Half-Troll (5e Race)

Half-Troll

“	You'd know if you knew what it was to be hungry. Hungry in your bones. Hungry in your hands.	”
—Thraka Or, "The Back Butcher", at her trial.

Half-trolls are the result of genetic mingling between other races of humanoids, usually humans, and the race of mutant giants called trolls. Like their troll parents, they have tremendous appetites and powerful metabolic abilities. However, despite still having a passionate and mercurial temperament, the average half-troll is markedly less chaotic and wild than a full-blooded troll.

Physical Description

Half-trolls bear visible signs of their giant heritage. Like goliaths, they tower over most other medium humanoids, but unlike goliaths their proportions are distinctly non-humanoid. A half-troll's arms and legs are very long compared to the rest of his or her body, and they walk with a troll's hunched gait. They tend to grow thick, sharp fingernails, though still noticeably blunter and shorter than a troll's, and tough growths on their shoulders and backs.

Half-trolls have a variety of skin-colors, mostly greens, blues, and greys in a variety of shades. Most have either yellow or green eyes or eyes like their other parent's species. Additionally, most half-trolls have larger noses, smaller eyes, and sharper teeth than humanoids without troll blood. Half-trolls tend to have thick hair that grows out very quickly. Dreadlocks and braids are very common hairstyles, although facial and body hair is uncommon.

Society

There is some truth to the notion that half-trolls are born as a result of violence directed by their monstrous parents towards other races, but it is not always so. In wilder regions, individual trolls may engage in trading with isolated communities, exchanging protection for food and treasure. Frontier folk may also find that troll tribes with particularly fruitful territories are more interested in easier prey than humans. Some rare cosmopolitan urban communities can offer plentiful food and employment for those rare trolls with thicker streaks of self-control than their brethren, or sewers with disgusting but plentiful repasts for the savage. And, of course, most trolls find that other appetites supersede that particular drive.

Half-trolls often experience prejudice growing up, not only because of their resemblance to a dangerous and monstrous race but because they are often seen as stupid and impulsive. Due to shared experiences and similar outlooks, urban half-trolls almost always gravitate towards half-orc neighborhoods, where they find they fit in better, if not perfectly. Frontier half-trolls will have very different experiences depending on how dangerous and aggressive the local troll tribes are.

Even in peaceful circumstances, few troll parents stay long with their offspring, as their wanderlust and capricious nature get the better of them. Most leave the child with the other parent. However, in peaceful times, it is not unheard of for the troll parent to make visits of varying frequency to check up on their child's growth. It is rare for half-trolls to be raised among trolls, but as one of the strongest taboos in troll culture forbids the consumption of one's own progeny until they are grown, half-trolls born into the tribe are usually left as foundlings in places the trolls regard as too dangerous to attack.

All half-trolls have known hunger at least once in their lives. They require huge amounts of food to maintain their bodies, and they starve much more quickly than other humanoids when deprived of it. This fact, combined with their difficulty finding high-paying employment and natural restless temperament, means that many half-trolls choose to supplement their caloric intake through unconventional means. Few outsiders, even among half-orcs, can easily understand the sight of a hungry half-troll nipping a quick snack out of some carrion on the road or half-rotten garbage from a gutter, but the answer has some basis in troll biology. Like dogs, trolls find very few smells naturally unpleasant, and their half-troll relatives don't taste all the nasty flavors of rot that normal humanoids have adapted to stay away from. After all, their bodies can usually handle the strain.

Half-Troll Names

To the extent to which half-troll names exist as distinct entities, they are usually gruff and abbreviated.

Male: Grell, Kerfen, Zuuf

Female: Anje, Kap, Melkree

Half-Troll Traits

Tough, fierce, and hungry, half-trolls combine the best traits of both their parents' biology.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1 and your Constitution score increases by 2.
Age. Half-trolls age more quickly than humans, reaching physical maturity at around 12 years old. Though their powerful metabolism grants them good health and staves off the physical decline of old age, it also reduces their overall lifespan, and they usually don't live as long as their human counterparts do, at 60 years old.
Alignment. Though their drives are weaker than those of their troll parents, half-trolls are still very passionate and individualistic. Most are chaotic, while almost none are lawful. Many half-trolls engage in destructive behavior, but many more have enough self-control to simply come off as uncouth.
Size. Half-trolls are smaller than full-blooded trolls, but are noticeably larger than most humanoids, standing from 6 to 8 feet tall, with as much as an extra foot of height gained from straightening up. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Cast-Iron Gut. You have advantage on Constitution saving throws against diseases, ingested substances, and effects that rely on inhalation of gases. In addition, you can eat, and live off of more types of foods that most creatures cannot. Such as soft metals, bark, and stone.
Keen Sense. You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
Regeneration. You can tap into the trolls greatest ability to stave off damage. As a reaction, when you take damage you can expend a Hit Die to reduce the damage by the amount rolled. You cannot reduce the damage if it is acid or fire damage.
Thick Skin. Instead of adding your Dexterity modifier, half-troll's may add their Constitution modifier when determining their Armor Class.
Voracious. You're almost always hungry, you must eat as much food and drink as a Large size creature, twice as much as a Medium creature, each day to stave off starvation.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Giant.

Suggested Characteristics

When creating a half-troll character, you can use the following table of traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws to help flesh out your character. Use these table in addition to or in place of your background's characteristics.

d8	Personality Trait
1	I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I hate that everyone assumes that makes me an easily-fooled simpleton.
2	I take great care to groom myself every day, especially when it comes to cleaning my teeth and sweetening my breath.
3	My natural healing is tougher than even other half-trolls, and it has left me with a tiny vestigial limb.
4	My troll parent actually tried to help raise me, and I learned a lot from them.
5	I've gotten my relentless appetite under better control with help from a religious group, and I've become quite devout.
6	I've learned to keep my ears and mouth shut since most people are just trying to take advantage of me anyway.
7	I look surprisingly like my non-troll parent, and haven't been the subject of much racial prejudice as a result.
8	Both of my parents were also half-trolls, and I grew up in a small half-troll settlement.

Racial Feats

• Half-Troll Reckless Warrior

• Half-Troll Endurance

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
6′ 0''	+2d12	280 lb.	× (2d10) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

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