Chimney Troll

[Mike Kimmel]

This large, emaciated humanoid stands to its full height, its joints cracking sickeningly. Filth and soot cover its pallid skin, and beady black eyes glint with desperate hunger from its elongated face.

Chimney Troll CR 2
XP 600
CE Large humanoid (giant)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +6

----- Defense -----
AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 11 (+3 Dex, +2 natural, –1 size)
hp 19 (3d8+6)
Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +1
Resist fire 5
Weaknesses wicked blood

----- Offense -----
Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee bite +2 (1d4+1), 2 claws +2 (1d4+1)
Ranged debris +5 (2d4+1)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks inhale flames, soot breath, throw debris (30 ft.)

----- Statistics -----
Str 13, Dex 16, Con 15, Int 8, Wis 11, Cha 6
Base Atk +2; CMB +4; CMD 17
Feats Combat Reflexes, Deadly Aim
Skills Acrobatics +5 (+9 when jumping), Climb +9, Perception +6, Stealth +5; Racial Modifiers +2 Acrobatics (+6 when jumping), +6 Stealth
Languages Giant
SQ compression

----- Ecology -----
Environment any urban
Organization solitary or gang (2–3)
Treasure standard

----- Special Abilities -----
Inhale Flames (Su) As a standard action, a chimney troll can inhale a single non-magical fire within 30 feet. The fire coils through the air and enters the troll’s mouth, extinguishing itself and granting the troll regeneration 3 (cold) for 3 rounds. The fire inhaled must be no bigger than a campfire. A successful DC 13 Reflex save by an attended fire (such as fire on a held torch) negates this effect. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Soot Breath (Su) As a standard action, a chimney troll can exhale a searing cloud of smoke and cinders which winds into the mouth of another creature within 30 feet. The creature must succeed at a DC 13 Fortitude save or take 1d6 fire damage and be nauseated for 1d3 rounds. The save DC is Constitution-based. This ability can be used once each time the troll inhales flames and only within 3 rounds of using that ability.
Throw Debris (Ex) This ability functions as rock throwing, but the chimney troll throws debris (such as shingles or bricks) instead of rocks.
Wicked Blood (Ex) Chimney trolls cannot heal hit point damage naturally.

Chimney trolls are gaunt, pale creatures that skulk amongst the shadowy rooftops of towns and cities, searching for flames to heal their cursed wounds and flesh to sate their bellies. To claim the fire they need to survive, they twist their limbs into impossible positions, hiding in chimneys and sucking the flames straight up out of frightened townsfolks’ hearths.

Chimney trolls originated in the Hungry Mountains of Ustalav, where the Whispering Tyrant’s vile magic still holds sway. Many trolls there fall ill, losing their potent regeneration and strength and taking on a deathly pallor, hardly resembling their former selves. By some cruel twist of fate or malicious necromancy, their accursed bodies can only heal wounds if they consume the very substance trolls loathe the most: fire. This desperate reliance on fire has made them anathema to their kin, who drove them from their mountain homes.

Due to their diminished strength, chimney trolls prefer to harass opponents from the rooftops with thrown debris and their soot breath before closing in for the kill. Chimney trolls are 9 feet tall and weigh 350 pounds.

[Lee Hammock]

Hi Mike, I'm Lee Hammock, the lead game designer on Pathfinder Online. Before that I did lots of d20 freelance work, but I'm probably going to be leaving mechanics to the more up to date judges and concentrating on story, overall balance, and how I could see using them in a game.

I love the mechanics on this one, tying its regeneration to an action and consuming a resource rather than having it be constant. It gives the monster and interesting drive and allows the players interesting strategies to defeat it. I do wish it was a bit higher CR as it does seem a little weak for it's size and for the fiction. It does seem odd that they are named chimney trolls, but their origin story seems to come from a region where there would not be many chimneys. Some extra bit about other trolls driving them out or something, or really anything about how they get to more developed area, would complete the background. As they are I could see using these more in wilderness encounters than urban, eating up campfires or making life really difficult by hanging around with normal trolls and putting out fires before they can be used to stop the normal trolls' regeneration.

I would rate this a Should Vote For.

[Adam Daigle]

Congrats on making it to this round! May you have the luck and talent to push all the way through to the end!

