Ice troll
T ice troll 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 12 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 2d6, claw 2d6 cold, bite 2d6 |
| Base level | 9 |
| Base experience | 205 |
| Speed | 10 |
| Base AC | 2 |
| Base MR | 20 |
| Alignment | −3 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 1000 |
| Nutritional value | 300 |
| Size | Large |
| Resistances | Cold |
| Resistances conveyed | Cold (60%) |
|
An ice troll:
| |
| Reference | monst.c, line 1805 |
An ice troll, T, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. It is a type of troll that is slower than a normal troll, but has stronger attacks and better defenses. Like all trolls, ice trolls can often revive from its corpse when killed.
An ice troll has a weapon attack, a claw attack that inflicts cold damage, and a bite attack - the claw attack can freeze and shatter potions in the target's open inventory. Naturally, it also possesses cold resistance.
Eating an ice troll corpse or tin has a 3⁄5 chance of conveying cold resistance.
Contents
Generation
Randomly generated ice trolls are always generated hostile.
Ice trolls may appear among the hostile T that generate in throne rooms, as well the monsters randomly generated by looting a throne while confused and carrying gold (provided there is no chest on the level).[1]
Ice trolls can generate among the random T that are part of the second quest monster class for Barbarians, and make up 6⁄175 of the monsters that randomly generate on the Barbarian quest.
Ice trolls have a 1⁄2 chance of being generated with a ranseur, partisan, glaive, or spetum, with an equal probability of each polearm.[2]
Strategy
Ice trolls are slower than basic trolls, but have stronger attacks and can destroy any potions you are carrying in the open with their claw attack. They also have an MR score of 20, making magical attacks somewhat less reliable against ice trolls (though still effective).
The same strategies for disposing of troll corpses apply to ice troll corpses: you can eat them (as can a pet), tin them, lock them in a box, throw them into water or lava, turn them to stone, or even lure them to the Rogue level, where monsters do not drop corpses. Eating an ice troll may be more attractive than other options for a character without cold resistance, as their corpses have a 60% chance of granting it - if you plan to eat one for this purpose, try to keep meat-eating pets away from the corpse.
History
The ice troll first appears in NetHack 3.0.0.
Origin
A troll is a being that appears in Norse mythology and later Scandinavian folklore. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rock, mountains, or caves, living together in small family units, and were rarely helpful to human beings - the Old Norse nouns troll and trǫll are variously used to mean "fiend", "demon", "werewolf", and "jötunn". The trolls of NetHack are derived from Dungeons & Dragons, whose portrayal of them is partly inspired by Poul Anderson novel Three Hearts and Three Lions.
D&D trolls are typically nine feet tall on average, with rubbery green or gray hide, gaunt and deceptively-thin builds, and long arms that drag across the ground and dangle when running. A troll's hunched posture and uneven gait masks great physical strength and agility: they are fearless fighters that attack relentlessly with their claws and teeth, rarely using weapons, and have the ability to rapidly heal wounds and even animate disembodied parts of themselves, as well as a weakness to fire. Trolls hunt most other living creatures for prey and have no natural predators, though they respect groups that are known to wield fire - both fire and acid were the only ways of counteracting a troll's regenerative abilities.
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, ice trolls hit as a +1 weapon, and tame ice trolls may turn traitor.
notdNetHack
In notdNetHack, ice trolls may appear as shopkeepers in the Ice Caves adventure branch.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, four ice trolls are generated on the last floor of the Ice Queen's Realm at level creation: two are stationed in the watchtowers of the Ice Queen's castle, and the other two are placed in front of the doors that connect the zoo to the foyer leading into the Ice Queen's dwelling.
Encyclopedia entry
The troll shambled closer. He was perhaps eight feet tall,
perhaps more. His forward stoop, with arms dangling past
thick claw-footed legs to the ground, made it hard to tell.
The hairless green skin moved upon his body. His head was a
gash of a mouth, a yard-long nose, and two eyes which drank
the feeble torchlight and never gave back a gleam.
[...]
Like a huge green spider, the troll's severed hand ran on its
fingers. Across the mounded floor, up onto a log with one
taloned forefinger to hook it over the bark, down again it
scrambled, until it found the cut wrist. And there it grew
fast. The troll's smashed head seethed and knit together.
He clambered back on his feet and grinned at them. The
waning faggot cast red light over his fangs.
