Trolls Will Be Trolls 4e – Part 3

Hey there space cadets! This is Part 3 in a series of posts where I share my conversion of Heron Prior’s Trolls Will Be Trolls One-Page Dungeon to 4th edition. I strongly recommend you all take a look at that link, as it’s a very cool dungeon! It will also give context to the encounters below.

You can find Part 1 here. Part 2 is here.

Each part in the series will detail my specific monsters and encounter layout for the different rooms in the dungeon. Any specific treasure will be noted; otherwise, it’s up to the DM to determine how many (if any) treasure parcels are found in each location.

I hope you guys enjoy these write ups, and if you use them please let me know how it went!

Area 3: The Grisly Larder

Setup

Meat Hacker Yog, a Hill Giant with the head of a hog (result of a Faerie curse), butchers a horse in this disgusting kitchen. Two Trolls assist him. A Dire Boar snorts and snuffles through a pile of offal nearby. See Heron Prior _ Trolls will be Trolls for specifics.

Tactics

Meat Hacker Yog (see below) gibbers and slobbers in Giant for his troll assistants to attack. While the troll’s engage in melee, Yog grabs an arbalest and rains fire down from afar. The dire boar charges the softest looking target, hoping to knock it prone and tear into it with his tusks.

If Yog is engaged in melee, he tosses down his crossbow and lays into foes with is cleaver, gibbering in Giant all the while. Anyone who can speak Giant hears him yell lines like: “Fresh meat for the larder!” and “Cook me a [insert player race here] stew!” or “Yog hack the limbs from your body, suck the marrow from your bones!”

The trolls will flee down the notched log to room 7 or, if they can, back up the passage to room 2 to summon help if reduced below 20 HP, or if they are bloodied and the party is using acid or fire attacks. The boar will flee if bloodied unless backed into a corner, in which case it fights to the death. Yog fights to the death.

 

Features of the Room

• Dim illumination throughout the main room via the fire pit.
• Stiff, uncured hides form a screen between the larder and Area 2. Moving through the hides costs an extra square of movement.
• The cook pot can tipped over onto combatants; make a strength check (Hard DC). If successful, the pot is tipped. Make the following attack: Close Blast 3, creatures in blast; +13 vs Ref for 2d10 fire damage plus ongoing 5 fire damage (save ends).
• A large wooden cage holds two humanoids, other adventurers who attempted to deal with the trolls of Vulture’s Crag. One has a severed leg, and is delirious and incoherent from fever; the other cannot fight due to a broken collar bone but can provide intel if rescued.

Combatants

Regular trolls can be found in the Compendium, here. They have been reprinted in the Monster Vault, and can be found in the Monster Manual (although I recommend updating them to the new Monster Manual 3 math. See this link for how to do so).

Notes

Caves of Carnage is a good set of dungeon tiles to use here, if you have them, along with Halls of the Giant Kings. The Dire Boar has been leveled up to 11 from it’s normal level of 6, and its damage increased as well.