”How I Judged These Monsters”:

When I develop a monster for the Adventure Path bestiaries, I print out the monster entry, and then go through it in a quick pass, marking up the page with notes and highlighting any problems that I need to address later when I really dig into it. Much of the time I’m circling things in the stat block or flavor text and leaving a quick note. Most often, this quick note pass is performed while I’m writing out art orders for the monsters so I can make sure that the description I give to the artist is what the final monster will be. This is where I make note of any changes I plan to make (some of which I’m sure frustrate some of my freelancers from time to time).

I’m going to judge this round in a similar manner to how I’d treat a monster I ordered from a freelancer if I asked one of my freelancers to just send me something within the same parameters that you’ve been given. My review isn’t anything personal, and since tone is difficult to communicate online sometimes, imagine my comments and critiques read in a friendly and nudging way. To heighten the experience, imagine my comments on your monster written in purple ink. :)

The blue italicized first line in my review was my gut reaction from reading the name with no context whatsoever. It was a fun guessing game I was playing while reviewing the monsters, so I included that note for everyone’s enjoyment. (Spoiler Alert: I was wrong a lot.)

And now to the monster!

I hope it’s a troll that lives in a chimney.

Neat! The second Large monster in the competition. I didn’t really expect many monsters would be larger than Medium, but I was a bit surprised there were so few, so kudos for taking the risk.
The monster’s target numbers are pretty spot on.
I like the debris ranged attack.
I like the cracking joints bit in the descriptive line.
The special abilities are thematic and fun. Wicked blood is neat and it helps fuel their other abilities and behavior. I like that you mentioned what happens to held flames in the inhale flames ability, and even though nauseated is a strong condition to slap on low-level PCs, the DC is right where it should be.
I’m glad you gave them compression, but it’d be cool if you gave them a way to squeeze into even smaller spaces.
I also was thinking about how they climb around on rooftops and how at 350 pounds, you’d certainly know that something is on your roof.
I think this is a fun monster.
The monster is urban and has a tie to Golarion. It wouldn’t take much time to develop this for print.

I do recommend chimney troll for advancement.

[Liz Courts]

Hi Mike! I'll be one of the judges for this round, and I'll be looking at a couple of key points for your creature: flavor, GM usability, and how well it fits into the world of Golarion. For some background, I helped found the Wayfinder fanzine before I started working for Paizo, and these are all points that I took into consideration when selecting articles for the magazine. In addition, I oversee every third-party Pathfinder Roleplaying Game product that makes its way onto Paizo.com.

Flavor
Worst. Santa. Ever.
...And I'm okay with that. With its compression abilities and constant need of sustenance, this reminds me very much of Eugene Victor Tooms in all the best possible ways without being a copy/paste/find/replace. Very impressive array of themed abilities, but doesn't feel overwhelming and a jack-of-all-trades.

GM Usability
OhManOhManOhManOhMan. The stories you could tell with this thing. The sounds of roof beams creaking, the whispering sighs of wind making its way through the loose window, and the flickering hearthfire suddenly vanishing in a gasp, casting your home into darkness. Yes! Great abilities, and I'm happy to see a not-Small or Tiny urban creature in the entries. I also like the rock throwing ability that is common to other creatures with the giant subtype, but given an urban twist.

Setting
Fantastic origin story, and the creep factor that your description evoked really ties in well with its Ustalavic origins. Well done.

Final Thoughts
Evocative description, excellent origin story, and flavorful abilities. I do recommend this monster for advancement.

...Now excuse me, I need to go wash off this skin-crawling sensation I have.

[Dieben]

'Grats on the trifecta!

[Mark Griffin]

This thing is seriously neat and creepy. I don't know how I feel about a fort save to avoid fire damage, and I feel like a lot of roofs in Ustalav would collapse under their weight, but other than that I love this monster.

[Drejk]

I would expect urban troll to be Medium or even Small.

[John Bennett]

Nice job! I'm picturing this thing sucking in the fire from a PC's torch on a surprise round and then using its soot breath the next. The only thing I would probably change is have the soot breath grant the sickened condition instead of nauseated.

[Pedro Coelho]

Mike, yours was one of my favorite items, and even though this is just the second monster I'm reading, I have a feeling it will get my vote.

This is a great idea, and I love the image of the chimney trolls lurking on rooftops and scavenging for lit fires while trying to keep away from townsfolk... there's some tragedy there that is really appealing. Is is defintely an urban monster that depends on man-made fire to survive.

Cogratulations!

