart. 10 minutes is a long time to regenerate and then rend.

 

[Brekki]

There was an optional rule in sage advice I think. When you do a coup-de-grace with a weapon that deals nonlethal damage the Fort Save DC is 10+ 1/2 dmg (instead of 10 + dmg.

We use that rule, a weapon a x3 critmultipliers makes for an almost certain kill.

 

[BigAlzBub]

Rope is your friend where trolls are concerned, if there is a tree handy lynch the troll, if not then tie a knot in a small length of rope (enough to tie tightly around its neck) and then crush it's throat, keep hacking at the troll for about 6 minutes (23 rounds x 2 = 46 rounds + a few extra rounds to make sure it fails its fort save (trolls normally have a con of 23)). Obviously its better to have fire or acid.

If you don't have any rope, try sticking a greatsword through the troll's wind pipe and bearing down on it for 6 minutes, it has a similar effect. Another good way is to fill the trolls lungs with water, how? perform surgery, open up the chest, open up the lungs and pour water into them, they will heal very quickly.

Yikes! I've though about this WAY too much.

 

[MichaelH]

Set it on fire.

 

[Dalamar]

When my group comes across regenerating foes and doesn't have the means to deal lethal damage, they hack them to unconsciousness and then bury them. Deep. Rest in pieces.