Trolls - Old School Dave Sutherland Style

Troll Attack!

Most persons, reading the Lord of the Rings will agree, I suspect, when I say that the creatures proferred as "Trolls" by E.Gary Gygax, are indeed not "Trolls" - at least, not in the Tolkien sense, and therefore not recognisable by anyone who came to Dungeons & Dragons by way of the "LotR" trilogy.

Tolkien's trolls were hulking, scaly brutes, formed from stone, by the first Dark Lord; Morgoth. As creatures made by the uttermost evil, against the intention of the One True God, trolls, much like orcs, are - in Professor Tolkien's words - "utterly irredeemable and damned". 

They are also the Intellectual Property of the Tolkien Estate, and perhaps more importantly, in forma juris, of Elan Merchandising a.k.a. Tolkien Enterprises - a legal Balrog, standing astride the bridge, if ever there was.

So Gary Gygax, who at the time was already in heated waters with any entity that had "Tolkien" in their incorporative documents, over (inter alia) using the term "Hobbit" without a license, made to steer clear of any more legal hurdles, and went with the gangly, green, regenerative creatures we now indulgently call "Trolls" in D&D, and first drawn by David C Sutherland III in the original 1974 boxed set.

(In defense of E.G.G., Tolkien's copyrights in the late 60's and early 70's were an international mess, and becoming entangled was not very difficult....) 

by David C.Sutherland III ©1977 TSR/Wizards of the Coast

This rather long introduction seemed necessary in order for your humble writer to explain why he started running an AD&D game with miniatures, when he had nothing for trolls.  Nothing for "Gygaxian Trolls", that is. Now that some trolls are needed - where to find them with the right look...

Back in 1993, Ral Partha produced the classic Sutherland Troll in 25mm, under license with TSR.

Figure by Ral Partha Miniatures

The Ral Partha troll I recently bought on eBay was a bit pricey - I can't at this time determine whether it's currently out-of-production, as the jumbled mess that Ral Partha calls a website is down for maintenance at the moment. I paid about $30 USD for mine, wanting something for reasons of comparison. I also wanted to find something with which I could build a band of trolls.

Enter Otherworld Miniatures (again!). They do an excellent 28mm version of the Sutherland "thin, rubbery and loathesome" troll that requires fire or acid to kill with finality.

Figure by Otherworld Miniatures

The figure comes in a five-part kit (legs/torso, two arms, two heads, plus a plastic base. The arms are cast with socket-nubbins to help fix their position whilst they are glued on, and the head can be fixed any angle you like.  The feet also have more pin-like nubbins, for attaching to the plastic base.

The model has smooth, clean lines with almost no casting marks - the lumpy pseudo-buboes from the Sutherland illo are also present, along with some pock marks; leading one to believe that trolls are singularly unhealthy creatures.

From these comparison pictures, the reader will be able to see that the Otherworld troll scales well with the older, 25mm, Ral Partha one. Especially where monstrous humanoids are concerned, uniformity of size is less important than an agreement in style.

Otherworld Miniatures vs. Ral Partha size comparison

Animation: 5

Detail: 5

Proportions: 5

Relate-ability: 5

Variety:5

Final Verdict: 5 out of 5. Excellent miniature and more on order...

Campaign Miniatures for the Player Characters

Finding appropriate miniatures for the player characters can prove to be challenging, but what great satisfaction when you succeed.

Derek's character, João Afonso Villalobos, is a chaotic good Ranger, of poor, landed yeoman status. His name is, to quote the player "an unholy combination of Spanish and Portuguese..." 

Figure by Ral Partha Miniatures

João Afonso's miniature is a Ral Partha Forgotten Realms Hero "Tristan" with the bow removed (and with a shield scheduled for addition in the not-too-distant future). The miniature is currently OOP - mine was had from eBay.

His jupon, sewn by his mother, carries his house "colours", since, while not of noble birth, his father, Senior Tinian D'Lanni Villalobos, maintains the family is impoverished nobility, and insists João Afonso wear his colours with pride. In keeping with the spirit of the character, his colours are an unholy combination of the coats of arms of Spain and Portugal.

Finding a miniature for Megan's character, Esperalda Ragosa, the Cranky Gnome, was harder. There's not a lot of demand for Female Rogue Gnomes, and my first purchase, a New School piece of plastic, proved to be an error (more on that, anon).

Figure by Reaper Miniatures

However, a proper metal miniature was found. Reaper Miniatures "Ingrid" which fit the bill nicely. My only wish is that the sculptor made the miniature to look more "Gnome-y" (with a bigger, pointier nose and less "Halfling-y". Still, I'm grateful for the figure.

Finally, there had been plans for a half-elven third player, but scheduling and a reluctance to engage in simple "Dungeon Crawling" (lulz) resulted in them being dropped from the campaign. Instead, a half-elven cleric was inserted as a primary NPC.