[Set]

Very evocative, and appropriate. I love this guy. The bit about inhaling fire sources and belching out smoke is very cinematic and supernatural feeling. Good solid mechanics, combined with a very cool visual and theme.

[Bill Lumberg]

Good work! I would suggest giving them some ranks in escape artist to reflect the fact they they "they twist their limbs into impossible positions" to get into chimneys.

The breath attack will make for a fantastic surprise when the troll inhales an adventurer's torch and forces him to fight in the dark. Didn't see that coming, did you?

[Lord Snow]

This is the best creature among all the 32. Easily winning my vote, and my continued support in future rounds. Very impressive!

[MicMan]

My favorite. VERY usable, very urban, very tight rules and very very cool imagery.

[Maurice de Mare]

Boom!

That is the sound of a vote coming your way!

[Kiel Howell]

Chim chimney chim chim charoo...Sorry couldn't help but make the Mary Poppins reference.

Fair enough read aloud text but it doesn't really hint at why it's called Chimney Troll, other than soot.

It's a troll but no regeneration. Interesting...

Ahhhh Inhale flames gives it regeneration...but at the cost of a standard action. I can see it but it just...feels weird.

I'd think Soot Breath would necessitate a Reflex save to avoid. Not a fort save to resist.

The description talks about chimney trolls contorting to fit...but it would have been WAAAAAAAAY cooler if they WERE the chimneys and just replaced the original.

Overall, I'm not in love with the creature. It's neat but it just feels off to me. I like the possibilities you present. I liked your Earthbind Boots a lot so I'm going to put it as a keeper.

[Aliain]

This is a great monster! There's something traditionally troll-ish, combined with something a little gothic and something a little bit different. I think it will provide great atmosphere (I wish it had been around for Carrion Crown!).

Well done!

[Scott Fernandez]

Mike I absolutely love this monster. Its the first I read and is hands down my favorite monster of the round. One of these is a small town would be nasty enough, but a gang of these in a larger city could be such a hoot!

Oh man I have such a great encounter idea to use with a chimney troll... I'm not going to say it before the encounter round, but it would totally make an awesome set piece in an urban gothic horror adventure.

--Vrock'n Troll!

[Avatar-1]

Outrageously cool.

[Jeff Lee]

I didn't have a lot of time for item reviewing this weekend, so I'm doing monsters instead. First I'll look at how the monster's basic rundown fits the monster creation table, then general theme and abilities.

= Monster meets the target statistics for its CR
+ Monster exceeds the target stats for its CR
++ Monster greatly exceeds target stats for its CR
- Monster's stats do not meet target stats for its CR
-- Monster's stats are greatly below target stats for its CR

hp: -
AC: =
High Atk -/+
High Dmg =/-
Primary Ability DC: =
Secondary Ability DC: n/a
Good save: =
Poor save: +/=

Mechanically, this monster is well-balanced with the exception of its melee attack bonus. It could be brought up to CR average by switching out Combat Expertise for Weapon Finesse, in keeping with the trolls adapting to their lack of strength.

Inhale Flames: Great ability. Ups their creepy factor immensely. Makes me wonder about advanced chimney trolls that can inhale magical fire...(Ha, ha! I got your produce flame spell!)

Soot Breath: Ouch! Nasty ability, but a prepared party that knows what they're facing could work to prevent this by extinguishing nearby fires. Plus, 1d3 rounds isn't bad...it might only kill one of them if things go really wrong.

Throw Debris: Love this. I got a picture in my head of a dwarf getting nailed with a roofing tile and couldn't stop giggling.

Wicked Blood: You almost made me feel sorry for the poor trolls.

All in all, this is a highly imaginative and well thought out monster. The Golarion lore is good and the monster is evocative. I can think of several low-level scenarios in which to use it--and how often do low-level adventurers get to fight a troll? in a city! I also think the chimney sweeps in Ustalav are likely going to be urban rangers from now on. This is one of my favorites in the round.

[Oceanshieldwolf]

Simply fantastic. Everything ties in nicely to the theme, and the entire entry builds from the description and never lets up.

I love that you added compression - when I realized the ogre spider had the compression it immediately made for some great cinematic squeezings in dark places, and the chimney troll can do likewise.

I love that it is big, and that it needs fire to heal.

