im about to start a "Gnoll T1" adventure: the players have teh role of the gnolls of the moathouse.
the gnolls from GH have any thing that i must know, that make them diferent from other settings?
they are cowards/brave/military/chaotic...or they are the same as 2ed MM?
There's an article in Dragon # 367, "Playing Gnolls" that you might find helpful. Some of it is geared toward 4th edition but the majority of it is about gnoll culture and psychology so it can be applied to any edition. You can download that issue free from the D&D website or just read the article directly at http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drfe/20080924, though you have to be logged into a D&D Insider account, which is also free for now.
Edit: the article isn't presented in full at the link above, but you can download a pdf of the article from there.
More editing: Get it now if you're going to because it looks like they're starting to charge for Insider memberships. I'm guessing the free memberships aren't going to work much longer.
I used that article as a source in the GHWiki gnoll entry, though I thought the Monster Manual IV was just as useful, and I gave precedence to Greyhawk-specific sources like From the Ashes and the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. I'm pretty sure the result is as close to "Greyhawk gnolls" as you're going to get. They're a barbarous, savage people. And they're probably more or less the same as in the 1st and 2nd edition MMs (though I'm pretty sure the stuff about females being larger than males is new to 3rd edition). If anyone disagrees with the details, they're welcome to edit the wiki page accordingly.
I am surprised you didn't use the Slayer's guide to Gnolls in your sources. While its a third party suppliment, I think it was pretty good view of them. Though the wiki entry is pretty darn good too. I didn't know if it would give you anything that the other sources didn't.
The classic D&D supplement "The Orcs of Thar" detailed how to play humanoids, including gnolls, as PCs.
There, gnolls are given three geographic subraces and the racial skill (~NWP) of Bravery, making them immune to fear and possibly morale checks.
I modeled the population dynamics of humanoids based on demographic information in the 1stE MM and found that gnolls had a higher reproductive rate then any other humanoid (or any detailed race, for that matter).
It is also worth noting that gnolls are the smallest of the traditional humanoid races to be CE, everyone smaller than them (hobgoblin, orc, goblin, kobold) is LE, so they have very disorganized societies.
I just read rasgon's work on the wiki and liked it. IIRC, hyenas have their creches underground, so I would suggest that when gnolls have a litter they put the pups in a cave or burrow and seal them off (to keep the pups in and hungry adult gnolls out) with some slave nursemaids. Pehaps when the pups are old enough they turn on their nurses, eat them, and then dig their way out.
Had to laugh at the line about it being difficult to tell the difference between males and females. Female hyenas produce male hormones as part of their dominance behavior, and as a result they have incredibly large clitori, making them indeed difficult to tell from males at a distance.
Those gnolls who worship Yeenoghu (most of them) often interbreed with demons. These half-fiends often become the leaders of gnoll tribes, and their demon-blooded children become their lieutenants. Half-demonic gnolls often demand that their children become priests of Yeenoghu in order to supply them with healing magic.
is this created at 3 edition?
i mean, i have see some d&d miniatures featuring this, but have never read about at 2ed.
just curious
Yeah, that's all 3rd edition stuff, from the Monster Manual IV. There's a school of thought that Greyhawk should stick mostly to 1st edition sources. I do not subscribe to this, but it's certainly a valid point of view.
im not against 3ed material, but i like my demons and devils in a more "hidden/dark" way.
i have seen in miniatures, lots of half dragon, half demon, half something..
its strange, since i like half orc and half elf, but i prefer my monsters "pure" :P
I agree with you. While a half-demonic gnoll chieftain would be an interesting enough character as a lieutenant of Turrosh Mak in the Pomarj or something, it can be overdone, and having a lot of half-demonic gnoll chieftains cheapens the whole idea (like having more than one Iuz). I'd keep just one, or perhaps a single litter of them that feud among themselves.
Hm, or maybe have them all exist in an area that has a lot of demons in it anyway, like Iuz.
Last edited by rasgon on Fri Oct 24, 2008 1:43 pm; edited 1 time in total
Where do the flinds within Gnoll society fit - within the 3rd edition?
According to the Monster Manual III, they're "often found in gnoll bands as leaders or elite hunters. While gnolls admire and respect them, flinds have no great love for their lesser cousins. "
That's pretty much all there is on the subject in 3rd edition. The Monster Manual IV has a lot more information on gnolls, but doesn't mention flinds.
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