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Conners
2007-03-14, 11:08 PM
This is a discussion thread for gnolls and flinds, as the title suggests. I'd like to make a fan-club instead, but apparently this forum doesn't support such an idea.
And so I made a discussion thread.

Run, Run, Run, Run, Runaway from the big scary gnolls :smalleek: and flinds.

Clementx
2007-03-14, 11:13 PM
How screwed are gnolls that they are their own subtype, but have only two races, and only one is core? Personally, I would fold them into monstrous humanoids.

Dhavaer
2007-03-14, 11:24 PM
On the bright side it means that gnollbane weapons are going to be pretty rare as long as they keep their heads down.

Assassinfox
2007-03-14, 11:35 PM
Gnolls are awesome. Yeenoghu's awesome. And Flinds get nunchucks.

Weasel of Doom
2007-03-14, 11:50 PM
Gnolls are so cool :smallbiggrin:
What's a flind?:smallconfused:

PhoeKun
2007-03-15, 12:13 AM
A female Gnoll with nunchucks.

Did anyone else see the title of this thread and immediately think of "Guys and Dolls"?

Amotis
2007-03-15, 12:15 AM
I think the Jets and the Sharks.

Dhavaer
2007-03-15, 12:16 AM
Montagues and Capulets.

Or fire. Cleansing atomic fire. :smallsmile:

Assassinfox
2007-03-15, 12:31 AM
What's a flind?:smallconfused:

A bigger meaner gnoll with nunchucks.

Conners
2007-03-15, 02:32 AM
A bigger meaner gnoll with nunchucks.

Flinds are actually about half-a-foot shorter than gnolls. You're Right about them being meaner though -- they don't mind sacrificing their gnoll followers for personal gain.

Gnolls are so cool :smallbiggrin:
What's a flind?:smallconfused:
Flinds are some kind of stronger cousins of gnolls.
They are admired by their weaker cousins and like to use nunchucks, as Assassinfox said.

An entry on Flinds can be found in Monster Manual III. It's extremely brief, however.

AtomicKitKat
2007-03-15, 04:38 AM
I'm more a fan of Gnolls > Flinds. Not much sense to Flinds:

"I got an idea! Let's make like Asian Gnolls, and the regular Gnolls are so in awe of their skill with nunchukus, they immediately bow down and worship them."

Pushing them to Monstrous Humanoids would be good. Wouldn't change too much, and makes them slightly better fighters than they would be otherwise.

Caelestion
2007-03-15, 05:06 AM
I always thought they should be Monstrous Humanoids anyway. They resemble and act like hyenas and have Scent and other animalian things. Their LA wouldn't change.

Zincorium
2007-03-15, 05:46 AM
I'm more a fan of Gnolls > Flinds. Not much sense to Flinds:

"I got an idea! Let's make like Asian Gnolls, and the regular Gnolls are so in awe of their skill with nunchukus, they immediately bow down and worship them."

Pushing them to Monstrous Humanoids would be good. Wouldn't change too much, and makes them slightly better fighters than they would be otherwise.

Flinds aren't in charge because of the nun chucks (which aren't nun chucks anyway), they're in charge because they are, or at least were, significantly smarter and more tactically minded than normal gnolls, as well as being very bulky and muscular for their size, which is only a few inches to a foot shorter than gnolls if my memory serves. Kind of the dwarves of gnollkind.

They're not asian at all, and the flindbar is less like the conventional version of nun chucks than it is a big metal flail with a 3' metal haft on both ends of the chain.

Also, YES on the monstrous humanoid. You've got centaurs, thri-keen, and a bunch of other stuff on there. Gnolls fit in perfectly.

Caelestion
2007-03-15, 06:16 AM
Not-so-random question - you think Bugbears fit in with the goblinoid theme? They're the other underpowered humanoid with HD.

Conners
2007-03-15, 06:25 AM
What I don't get is why gnoll aren't monstrous humanoids already. They're big, they're scary, they're hairy, and they meet the perquisites for being a monstrous humanoid, if memory serves.

Caelestion: Hmmm, they do seem sort of similar.... Bugbears mostly seem like goblins who have the brawn to enact their devious wishes.
They're the other underpowered humanoid with HD. Uhhh, what does that mean?

Caelestion
2007-03-15, 06:26 AM
Fighting gnolls would then come under Monstrous Humanoids, which is always fun :)

cupkeyk
2007-03-15, 07:12 AM
Flinds can use flind-bars as martial weapons instead of exotic and still meet the prerequisite for Exotic Weapon Master.

