Snow Troll

Slightly shorter and stockier than the common troll, a snow troll has pale skin with large patches of white fur. Broad furry feet carry it swiftly across snow and stone, and its arms and claws climb as well as any troll's. A few know some Common, but most speak only their own warbling, high-pitched language, which has 20 words for prey.

Unlike its cousin it uses only its two claws, though it can split them between two foes. It regenerates 3 hit points per round from the third round after first being hurt. A successful save negates any cold attack entirely, and even a failed one means only half damage. Fire is the opposite: double damage on a failed save, normal damage on a success.

Fearless and willing to fight to the death, a lone snow troll may raid a small village, but it prefers to den in a cave beside a busy route, the mouth sealed with snow or rock. It learns its ground intimately and senses prey through tiny shifts in the snow's surface tension, through vibrations in rock or sand, and by its keen nose. When something passes, it erupts out. It surprises prey on 6 in 10 and is surprised only on a 1 within its territory.

Snow trolls are loners who leave home only once every third year to mate, when dozens or even hundreds meet in hidden mountain valleys during the deep winter dark. Males depart soon after, so any pair met is a mother and young. An expectant female retreats to heights or icebergs, which grant her the same surprise advantages as a home range. Young mature in a year and are said to be the most dangerous of all, since they eat twice as much. They cooperate with no other race, finding humans and nonhumans equally delicious, and can live 120 years.

A patient hunter, unlike warmer-climate trolls, it will wait for hours and chase prey over brutal terrain. Each holds hundreds of square miles and kills polar bears, humans and other rivals for food. Only white dragons prey on them, and snow trolls and ice trolls feud without end over hunting grounds.