Half-breeds and outcasts, trollkin are the unwanted children of humans and trolls. Rare is the troll and human couple, and rarer still is the trollkin child that makes it past the first few months in the world. If not surreptitiously smothered or abandoned in a forest, most trollkin end up in orphanages, where they grow up as outsiders amongst their peers. In troll communities, they are viewed as weak and fragile, and in human communities, they are viewed as too stupid and emotionless to be effective members of society.
Unfortunately for trollkin, they are perfectly capable of understanding and figuring out many things, but are terrible at expressing it. Some trollkin abandon society to live alone in nature, becoming hermits and befriending the animals around them, who they may feel more comfortable around.
Others choose to become experts in a niche field of academics, where they do not need to interact with many people, but can still let their creative, roaming minds explore. Many of the greatest discoveries were made by trollkin, though credit may never be given to their name.
Still others turn to more violent areas of life. When faced with the constant frustration of trying to get others to understand you, some eventually consider violence. Due to their troll blood and hide, trollkin are formidable agents in combat.
The making
Trolls are one of Gaea's flesh-peoples, cut from the same living stock as humans and giants, and that shared stock is the whole of the matter. A human and a troll can get a child between them, and the child is no sterile dead end. Trollkin bear young of their own, with humans, with trolls, and with each other, so the line never quite dies out wherever the two peoples share ground. From the troll side a trollkin inherits one thing above all others: a slow gate between thought and speech, not the brute appetite the trolls are known for. The mind behind that gate works as well as anyone's; it simply cannot get the words out fast enough to prove the point. A life spent failing that proof, over and over, in front of people who have already decided what the failure means, shapes a trollkin more than any drop of blood does.
Aspects
- Thick-headed
- Contemplating what no one else is
Vitals
- Size: Large
- Height: 7.5-8.5 feet
- Weight: 200-400 pounds
Game mechanics
Troll Blood
Passive ability. At the beginning of each round, if you are conscious, regain 2 hit points, up to the maximum determined by your current heart die.
Massive Build
Passive ability. The XP cost of increasing your maximum hit points is reduced by 2. Your size is large.