Help me with my gnoll?

[gurgleflep]

I'm currently running around in a campaign as a gnoll father carrying his child in a baby harness thing and have no clue how to go about this.

His current stats are:
Str: 22
Dex: 14
Con: 16
Int: 11
Wis: 15
Cha: 10
Our party is currently at level 10 (I've got 7 class levels thanks to RHD and LA), and all my levels are in barbarian. We, for our DM, are staying simple and going with one class the whole way through.

We each created our family up to two generations back, including siblings, children, aunts, uncles, etc. and made a bit of a backstory. Mine involved basically my whole tribe and family dying while I was out with the kid on a stroll and such.

Anyway, to the questions: How would a barbaric gnoll act in such a situation? Being a traveling/adventuring parent must make things a bit complicated for him and the party. Are there any supplies that I should get? How would one go about protecting the pup without going straight to a daycare center?

I don't know if it will help any, but the party contains a CE (Neutral tendencies) Lolth-touched drow rogue, a LN half-elf dragonborn paladin, and a LN human samurai, with me being CN. Very low magic in the campaign - psionics are common though.

[Tvtyrant]

Why is a father going on an adventure rather than raising the child? Do you need more money to do it right? Are you trying to get revenge?

The middle option you could always cover it in Quintessence and keep it static while you make the money to raise it.

[gurgleflep]

Why is a father going on an adventure rather than raising the child? Do you need more money to do it right? Are you trying to get revenge?

The middle option you could always cover it in Quintessence and keep it static while you make the money to raise it.

He's adventuring so that he can raise his child under better circumstances than he would have back in his tribe - instead of a tent in the cold north, he wants an actual house in a less brutal environment and instead of scavenging for food, he wants a market at which he can buy his food. He would also like for his daughter to live in a safer region - yetis and other frost-dwelling creatures are quite problematic in their homeland and the cause for his entire tribe's death.

I've not heard of Quintessence though, what's that?

[Gwendol]

Be a barbarian/ranger and use your survival skill to care for the child. Protecting it means staying alive and keeping the child close for the most part. You might want to hide it or perhaps hire a "nanny" to look over it if you are going into a really tough battle. If you carry the child in a harness it will not move independently of you, so your saves, AC etc should be used.

[Tvtyrant]

He's adventuring so that he can raise his child under better circumstances than he would have back in his tribe - instead of a tent in the cold north, he wants an actual house in a less brutal environment and instead of scavenging for food, he wants a market at which he can buy his food. He would also like for his daughter to live in a safer region - yetis and other frost-dwelling creatures are quite problematic in their homeland and the cause for his entire tribe's death.

I've not heard of Quintessence though, what's that?

Quintessence (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/quintessence.htm)is a power that allows the user to stop an object in time. In this case the kid, and then hide it somewhere until he can afford to get her out of the frozen north.

If it is more of a survival trek, you could always get a perpetual shielding spell and put that on her. Maybe use leadership to get a Cohort who acts as a bodyguard in higher levels.

[Weirdlet]

Hah! Lone Wolf and Cub! Only instead of a disciplined samurai out to avenge your family and raise your son in the way of the warrior, you're a wild hyena-man out to survive any way you can and keep your cub alive until s/he too, can fend for themself and build a better kind of life.

I like the idea of regular survival checks to be assured that your cub is being well-taken care of. S/he's probably tougher than the average human baby, not nearly so fragile- but come concerns are regular feeding, making sure s/he doesn't wander off or get into something poisonous when ambulatory, and making sure s/he learns early that certain signals mean 'quiet'. 'Quiet' and 'hide' are going to be the first things a cub needs to learn. Establish a den where s/he stays when the party is going off to do something too dangerous to bring her with, or train some kind of magical beast to act as guard-dog and nanny.

Alternately, if gold is to be had and civilization can be found- then yes, hiring a caretaker and passing them gold for upkeep will allow your gnoll to do his adventuring without putting his cub in danger, while still getting to come home and visit during downtime.

[Jeff the Green]

Wild Cohort to get a guard dog/hyena/rhinoceros (a hyena might be able to nurse the cub too).

WBL to hire a nanny (preferably with levels in something to keep them safe).

[Aran Thule]

Get a handy haversack which can act as a portable home for the cub.
If there is danger they hide inside it and close the flap.

[Jeff the Green]

Get a handy haversack which can act as a portable home for the cub.
If there is danger they hide inside it and close the flap.

I feel like this might have unintended consequences. Like a suffocated cub. :smallconfused:

[Aran Thule]

I feel like this might have unintended consequences. Like a suffocated cub. :smallconfused:

Im sure 8 cubic feet would supply enough air to breath for the duration of a combat.
Dont know how old the cub is but they could well be capable of opening and closing the flap themselves.

[gurgleflep]

Be a barbarian/ranger and use your survival skill to care for the child. Protecting it means staying alive and keeping the child close for the most part. You might want to hide it or perhaps hire a "nanny" to look over it if you are going into a really tough battle. If you carry the child in a harness it will not move independently of you, so your saves, AC etc should be used.

