Black Tom (everyone in; spoilers for Dead of Winter)

[zedturtle]

A big thank you goes to Gareth for his clarification. I was thinking much along the same lines.

About Black Tom. There is nothing indicating that he is an immigrant or descended from Southron or Easterling stock. Nor does he seem to have an especially unsavory reputation. I suggest that his nickname is derived from his appearance and/or his general disposition. I do imagine Tom as having black hair, perhaps covering most of his body. He might in addition be deeply tanned from working outdoors. From a distance he might easily be mistaken for Beorn. He might also have a grim disposition or be quick to anger.

Much like what I was thinking. Thank you!

[Angelalex242]

How many farmers does it take to overpower a troll? Assuming farmers have just their race's base weapon package (with a 2 in a weapon skill), a Troll can probably take down something like 8 to 10 farmers. And what kind of farmer would take it prisoner after it just killed 7-9 of his friends?

That is, it takes about 2 farmers to be equal to a single PC member of a Fellowship.

[zedturtle]

How many farmers does it take to overpower a troll? Assuming farmers have just their race's base weapon package (with a 2 in a weapon skill), a Troll can probably take down something like 8 to 10 farmers. And what kind of farmer would take it prisoner after it just killed 7-9 of his friends?

That is, it takes about 2 farmers to be equal to a single PC member of a Fellowship.

They don't have to fight it, they just have to intimidate it enough to make it not worth fighting. Commonsense (which the troll has some of, if not a lot) says that there is some number of farmers for which the troll is not going to engage in combat.

In any case WOD (word of designers) is that such a thing happens. So, the issue for me is not whether or not it could happen but what it looks like when it does happen. Gareth gave a really excellent answer to that, which satisfies me.

Now I just have to work out everything else…

[zedturtle]

Here's a first draft of the map for Black Tom's holding.

Y is the Troll Barn. Along the way of drawing the map, I realised the reason for BT's influence... X is a Troll-powered Mill!

[Otaku-sempai]

Is there any textual evidence that Black Tom actually employed Trolls? It seems circumstantial at best. Or is this an assumption that has been made for the purpose of your game?

[zedturtle]

Is there any textual evidence that Black Tom actually employed Trolls? It seems circumstantial at best. Or is this an assumption that has been made for the purpose of your game?

Well, it is indeed circumstantial because Black Tom only rates a paragraph or two and the trolls less than that. But the fellow who wrote the book has spent the part couple of pages convincing me that it's possible for BT to keep trolls and not be Evil, so I'm going with that.

EDIT: And, of course, this is for my game... it's not like anything I do is official or has any more weight than anyone else.

[Arthadan]

About friendly Trolls, there is a humorous poem in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil book called Perry-the-Winkle. In this poem, a Hobbit becomes the best friend of a Troll: Link

Of course it's a light poem, much in the spirit of faery tales but I think for Tolkien not all Trolls were utterly evil, some (few) of them were just overgrown ugly simpletons.

In this spirit, I can picture a very grim and menacing Black Tom scolding a Troll who was trying to steal one of his sheeps and proposing the Troll to work for him instead, keeping him well-feed in exchange.

[zedturtle]

About friendly Trolls, there is a humorous poem in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil book called Perry-the-Winkle. In this poem, a Hobbit becomes the best friend of a Troll: Link

Of course it's a light poem, much in the spirit of faery tales but I think for Tolkien not all Trolls were utterly evil, some (few) of them were just overgrown ugly simpletons.

In this spirit, I can picture a very grim and menacing Black Tom scolding a Troll who was trying to steal one of his sheep and proposing the Troll to work for him instead, keeping him well-feed in exchange.

Thanks for the poem and the visual!

I'm going to press on with it, I think there's enough variation in the source material to justify my take. For those who are bothered by it, I might introduce the idea that the "trolls" that are employed in the Sceadudene are actually smallish giants, which we know can be more or less decent.

But that takes out some of the fun... keeping trolls is a Bad Idea™ and thus the players should be worried by it.

[Indur Dawndeath]

Here's a first draft of the map for Black Tom's holding.

W is the Troll Barn. Along the way of drawing the map, I realised the reason for BT's influence... X is a Troll-powered Mill!

Please tell us, what the other letters stand for

[Arthadan]

Glad to be of assistance Zedturtle!