PF: Trolls, fire, & Cure Wounds

[Darcand]

I am doing some work on a fey based campaign, and one of the adventures is going to be taking on a troll barbarian/1 with the fey creature template. I gave him long step and vanish and plan on using hit and run tactics to wear the party down, counting on his regeneration to top him off between skirmishes. They're fighting him on his home turf, and it will be close quarters, with him smashing into the back ranks and then popping out. He's pretty important to the story and I want this to be a memorable fight.

My one concern is fire damage. The close quarters should limit AoE fire attacks, but surprises happen. I assume that potions would heal fire damage, but how would that work with regeneration? Would he need to heal away the other damage first, and then drink a potion?

[Lord Vukodlak]

I am doing some work on a fey based campaign, and one of the adventures is going to be taking on a troll barbarian/1 with the fey creature template. I gave him long step and vanish and plan on using hit and run tactics to wear the party down, counting on his regeneration to top him off between skirmishes. They're fighting him on his home turf, and it will be close quarters, with him smashing into the back ranks and then popping out. He's pretty important to the story and I want this to be a memorable fight.

My one concern is fire damage. The close quarters should limit AoE fire attacks, but surprises happen. I assume that potions would heal fire damage, but how would that work with regeneration? Would he need to heal away the other damage first, and then drink a potion?

Anything that isn't acid or fire damage is converted to nonlethal. So as per the rule.
"When a spell or a magical power cures hit point damage, it also removes an equal amount of nonlethal damage."

[Darcand]

Wow, so he basically gets to double dip. Would regeneration restore temporary HP gained while raging? I know ordinary temporary HP can't be healed, but rage HP works differently then regular temp HP.

Edit: What effect would being decapitated have on him? The rules for regeneration say that suffocation can still be fatal, and a lack of lungs should cause suffocation. However, the bestiary states that even the smallest part of a troll can regenerate completely. I ask because they're being sent to bring back his head for interrogation.

[Psyren]

PF regeneration is not like 3.5 regeneration; your troll will heal fire damage if he slips away from the party or is left alone long enough. All fire damage does in PF is shut off his regen for 1 round (which of course is a good time for him to leave, as for the next round they can beat the tar out of him and possibly kill him.)

For your question - the hp boost from Rage comes from its temp Con boost. Temp Con boosts increase both current and max HP for their duration. So yes, regen/FH would continue to heal you up to your new maximum, and when the rage is over, both your current and max HP will fall. (So if you're fully healed, you'll stay fully healed when the rage ends - but if you're wounded, you'll still be wounded, and if you're severely wounded, you're at risk of dropping to zero or lower.

You'll also need to give your troll some way to rage-cycle if your plans are for him to pop in, rage for awhile and pop back out.


EDIT: concerning decapitation, I would say the brain is where the regen would happen from, so the PCs need to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't regain his body during transport. Tapping him with a torch every once in a while should do it.

[Darcand]

PF regeneration is not like 3.5 regeneration; your troll will heal fire damage if he slips away from the party or is left alone long enough. All fire damage does in PF is shut off his regen for 1 round (which of course is a good time for him to leave, as for the next round they can beat the tar out of him and possibly kill him.)

For your question - the hp boost from Rage comes from its temp Con boost. Temp Con boosts increase both current and max HP for their duration. So yes, regen/FH would continue to heal you up to your new maximum, and when the rage is over, both your current and max HP will fall. (So if you're fully healed, you'll stay fully healed when the rage ends - but if you're wounded, you'll still be wounded, and if you're severely wounded, you're at risk of dropping to zero or lower.

You'll also need to give your troll some way to rage-cycle if your plans are for him to pop in, rage for awhile and pop back out.


EDIT: concerning decapitation, I would say the brain is where the regen would happen from, so the PCs need to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't regain his body during transport. Tapping him with a torch every once in a while should do it.

What do you mean by rage cycle? He should have about 10 rounds of rage, which I think should be plenty, but if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them!

[Fouredged Sword]

The issue is that he is fatigued every time he drops out of rage. This means that he is weakened while he is hiding.

He could possibly make it work by hiding, but he would have to hide for twice as many rounds as his last bout of combat each time to get of the fatigue.

[Psyren]

What do you mean by rage cycle? He should have about 10 rounds of rage, which I think should be plenty, but if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them!

Rage cycling means clearing your fatigue (or being immune to it) each time you stop raging so that you can rage again right away without a cooldown. In PF, you're fatigued for 2x as many rounds as you spent raging, so it can affect how often he can pop in on the PCs. Normally, getting around it requires 17 levels of Barbarian for Tireless Rage. But you could easily have him use items, dip Oracle or have a homebrew (monstrous) feat that lets him do the same thing.

[Darcand]

Rage cycling means clearing your fatigue (or being immune to it) each time you stop raging so that you can rage again right away without a cooldown. In PF, you're fatigued for 2x as many rounds as you spent raging, so it can affect how often he can pop in on the PCs. Normally, getting around it requires 17 levels of Barbarian for Tireless Rage. But you could easily have him use items, dip Oracle or have a homebrew (monstrous) feat that lets him do the same thing.

Ah, gotcha. I wasn't too worried about the fatigue, since he'll be sitting out for several rounds between skirmishes to regen anyway. Odds are good that even with his DR 5/cold iron, he'll be soaking up at least 10 damage per round and needing time to recover. I will need to build in a ''safe room'' for him though, somewhere he can teleport to in a pinch that won't be easily found.

[Arbane]

EDIT: concerning decapitation, I would say the brain is where the regen would happen from, so the PCs need to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't regain his body during transport. Tapping him with a torch every once in a while should do it.

The last Pathfinder game I was in, one crazy PC carried around a troll head. He used bonsai on it to keep him from regenerating.
:smalleek:

[Darcand]

The last Pathfinder game I was in, one crazy PC carried around a troll head. He used bonsai on it to keep him from regenerating.
:smalleek:

That is a little bit horrifying. And a lot of bit awesome. I've been kicking around the complications of trying to transport a flying, teleporting, biting troll head.