This is a very good, but we're all going to stick with one class the whole way through. We don't get much time together as a group, so we're sticking simple and avoiding multi-classing.


Quintessence (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/quintessence.htm)is a power that allows the user to stop an object in time. In this case the kid, and then hide it somewhere until he can afford to get her out of the frozen north.

If it is more of a survival trek, you could always get a perpetual shielding spell and put that on her. Maybe use leadership to get a Cohort who acts as a bodyguard in higher levels.

Okay, the quintessence is pretty cool but due to the extremely low magic in the campaign the perpetual shielding spell wouldn't be easy (or cheap) to use :smallfrown:


Hah! Lone Wolf and Cub! Only instead of a disciplined samurai out to avenge your family and raise your son in the way of the warrior, you're a wild hyena-man out to survive any way you can and keep your cub alive until s/he too, can fend for themself and build a better kind of life.

I like the idea of regular survival checks to be assured that your cub is being well-taken care of. S/he's probably tougher than the average human baby, not nearly so fragile- but come concerns are regular feeding, making sure s/he doesn't wander off or get into something poisonous when ambulatory, and making sure s/he learns early that certain signals mean 'quiet'. 'Quiet' and 'hide' are going to be the first things a cub needs to learn. Establish a den where s/he stays when the party is going off to do something too dangerous to bring her with, or train some kind of magical beast to act as guard-dog and nanny.

Alternately, if gold is to be had and civilization can be found- then yes, hiring a caretaker and passing them gold for upkeep will allow your gnoll to do his adventuring without putting his cub in danger, while still getting to come home and visit during downtime.

Pretty much :smalltongue:
What would I be doing with the survival checks? Looking for berries and such that are safe for the little tyke to eat? Also, would I have to use a "Handle Animal" check to teach the daughter those words? :smallconfused:
The den and guard-dog should be pretty easy to come by - the DM likes caves quite a bit!
As for civilization: there's one city that accepts pretty much all races - there's a mind flayer living in it, and his occupation is town cleric! :smallbiggrin: We all met up in this city.


Wild Cohort to get a guard dog/hyena/rhinoceros (a hyena might be able to nurse the cub too).

WBL to hire a nanny (preferably with levels in something to keep them safe).

Rhino? :smalleek: That'd be pretty darn protective, but that's a LOT of protection! Hyena sounds cool though, as does the nanny :smallsmile: Might also cause a quest to begin, a kidnapping or something would be fun as long as the baby doesn't get harmed :smallsmile:


Get a handy haversack which can act as a portable home for the cub.
If there is danger they hide inside it and close the flap.
I feel like this might have unintended consequences. Like a suffocated cub. :smallconfused:

Im sure 8 cubic feet would supply enough air to breath for the duration of a combat.
Dont know how old the cub is but they could well be capable of opening and closing the flap themselves.

How exactly would that work? Would I set it aside when I know combat's gonna happen, keep it on my person for maximum protection, have the rogue (she uses a bow, so she'd stay a "safe" distance away) carry it around?

Edit: Yay! I put a quote in a quote, then put that in another quote! :smallbiggrin:
Also, sorry for having such a massive reply :smalleek:

[Weirdlet]

I figure more like once a week in game-time you make a check to see how well your cub is thriving, if s/he's growing stronger or coming down with something, making her infant/toddler milestones in good time. That's if you want to abstract it out a little in the course of gameplay- and if you're putting special attentions toward her or doing specific things like looking for special foods or taking downtime to play with her/train him, that grants bonuses. I don't know on what timeline gnolls grow up and start talking/walking/being able to defend themselves, so that's something you might want to go over with your GM.

[gurgleflep]

I figure more like once a week in game-time you make a check to see how well your cub is thriving, if s/he's growing stronger or coming down with something, making her infant/toddler milestones in good time. That's if you want to abstract it out a little in the course of gameplay- and if you're putting special attentions toward her or doing specific things like looking for special foods or taking downtime to play with her/train him, that grants bonuses. I don't know on what timeline gnolls grow up and start talking/walking/being able to defend themselves, so that's something you might want to go over with your GM.

The DM/GM (what's the difference between a Dungeon and a Game Master anyway?) is using a human's lifespan for gnolls - my gnoll's 19, the little one's still only an infant/toddler and is learning to crawl (walking on all fours? :smallconfused:) - unless half-orcs are perhaps a better option. Possible illness is something I hadn't thought of, I forgot how fragile children could be. Playing and training is also a good idea, more roleplay opportunities! :smallsmile:


Okay, so so far we've got the ideas of:

Quintessence to preserve his daughter until he can actually pay for a well protected living environment.
Hire a nanny. Possible kidnapping, a quest, and an enraged father! This may be fun!
Haversack to hide the child in while in combat. something could snag the haversack if I set it down in a safe place, same theory as previous red text
Watch"dog" (hyena!) that may be able to raise the child and a cave or some other such shelter. Chance of watchdog being killed by something and the baby being kidnapped, yet another possible quest chain!
Survival checks to make sure the little girl's doing alright.
Hire a bodyguard for the baby. Kidnapping is a possibility again!


