Large
Giant
CR 3
Chaotic neutral
Gorthun Solehoard
Cave Troll Shoecollector
A hulking, moss-slimed troll with a peculiar obsession: it pads through caves trailing strings of mismatched shoes like a nomadic cultist. It does not hunt for meat first; it hunts for footwear. When it finds a lost boot or a battered slipper, the troll cradles the item, humming in a gutteral cadence, then stashes it in a damp hoard behind a rockfall. Its sorrowful, childlike attachment to shoes and sudden bursts of blind fury when denied make encounters unnerving — the party may face negotiation, manipulation, or sudden violence from a creature at once pathetic and deadly.
Armour
14
natural armor
Hit points
85
10d10+30
Speed
30ft
30 ft., climb 20 ft.
Challenge
3
700 XP
STR
15
+2
DEX
10
+0
CON
16
+3
INT
8
-1
WIS
12
+1
CHA
7
-2
Saving throws
STR +4
Skills
Perception +3, Stealth +2
Senses
darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages
understands Common and Giant but can't speak
Multiattack. The Gorthun Solehoard makes two Bash attacks.
Bash. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) bludgeoning damage.
Shoe Toss. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10+3) bludgeoning damage and the target must succeed on a DC 12 Strength check or be knocked prone (the troll throws a heavy boot or clump of shoes).
Hoarding Wail (Recharge 5-6). The troll emits a low, mournful wail directed at a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. A frightened target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. Creatures that can see the troll's hoard are at disadvantage on the saving throw.
Clinging Shuffle. When a creature within 5 feet misses the troll with a melee attack, the troll may shove that creature 10 feet away or attempt to wrap it with trailing laces and straps. The target must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or have its speed reduced to 0 until the end of its next turn (the straps tangle the legs).
Gorthun Solehoard is a rare regional variant of cave troll that developed an odd fixation long after repeated displacement by miners and migrating predators. Folklore in mining hamlets around the Mirefen Cleft claims the first of these trolls was once the victim of a collapsed tunnel and survived by clinging to a single boot; its need to keep footwear became an inherited quirk among its descendants. The creatures scavenge passages and old camps, slipping into tunnels at dusk to collect shoes and occasionally exchange them for trinkets — a slipper for a polished coin, a boot for a lantern. Scholars of monstrous behavior, notably the recluse naturalist Master Rilben of the Rockvein Library, argue Solehoards are not merely collectors but ritualists: they arrange shoes in circles and stacks outside sleeping trolls as a form of comfort or charm. The band of spelunkers called the Cleft-Wardens keep careful records of missing gear and advise travelers to tie their footwear together or leave crafted 'offerings' to placate the troll. When cornered, Gorthun Solehoards defend their caches fiercely; when pleased, they may lead lost miners back toward daylight — though whether this is kindness or a ploy to acquire better shoes remains disputed.
Gorthun Solehoard stands roughly as tall as a cottage doorway at 10 to 11 feet, shoulders bowed with scarred, lichen-speckled hide and clumps of cave clay packed into folds of skin. Its head is broad and flattened, with small, watery eyes set under a heavy brow and a mouth ringed with broken, yellow teeth. Long arms end in broad, callused hands with blackened nails; one forearm bears a crude tattoo of concentric shoe-soles marked in soot. Straps, laces, and fragments of leather and cloth dangle from its belt and across its ribcage like prayer beads. Where a typical troll might carry trophies of flesh, the Solehoard's hoard is a sloping mound of boots, sandals, slippers, and the occasional delicate shoe balanced against cave walls and draped from stalactites. Scale references: its fist is about the size of a large shield; a human would reach only to the troll's mid-thigh when standing next to it.
Made with the free LoreKeeper Monster Generator · D&D 5e-compatible stat block · Free to use at your table · Licence
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