TEXT:  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
  Tunnesl & Trolls is a registered trademark of Flying  Buffalo, Inc. P.O. Box 
  8467, Scottsdale, Arizona 85252, USA.  Rick Loomis, owner and founder. 
   
  Text Copyright October 2017 by Ken St. Andre.  All rights reserved. 
  Reproduction forbidden without permission from Ken St. Andre. 
   
  All interior illustrations and cover art are Copyright, November 2017 by David 
  A. Ullery.  Reproduction is forbidden without permission from David A. Ullery 
   
   
   
  Trollgod of Trollhalla image, copyright 2010 by Jeff Freels 
   
   
  Trollgod miniature created by Darcy Perry, copyright 2017 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
  The Trollgod’s 
  Terrible Twenty 
   
  His Top 20 
  Tunnels & Trolls 
  Monsters 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  By Ken St. Andre 
   
  Illustrated by David A. Ullery 
  
  Ken’s Explanatory Introduction 
   
  People keep asking for bestiaries and monster 
  lists, but it seems to me that there are already 
  innumerable monster lists. What is every 
  Wandering Monster Table but another list of 
  monsters to plague hard-working dungeon 
  delvers?  I kept trying to do it, but it just 
  didn’t seem like fun, and writing has to 
  seem like fun to me, or else I fizzle out 
  and never finish the job. 
   
  I do like monsters in role-playing 
  games, but doubt if I would like them 
  in real life. After all, what is a 
  monster? To me, it is something 
  that is trying to hurt me, eat me, or 
  kill me.  A mosquito is a monster, although a very small one, but if you made it 
  big enough to really see, it would be as scary a monster as anything from 
  horror or science fiction.  
   
  It occurred to me that it would be a lot more fun if the monsters I wrote about 
  were MY monsters, creatures that I thought up to bedevil my players. So, 
  that’s what I’m going to do. The creatures in this document are all things that 
  exist only because I imagined them in the first place. They may have been 
  inspired by something that already exists, but these particular incarnations 
  have been through the fires of my imagination.  And they have all appeared in 
  published T & T material. 
  
  THE MONSTERS 
   
  The monsters on this list will be presented in this format: Name, description, 
  monster rating and a quoted description of it from a T & T product that I 
  wrote. 
   
  1. Skwonk. Any being that walks on two legs and is not a goblin. Monster 
  ratings vary widely. Text: “You have been friendly to us, for a skwonk (goblin 
  term covering other beings that walk on two legs but are not goblins), but not 
  so friendly that we would invite you into our homes.” (Bwa ha ha ha ha! We 
  are all monsters to some creatures, people, or things, my friends.)1 
   
  2. Glikk. An underground predator that looks like a gigantic centipede. 
  Monster rating: 72 (8D6+36)  Text: “The glikk is an underground predator 
  that most nearly resembles an armored centipede. It is one of the stony 
  lifeforms that survives on Trollworld. This one is about waist high on you and 
  has 6 armored segments, each segment has two chitinous legs, one on either 
  side, with each leg ending in a triple claw of what looks like obsidian. The final 
  segment has a prehensile sting something like a scorpion’s. The head segment 
  contains two large yellow multi-faceted eyes, two long, hard, and extremely 
  sharp mandibles emerging from a toothless maw, and a fringe of brittle 
  whiskers emanating in a star-like pattern around the mouth and eyes.”2 
   
                                                        
  1 Trollhammer. Paragraph 17, page 17. TexiCon, 2013. 
   
  2 Ibid. Paragraph 47, pages 27-28. 
   
  
  3. Gakk. A furry spider-like beast with four legs that has a poisonous bite. It 
  prefers to walk and hide on the ceilings of caves and drop on its prey from 
  above. They sometimes move in packs, and it is suggested that there be one 
  for each member of the party that runs into them. Monster rating: 44 (5D6 + 
  22)  Text:” . . . you run into a multi-legged, furry-faced, poison-fanged gakk. 
  They tend to hang on the ceilings of dark tunnels and drop on victims that 
  pass below them. They avoid people carrying torches. The gakk will fight to 
  the finish. If it scores any spite damage on you (it rolls a 6 on its combat dice), 
  it poisons you. The poison is slow paralysis. For each combat turn you fight 
  while poisoned, reduce your DEX by 1D6-1 points. If your DEX falls below 8, 
  you will not be able to use your weapon. If it falls below 3 you will not be able 
  to fight, and the gakk will win.”3 
   
