So my group finally started "Hall of Harsh Reflections" yesterday. Along the way, I used the troll brothers random encounter.
When the first one went down, the second begged for his life as written. The party relented, not only sparing him but not torching his brother either. Once they got the description of the adventurers who routed the trolls, the party agreed to let them both live in return for a "future service". There was some debate over whether or not the party was actually supposed to fight Auric and friends, but they hate them (him, in particular, enough that they really don't care).
Once they got into town and started hearing about the Champion's Games, though, they've started to talk about bringing them into the fold as teammates. Obviously,it would be easy to rule no on that, but it might be fun. Thoughts?
Well, I seriously doubt an egomaniac like Auric would think he needed extra help--Loris Raknian would probably try to talk him out of it anyway.
IMC, during the parade/chimera encounter, I used some foreshadowing by having Loris & Auric in the parade, in a chariot tossing out copper pieces & candies to adoring children. The chimera was at the other end of the parade, & by the time Auric & Raknian got there, the PCs had already killed it. Auric berated them for their incompetence, but Loris let it slide, telling Auric that few were skilled enough to subdue the beast, & that the PCs obviously weren't on his level.
I anticipate my PCs needing Khellek & Auric's help in the final battle, should the PCs not take care of business. As an aside, I'm having one of the flesh golems have a large number "9" carved on its chest--one of my players had a character in an earlier group that played through White Plume Mt, & I'm sure he'll get a kick out of it.
My group encountered the two trolls as well, but ended up simply talking with them. I ended up replacing the gnoll halbardiers in the Badlands Revenge team with the trolls and adding an orc from another "random" encounter they hit on their way to Blackwall Keep.
Well, I seriously doubt an egomaniac like Auric would think he needed extra help--Loris Raknian would probably try to talk him out of it anyway.
I don't think he's talking about Auric. He's saying his players may want to recruit the Trolls for the champions games (as teammates).
Larry,
While it might be fun having the Trolls show up to help the players, and maybe even seek revenge... It could give the players too much of a boost in power, I think.
Also, how do they plan on finding these Trolls again? It would require a bit of time going out into the wild and checking all those caves. Plus while their checking the caves, they could get overwhelmed by other trolls in the area. The games are scheduled to start within a week or two once HoHR starts. That doesn't leave them much time to spare.
If your players did manage to find and recruit these Trolls, how much would they pay them? What's to stop Raknian from paying them more to turn on the players? What's to stop the Trolls from turning on the characters in their desperate time of need? Trolls are generally evil and cannot be trusted. I would try to discourage them from recruiting the Trolls. Victory will seem that much sweeter if they do it on their own.