Gnoll help

[Deimess]

A player in my upcoming campaign really wants to play a Gnoll. The starting level is going to be 4, but neither I nor the player want him to be set that far behind (by RAW he will only be able to be level 1 with the LA +1 and 2 racial HD). A Gnoll fits the setting really well and I want him to be able to play one, but there will be a lot of combat and I don't want him to fall behind.

I offered to take away one of his RHD if he takes some sort of flaw (maybe lose the con bonus or natural armor) but that was just off the top of my head. I don't know if I really like the RHD buyoff rules and would prefer to settle it now with some sort of houserule and decide on a fair way for the player to play a Gnoll.

If there are any suggestions or rules that would help with this that would be great!

[oldkingkoal]

I ran into the same problem a while back (I wanted to play a Gnoll) and one of the players pointed me to this post. http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8166791&postcount=274
The DM was ok with it and its worked quite well for me.

[gurgleflep]

Could you use their racial progressions from Races of the Wild?

[falloutimperial]

I strongly recommend you use a homebrewed or houseruled version of the gnoll. There are about twenty on this forum alone.

The way many people view gnolls and the way whoever designed it view gnolls seem to be at extreme odds. I say, let the gnollitude roll.

[prufock]

Strength +4, Constitution +2, Intelligence -2, Charisma -2.
Size Medium.
A gnoll’s base land speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision out to 60 feet.
Racial Hit Dice: A gnoll begins with two levels of humanoid, which provide 2d8 Hit Dice, a base attack bonus of +1, and base saving throw bonuses of Fort +3, Ref +0, and Will +0.
Racial Skills: A gnoll’s humanoid levels give it skill points equal to 5 × (2 + Int modifier). Its class skills are Listen and Spot.
Racial Feats: A gnoll’s humanoid levels give it one feat.
+1 natural armor bonus.
Automatic Languages: Gnoll. Bonus Languages: Common, Draconic, Elven, Goblin, Orc.
Favored Class: Ranger.
Level adjustment +1.

Just drop the RHD and replace with class levels. Honestly the +1 LA is enough; it's no more powerful than the Goliath. If it still feels overpowered, simply drop the STR bonus to +2 instead of +4.

[Greenish]

Just drop the RHD and replace with class levels. Honestly the +1 LA is enough; it's no more powerful than the Goliath. If it still feels overpowered, simply drop the STR bonus to +2 instead of +4.I was going to recommend the same.

[pwykersotz]

Depending on the optimization level and the length of the campaign, he might not be that far behind. RHD of d8 and 3/4 BAB isn't at all optimal, but it isn't necessarily terrible either.

That being said, what are the reasons he wants to play a Gnoll? If it's just for the appearance, he could be fluffed to simply look like that with the stats of a human. Honestly though, given the net +2 stat gain and the darkvision are the only real benefits (yay for +1 NA!) I would probably just drop the RHD entirely and keep the LA.

Edit: Swordsage'd twice!

[eggynack]

Do you even need the LA? The only advantage that gnolls have over water orcs is a lack of wisdom penalty, darkvision, and a +1 to AC. Water orcs even get a swim speed, which is nifty. Give it a wisdom penalty or something and just call it neutral with other LA +0 races. You could even keep in the AC and darkvision, and it'd be roughly at parity with other options. It might be a bit more powerful than other options, but it'd only be more powerful for fightery types, and they can get some leeway.

[Blueiji]

I wrote a piece of homebrew for just this purpose. It's in my signature.

I also wrote feats to accompony the race, which might be fun for your player.