Mansbane

[Rich H]

Has anyone statted Mansbane for their campaign, and I suppose, what you decided he/she was in order to do that. If so, please share, I'm feeling lazy and may need him for Friday... Muahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaa!

[bluejay]

Yeah I just used a regular Hill Troll for mine but it was very early on and the 2 PCs were quite inexperienced so I didn't want to slam them with something super tough.

[Rich H]

I'm almost thinking he isn't really a troll, but some kind of unique creature.

I also had the idea of introducing Mansbane as the 'troll' that the PCs face when caught within the adventure "Those Who Tarry..." and Irime's dream within Dol Guldur as a bit of foreshadowing/linking the creature back into history.

[Falenthal]

With this kind of "unknown" monsters I always struggle between two positions:

1) Make it an apparently innocent creature, like a child or a distressed wild woman. Their apparence lures their preys, that are afterwards devoured. They can also have some kind of supernatural powers to create destruction. Claudia, the vampire child for Interview with the Vampire is the natural influence on this idea.

2) Make it a horrible monster. In this case, I think that you could use a Fungal troll from Horse-lords. In fact, he can be the troll from Irimës dream (as you point out), recognizable for some trait. But the experiments done on him to create superior trolls (a la Dr. Moreau) have disfigured the creature. He is a failed result in the way of creating the Olog-hai. If you want to delve deeper in the mind of the creature, he can even be not just a killing machine, but an anguished monster full of pain and sadness, that bursts out in flames of anger and destruction. Frankestein is your reference here.
Being a Fungal troll, by the way, helps explain why it's so hard to track: he hides in the forest, and appears as a part of the vegetation when hunted.

[Falenthal]

Additional ideas:

The Sorceress of Mirkwood can be the responsible of those experiments when in Dol Guldur.
After its fall, she escaped with some of her experiments, that now guard Minas Raug. From there, she's continuing her modifications of creatures and beasts. Orc variants like the Pale Ones can come from her, a result of her investigations on sun hate by the goblins (aiming at the creation of the Uruk-hai).
For all those experiments, she sometimes needs human specimens that are "gathered" at woodmen settlements by Mansbane... maybe against its will. So, Mansbane could be the way to locate and discover Minas Raug and the evils the Sorceress is conducting there.

[bluejay]

Another option (if you're feeling cruel) is for this to be an Olog-Hai. My understanding is that they spread into Southern Mirkwood from the Brown Lands. Probably a little later than the default timeline . Perhaps this is a lone Olog-Hai come North ahead of the main plans for the war?

[Rich H]

Interesting stuff guys... The options certainly give me something to mull over.

Anyone else have suggestions, ideas, or stats?

[Glorelendil]

There *is* a Slayer speciality called Giant-lore.

Very, very underutilized.

[Rich H]

There *is* a Slayer speciality called Giant-lore.

Very, very underutilized.

And to the point where the PC who is a Slayer doesn't have it.

He's previously been mentioned in rumour, but I think I'm going to first introduce Mansbane to the campaign as the PCs come across the aftermath of one of his attacks. I haven't introduced the Erringmen yet so I may have one of their caravan's being destroyed although they'll be no survivors I can describe the carnage and also draw out the decriptions of the carts etc that are different in design to the Woodmen and Beornings.

After that, I think I'll make reference to him within "Those Who Tarry..."; that way Mansbane is again largely off-camera but he can get mentioned by name. I'm also going to alter the character of Rodwen within that and make her the same person as the elf "Ash" mentioned in Heart of the Wild (HotW).

So, when the characters eventually encounter Mansbane in the present day it will be when they are staying at the settlement of Ash and her followers. I've put them in the Elftower, as I don't feel the need to introduce another badguy in the form of what HotW describes for that location, and when Mansbane attacks during a particular stormy night, Ash will recognise him. It's then that I'll let that PCs have a chance of recognising the elf from their shared dream. And we'll go from there...

Still not sure what Mansbane is though so will work on that. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions then please share.

[bluejay]

Rogue Ent from Fangorn heading North in search of the Entwives? Driven to fury by the excesses and abuses of the Orcs he now sees all races in the same light.