I agree it could have more CR/HP etc, but a gang of these flame seekers might be a fun little encounter, particularly if the party carry some lanterns! (As I remember reading in a Dragon article aeons ago, medieval cities were notoriously paranoid about open flames being carried around their essentially flammable streets…)

Debris throwing, cinder spitting, squeezy cousins of regular trolls. Fantastic. The only thing I don't like is the actual name, but I'm not sure of a better one that evokes that particular gargoyle-y/Oliver Twisty/grimy, dirty ol' town urban feel.

Beautiful.

[RonarsCorruption]

I love this creature, you really hit it spot on here. It's got a lot of flavor, and some really interesting abilities that don't feel kitchy or under or overpowered. Very impressive.

[Holybushman]

This entry had a chill running down my spine when I imagined a party resting by a roaring fireplace in a house late at night, armor and weapons in another room as they let their guard down because, hey, they're safe in a locked house, right?

Say, where did the fire go?

Is that a dried tree branch or a white arm reaching for us from the chimney?

Yeah...you got my vote. Good job.

[Paul Brown]

Could you arrange for one of them to have a long, white beard and tattered red clothes? Evil Santa is now a dream of mine.

[Keldan Marr]

My favorite so far. Nicely done.

[frank gori]

Chimney Troll
The Good: The description of their origins, the contorting unnaturally into people's hearths, the breath weapon, and I can go on.
The Bad: I'm still on the fence on earthbind boots :)
The Ugly: My only real quibble that isn't me forcing something to fit my template is the size. I'd have broken the giants have to be large or better mold, or made them a crossbreed like trollhounds. If I use these they will likely be made medium.
Overall: 9/10- First one I've read where I'm 99% certain another monster isn't going to stop me from voting for this.

[Sean McGowan]

Wow, I was near the end of my monster entry viewing and had no idea I'd see the most awesome entry this late in the game.
You do an astonishing job of mixing great descriptive text (joints cracking, fire coiling through the air...) and really cool abilities, all with a fresh new feel to them.
I think the highest praise I can offer is that this feels more like a troll out of scandinavian nightmares than standard D&D/Pathfinder trolls do.

[Feros]

This is a dark fairy tale troll with all the trappings in a completely original monster. Utterly brilliant! My absolute favorite of the lot this year.

Things I would've changed: I'd have made it a CR 4 monster with appropriate stats for that; as suggested by Bill Lumberg, I'd add Escape Artist to the skill list; and finally like John Bennett, I would replace nauseated with sickened.

All that is mechanical and therefore wouldn't change the essence at all. I would add to the description really broad feet to explain how a 350 lb. monster can climb over a roof without smashing through (like snowshoes for roof walkers).

These are all minor quibbles. This monster is pretty much fantastic right out of the box. Well done!

[Steven Helt]

There is a lot to like here. I only have two quibbles: first, I like him better as a fey so he can be Large and strong and still light enough to not attract attention to himself. The other quibble is that a creature that INHALES fire ought to just be immune, and ought to heal when any fire damage is attempted against him. The extra access to regeneration makes him tougher and allows cool scenic things like him standing in the fireplace while smoke fills his wounds and heals him up.

Concept has great mojo and mechanics are clean. Great job and good luck next round.

[Curaigh]

Congratulations Mike,
I am trying to keep reviews simple to get through them quickly.
Creative: Yep, a non-fire troll. A troll fire-breathing troll. I like the fire tied to regen (and it's back story). I struggle with the visuals of smoke/gasses floating into someone's mouth. It is in almost every TV show out there that might have gasses however, so I alone in all of TV-viewing audience must be bothered by this (read: not held against this cool critter :)
Fun to GM: Yup, twist of fire trolls is great and I have half-dragon
Golarion Tie: whispering tyrant is about as Golarion as it gets & this is a nice, believable fiction.

Good luck! :)

[GM_Beernorg]

Frankly I love this monster, all I am saying...Pillowpants.

[frank gori]

I'd kiss it but you know, Listerfiend.

[Joel Flank]

All around great - nailed the descriptive text, background flavor, and mechanics!

[Mike Welham]

The name chimney troll screams urban, and I really like how you used the Golarion-centric origins to demonstrate how these trolls came to populate cities. I also appreciate the upending of the accepted troll tropes in the game, and this should surprise players who go to the tried-and-true fire-kills-trolls tactics to defeat the chimney troll.

I understand why you kept them as Large creatures, but I feel sorry for these monsters trying to cram themselves into chimneys. I wonder how many Golarion children have Gremlinsesque stories about finding a dead chimney troll on what should be the happiest day of the year. :)

Overall, I'm strongly considering a vote for the chimney troll. I wish you luck in this round.

