Troll

Large giant, chaotic evil

Armor Class
15
natural armor
Hit Points
84
8d10 + 40
Speed
30 ft.
  • STR +4
  • DEX +1
  • CON +5
  • INT -2
  • WIS -1
  • CHA -2
Skills
Perception +2
Senses
darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages
Giant
Challenge 5 1,800 XP · Proficiency +3

Traits

Keen Smell

The troll has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.

Regeneration

The troll regains 10 hit points at the start of its turn. If the troll takes acid or fire damage, this trait doesn't function at the start of the troll's next turn. The troll dies only if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and doesn't regenerate.

Actions

Multiattack

The troll makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws.

Bite

Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) piercing damage.

Claw

Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage.

How to run it

Regeneration 10 at the start of each turn means a party that is doing 20 damage a round is really doing 10. Trolls do not die to steady chip damage, and a party without fire or acid will fight one for a very long time.

Three attacks at +7 for 7, 11 and 11 is 29 damage a round. A troll is a genuine threat to a level 5 party while also being nearly unkillable to a level 5 party that came unprepared. That combination is the whole design.

Building the encounter

One troll is a hard fight for a party of four at level 5, and a deadly one if nobody has fire. Two at level 7 is a serious encounter.

Give the party a chance to learn about the fire weakness before the fight, through a burned corpse, a villager's story, or a previous encounter they fled. A troll fight where the party discovers the mechanic mid-combat is thrilling; one where they never work it out is a slog.

What to pair it with

Anything that keeps the party at range or denies them their torch. Trolls with archers, or trolls in the rain, or trolls in a place where open flame is a bad idea.

A troll alongside creatures that are easy to kill teaches the lesson quickly: the party drops the easy ones, then realises the troll is not going down the same way.

Reskins

Regeneration with a specific vulnerability is the template. Reflavour as a swamp horror stopped by salt, a construct that reforms unless struck by lightning, or a cursed knight who returns unless the wound is holy.

Whatever you choose, the party must be able to discover the weakness. A regenerating creature with a secret vulnerability nobody can learn is not a fight, it is a wall.

Commonly played wrong

Acid or fire damage suppresses Regeneration at the start of the troll's NEXT turn, not immediately. A single point of fire damage at any time in the round is enough, and it does not matter how much. Players who burn a spell slot on a big fire spell to stop regeneration have overspent.

The troll only dies if it starts its turn at 0 hit points without regenerating. A troll reduced to 0 and left alone gets back up. Parties need to be told this, in fiction, once.

Compared to others at this CR

At CR 5 the troll is the attrition option. It has 84 hit points and effectively far more, where most CR 5 creatures are simply a large pool of hit points with a big attack.

Compared to anything else at its rating, the troll is the one whose difficulty depends almost entirely on party composition. A party with a fire caster finds it routine. A party of two fighters and a rogue finds it nearly impossible.

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