  4. Giant Devilfish.  Something like a huge freshwater octopus, but it does not 
  have a beak or suckers on its tentacles. Instead it has a large disk-like body 
  with an oversized mouth full of dagger-like teeth and two large glowing red 
  eyes. It moves by swimming instead of by jet propulsion. The devilfish can 
  breathe equally well in or out of water. Smaller ones with monster ratings of 
  50 or less sometimes go hunting for their food on land. They can walk on 
                                                        
  3 Ibid. Paragraph 61, page 34. 
   
   
  
  tentacles that each end in a bony claw. Larger ones generally remain 
  submerged. The devilfish has a special ink attack that activates whenever it 
  rolls 3 or more 1s on its combat dice. It sprays a thick black ink out of glands 
  on its body that can reduce visibility in the water to zero, or if it hits a fighter 
  in the face can blind him for 1D6 combat turns. If the devilfish sprays on land 
  anyone fighting it must make a L1SR on Luck to avoid being temporarily 
  blinded and rendered unable to fight; if it happens in the water, the fighter’s 
  combat total is halved for 1D6 combat turns. Monster Rating: Varies from as 
  low as 16 to as high as 200. Text: “. . . a vast shadowy bulk below you and 
  more tentacles coming up. It is a giant devilfish and you are on its menu.”4  
   
  5. War Frog.  Oversized, carnivorous frog that has both talons and teeth. 
  Regular ones are green. Larger ones that are albino white in color are called 
  Death Frogs. Monster Rating: 88 (9D6+44) Death Frogs are truly gigantic 
  with Monster Ratings of 176 (18D6+88) Both war frogs and death frogs have 
  thick, slick skins that act as natural armor—4 points of armor for the war 
  frogs and 16 points of armor for death frogs. Text: “GARRUMPH! Out of the 
  deeper darkness behind the treasure leaps a giant guardian frog to attack you. 
  It has talons on its front paws and a fanged mouth big enough to swallow a 
  sheep at one bite.”5 
                                                        
  4 Goblin Lake. Flying Buffalo Inc. Paragraph 25A, page 29. 
   
  5 Ibid. Paragraph 17A, page 21. 
   
  
   
  6. Ghoul. Blue ape-like creatures of limited intelligence who prefer to eat 
  dead, rotten meat. They are just smart enough to have language. They have 
  formidable claws and teeth, but they like to fight with crude clubs. They often 
  travel in packs of 2D6 ghouls at a time. Monster Rating: 16 (3D6+8). Text: 
  “These ghouls . . . are baboon-shaped creatures that normally walk on all 
  fours, but can rear up and stand on their hind legs sometimes. Their skin is 
  pale blue, scaly, and hairless except for patches of heavy black fur around 
  their shoulders and groin areas. They have catlike red eyes with vertical 
  pupils that gleam in the firelight. . . . They gibber as they rush to attack—a 
  kind of barking chorus of oohs and ah-ah-ahs.”6 
   
  7. Manticore Lich. An undead version of a typical manticore with an 
  oversized human-faced head containing huge fangs and tusks, with the body 
  of a lion or other large cat, and the tail of a scorpion. A living manticore would 
  have a furry body, but the lich version seems to be all magically-animated 
  bone. That bone is harder 
  than wood and provides 8 
  points of armor. This 
  creature also has the large 
  flaring wings of a giant 
  bat. Monster Rating = 400 
  (41D6+200). Text: “It is a 
  creature from 
  nightmare, something 
  with the body structure 
  of a lion and the wings of a bat, 
  but it is all bone. The head is 
  manlike, but double the size of 
  any human head, and the 
  teeth are the teeth of 
  a lion. The 
  claws are 
  like short 
  swords.”7 
   