[Mike Kimmel]

Wow! I am stunned. I want to thank everyone (judges and voters) for taking the time to stop by and leave a comment, and of course I am grateful to everyone who supported me with a vote. If I make it to round 3, I hope to impress you with my encounter!

I sound like I'm running for re-election or something...

Thanks again for your invaluable comments and feedback. When there's no longer another contest deadline looming, I'll happily come back and answer any questions you might have about the chimney troll.

[Tripp Elliott]

Mike, as I states elsewhere, I think your entry was "best in show."

Good luck in Round 3, as I'm positive that's where you're headed!

[Andrew Marlowe]

Mike I can't say you're chimney troll was my favorite new monster this round but whoa was it close. This and the guttersnipe spent a lot of time in my head vying for top honors.

I look forward to seeing your encounter!

[James Casey]

I agree, Mike. I hope you have the majority of your encounter completed. I would be extremely surprised if you were not in R3. I loved your troll!!!

[Mike Kimmel]

Liz Courts wrote:

...Now excuse me, I need to go wash off this skin-crawling sensation I have.

That's exactly the reaction I was going for. I think "make their skin crawl" is actually in the notes I scribbled for this monster.

Glad it worked on at least one person!

EDIT: Thanks to all my fellow contestants who are voicing their support. You guys rock!

[Garrick Williams]

I love this monster. It's elegant -- simple, but capable of making many fun stories with. Great flavor and visuals. One of my players remarked that this would be the boogie man for his pyromaniac ifrit character.

[James Conder]

Troll under a bridge ... Troll in a chimney! Makes sense to me.

The chimney troll is especially useful to me as I've got a bunch of PCs heading into the Hungry Mountains right now in my PbP. Now how can I get 'em to give up on the dancing lights in favour of a good, old fashioned torch?

[Mike Kimmel]

James Conder wrote:

Now how can I get 'em to give up on the dancing lights in favour of a good, old fashioned torch?

Easy. Kill the wizard. ;)

[Ziv Wities]

An inspired creation, giving motivation and color to the things that go bump in the night. Terrific job.

I do have one nitpick: I think this entry does suffer from a bit of Fridge Logic. Because, well, fire is easy to come by. And it's, y'know, self-replicating. Wouldn't it be easier for the chimney trolls to keep one big fire burning somewhere safe, and break off torches and flames to sustain themselves? That'd kind of destroy the entire concept here.

But that's just a minor bump in a very excellent entry. All the best moving forward :)

[Mike Kimmel]

Ziv Wities wrote:

Wouldn't it be easier for the chimney trolls to keep one big fire burning somewhere safe, and break off torches and flames to sustain themselves? That'd kind of destroy the entire concept here.

You make a good point, and I considered the same thing when writing my entry, but decided that a long explanation of their ecology would be more appropriate in a longer bestiary entry (such as one in an AP). I do have some thoughts regarding their reasons for not doing this. One likely reason is that, as trolls, they simply have no idea how to make fire. Even if they figured it out, other trolls hate them and hunt them down whenever possible. In a way, that makes cities a much safer place to live than somewhere out in the wilderness. Besides that, cities provide an abundance of tasty children. Yum.

Hope that makes sense. Thanks for the feedback and encouragement!

[Bill Lumberg]

Perhaps chimney trolls were traumatized by their transformations and cannot think straight as a result. They might see their condition as something to be loathed and try to live as normal trolls to whatever extent possible. Keeping a fire source around might be psychologically painful and thus something they avoid doing because it is tantamount to an accepting their new state of being.

Inevitably, they will get injured and need healing. And that means they have to seek out the nearest source of fire.

[Mike Kimmel]

Bill Lumberg wrote:

Perhaps chimney trolls were traumatized by their transformations and cannot think straight as a result. They might see their condition as something to be loathed and try to live as normal trolls to whatever extent possible. Keeping a fire source around might be psychologically painful and thus something they avoid doing because it is tantamount to an accepting their new state of being.

Inevitably, they will get injured and need healing. And that means they have to seek out the nearest source of fire.

Seems legit. :)

[Mike Kimmel]

Now appearing in Daughters of Fury!

[Tripp Elliott]

Congrats Mike, I do believe all of the top 32 got an item or creature in there. Looking forward to picking up a copy and seeing how they look in print.