UNCANNY BLOW!!!

Caelestion
2007-03-15, 07:38 AM
Doesn't that hold for Dwarves, Orcs etc?

Orzel
2007-03-15, 07:55 AM
Are gnolls that different from monstrous humaniods that they get a different type and subtype?

The humaniod base is d8 HD, 3/4 BAB Good Reflex, 2+ skills, and prefer class levels. Monstrous humaniods get d8 HD, full BAB Good Reflex and Will, 2+ skills, Darkvision, freakish powers, and have racial HD that stink them up.

I guess a Gnoll is what happens when a monstrous humumiod tries to be civilized, stops beating on everything is sees, and fails hard.

Caelestion
2007-03-15, 08:25 AM
As opposed to a Hobgoblin that is civilised, beats up every Elf he sees and still fails on the LA department.

Orzel
2007-03-15, 08:39 AM
Gnolls, gobliniods, and orcs are basically monstrous humaniods who became civilized because they were too weak to be monstrous.

A minotaur is monstrous. A hag is monstrous. A harpy is monstrous. A gnoll is a strong and hairy man with a hyena face.

BCOVertigo
2007-03-15, 09:00 AM
I've always liked gnolls, what book are Flinds in? The idea of a smarter Gnoll amuses me, and if they are less retarded with the racial HD (and maybe have a bite attack or something, I dunno....) I would enjoy playing one.

Brettoe
2007-03-15, 09:15 AM
Yay for the wolf like humanoids!

Conners
2007-03-15, 09:22 AM
I've always liked gnolls, what book are Flinds in? The idea of a smarter Gnoll amuses me, and if they are less retarded with the racial HD (and maybe have a bite attack or something, I dunno....) I would enjoy playing one.
Flinds are in Monster Manual III. Flinds don't get the penalty on CHR and INT that normal gnolls do, as you suspect. They don't have a bite attack though.

I could of course just PM you the Racial stats if you like.

AtomicKitKat
2007-03-15, 09:58 AM
I think Gnolls would be more justified as:

Monstrous Humanoid(1-2 HD. Depends on whether you want them to have no racial HD), LA+1, Bite, 1d4(1d6?)+1.5*Strength mod(1/2 if using a manufactured weapon).

I guess the minimum requirement to be "Monstrous Humanoid" is to have a natural attack(s).

Piccamo
2007-03-15, 10:04 AM
Yay for the wolf like humanoids!
They're Hyena-like, not Wolf-like :smalltongue:

Conners
2007-03-15, 11:43 AM
Has anyone got Monster Manual IV? It says here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnoll that the book revealed gnolls to be a female dominated society. Any truth in this? And is the book got any interesting coverage of gnolls?

Assassinfox
2007-03-15, 12:22 PM
Has anyone got Monster Manual IV? It says here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnoll that the book revealed gnolls to be a female dominated society. Any truth in this? And is the book got any interesting coverage of gnolls?

Took a glance at it, thought "Gnolls with class levels. Good job, Wizards." and then stopped reading. :smalltongue:

Conners
2007-03-15, 10:26 PM
Took a glance at it, thought "Gnolls with class levels. Good job, Wizards." and then stopped reading. :smalltongue:
So, it was no good then?

Brettoe
2007-03-15, 11:57 PM
They're Hyena-like, not Wolf-like :smalltongue:

yeah, but On world of warcraft they look like wolf like humanoids, and I've never encountered them on DND:thog:

JadedDM
2007-03-16, 12:23 AM
Gnolls are playable on my world. Back in 2E, gnolls and flinds appear in the same entry. I don't know why they split them up.

Anyway, I don't use flinds, but I do let gnolls use flindbars (or gnollbars, as I call them). They are usually more civilized on my world, but they really dislike elves (ironically, the elven nation and gnollish federation are practical neighbors).

There are two types of gnolls on my world. The Pyr Gnolls, who are LN and are fairly civilized. Then there are the Corloin Gnolls who are CN and sail the seas as pirates. These gnolls are very dangerous, as they have created a special form of lycanthropy that they intentionally imbue their best warriors with. It makes them transform into huge, hulking beasts of pure violent fury. They're called Primals.

TheOOB
2007-03-16, 12:31 AM
Gnolls are an awesome race and a nice change of pace from goblins, kobolds, and orcs, especially since they oftentimes live above ground rather then in the dreary dungeons we've come to know

Assassinfox
2007-03-16, 12:56 AM
So, it was no good then?

