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View Full Version : 3.5 Gnoll Rewrite. PEACH



Empedocles
2012-07-17, 09:14 PM
The gnoll, as a species, has a ton of potential. A ton. They're slobbering hyena headed furballs with big claws, big teeth, and bigger demon lords. But...well, they're under appreciated, I think. Gnolls strike me as a fantasy staple, in D&D at least, on par with orcs, goblins, or kobolds. Unfortunately, they just...aren't. So here's my little homage to gnolls:

I'm playing up the whole religion thing. Yeenoghu is an excellent demon lord, although I don't think he was made strong enough, and I'd like to set this rewrite apart from my orc rewrite.

Second, I'm playing up the whole slobbering raging monster thing. The idea is that they're slobbering and raging when they attack you from an almost religious fervor, not because they're big and stupid.

Oh, and no more LA. Or RHD. I don't believe in them.

Enjoy.

The Gnoll

http://i.imgur.com/22pZll.jpg

"ARGH!"

Hyena headed monstrosities, birthed from the blood of their demonic patron, gnolls pillage and sacrifice in the name of the merciless Yeenoghu, the blood of the slain burnt upon the ruins of conquered cities. Hordes march in his unholy name, their bestial fury matched only by their incredible zeal.

Personality: Gnolls are fierce, violent, and psychologically intense. They do everything in life with a single minded devotion, wether that be worship Yeenoghu or hunt their victims. When a gnoll sets a goal for himself, long term or short term, he pursues it with all his energy. This makes them, more than anything else, insufferably stubborn.

Relations: Gnolls get along remarkably badly with anyone who doesn't share their religious beliefs. This limits their traditional racial allies to a very select few group of demons...and that's pretty much it. A sort of mutual respect exists between them and the drow, who also worship a demonic lord, and they have been known to ally with (or enslave) orcs and goblins.

Religion: Gnolls worship Yeenoghu with incredible eagerness, and seek to spread the chaos and destruction he embodies whenever possible. Some say the gnolls dream of establishing a massive theocracy in Yeenoghu's name...

Gnoll Racial Traits

+2 Constitution, -2 Charisma. Gnolls are hardy, and their mental intensity makes them hard to wear down, but they're not the most attractive, sociable, or charming of species.
Medium Monstrous Humanoid. Gnolls gain no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Base land speed of 30 feet.
Gnolls have a natural bite attack that deals 1d6 points of damage.
Fierce Blade: Gnolls receive Martial Study (Wolf Fang Strike) as a bonus feat at 1st level. In addition, any gnoll with a level in crusader gains access to the Tiger Claw discipline.
+2 racial bonus on all Survival checks.
+2 racial bonus on all Climb and Jump checks.
Darkvision 60 feet
Low-light vision. Gnolls can see twice as far as normal in conditions of poor illumination.
Favored Class: Crusader. If you don't play with Tome of Battle, replace this with barbarian.

Seerow
2012-07-17, 09:18 PM
My only problem with this is the removal of white raven. It's a racial feature that makes you explicitly weaker when taking a certain class. White Raven is probably the best school in ToB, Tiger Claw is pretty meh by comparison.

I'd say just let them have access to Tiger Claw in Crusader as a bonus, it really won't make them significantly stronger.

Empedocles
2012-07-17, 09:20 PM
My only problem with this is the removal of white raven. It's a racial feature that makes you explicitly weaker when taking a certain class. White Raven is probably the best school in ToB, Tiger Claw is pretty meh by comparison.

I'd say just let them have access to Tiger Claw in Crusader as a bonus, it really won't make them significantly stronger.

Fair enough. I'll change it.

Siosilvar
2012-07-17, 09:24 PM
Fierce Blade: Gnolls receive Martial Study (Blood in the Water) as a bonus feat at 1st level. In addition, any gnoll with a level in crusader cannot select White Raven maneuvers, but instead gains access to the Tiger Claw discipline.

Blood in the Water is a stance and as such ineligible to be taken with Martial Study.

I'm not sure why you gave them both Darkvision and low-light vision. The original has only darkvision and demons have only darkvision (with maybe one exception).

Double all those skill bonuses. +1 is useless.

Other than that, I think it works just fine as a Gnoll. Better than the original for sure.

Empedocles
2012-07-17, 09:34 PM
Blood in the Water is a stance and as such ineligible to be taken with Martial Study.

I'm not sure why you gave them both Darkvision and low-light vision. The original has only darkvision and demons have only darkvision (with maybe one exception).

Double all those skill bonuses. +1 is useless.

Other than that, I think it works just fine as a Gnoll. Better than the original for sure.

I gave them darkvision and low light vision because, er...I felt like it :smalltongue:

I doubled the skill bonuses, and changed the maneuver from Martial Study.

Othesemo
2012-07-17, 09:45 PM
Ooo, nice. I'll definitely remember this if I want to play an evil character.

Empedocles
2012-07-17, 10:11 PM
Ooo, nice. I'll definitely remember this if I want to play an evil character.

Thank you :smallbiggrin:

Deepbluediver
2012-07-17, 10:24 PM
You can assign just about any stats you want, but what I really like about this are your updates to the fluff (and that picture). To many people hear "gnolls" and immediately picture those stupid hyenas from the Lion King.

Empedocles
2012-07-17, 10:26 PM
You can assign just about any stats you want, but what I really like about this are your updates to the fluff (and that picture). To many people hear "gnolls" and immediately picture those stupid hyenas from the Lion King.

Very true! :smallbiggrin: Check out my other race fixes in my sig. I think they accomplished much the same thing [/shamelessplug].

I'm glad you liked it!

Cieyrin
2012-07-18, 05:07 PM
Hmm, I don't know that this really makes Gnolls better, other than perhaps to make them easier to pick up in a campaign due to lack of RHD and LA. Rather than fall back on ToB, why not make them the honorable savages they are by making features that match up to that? Right now, they're kinda like fast jungle dwarves with a bite attack.

I'd go +Con -Int, keep the bite and drop Low-Light to increase their speed or give them limited scent and harken to their pack nature by giving them bonuses for fighting with others of their kind or even just with others, like a higher bonus on flank. The Gnoll Ranger is an archetypical representative of the race and are truly bane to the elves that orcs can't really match. Make some racial feats or a Paragon class so you have natural advancement for them into Flinds.