Mountain Troll TPK

[Indur Dawndeath]

How would you handle this encounter:
A group of 4 heroes disturb a Mountain Troll.
With his massive damage output, it is very likely that he will take one player out for every 2 rounds. And to survive the first hit, the player probably need to take a knockback. But it is very unlikely that the troll will wound anyone (Protection TN12).
The players need to be very lucky to kill the troll, so the most frequent outcome would be that all the heroes are at 0 Endurance and unwounded after 8 rounds.

What happens now? The players are not dead and not dying according to the rules.
The troll does not have No Quarter, so I think he would not just kill the heroes after the fight.
Will they all recover Basic Heart after 30 min? Can it be considered rest, if no one is left to tend anyone?

Should the players get a chance to escape or fight again once they recover...

But the real question is, since no player will be wounded, thus no player will be dying, even if they fight the troll multiple times after recovering. When does the troll administer a coup de grace to stop this nonsense. Because no matter how many times he beat these heroes, they wont die... And now it is not the dice but the Evil Loremaster who decided to make the encounter a TPK. Would you make that decision?

Cheers

[Stormcrow]

The players can run away.

Or at the very least use some tactics more involved than "stand there and slug it out."

No Quarter doesn't indicate the tendency of an adversary to kill a helpless foe; it is the ability to administer a coup de grâce as an action in combat. If the troll manages to knock out all of the heroes, he'll probably tie them up and cook them, if he thinks they'll be good eating.

[Indur Dawndeath]

If the troll manages to knock out all of the heroes, he'll probably tie them up and cook them, if he thinks they'll be good eating.

This was my thoughts as well, and would make for a great scene, but what if the heroes decide to attack the troll after escaping. Will he then immediately decide that these stupid humans are too difficult to keep tied up and then kill them all. Coup de Grace.

I think it will be a hard moment to recover from, because it was the Loremaster who decided to kill all the players and not the dice.

[T.S. Luikart]

So let's consider the scenario, as stated:

A group of 4 heroes disturbs a Mountain Troll. What do they do?

A) Run away. Immediately.
B) Fight!
C) Fight briefly while preparing to flee past, go around, etc.
D) Try to trick the troll in some manner.

In your example, Indur, they fought (granted, maybe had no choice?)

So the MT pummels the crap out of them, they all get lucky (unlucky?) and manage to just get "knocked unconscious" but all remain un-Wounded. As Stormcrow pointed out - they are all now vulnerable - the Troll can kill them whenever he feels like it with a Coup de Grace.

So here then is my answer to your question:

Did the Loremaster force this fight or did the company charge into it willingly? Did they retreat when they had the chance?

If the Loremaster set them up in a scenario where they had no real choice but to fight a Mountain Troll, then the "tied up in the larder - time to escape!" is a great idea if they fail to beat the Troll. Heck, if they had a choice, but didn't run away, it is still a great/merciful choice.

"But what if the heroes decide to attack the troll after escaping"?

I would have the Troll scoop one of them up and bite his/her head clean off.

The Loremaster didn't just "decide" to kill the characters - the players' insane decision did. That hypothetical choice to "attack the Troll again" despite having just had all their clock's cleaned? That would strongly suggest a decision based on "I know the mechanics of TOR" not a character based decision of "we should get the heck out of here" - don't you think?

[Indur Dawndeath]

I would have the Troll scoop one of them up and bite his/her head clean off.

The Loremaster didn't just "decide" to kill the characters - the players' insane decision did. That hypothetical choice to "attack the Troll again" despite having just had all their clock's cleaned? That would strongly suggest a decision based on "I know the mechanics of TOR" not a character based decision of "we should get the heck out of here" - don't you think?

I agree completely. And this is exactly what I would like to do... Only I wouldn't want to end the game like that.
I am pitting the players against a Mountain Troll next time, so we'll have to see how it goes.

Perhaps the Troll would gain the "No quarter" ability, in such a situation. To keep the mechanics of TOR, and not just pick one player up and eat him. Some dice would be thrown at least...

[Robin Smallburrow]

You could even drop a few hints to the players, such as "Are you sure this is what you want to do" when the players say they want to attack the mountain troll again (my players have learned that this is coded language from me saying that I think that what they are proposing is absolutely insane!). Then when the players inevitably complain afterwards you can say that you did try to warn them.....

Robin S.

[Stormcrow]

Indur DawndeathI agree completely. And this is exactly what I would like to do... Only I wouldn't want to end the game like that.

"Hey, Trotter, watch! The Loremaster would never, ever kill us, so go ahead and poke that troll some more. Don't worry, you can't die. No matter how many times he knocks us out he'll never try to kill us, so sooner or later we'll wake up and score a piercing blow and kill him."

Don't let your games turn into this.

Poke, poke! "Hahaha, you impotent troll! You can't do any—AAAAAHHHHHHGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

"Trotter! The troll just bit his head off!"

"Run away!!!"

[Matchstick]

I ran a campaign in a different RPG that had a character death in our first adventure. It wasn't intentional on my part, rolling dice in the open can sometimes be pretty harsh. I felt badly at the time, but ultimately it was a good thing; the player hadn't gotten too attached, and all the players knew then that they weren't safe. Every combat after that, their characters did everything they could think of to maximise their chances of winning a combat, if possible, from a preparation perspective. They tried to pick favorable ground, they ambushed, they researched, they ran away if necessary. It wasn't a gritty game, but them knowing their characters were vulnerable made a big positive difference.

They were effective well beyond what characters of their power level should have been. Though I didn't mess with their carefully laid plans most of the time.

[Majestic]

Perhaps the Troll would gain the "No quarter" ability, in such a situation. To keep the mechanics of TOR, and not just pick one player up and eat him. Some dice would be thrown at least...

As Stormcrow suggested (above), the ability to do a coup de grâce has nothing to do with the Special Ability No Quarter. No Quarter simply gives an extra ability (to do so immediately).

p. 130 (Revised):

Coup de Grâce
An unconscious, or otherwise defenceless, hero is killed automatically if an opponent has the time to administer
a coup de grâce (one combat turn). The action doesn’t require a roll, but the adversary must possess the means
to kill the character quickly and efficiently (a weapon or a lethal form of attack).

[Indur Dawndeath]

Poke, poke! "Hahaha, you impotent troll! You can't do any—AAAAAHHHHHHGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

"Trotter! The troll just bit his head off!"

"Run away!!!"

Your reply did put a smile on my face. Thank you

Seriously, I don't think that my players will do this, but when we played MERP one guy escaped from a bunch of enemies, by jumping off a 100' cliff. He was wearing Full Plate, so the damage he got was massively reduced compared to the lightly armored enemies, who would never survive a +100 Fall Crush. He got away because the rules made it possible. So If somehow the rules give the players an advantage, why wouldn't they try to use it in a tight spot.
This is in fact, no different from everybody trying to remove Hate from a tough opponent with intimidate. Who would in their right mind move to Forward Stance against a Mountain Troll, unless it is because they know that he will hit them regardless where they stand.

I'm just rambling, while I wait for the Riders of Rohan