Only glanced at the gnoll section and was disgusted at the lack of new monsters. I figured if they're gonna include a gnoll section in a brand new monster manual, it must be for some new subrace of gnoll and not for slapping on class levels. Although, I may have to take a second look at it.

Conners
2007-03-16, 09:01 AM
So, what rating would you guys give The Slayer's Guide to Gnolls out of 1 to 10?

I'd give it a 7.5
It was well written and done very well, but something about it didn't seem to capture what I liked about gnolls..... So, who's next?

Hunter_Rose
2007-03-16, 09:09 AM
Would a gnoll druid be able to transform into a human?

Piccamo
2007-03-16, 09:11 AM
Can human druids turn into gnolls?

No. Druids can turn into animals, plants, and elementals.

Closet_Skeleton
2007-03-16, 11:00 AM
Ah, I remember killing Flinds in Baldurs Gate. I think they had Halberds or something.

Payne
2007-03-16, 12:43 PM
A big fan of Gnolls I am.
As a lesser-known monstrous humanoid / giant (well they were 'large' in old 2E) they actually got finer details about their abilities and culture to set them apart form "just another goblinoid".
Scent, outdoors-y, cannibal, ranger class favored, matriarcal, a whole sub-race of smarter gnolls etc
What's not to like?

My experience with Gnolls.

Saw Flinds when I bought first edition Fiend Folio (a treasure to this day). Didnt know you could have sub-races (???)

In a campaign I included one tribe who was slowly moving into chaotic neutral territory under the influence of a Gnoll messiah. (A serial-reincarnating adventurer).

I wanted to play an hedonist, fun-loving female Gnoll cleric of Fharlanghn/ Ranger in a campaign. But the +2 level adjustment was a deterrent (I still don't agree).

Matthew
2007-03-16, 06:33 PM
I like Gnolls, but didn't this thread appear a few months back? Maybe we should link to that discussion?

Closet_Skeleton
2007-03-17, 08:47 AM
Flinds were probably left out of the Monster Manual because 3rd edition makes it easier to advance monsters by class level so pre-stated superior subraces of normal monsters aren't neccesary anymore.

Brettoe
2007-03-17, 12:01 PM
I still can't imagine what a gnoll with nun-chaku looks like:confused:

Piccamo
2007-03-17, 12:39 PM
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mmiii_gallery/82996.jpg

BAM!

cupkeyk
2007-03-17, 12:55 PM
Why can't people call them flindbars? They have different stats altogether. Flindbars are actually described as being more similar to oversized flails than nunchuku. Although it seems that the flail head and the handle are interchangable, the chain is longer than a nunchaku's and is a size category larger and has a better threat range. This makes flindbars a rare bludgeoning weapon, since few bludgeoning weapons have increased threat ranges. I can think of only nother one, that marsulpule or whatever its called from manual of the planes. And that it allows a disarm attempt with every critical hit. Ninuninuninu. Flinds are not oriental flavored.

Piccamo
2007-03-17, 01:06 PM
Why does it bother you? Its just a name. People can call it what they want if it helps visualize it better.

kamikasei
2007-03-17, 01:31 PM
Why does it bother you? Its just a name. People can call it what they want if it helps visualize it better.

If calling a flindbar "nunchaku" conjures up an image that is inaccurate and doesn't actually represent a flindbar, then it's not really helping them visualize it better.

Assassinfox
2007-03-17, 01:35 PM
All hail Yeenoghu!

cupkeyk
2007-03-17, 01:58 PM
Ooooh, since Yeenoghu is also an Abyssal prince, her clerics can access the awesome Abyss Domain. Cast darkness and walk around smacking people who can't see and you can see them just fine.

As kamikasei said, its an inaccurate simile, actually calling it that is worse.

Assassinfox
2007-03-17, 02:10 PM
Ooooh, since Yeenoghu is also an Abyssal prince, her clerics can access the awesome Abyss Domain.

Yeenoghu's a she?! :eek:

cupkeyk
2007-03-17, 02:13 PM
I guess I was wrong (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeenoghu). But I was thinking a Matriarchal society would have a female god.

Payne
2007-03-17, 10:04 PM
I think too much weight is put on the Gnolls' semblance to hyenas. They look like them and are matriarchal (a relatively new addition to their entry). But their concept was but a monstrous humanoid/giant.

Their god isnt even their god. Yeenoghu stole gnoll worship from their original god Gorellik (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorellik) Heck the guy just tries to get his hands into any pot he can steal cookies from as he "subjugated Doresain, King of Ghouls" to become god of ghouls.

