Scott DeWar
Prof. Emeritus-Supernatural Events/Countermeasure
that is a very bad thought. stop thinking it! !
Trolls, trolls and more trolls
- Thread starter SciFiGirl
- Start date
that is a very bad thought. stop thinking it! !
Rhun
First Post
I can't find any canon that specifically says vorpal work or don't work on trolls. I would assume they do because as I pointed out before, regeneration only affects hitpoint damage. Trolls aren't immune to death effects and most other effects either (paralysis, sleep, stunning, etc).
Interesting to put warriors above fighters in a D&D-related thread.
I'm not a fan of half-trolls, because they completely break the type pyramid, but I do want to point out that half-trolls don't have regeneration, they have fast healing (which is rendered useless by the hydra's better fast healing). So the entire decapitation story is not affected by the half-troll part. Not sure if there is a template that grants regeneration, or how that would affect the hydra. The regrowing part is most likely superseded by the hydra's ability to regrow heads.
Also, even if a troll would die when beheaded, a multi-headed troll might regrow its lost head before the other ones are chopped off. While half-trolls don't have regeneration, the multi-headed template does not make trolls lose it.
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Rhun
First Post
It is not really a death effect/death attack:
Death Attacks
In most cases, a death attack allows the victim a Fortitude save to avoid the affect, but if the save fails, the character dies instantly.
- Raise dead doesn’t work on someone killed by a death attack.
- Death attacks slay instantly. A victim cannot be made stable and thereby kept alive.
- In case it matters, a dead character, no matter how she died, has -10 hit points.
- The spell death ward protects a character against these attacks.
And the explanation of a vorpal weapon itself states that some creatures are not affected by the loss of their head. Now granted, it doesn't spell out at the troll is one of these, but the argument can be made that because weapons do not inflict lethal damage on a troll, that they are not killed by the vorpal effect.
Vorpal
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. A vorpal weapon must be a slashing weapon. (If you roll this property randomly for an inappropriate weapon, reroll.)
It is a historical quote by Heraclitus of Ephesus. He made the distinction between fighter and warrior, not I.
RUMBLETiGER
Adventurer
Half-Hydra Troll?
I never said it was, just that death effects are also something a troll has no immunity against, because they are ,like the vorpal effect, no damage. Just direct interpretation of the rules. In the end it matters how the DM of the affected game decides it should be played, they might even allow trolls to live without a head.
Still a funny coincedence of sorts.
I meant the Multi-headed template from Savage Species. It is based on the hydra though, I think, although extra heads don't regrow by virtue of adding this template, it does not interfere with regeneration, so a multi-headed troll could survive decapitation and then regrow the missing head, since the template does not state the loss of a head makes the creature lose the template. It only states that natural reflexes prevent blood loss.
A variant of the normal multi-headed creature is the Lernean Multi-headed creature, which is immune to most attacks (only death attacks and decapitation work), and dies when all its heads are lost. Like the hydra Lerneans regrow 2 heads a few rounds after decapitation.
The template does not make the creature quadrupedal, and is no sign of hydra ancestry though, but it's the closest you can get to what would be a Half-hydra.
kitcik
Adventurer
Just struck me as hilarious...
Rhun
First Post
Absolutely. That is kind of the point I've been trying to make is that the whole scenario all depends on how any given DM rules on trolls vrs vorpal blades. I can understand ruling either way on it.
Interesting idea:
Magma Troll (Troll with Half-Earth Elemental & Half-Fire Elemental templates)
Regeneration 5/fire or acid
Immunity to fire
Immunity to acid
Still not immune to death effects etc. but it is impossible to deal lethal damage and thus to perform coup de grace.
Don't ask me why a fire elemental would mate with a half-earth elemental or vice versa, but it is possible.
Or you could use these templates for the result of a magma elemental mating with a troll.
Magma Troll (Troll with Half-Earth Elemental & Half-Fire Elemental templates)
Regeneration 5/fire or acid
Immunity to fire
Immunity to acid
Still not immune to death effects etc. but it is impossible to deal lethal damage and thus to perform coup de grace.
Don't ask me why a fire elemental would mate with a half-earth elemental or vice versa, but it is possible.
Or you could use these templates for the result of a magma elemental mating with a troll.
Scott DeWar
Prof. Emeritus-Supernatural Events/Countermeasure
it is not necessarily the mating there of, but rather mayhap some crazed wizard of the transformation school has gone to the side of wonky?