                                                        
  6 Saving Fang from the Pits of Morgul. Flying Buffalo Inc. Paragraph 11, page 13. 
   
  7 Ibid. Paragraph 93, page 38. 
   
   
  
   
  8. Eyesaur. A dinosaurian beast similar to an allosaurus, but it regenerates 
  any wounds taken at a rate if 5D6 per combat round. They are pack animals 
  and will always appear in groups of 2D6 creatures. Their scales are dark 
  green, brown and pale yellow.  It is smooth on its back and shoulders, but 
  banded on the underbelly and throat. The tail ends in a spiked globe that can 
  do massive damage. Monster rating: 150 (16D6+75) Text: “Eyesaurs are large 
  ferocious reptiles. They are ten to twenty feet long, stretching from oversized, 
  tooth-filled head to short spiky tail with a knob of bone at the end. Their scales 
  are mottled brown, green, and sickly yellow. The fore-claws have four claws, 
  while the feet have only three bird-like talons. They are fast, savage, and 
  fearless, and worst of all they are known to regenerate their wounds with 
  extreme speed. (Eyesaurs regenerate 5D6 per combat round.) These are some 
  of the deadliest things you could ever run into in the Trollworld wilderness.”8 
   
  9. Trollworld Gargoyle. These gargoyles are semi-magical creatures of living 
  stone---one of the remnant beasts from the early days of Trollworld when 
  there was no organic life and everything was 
  living stone. 
  They most 
  resemble a cross 
  between a bat and 
  a gorilla. Their 
  stony skins serve as 
  a natural armor that 
  will take 10 points of 
  damage. Cutting 
  weapons have little 
  effect on them—only 
  smashing weapons can damage 
  them.  Monster Rating: 200 (21D6 
  + 100). Text: “Dark shapes are 
  swooping out of the sky . . . Each 
  one looks like a grotesque bat-
  winged gorilla with the face of a 
  demon.  Their hides are slaty blue and 
  hard as stone (they are stone). Hammers can 
  break them, but swords are useless.9 
                                                        
  8 Hot Pursuit. Fiery Dragon. Second encounter, page 11. 
  9 Ibid. Death from Above, part 1, page 14. 
  
   
  10. Snollygoster. An intelligent beast that lives in deep forests and swamps 
  and prefers to attack from behind. They range in size from 4 feet to 10 feet 
  tall, and tend to run on their hind legs. They are mostly light to dark green in 
  color. Monster Rating: 40 (5D6 + 20) to 100 (11D6 + 50). Text: “Picture a 
  cross between a large cross-eyed dog and a truncated crocodile. Snollygosters 
  are extremely clever and devote themselves to causing trouble and abducting 
  children. They make excellent mounts for gremlins with whom they get along 
  famously.”10 
   
  11. Tsathogua. A bat-winged venomous toad. Although these are relatively 
  small creatures, their hides are armored so that they have as much armor as 
  their monster ratings. They are generally gray in color. The Tsathogua has a 
  special attack that activates on any roll of six when fighting—it will spit an 
                                                                                                                                                                             
   
  10 Monsters! Monsters! Monster Glossary, page 14. 
   
  
  acidic poison at its foe. The target must make a L2SR on Luck to avoid being 
  struck. Poisonous acid is extremely painful. Although the damage is only 3 
  points, anyone struck by tsathogua poison must make a L3SR on CON to 
  continue fighting during the next combat round. Monster Rating: 3D6 (TARO) 
  (Triples add and roll over). Text: “these bat-winged venomous toads are 
  descended from the patron of evil for which they are named.”11 
   
