[RPGs] The Trouble with Trolls

Last weekend, we resumed our AD&D game after a brief hiatus.

The party had discovered a pair of enchanted jars which transported a person from one jar to the other. One jar was located in the dungeon under the old ruined town of Poulcatte - we had moved it from where we had first discovered it to a more defensible location - while the other had been in an abandoned house in the new town of Poulcatte, until we moved it to our house (which we were forced to sell to the Temple in return for some Resurrections due to a partial TPK) and then to our lodgings at the Sleeping Dragon Inn. We had had some plans to use the jars to give us ready (and secret) access to the dungeon but, on the occasion of the partial TPK, we had discovered that the Trolls who had caused the partial TPK could also pass through the jars into the basement of our house.

 After a fierce battle, and some blind luck, the invading Trolls were dispatched, the dead members of the party were carted off for Resurrection, and the house - still reeking of burnt Troll - was handed over to the Temple to settle the outstanding bill.

A few days later (ie at the start of the latest session), the party decided to return to the dungeon to explore some more and, hopefully, recoup some of their financial losses.

Bayern finds two Trolls in the Jar Room - 15mm fighter figure from Splintered Light Miniatures, 15mm Trolls from Alternative Armies HoT Fantasy range, 15mm door from Ral Partha Europe, dungeon tiles from Hirst Arts

On our previous excursion - the one that went rather pear-shaped and nearly resulted in a TPK - Asingel the Mighty, Half-Elf Fighter, had been the first to pass through the Magic Jars into the Jar Room, and had then been surprised by the Trolls. This time, Bayern the Ranger decided to lead. Popping  out of the Magic Jar in the Jar Room, he discovered two Trolls peering down the hole at the far end of the room, which lead to the Giant Mushroom cavern.

Same scene, different angle - My first opportunity to use the dungeon tiles I had painted up. Very pleased with the result.

As he had Surprise on the trolls, Bayern was able to leap back through the Magic Jar to warn the rest of us of the presence of Trolls. Undeterred by the danger, we decided to attack! We discovered that by carefully positioning ourselves around the Magic Jar, multiple people could pass through the Jar at once.

The party enters the Jar Room and the Trolls attack.

Halbeard the Dwarf Fighter, Bayern the Ranger, and Asingel the Fighter formed the front rank, with Caine the Magic User/Cleric and Arloc the Fighter/Assassin in support. The Trolls obliged by charging.

After defeating the Trolls, the party debated which way to explore - through the large room at the end of the corridor, or further down the small passage that ran off to the left.

After a brief, yet fierce, battle, the Trolls were dispatched in the time-honoured fashion. During this process, it was noted that both Trolls had an oddly deformed ear. The party then debated as to which direction to explore.

Bayern spots another Troll - this settled the direction in which to explore. Each tile square is 6' so the Troll in the far room is just on the edge of Bayern's IR vision range.

At this point, Bayern scouted the hall outside the Jar Room and spotted another Troll lurking way down the passage in the next large room.

Bayern chases after the Troll as the rest of the party trail along behind.

As Bayern rangered his way down the hall, the Troll moved out of sight towards the door to the right. Giving chase, the party fought and dispatched this Troll as well. Again, it had a deformed ear - very puzzling.

Through the door to the right, we found a Magic Jar wedged in the ceiling of the next room. Periodically, a blob of flesh would drop through the jar, land on the floor, and then grow into a Troll. Ewww! We suspect that a Troll is trapped against the other end of the Magic Jar and as it regrows the damage inflicted upon it by the Jar, a piece of Troll flesh is removed by the Jar and dropped into this room, where it becomes a clone of the original Troll.

Bayern managed to wedge a piece of dungeon detritus into the mouth of the Jar, which seemed to stop the Troll pieces coming through. There is a possibility we have set up a feedback loop where the piece of Troll flesh will bounce backwards and forwards between the Magic Jars until a, rather confused, Troll regenerates and breaks out one end or the other.

Beyond this room, we found another series of corridors, and another Troll. This Troll was dispatched by Arloc who sneaked up and assassinated it.

To be continued ...

This was the first opportunity I have had to use my new Hirst Arts dungeon tiles. We were all pleased at how well these worked, and looked, on the table. I need to get another set, and some more doors and doorways.