CASTLE OLDSKULL – Oldskull Trolls is a role playing game supplement written and published by Kent David Kelly. The supplement is intended for sue with older versions of the Dungeons & Dragons game and, as such, is covered by the Open Game License with some parts considered to be Open Game Content as a result.
The supplement is available from DriveThruRPG as a 115-page PDF for $2.99 although it was purchased at a reduced price during a sale. One page is the front cover, one the front matter and four pages are About the Author and the Open Game License.
The Description explains that this is a bestiary on trolls, giving history, new items, deities and lairs.
Chapter 1: The Nature of the Trolls starts with the Introduction. It gives the history of trolls in role playing games, from their beginnings which pre-dated RPGs and originated in wargames, and the various evolutions they saw. It also considers the mythological origins of trolls, and explains that the supplement aims to tie everything together in the author’s World of Oldskull, including references to the Cthulhu Mythos and the Pegana Mythos, as well as folklore and stories. This is followed by a list of suggested books to read.
Origin and History of Trollkind is an extensive history of how trolls came to be, originated in the gods of the Pegana Mythos and continuing up to Beowulf, when Grendel’s mother made a bargain with a demon lord. Troll Description has the common appearance of trolls, together with how they smell (bad). Alignment – trolls are not good, bar for the Troldfolk, and are usually evil – languages they speak and how to meet with trolls are next. Their tactics, as they are cunning hunters, are next, along with weapons. Trolls rarely use weapons, but may have trollish polearms for prodding guardian beasts.
How commonly trolls are encountered, which depends on the environment, is next, followed by the number encountered, which also depends on the environment. This is followed by a list of troll types, with game stats, number appearing and how dangerous these are. Troll armour is next, as some trolls wear armour but many do not, and suggestions about vulnerability to lightning, based on Scandinavian folklore and Thor’s depiction as the troll-smiter.
Chapter 2: Troll Sub-Species has descriptions, names and stats for the various World of Oldskull troll sub-races. Lost troll races are briefly noted, including another reference to two troll types from the Fiend Folio that were not included.
Chapter 3: Troll Lairs and Treasure has overviews of a typical troll lair, treasure that trolls would have, starting with items carried by troll giants and rings, then moving onto individual treasure in nests. There is a complex system for determining treasure based on troll type and a much shorter, simpler system for doing the same. Notes are made on young trolls, with an aside that young are rarely covered in games when dealing with monsters, and the fungus gardens trolls grow.
Chapter 4: Champions of the Trolls starts with the various leaders of the trolls, and that these leaders are not found outside lairs and are lethal. Hags are often leaders of troll groups. There are stats for different types of leader, then some information on female troll spellcasters, including their spells and number found. There are also details on a unique creature, the Haga-Daimonai, which is said to be inspired by an obscure demon sub-type from 1977, and which protects altars and shrines devoted to the troll gods.
Chapter 5: Of Hags and Wizened Troll-Daughters is the hags which are associated with trolls, with notes on how hags may be elderly female trolls or associated with giantesses. Four different hag types are detailed, with names different to the standard but they can be easily determined which is which.
Chapter 6: The Troll-Giants is on the various types of troll formed by hags breeding with giants. Details and stats are given for these.
Chapter 7: Allies and Enemies of the Trolls is an extensive list of different creatures, and their relations with the trolls.
Chapter 8: The Ever-Curious Enigma of the Troldfolk covers this curious troll-like diminutive race who tend not to be evil.
Chapter 9: Elder Horrors in the Lore of Trollkind has details on powerful beasts, the Great Elder Trolls, sleeping Colossal Trolls and the troll gods.
Chapter 10: Mysteries of the Trolls has several other creatures that could be connected to trolls; the dholes and gugs of the Dreamlands, many-headed trolls and huldrafolk, with various things that may or may not be true. Next is the tale of Groohlz-Drakha, the being that resides in the Oldskull mega-dungeon, a dangerous trollish creature. This has definite overtones of Zagyg the Mad Arch Mage and Castle Greyhawk.
CASTLE OLDSKULL – Oldskull Trolls in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks, or even a table of contents, and as a result navigation is terrible. The text maintains a two-column format and appeared to be mostly free of errors. Illustrations are a mix of stock and public domain, with a mix of black and white colour. Presentation is okay.
The opening section of the book states that this is intended to be the second most ambitious book on trolls created, after that by Brian and Wendy Froud. Indeed, it is very extensive, with many different sections covering a great deal of detail on trolls, their different types and their associated mythology, at least when it’s related to the World of Oldskull. Other settings may need to tweak that a bit. The book is significantly let down as a resource for creating trolls and troll lairs by the lack of bookmarks or table of contents; there is simply no easy way of using it as a reference as it stands, which is a shame. There is a lot of detail on trolls in this book. Given the amount of game stats, it is better suited to older-style games, as more extensive work would be needed to bring those stats up to more modern games. As is also typical in older-style play, players can easily bite off more than they can chew, as encounters are not necessarily precisely balanced for their level. CASTLE OLDSKULL – Oldskull Trolls is an interesting book on trolls and it can be found by clicking here.
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