We just recently started a game with a party consisting of a Human Barber-Surgeon, Human Amethyst Apprentice Wizard, High Elf Thief and my Dwarf Troll Slayer.

One of the player's objections to my character career choice is that he is of the opinion that Troll Slayers don't work well in a party and are destructive to good cooperative gameplay.

Granted Troll Slayers are looking for a Mighty Doom and I imagine they desire to confront many an enemy that a sane person would run away from. So, in essence a Troll Slayer could never be a good character with a group unless they were people that wanted to fight creatures that might pose a harsh ending to their mortal lives as well?

What other experiences have people had with Troll Slayers and is my friend's view very valid?

-ashe-

Just don't be a big, dumb, must-be-loud-n-fight-EVERYTHING, typical of all the numbskull players I've seen do this career.

Dwarfs have depth. Trollslayers have depth Too many players just play them is stupid, noisy tanks that couldn't roleplay their way out of a paperbag.

Be different. Give your character a personality and maybe don't min-max your character.

jh

Good advice there, Emirikol.

I agree with having depth to a character (even one with a fanatical deathwish).

Is it beyond reasonable (in a Warhammer World sense) for a Troll Slayer to back down from a fight to run away with his party or would it almost be an 'A Team" maneuver where they trick B.A. somehow and the party retreats?

Possibly a Dwarf by being a coward in the first place became dishonored and was forced to take the Troll Slayer oath???

My character is not that, but I do wonder if someone has decided on that and if it might fit within the world scheme.

-ashe-

While Trollslayers do see a "Mighty Doom" at the hands of various and sundry beasts and monsters, they don't necessarily expect others to do the same.

In your character's eyes, the wizard could be there just to study the slayer subculture of dwarf (especially since you're motivated to seek out your own death) and in doing so wind up chronicling the deed. The Barber-Surgeon is there to stitch you up and to provide healing when you face creatures that are not sufficiently mighty to kill you yet inflict a bit of damage here or there. The Elf could see you as a the loud and dangerous distraction that you are capable of being so that he can use his skills to profit or slit throats.

And that's just considering the immediate existence of the party. You might want to consider what event drove you to take the Slayer oath. How does thinking about that event affect you? Do you get angry? Morose? Depressed? Do you seek to ease the pain though drink or consumption of narcotics? How would your character react if someone was gauche enough to ask him about his motivations? Would you get violent? Express shame?

What does your slayer do during downtime or travel? In the Gotrek and Felix novels, the longer Gotrek and Snorri go without battle, the more depressed they become, because they feel that they are failing in their quest to find a death in battle. Consequently, they drink themselves into stupors to deal with the emotional pain.

Even outside of combat, there is a ton of role playing opportunity. Most cosmopolitan folk know that Dwarf + Orange Mohawk + Tattoos = time to be excessively polite. But that doesn't mean that you have to play your Trollslayer as a baby eating killing machine. After all, you've dishonored yourself and your clan once before, and adding more dishonor would not make the situation any better. Your social interactions, though gruff, would still be conducted with the honor you would expect to get and give.

And in the event some yokel in the sticks is stupid enough to provoke a fight, it wouldn't be the Might Doom you were seeking, so instead of reaping commoners like wheat during harvest, you would leave your weapons behind and educate the poor fools in the finer points of pain and being polite. The idiots will live, and the next slayer they encounter will benefit from the lesson you have taught.

Just remember that no character in WFRP is a one dimensional cut out, least of all Trollslayers.

Slayers want a death that'll redeem them (as much as possible) - getting yourself and your companions killed by some random hicks won't restore any honor to your relatives.

A Slayer is fearless in battle but unless it's an opponent worthy of a great death and a death that won't get everybody else killed it's ok to save the companions or the mission in order to fight another day. That way he can be a fearless yet intelligent warrior but not a liability to the group and he'll have plenty of roleplaying opportunities playing up regret or trying to set up good deaths that'll keep his companions alive.

42!

Character archetypes are meant to inspire not constrain. A Troll Slayer needn't be an argumentative prick (more than any other Dwarf ) anymore than a Witch Hunter must burn every town, NPC, etc that the group comes accross. Troll Slayers are supposed to be unhinged but there are a lot ways to play that other than throwing axes into the middle of carefully laid plans and screaming like a maniac. Maybe he's very well spoken and calm, with a temper that could shock a khornite cultist. Maybe he's only dangerous when he's sober? Perhaps he's got something of a mini-crush on a female character so he acts all sweet around her for the most part? And as 42! said, a slayer is looking for a way to have his name wiped off the list of honourless dwarfs, and if he has to carefully plan a way to get himself in front of a daemon prince toe-to-claw...so be it.

Some very good advice above.

Slayers are, in fact, very complex people who have suffered such significant loss that they feel only ritual death (Dwarfs being psychologically incapable of suicide or "fighting to lose") can undo their shame. The key elements to remember about Dwarfs and Dwarf Slayers are thus:

1) Dwarfs value honor above all else. To a Dwarf, being honorable and thus worthy of the legacy of one's ancestors is the driving force of their lives. To be dishonorable is to essentially scorn not only one's living family but also everyone who came before you.

This means several things. As pointed out previously, the Slayer will not simply kill anything that crosses him. Some foes are clearly beneath him and it would bring no honor to slay those who are not deserving of his prowess. Worse, if his reckless actions lead the Slayer or his followers to a less-than-glorious death, he has only further dishonored himself and his clan, which is the worst fate a Dwarf can conceive. The Slayer also cannot permit what might be seen as a "foolish" or "cowardly" death by combating foes that are clearly beyond the Slayer's skill. A Slayer provoking a battle that he knows is "beyond his ability" is nearly the same as "fighting to lose" which no self-respecting Dwarf would ever do. This is why Slayers pit themselves against increasingly dangerous foes until they should finally meet the "one foe" who is great enough to best him.

2) The Oath of the Slayer is essentially a "road to forgiveness" through which they seek to redeem themselves in the eyes of their clan. Not just any death will do. It must be a death worthy of a dutiful and honorable Dwarf and one that would ring splendidly through the halls of the great Dwarf-holds for centuries to come. Thus, it's also important that the deeds and death of the Slayer in his end-days be recorded so that it may be preserved as an example to Dwarfs of future generations.

The Slayer needs companions. He needs someone to witness, attest to and record his glorious deeds so that his redemption can be added to the annals of his clan's lineage. His dishonor and shame was most certainly recorded and, if not for atonement, would survive forever as a black mark upon his clan. If he wishes to do them great service and restore the clan's honor, his fulfilment of the Oath must likewise be kept in record.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. I hope that gives you some ideas. Slayers are not machines of random, wanton destruction. They have a very specific motivation (the Mighty Doom) and have devoted their entire life to making sure that their end meets the approval of their clan and legacy of their people.

Thanks all.

The majority of my knowledge of Troll Slayers is the little bits in the GrudgeLore (Black Library) and the Gotrek and Felix books.

I shall take all of your advice and try and to play a Troll Slayer above par

The original player still feels that there must be too much compromise from the other characters to even make a Troll Slayer a viable party member just by what a Troll Slayer is and what the general attitude of said Dwarf must be.

That being said, the same player made a character that apparently is built on him just making compromises so he may fit in well with the group in his view to keep group cohesion. (His character's family was slaughtered by a force of marauding Greenskins just as our story started and he has been strangely very non-emotional about losing his wife and children... but very accomodating to the group )

-ashe-