Conners
2007-03-24, 12:16 PM
Out of question, why the heck don't gnolls get the Scent ability? It suits them perfectly, what with them being hyena men and all.

Bouldering Jove
2007-03-24, 07:45 PM
Out of question, why the heck don't gnolls get the Scent ability? It suits them perfectly, what with them being hyena men and all.
Because they have pet hyenas to do the sniffing for them?

Conners
2007-03-24, 10:26 PM
Because they have pet hyenas to do the sniffing for them? .........For some reason that sounds unbelievably cute........ Maybe I'm just going crazy.

Still, I think gnoll should have the Scent ability, or at least a feat that allows them to get it.

Conners
2007-03-30, 12:45 PM
Anyone have any interesting Gnoll Stories?

Fhaolan
2007-03-30, 01:10 PM
In my campaign, I completely re-arranged the concept of Gnolls.

Everyone *thinks* they're hyena-people, because that's the most common Gnoll to venture into non-Gnoll territory. In my campaign the term 'Gnoll' actually includes all beast-people based on animals from the mammilian Carnivora group, so hyenas, wolves, big cats, bears, even weasels. They were created as a slave race by the Elves, rebelled, and tossed the elves out of their own empire. Now there is the 'Gnoll Empire' slowly spreading across the world, while elves are forced into a nomadic lifestyle like the Bedoin and the gypsies.

Gnolls in my campaign are highly organized and militaristic, with an Imperial Roman-style culture. Legions, emperor, a senate, ect.

As a secondary note, minotaurs, fauns, and other prey-type beast-people are part of the Elves' second attempt at making a slave race, given how badly the first attempt went. :smallsmile:

Matthew
2007-03-30, 05:28 PM
Heh. I never thought of expanding the name 'Gnoll' like that. I went for the more generic 'Beast Man', but why wouldn't you include Minotaurs amongst Wolf Men and Bear Men and such?

Fhaolan
2007-03-30, 05:40 PM
Heh. I never thought of expanding the name 'Gnoll' like that. I went for the more generic 'Beast Man', but why wouldn't you include Minotaurs amongst Wolf Men and Bear Men and such?

It was a purely arbitrary decision on my part, in creating the campaign history. I decided that the Gnolls would be extremely proud of their predatory origins, and would look down on the prey-types as a cultural thing, rather than anything based on ability or power. Minotaurs, satyrs, stag-men and the like might call themselves Gnolls as well, because their origin is so similar, but 'real' Gnolls would be offended by it. Gnolls may be 'Lawful' in having such an organized culture, but they are very easily offended. :smallamused:

Matthew
2007-03-30, 05:46 PM
I see. Interesting.

Last lot of Beast Men I created were a mixture of 'Wolf Men', 'Goat Men', 'Rat Men' and 'Bull Men'. The Wizard responsible was trying to 'improve' his minions. He was also responsible for a few Owl Bears...

Conners
2007-03-31, 07:43 PM
In the campaign I'm planning, gnolls have their own empire. Rumours spread like forest fire about how it swallows up the cities at villages to the north, but authorities just rubbish the idea.

Gnolls are veteran warriors and have damage reduction of 2/Piercing in my campaign. There are also rumours of gnolls who outsize ogres, but that surely can't be true.......

starwoof
2007-03-31, 08:17 PM
Back in our original homebrew setting (this is like, 7 years ago), gnolls featured prominently. Their nation was a floating island that hovered around the main continent. The edges were surrounded by a wall made of zombies. From there the gnolls would strike at various human cities across the continent (the elves had their own island that floated higher, and the dwarves were on a different continent altogether).

And then we set free the gigantic gnoll god and he ravaged the countryside until we could finally kill him.


Ive always loved gnolls, though I havnt really fleshed them out in my campaign settign yet. They might get a floating island. :smallsmile:

Lolzords
2007-04-01, 01:03 PM
How screwed are gnolls that they are their own subtype, but have only two races, and only one is core? Personally, I would fold them into monstrous humanoids.

Or giants, I'd peg them as giants.

AtomicKitKat
2007-04-01, 08:52 PM
Or giants, I'd peg them as giants.

Heck no. That's really not much better than Humanoid. If you're going to give them Racial HD, at least Monstrous Humanoid has full BAB, to reflect their fighting spirit.