  12. Talking Toadstools. Sentient, ambulatory mushrooms with a taste for 
  living meat. Monster Rating: 2 (1D6 + 1) They can bite—they have teeth, and 
  mushroom saliva is a weak poison. When spite damage occurs (a 6 is rolled) 
  by the talking toadstool, the foe is poisoned. Toadstool poison clouds the brain 
  while killing the body, inflicting one point each of CON and INT damage for 
  each combat turn that lasts for 5 combat turns. The poison is cumulative. If 
  bitten twice the character takes 2 points of CON and INT damage each turn. 
  Toadstools generally move in packs of  2D6 + 10 creatures. Text: “In the 
  depths of this forest, 
  there is a kind of 
  mushroom that has 
  attained intelligence of a 
  sort. . . . These 
  mushrooms can pull their 
  roots out of the ground 
  and walk around. Unlike 
  other fungi that are 
  content to live on rotting 
  tree trunks and rich soil, 
  the talking toadstools 
  prefer to live directly on 
  decomposing animal 
  matter. They have faces 
  and can both see and talk, 
  but they don’t know any 
  humanoid languages. . . . 
  They are a sickly green 
  with bright orange 
  stripes, and they look a lot 
  like skinny mushrooms. 
  They are poisonous.12 
                                                        
  11 Ibid. Monster Glossary, p. 16. 
  12 Grimtina’s Guard. Flying Buffalo Inc. Paragraph 2, pages 5-6. 
  
   
  13. Redcap Goblins. A particularly mean variety of a small, goblinesque, 
  primitive humanoid. They prefer to live in dense forests near small streams 
  and make their homes in hollowed out trees. Monster Rating: 22 (3D6+11) 
  They always appear in groups of 2D6 goblins (DARO) (Doubles add and roll 
  over) Text: “These little fellows stand about 3 feet tall and look very much like 
  ordinary goblins except that from their eyes up, the tops of their heads are a 
  bright red in color.”13  (Redcap goblins almost don’t qualify as monsters since 
  they could be seen as a kind of playable kindred, but they don’t have attribute 
  stats, and they’re too stupid to worry about self preservation in a fight—i.e. 
  they always fight to the death—and that makes me treat them as a monster 
  instead of a kindred.) 
   
  14. Obsidian Spider. A spider-like creature made of living obsidian. Their 
  rocky bodies can take up to 1/10 their monster rating in hits before damage 
  occurs. Unlike trolls, they regenerate very slowly. Monster Rating: 100 
                                                                                                                                                                             
   
  13 Ibid. Paragraph 41, page 17. 
   
  
  (11D6+50) to 400 (41D6+200). Text: “12-legged spidery horrors made of 
  living obsidian—distant kin of rock trolls. Intelligent, malevolent, solitary. 
  Their nourishment is primarily rock-based, but the calcium of bones and 
  teeth,  and the iron in blood is food for them.”14 
   
  15. Cave Squid. A variety of freshwater squid that lives in deep pools and 
  underground streams. They can grow to considerable size and may be as 
  small as a human hand or as large as a cave troll. They are generally found in 
  water, but may sometimes go on dry land when hunting for prey. Monster 
  Rating: 40 (5D6+20) to 160 (17D6+80). Text: “Amphibious, tentacled, beaked 
  creature that haunts the streams and pools of Dwarf World (i.e. the deep 
  tunnels where dwarves live apart from surface societies). These squids have 
  anywhere from four to twelve tentacles (depending on their size)—if they lose 
  one it will regrow over time and possibly branch into two appendages. Each 
  tentacle ends in a chitinous claw capable of gouging iron. Their rubbery flesh 
  has color-changing ability and they have excellent camouflage, almost always 
  appearing to be the same color as whatever is behind or around them. These 
  monsters are migratory and sometimes leave their home environment after 
  stripping it of all suitable food beasts. That is when they can be found 
  dragging themselves through the tunnels in search of another nesting place. 
  Their general fighting style is to flail at things with tentacles until the prey 
  stops moving, and then close in to finish eating. Number appearing: 1 or 2.”15 
   
