Gnoll
FLINT WOKE UP UBRUPTLY. IT WAS THE MIDDLE OF the night, he was sure of that, mostly from his lack of sleep. But what he wasn't sure of was what stirred him. A noise certainly, but what caused it he wasn't sure, and that had him on edge. Suddenly the sound of his campfire scattering apart had all of his attention. He couldn't see anything through the sides of his tent, but he knew something was alive out there. Then a quiet yipping sound.
The last thing Flint heard before his tent was caved in was the mad cackle of a pack of gnolls.
Unearthly Origins
Said to be borne the hyenas that fed off of the corpses in the wake of their abyssal master. Soon after the hyena's bodies stretched and twisted, bipedal and even more vicious. Gnolls appear as a profane hybrid of man and hyena that stands taller, bulkier and furrier than man. Envigored by their master's insaitable appitite, the gnolls then went forth and wrought pain, suffering, death and destruction in their master's name.
The gnolls one sees today is a far cry from the gnolls freshly wrought by the savage lord themself. It is said that the gnolls known as the "fangs" of their demonic proginator are versed in making fresh gnolls. These gnolls, while still a far cry from those made by the savage lord, are just as savage in temprement.
At one with Nature
Gnolls prefer hot deserts and warm plains, although they can also be found in warm mountains and sunny forests, and sometimes even underground.
Gnolls, despite their intelligence, interact with the natural world more like animals rather than humanoids as they do not alter their environment. In fact, despite their vicious nature, they are normally good for the surrounding environment as they are scavengers without compare, happily wolfing down rancid carrion left by more discerning creatures.
A Savage Collective
For gnolls the pack is everything, none would chose a life alone, gnolls always travel in packs. The pack is lead by a single gnoll. This individual is typically the largest and most imposing member of the pack, and its heirarchy flows down from there. Unlike most other species, female gnolls are the larger and more agressive than the males. Typically these tribes only grow as large as two hundred but they can get much larger when led by a truly exceptional leader.
Gnolls normally rove in small packs of a few hunters, though their definition of hunting is more like scavenging. Though those continueing their worship of the savage lord are known to go after livlier prey.
Weapons
| Name | Cost | Damage | Weight | Properties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martial Weapons | ||||
| Flail, Heavy | 16 gp | 1d10 bludgeoning | 10 lbs. | two-handed |
Names
Gnoll names often sound like the growls and yipping of wild hyenas, having a variety of hard consonants and rolling "r"s.
Male: Daag, Fekkur, Garrour, Gegg, Gurr, Hakk, Hurrurr,
Kaggur, Kurrmrr, Lok, Nrurr, Tarr-Kurr, Tukrr, Vogg, Vorum Female: Aaturr, Akaam, Arruggurr, Eag, Ekurrn, Errnhor,
Ilnn, Irrok, Itrugg, Ok-Ur-Okk, Orrot, Ovvurr, Ukramak,
Urmmnmarr, Uud
Gnoll Traits
Your gnoll character has the following racial traits.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score
increases by 2.
Age. Gnolls fully mature by around 8 years old, their violent lives are often cut short, but some are said to live to be around 60.
Alignment. Gnolls in general respect power above all, making them tend towards chaos. More modern gnolls avoid helping or harming others, as such they no longer strive towards evil, but not good either.
Size. Gnolls stand at around 7 feet tall and weigh around 300 lbs. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Lope. You can drop on all fours to increases your walking speed by 10 feet, you cannot hold anything in your hands while doing so, however.
Darkvision. You have a cat's keen senses, especially in the dark. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Rampage. When you reduce a creature to 0 hit points with a melee attack on your turn, you can take a bonus action to move up to half your speed and make a bite attack.
Bite. Your fanged maw is a natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with it, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Carrion Eater. You have advantage on saving throws against poison, you have resistance against poison damage, and you suffer no ill effects for eating decaying meat.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Abyssal.
Subraces. There are known three variants of gnoll, the regular gnoll, the flind and
Regular Gnoll
Regular gnoll, regular gnoll
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score
increases by 1.
Gnoll Weapon Training. You are proficient in flails, heavy flails, light crossbows, and heavy crossbows.
Versatile Hunter. You are proficient in the Stealth and Survival skills.
Flind
These larger and more physically impressive gnolls are rarer than their ordinary counterparts, but more fearsome up close.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score
increases by 1.
Imposing Stature. Flinds stand between 8 and 9 feet tall and weigh around 600 lbs. Your size is Large.
Additionally, your bite attack deals 1d8 damage.
Flind Weapon Training. You are proficient in flails, heavy flails, shortbows, and longbows.
Toothy Gnoll
It is said that these gnolls are the fangs of their dark progenitor, and they are every bit as terrifying as that moniker suggests.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score
increases by 1.
Claws. Your vicious claws are a natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with it, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike. When you use the Attack action with your claws on your turn, you can make another claw attack as a bonus action.
Hungry Jaws. In battle, you can throw yourself into a vicious feeding frenzy. As a bonus action, you can make a special attack with your bite. If the attack hits, it deals its normal damage, and you gain temporary hit points (minimum of 1) equal to your Constitution modifier, and you can't use this trait again until you finish a short or long rest.
| Race | Base Height | Height Modifier | Base Weight | Weight Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gnoll | 6'9" | +2d6 | 280 lbs. | x1d6 |
| Gnoll, Flind | 7'10" | +2d8 | 450 lbs. | x2d4 |
Flail of the Savage Lord
Weapon (heavy flail), artifact (requires attunement)
Gnolls are the lord of savagery's favored children, flinds even more so, and so he has granted them a gift. While a flind can be born and never be gifted this three-headed flail, no gnoll can bear one and not be a flind.
Any gnoll who kills the previous owner of this flail and claims it for their own will automatically attune to this weapon. Any gnoll attuned to this weapon becomes a flind.
Magic Item. While you are attuned to this weapon, you all attacks you make with this weapon will have one of the following effects.
- Flail of Madness. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw with a DC equal to 10 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. On a failed save, the target must make a melee attack against a random target within its reach on its next turn. If it has no targets within its reach even after moving, it loses its action on that turn.
- Flail of Pain. This flail deals a number of pointd additional d10s of psychic damage equal to your proficiency modifier.
- Flail of Paralysis. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw with a DC equal to 10 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus, or be paralyzed until the end of its next turn.
Once you have used one of these effects, you may not use that effect again until the start of your next turn.
Random Properties. The flail has the following randomly determined properties:
- 1 minor beneficial property
- 2 major beneficial properties
- 1 major detrimental property
Curse. The flail bears a curse that affects any non-gnoll becomes attuned to it. Even if the attunement ends, the curse remains. With each passing day, the creature's physical appearance and stature become more gnoll-like. After seven days, the creature transforms into a flind, replacing its racial traits with that of a gnoll. The changes wrought by the flail aren't considered magical in nature (and therefore can't be dispelled), but they can be undone by any effect that removes a curse, such as a greater restoration or remove curse spell.
Additioally, As long as you remain attuned to this flail, you are unwilling to part with it, keeping it within reach at all times.
Destroying the Flail. The only way to destroy the flail is to use it in the defense of innocents, and never using it to spill blodd everyday for a year and a day, at which point the flail flakes apart into rust.
Credits
Designed by d'Artagnan on DMs Guild, /u/dArtagnanDnD on reddit, or dArtagnanDnD on patreon and dArtagnanDnD on Twitter.
- Made with "GM Binder".
- Made with reference and for use with Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, created by Wizards of the Coast.
- Flind, by Vinod Rams
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