Figure by Reaper Miniatures

Once again, I found what I was looking for at Reaper Miniatures**: Christina the Devout. I had to file off the holy symbol, but this cleric obviously means business. The miniature now represents Osondria D'Esserain of Waterdeep, Acolyte of Helm.

**Really, I should learn - check Reaper Miniatures first.

Finally the two Hirelings; Diego Garcia and Ferdinand Po. These are part of the two Outlands Miniatures "Brigands" pack. I thought they fit the "Desperate Hirelings" description pretty well.

Figures by Outlands Miniatures

And so, having hired some muscle, the Party prepares to REenter the sewers beneath Athkatlos...What Excitement Awaits Them?...

Half-Orcs, Rats and Kobolds

28mm Half-Orcs by Grenadier/Mirliton

These Half-Orcs are old Grenadier/Mirliton casts. One of the players in my AD&D 1E game made a joke about skipping out on their contract with the Coin Lords of Athkatlos, I decided to paint these as a potential Brute Squad, to send against them; should they break their bond, these guys will break their legs.

28mm Half-Orcs by Grenadier/Mirliton

There's also a half-orc assassin, also Grenadier/Mirliton, for the subtler approach:

25mm Half-Orc Assassin by Grenadier

25mm Half-Orc Assassin by Grenadier

The rat packs are from Ral Partha, for their AD&D line. My set has been gathering dust for 20 years, as I originally had intended to use them for a game of Call of Cthulhu, but the opportunity passed. Now that I'm running a table-top RPG/combat game of AD&D, these rats will prove useful again.

25mm Giant Rats from Ral Partha

Finally, some plastic Kobold Characters from Reaper Miniatures (Bones). Let me start off by stating that I don't like painting plastic figures. The detail usually isn't as fine as metal, the medium doesn't accept paint as well (even if primed) and the miniatures bend/break more easily and are more difficult to repair.)

(I will have a longer, more critical post on plastics, the economy of the New School, Corporate Games and other jolly topics, out shortly...)

28mm Plastic Kobolds from Reaper Bones

28mm Plastic Kobolds from Reaper Bones

All things considered, these came out halfway decent - except half-decent isn't all-the-way decent. I just noticed I forgot to paint the weight-stones on the back of the spellcaster's cloak (sigh).

Left side is the tribal spellcaster - either a cleric/witch doctor or a magic user/shaman. Usually very helpful to throw the players and their carefully-laid plans into confusion. On the right is the chieftain/leader. I realised after finishing him that he's probably supposed to be wearing a combination of chaine maille and leather, not steel. Oh well...plastics.

There's another 20 common warrior kobolds that are waiting on the paint blocks. Now that I've found some Reaper Kobolds in glorious metal, I don't think I'll be finishing them...

The Maztica Campaign Interlude - Reinforcements

 (What Has Gone Before)

Osondria D'esserain, Cleric of Helm (Elmore)

As suspected, the PCs, after escaping the kobold-infested sewer, realised they needed a cleric. So on to the Temple District (which is now mostly townhouses for the wealthy) and up the Street of Seven Altars to the Temple of Tymora.

The Acolytes were very helpful; wounds were healed, baths made available, and clean robes provided ("In all charity friends, you reek of the midden. The Laundress will surely earn her keep on the morrow...") and a simple-but-hardy stew was served ("We harvest the mussels ourselves, from the mouth of the river!"). 

All for a moderate donation. "All Coin is Good, but Gold is Best. It Guarantees a Blissful Rest..."

The next morning, in the Refectory, over fresh fruit, bread and cheese, the PCs inquired if any of the temple clergy were available for hire.

"Regrettably, no..." they were informed. "Our duties preclude. But if it's a cleric you seek, mayhap the All-Seeing Helm has sent you one, unlooked for? She meditates in our garden."

"I don't think we're hiring out..."

In the garden, which was really a herb garden with some flowers planted here and there, knelt a dark-haired female cleric, in prayerful meditation. After a moment, she concluded her meditations with the sign of Helm (which looks a lot like the Black Power fist, only the hand is reversed. So really, it looks like signing to a trucker to blow his air horn, without the pumping motion.)

The PCs introduced themselves, explained their interests, and the tall cleric responded. "I am Osondria D'esserain of Waterdeep, Acolyte of Helm Hammer-Hand. I too arrived in this city intending to join the new Golden Legion, but I was delayed upon the road and my party slain, and missed my chance to sail. It seems to me that we three are destined to meet this day, so I will join you, until such time as transport to New Amn can be arranged...

...and an equal share of any treasure. For the Church, you know."

"We know." said Ranger and Gnome in unison.

To be continued...