  16. Lasher Vines. Half plant, half animal creatures that grow on cave walls 
  and ceilings. They are most like gigantic bacteria with tentacles in place of 
  cilia. Monster Rating: 40 (5D6+20) to 220 (23D6+110) Text: “These strange 
  creatures are half plant, half animal and consist of a central spherical core 
  from which grow thorny vines that have all the strength and flexibility of 
  tentacles. The core has from one to twenty eyes, each associated with a vine 
  that grows out adjacent to it, and one mouth with thorns inside it for teeth. 
  Some vines may act as roots growing directly into the stone of walls, ceilings, 
  or floors. The vines sometimes produce a large crimson flower (5% chance for 
  any lasher vine to have one). These flowers are highly valued by dwarves—
  not only beautiful, but also have healing properties. (Roll 2D6 and multiply the 
  numbers to see how many points of CON are gained when a red flower is 
  eaten.) Lasher vines are predatory and will attack any warm-blooded creature 
  that comes into reach. Roll 1D10+1 to see how many vine-tentacles each 
                                                        
  14 Dwarf World. Trollhalla Press. Creatures You Might Meet. Paragraph 1, Page [10] 
  15 Ibid. Paragraph 5,Pages [10-11] 
  
  lasher has, and multiply by 20 for monster rating. These creatures can detach 
  from  their roots and move independently. Number appearing: 1 to 10.”16 
   
  17. Ice Dragon. A huge greenish-white flying dragon of the classical style that 
  breathes out blasts of cold so intense that ice is hot by comparison (I admit 
  this isn’t a very original idea with me, but it is my version of an ice dragon, and 
  what would this list be without an  ultimate monster like a dragon of some 
  sort on it?) Monster Rating: 5000 (501D6+2500) Text: “Out of the huge pile of 
  gold and diamonds in the center of the cavern rises a mighty dragon whose 
  scales glint with pale greenish-white luminance. It breathes a great gust of 
  dragonfrost at you.”17 
   
                                                        
  16 Ibid. Paragraph 9, Pages [11-12] 
  17 Deluxe Agent of Death. Flying Buffalo Inc.  Paragraph 28, Page 9. 
  
  18. Ghast. 12 feet tall, part kangaroo, part squid, part shark, but not a water 
  monster, these horrors lurk in remote caverns deep underground and prefer 
  total darkness. They move by leaping from place to place. They attack by 
  entangling prey in their tentacles, dragging it close to the shark-like mouth, 
  and biting savagely. Monster Rating: 1D6 X 100 (11D6+50 to 61D6+300) Text: 
  “. . . an enormous ghast leaps down on you out of the shadows. Although you 
  managed to avoid being smashed flat by the enormous kangaroo-like hindlegs 
  of the creature, you didn’t evade all of its tentacles and now find yourself 
  being squashed to death.”18 
   
   
  19. Bloodbats. These would appear to be simply large bats ranging in size 
  from a hawk to an eagle, but these do not eat insects. Their diet consists 
  entirely of blood, preferably taken from living creatures. They are also called 
  vampire bats in some adventures. They use their razor-sharp claws to tear 
  open their victims and make them bleed, then cling to the bleeding target and 
  lap up the fresh blood with catlike tongues. They live in caverns with easy 
  access to the outside world. They attack in swarms ranging from 10 to 100 (or 
  more) bats at one time. The bat saliva is a mild narcotic that will cause the 
  victim to fall asleep for up to 6 
  hours at a time. Special attack: any 
  spite damage caused by bloodbat 
  attack injects the saliva, and may 
  cause the victim to fall asleep—
  requiring a L1SR on CON the first 
  time the target is affected---with the 
  level difficulty going up by 1 each subsequent 
  time they get bitten. Because bloodbats 
  navigate by echo-location, they are extremely 
  hard to hit with weapons in ordinary combat. To 
  actually strike one and do damage a player must 
  make a L2SR on either Luck or Dexterity. Monster 
  Rating: 10 to 20 per bat. (2D6+5 to 
  3D6+10)  Text: “Bloodbat Cavern: 
  Several dozen bloodbats live here. 
  Each character must roll 1 die to 
  see how many (1 to 6) attack.”19 
   