Am I missing anything? Any other suggestions? Thank you all :smallsmile:

[Marnath]

The DM/GM (what's the difference between a Dungeon and a Game Master anyway?) is using a human's lifespan for gnolls - my gnoll's 19, the little one's still only an infant/toddler and is learning to crawl (walking on all fours? :smallconfused:) - unless half-orcs are perhaps a better option.

Gnolls are in Races of the Wild. They age mostly like humans, but their starting age is 14+ whatever you rolled for the class, not 15. their maximum age after hitting 70 is only 2d10, not 2d20.

[gurgleflep]

Gnolls are in Races of the Wild. They age mostly like humans, but their starting age is 14+ whatever you rolled for the class, not 15. their maximum age after hitting 70 is only 2d10, not 2d20.

Thank you :smallsmile: I'll inform the DM next time I see them.

[Slipperychicken]

without going straight to a daycare center?

What's preventing you from doing this?

[gurgleflep]

What's preventing you from doing this?

Nothing really, but I've always imagined barbarians would be very family oriented - plus, seeing as it's his only kid, last remaining family member, and the only remaining member of his tribe (other than himself, of course) that he'd want to keep her with him as much as possible.

[Slipperychicken]

seeing as it's his only kid, last remaining family member, and the only remaining member of his tribe (other than himself, of course) that he'd want to keep her with him as much as possible.

It's... amazingly stupid to bring a newborn into any kind of fighting. You're practically begging your enemies to either kill the kid, or do all manner of terrible things to him, often worse than death, especially at mid-high CR.

AoE => Instant death for baby.

Enemy targets the baby? => Baby's AC would be treated as a worn or carried object, so it would pretty much instantly die.

It gets captured? Great, now the BBEG has your character by the balls.

You fall down a hole? Yeah, the baby's not living through that.

You die? Better hope someone real kind finds that baby, and that whatever just killed you isn't feeling hungry, murderous, vengeful, or rapacious.


The only thing I can imagine a responsible parent doing is taking the kid far away from violence as quickly as possible. If the parent needs to be adventuring, then drop him off with a good-aligned church or trustworthy NPC allies (i.e. "daycare" option), and hope you can get back when it's all over.

[gurgleflep]

It's... amazingly stupid to bring a newborn into any kind of fighting. You're practically begging your enemies to either kill the kid, or do all manner of terrible things to him, often worse than death, especially at mid-high CR.

AoE => Instant death for baby.

Enemy targets the baby? => Baby's AC would be treated as a worn or carried object, so it would pretty much instantly die.

It gets captured? Great, now the BBEG has your character by the balls.

You fall down a hole? Yeah, the baby's not living through that.

You die? Better hope someone real kind finds that baby, and that whatever just killed you isn't feeling hungry, murderous, vengeful, or rapacious.


The only thing I can imagine a responsible parent doing is taking the kid far away from violence as quickly as possible. If the parent needs to be adventuring, then drop him off with a good-aligned church or trustworthy NPC allies (i.e. "daycare" option), and hope you can get back when it's all over.

Well since you bring up all of these valid points... Daycare center, church, bodyguard, or trustworthy NPC it is! :smalleek:

[Runestar]

I would like to see which daycare centre accepts infants of monstrous beings. Are they really going to let baby gnolls, lizardfolk, ogres and trolls play together? :smalltongue:

[Slipperychicken]

Well since you bring up all of these valid points... Daycare center, church, bodyguard, or trustworthy NPC it is! :smalleek:

I recommend trying for discretion (not using your tribe/family name for the kid), so your enemies have a harder time finding the kid, and you can ideally locate and start raising him if you survive the campaign.

Besides, if you lose the game and have a "30 years later..." plot, the kid can be your new PC :smallbiggrin:

[gurgleflep]

I would like to see which daycare centre accepts infants of monstrous beings. Are they really going to let baby gnolls, lizardfolk, ogres and trolls play together? :smalltongue:

Hopefully there's one pretty soon, we're currently between cities - I wasn't allowed into the last one, nor was the rogue. (Racial reasons)


I recommend trying for discretion (not using your tribe/family name for the kid), so your enemies have a harder time finding the kid, and you can ideally locate and start raising him if you survive the campaign.

Besides, if you lose the game and have a "30 years later..." plot, the kid can be your new PC :smallbiggrin:

It would also keep the city that's housing my/his daughter from being constantly pillaged by enemies, so that's another bonus.

I've never been in a campaign like that, but it's a darn good idea! :smallbiggrin:

[Tvtyrant]

I would like to see which daycare centre accepts infants of monstrous beings. Are they really going to let baby gnolls, lizardfolk, ogres and trolls play together? :smalltongue:

They also let in baby grell and eye ball beholders. The world is too big and full of evil humans with their crusades to hate.

[gurgleflep]

They also let in baby grell and eye ball beholders. The world is too big and full of evil humans with their crusades to hate.

For something that's evil, the beholder eyeballs are far to adorable :smalltongue: