Monster Madness looks at forgotten monsters from the early days of gaming, when creativity ran rampant, game balance was an afterthought, and critters with little rhyme or reason plagued dungeons for the sole purpose of brutally murdering adventurers. Today's Monster Madness is the Droll, from The Dungeoneer Compendium by Mark Norton.
You know you're in trouble when a monster is named after a state of mind. The definition of droll is "oddly humorous or whimsical." This thing isn't humorous or whimsical. But it is odd.
Drolls are one-foot diameter balls of fur with arms, legs, two eyestalks, and a maw full of teeth. That's it.
Culture? Maybe they roam dungeon halls like wolf packs. Reproduction? Fission, for all we know. Do they have names? What do they eat? Nobody knows. This thing just kills and kills and kills.
The Droll is a tiny killing machine that moves fast, fights like the dickens, and runs at high speed (80 feet if it so chooses). With 6 Hit Dice, Drolls are not something to mess with. Add in the fact that Drolls can appear in packs of up to twelve and suddenly these cute little furballs don't seem so cute.
There's a refreshing lack of scale here…the Droll is no 1 Hit Die kobold. Despite their diminutive size, Droll packs can take down an entire adventuring party with ease. In fact, these cute little furballs are one of the deadliest Mad Monsters we've reviewed.
How droll.
| Droll (CR 2, HD 6d8+6) CE Tiny Aberration Init +6 Spd 40 Senses Darkvision (Ex): 60 ft.; | Listen +1, Spot +1 AC 18 (FF 16, Touch 14) hp 33 (Disabled -1/Dying -13/Injury 13) Saves: Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +6 Atk +9 base melee, +8 base ranged; Grapple -1; Reach 10'; +9 Melee (2 Claw 1d4+3/crit 20/x2) and +4 Melee (Bite 1d8+1/crit 20/x2); SQ: Quickness (Su) Abilities STR 16, DEX 14, CON 13, INT 4, WIS 13, CHA 7 Feats: Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Stealthy. Skills: Hide + 13, Jump + 7, Move Silently + 12. Quickness (Su): Although not particularly dextrous, a droll is supernaturally quick. It can take an extra standard action or move action during its turn each round. |
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