                                                        
  18 Ibid. Paragraph 147, Page 27. 
  19 Tunnels and Trolls, 5th edition. Trollstone Caverns. Paragraph  11. 
  
  20. Silver Serpents: Come in different sizes, from small babies that are only 
  one foot long, to gigantic monsters more than 6 feet in diameter and sixty feet 
  long. No reptiles are as cold-blooded as the silver serpent---literally cold to the 
  touch and capable of freezing water with its breath. Silver serpents are 
  magical beasts that somehow have the ability to secrete silver metal as a 
  waste product.  They are always light gray to icy white in color. Small ones are 
  relatively harmless and are sometimes kept as pets by wizards. Larger ones 
  are much sought after by potentates and treasure hunters. Silver serpents are 
  typically found in warm cave systems, often living on the offerings of primitive 
  peoples that may worship them. Very large silver serpents can be incredibly 
  dangerous when attacked. Monster Rating: 100 (11D6+50) Special Attack: 
  Freezing breath or tongue. When a silver serpent rolls 6’s in combat, the spite 
  damage comes in the form of freezing damage to the target.  Each 6 not only 
  does a point of damage, but it also causes the loss of 1 point of DEX.  The effect 
  of such freezing damage will last for 1 complete game day.  Text: “Here lives a 
  giant silver-scaled serpent with a Monster Rating 
  of 100. It exhales a blast of freezing cold air. 
  To avoid freezing, anyone fighting it must 
  make progressively higher saving rolls 
  on CON (starting at first level) 
  each combat round.20 
   
   
   
                                                        
  20 Ibid. Paragraph 8. 
  
  This completes the list of my 20 favorite monsters. Each has its own place in 
  the ecology of Trollworld.  Some are fairly common (bloodbats) and some are 
  incredibly rare (ice dragons), but all can be used against aggressive 
  adventurers and dungeon delvers. Please treat my babies kindly. 
   
  --Trollgod  (a.k.a. Ken St. Andre) 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
  Appendix: The Legend of the Trollgod 
   
  Long, long ago in a different century, someone who didn’t like me very much 
  (and  yes, there are plenty of people who don’t like me) referred to me in 
  disparaging tones as the trollgod. Rather than allowing myself to be hurt by 
  the insult, I claimed it, and made it my title. I created the Tunnels and Trolls 
  game, and if anyone wants to call me the Trollgod because of that, fine by me.  
  And that went on for years with nothing really coming of it. 
   
  But then, in 2002 I decided to create an internet club for Tunnels and Trolls 
  players. I called that club Trollhalla. Trollhalla lasted from 2002 until 2015, 
  and finally failed because the version of PHP that my original programmer 
  used to create the mechanisms that allowed me to run the site got to be 
  obsolete and was superseded on the servers that supported the site. 
   
  Members of Trollhalla all had special avatars and Trollish names. I decided to 
  be the Trollgod there too. Many of my fanclub members were highly talented 
  and creative people who brought new art and new ideas to the group.  At it’s 
  peak Trollhalla had around 400 members, of which only about 40 were 
  actually very active. Over time we wrote stories and drew pictures to illustrate 
  adventures created by the members of Trollhalla. I created a mythology that 
  made Trollgod a personal friend of Lerotra’hh with headquarters in 
  downtown Khazan. My friend, Jeff Freels created an avatar of the Trollgod that 
  I used from time to time. 
   
  
   
   
  In 2017, the New Zealand miniature sculptor Darcy Perry created an actual 
  mini-statue of the Trollgod using my face and hat as his inspiration.  
   
  As you can see, the Trollgod is a character with a life of his own, and he now 
  has at least a semi-official reality as a major character in Trollworld. Is he a 
  real god? No, of course not. He didn’t create the trolls. Even Ken St. Andre did 
  not create the trolls. They have always been with us. But, the Trollgod is a 
  wizard of sorts, and that is rare among trolls. He makes magical things 
  happen. He provides a sanctuary for monsters and the under-appreciated 
  kindreds of Trollworld.  
   
  Perhaps the Trollgod will be remembered long after Ken St. Andre is 
  forgotten. That would be kind of cool. 
   
  --Ken St. Andre 
  October 17, 2017. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Tunnels & Trolls (osr)/Monster Books/The Trollgods Terrible Twenty .pdf