Companion monsters for Trolls

[Gilladian]

I'm designing a troll lair for a group of 5 6th level PCs in a 3.5e game.

I've got a bunch of monster books, but it is so HARD to choose good combos of monsters, sometimes. Any good mixes of beasties that might live deep in caves with trolls? Either as partners, scavengers, or pets?

Thanks in advance for some fresh ideas!

 

[HoboGod]

Aren't Cave Trolls CR 9s? If a party of 6th level adventurers are going up against one of them, the troll doesn't need help. Unless this is just a regular troll that is living in a cave for some reason....

Anyway, it's pretty common to see Troglodyte or Hobgoblin societies living among cave trolls, but you'll want to give them class levels to contend with the party. A gelatinous cube would coexist in the same cave as a troll, but the two would never interact. As for a pet, I would say they don't have the intelligence to keep pets. Normal trolls would, but I'd see they'd mostly have worgs and winter wolves.

 

[radmod]

There's always Mama Troll and Baby Troll

Hobo's right (again). They aren't very bright, so you have to be careful that any associates aren't smarter than them (and subsequently controlling them). IME, often Trolls, like Ogres, are extra muscle for a group of bad guys.

I like the idea of Trogs who worship their Troll God.
Otyughs can pretty much be used anywhere as long as there is enough trash.
Anything naturally poisonous wouldn't bother a troll.

BTW, you can use their regen power to great advantage. I have a set Troll in my worlds who inhabits a bridge (a Troll Bridge). If things get dicey, he attempts to grab a PC and jumps off the bridge.

 

[Dandu]

Something that can cast Resist Energy.

 

[frankthedm]

Aren't Cave Trolls CR 9s? If a party of 6th level adventurers are going up against one of them, the troll doesn't need help. Unless this is just a regular troll that is living in a cave for some reason....

Considering they have above average darkvision [90'], underground dwelling sounds reasonable for normal MM trolls.

Since the Will-O-Wisp likes feed on the life force of the dying, hanging around trolls sounds like a plan since they kill and eat anything, though not always in that order. Trolls can only hit it on 20, so they pose little threat to the free flying wisp.

Maybe some trolls have infestations of lethargic parasites, kept in check by the troll's regen, that swarm when non troll flesh is available. Rat or Locust swarm stats.

 

[Dingleberry]

How about a couple of plain old cats that the trolls fawn over? It would be an interesting dichotomy, plus give a motivation for the trolls to go absolutely nutzoid crazy on the PCs when the kitties get burned in the first fireball.

 

[Gilladian]

Aren't Cave Trolls CR 9s? If a party of 6th level adventurers are going up against one of them, the troll doesn't need help. Unless this is just a regular troll that is living in a cave for some reason....

Anyway, it's pretty common to see Troglodyte or Hobgoblin societies living among cave trolls, but you'll want to give them class levels to contend with the party. A gelatinous cube would coexist in the same cave as a troll, but the two would never interact. As for a pet, I would say they don't have the intelligence to keep pets. Normal trolls would, but I'd see they'd mostly have worgs and winter wolves.

Thanks! Just regular trolls. Maybe a 2 headed troll for variety and end-challenge. This party's pretty tough. Gelatinous cube sounds fairly good. Wolves or worgs, I don't know - they're so deep underground that they would have to be able to climb!

 

[Gilladian]

Considering they have above average darkvision [90'], underground dwelling sounds reasonable for normal MM trolls.

Since the Will-O-Wisp likes feed on the life force of the dying, hanging around trolls sounds like a plan since they kill and eat anything, though not always in that order. Trolls can only hit it on 20, so they pose little threat to the free flying wisp.

Maybe some trolls have infestations of lethargic parasites, kept in check by the troll's regen, that swarm when non troll flesh is available. Rat or Locust swarm stats.

Will o wisp and swarms sound very good. I haven't used them on this group much at all; unlike trogs - which they recently wiped out a whole tribe of.

I was also thinking there might be a small clan of meenlocks that live in small tunnels behind/beyond the trolls, and try to capture a PC when everyone is focused intently on battle with the trolls.

 

[frankthedm]

I was also thinking there might be a small clan of meenlocks that live in small tunnels behind/beyond the trolls, and try to capture a PC when everyone is focused intently on battle with the trolls.

I remember having an encounter go kind of bad for a party due to the meenlock's range on rend mind. If a player is not adapt at issues of targeting, light sources and LOS, the little bugger can brutalize them while the player is wondering "WTF, how do I stop this?"

[MENTION=141]Cheiromancer[/MENTION]

Even with a line of sight requirement, and even with the 1d4 round wait between uses, Rend Mind is still an incredibly strong ability. A meenlock has +16 to hide, and can dimension door a distance of 60 feet every two rounds: they are hard to spot, and hard to catch. They are lawful creatures who fight in groups of 3-6, and who can coordinate their actions telepathically: that means they can concentrate on one character at a time. Each successful attack makes subsequent attacks more likely to succeed, since Wisdom damage reduces your ability to make a Will save.

Given that the flavor text says that Rend Mind is "a slow mental assault" and that "some meenlocks have been known to stalk and harass their victims in this way for days," I think there has to be some other limitation on the ability. I'd make it like the Fear Aura effect, and say that any creature that makes a saving throw against the effect cannot be affected again by that meenlock's rend mind attack for 24 hours.

Edit: Troll counters, will o wisp counters. Maybe you'll find a decent swarm counter here.

 

[HoboGod]

Well, that's the thing about worgs, they tend to be the guardians of monstrous creatures. Their environment says temperate plains, but in actuality, they follow the creatures they protect, even into dangerous terrain. If these are normal trolls, not the intelligence 3 cave trolls variety, I'd see them living above ground at some point and bring worgs down from the surface. The worgs would adapt well to the dark caves as they tend to be nocturnal hunters. However, regular trolls are still intelligence 6, so don't attribute such worgs to the loyal, highly trained, militaristic kind of worg that, for example, goblins would have. They'd be still be the pack animals that prey upon the adventurers in the dark, not the guard dogs that strike first whilst goblin archers pick off the sorcerer.