Conners
2007-04-02, 12:20 AM
Speaking of gnolls as monstrous humanoids, I've been working on a race called Monstrous Gnoll. It's a gnoll who is large size, and counts as a monstrous humanoid rather than a normal humanoid. I was thinking about racial statistics something along these lines:

Monstrous Gnolls



+12 Str, -2 Dex, +6 Con, -2 Int, -2 Chr: Monstrous gnolls are incredibly strong, though there size has made them clumsier than their smaller cousins. They keep the same mental state as that of a gnoll.
Large size. -1 penalty to Armor Class, -1 penalty on attack rolls (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/combatStatistics.htm#attackRoll), -4 penalty on Hide (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/hide.htm) checks, +4 bonus on grapple checks (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/specialAttacks.htm#grappleChecks), lifting and carrying limits double those of Medium characters.
Space/Reach: 10’ft./10’ft.
Land Speed of 40’ft.
Darkvision out to 60’ft.
Racial Hit Dice: A monstrous gnoll begins with five levels of monstrous humanoid, which supply 5d8 hit dice, a base attack bonus of +5, and base saves of +2 Fort, +4 Reflex, and +4 Will.
Racial Feats: A gnolls levels of monstrous humanoid give it 2 feats.
+2 on Spot and Listen checks: All gnolls have very keen senses*.
+4 on Hide checks when staying still for a half-hour or longer: Although monstrously sized, they still keep their ability to enter the trance which has made gnolls such succesful ambushers**.
Battle Axe counts as Simple weapon.
Damage Reduction: 6/Piercing: These creature's hides are so thick that it seems impossible to kill them with an axe or sword. Though spears seem to do well against their hides.
Natural Weapons: Claw (1d4) and 1d8 bite: Monstrous gnolls have talon-like claws and gigantic teeth. They also seem more porficient in using these to their advantage.
Favoured Class: Barbarian: Although as a capable mentally as a normal gnoll, Monstrous Gnolls tend to be the ones who lead attacks on cities and enemy armies.
Automatic Languages: Gnoll. Bonus Languages: Common, Draconic, Undercommon, Goblin, Orcish and Giant.
Level Adjustment +3. What do you guys think? I haven't done much for background on these guys yet, but I plan to.

Conners
2007-04-03, 09:48 AM
Where has everyone gone? Hello?

........What are your opinions on the gnoll's official racial traits (aka: stat adjustments, level adjustment, darkvision etcetera.)?

SpiderBrigade
2007-04-03, 10:55 AM
Because they have pet hyenas to do the sniffing for them?

.........For some reason that sounds unbelievably cute........ Maybe I'm just going crazy.

Still, I think gnoll should have the Scent ability, or at least a feat that allows them to get it. Pet Hyenas are, in fact, unbelievably cute. (http://www.showstudio.com/projects/hyena/img/5_lg.jpg)

Fhaolan
2007-04-03, 11:08 AM
Pet Hyenas are, in fact, unbelievably cute. (http://www.showstudio.com/projects/hyena/img/5_lg.jpg)

Maybe it's just me, but I don't get that 'cute' feeling off of that picture. I get the 'You know, I prefer my limbs still attached thank you very much' feeling...

SpiderBrigade
2007-04-03, 11:32 AM
It's the ridiculous thickness of the leash-chain that does it for me, I think. Of course, you need a chain like that because the hyena would chew through anything thinner :smallbiggrin:

storybookknight
2007-04-03, 01:01 PM
I'm using gnolls pretty extensively in my desert-themed campaign. The Marru (oh noes! Yuan-ti, except they're jackals instead of snakes!) didn't really do it for me as major antagonists, so I decided to go with gnolls instead.

Conners
2007-04-04, 11:33 PM
Gnoll clerics of Yeenoghu, in my campaign, get the Ghoul Touch ability an amount of times per day equal to half their level (minimum 1). They also get +2 on turning checks against ghouls at 4th level.

Lolzords
2007-04-05, 03:14 PM
Heck no. That's really not much better than Humanoid. If you're going to give them Racial HD, at least Monstrous Humanoid has full BAB, to reflect their fighting spirit.

Fair play, just thinking out loud.

Obahai
2009-04-24, 01:17 PM
Hiya everyone, I'm about to start making a 5th lvl flind. My plan is to build this flind around claw fighting. I know that in Dragon 367 there is a feat for 4th ed, but i need one for 3.5 any suggestions?


email me at [email protected]

thanks

Obahai

Faulty
2009-04-24, 01:24 PM
In a campaign world that I've been devising, there will be demonic influenced CE Gnolls who worship Yeenoghu, and then tribes of plain dwelling LG Gnolls who worship land and ancestral spirits. :O I've always loved Gnolls.

Roland St. Jude
2009-04-24, 02:43 PM
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