Worth noting: Keith Baker's Exploring Eberron book, from DM's Guild, has a playable gnoll race in it. For obvious reasons I can't repeat/duplicate it here, but aside from gnolls having a surprisingly shit lifespan (in line with aarakocra), the stat block isn't too far off what one would expect. That book is absolutely fan-goddamned-tastic and well worth the purchase for Eberron enthusiasts, as well as people who want what's likely as close as folks are going to get to an 'Official' playable gnoll stat block.
EDIT:
Raise your hand if you saw the thread title and immediately sang to yourself 'playable gnoll, playable gnoll!' to Breaking the Law. Because all the gods that ever were bless Critical Role.
I'd love to play as a gnoll, but this would basically never work in Forgotten Realms.
How? Other "evil" or "enemy" races like minotaurs, goblins, and the like are all playable.
Other enemy races aren't literal chaotic evil demon spawn (as DevanAvalon lore dropped on us). And here is a bit more lore from the MM:
No goodness or compassion resides in the heart of a gnoll. Like a demon, it lacks anything resembling a conscience, and can’t be taught or coerced to put aside its destructive tendencies.
Of course a DM can overrule anything, but generally Levi's statement is true.
Has no one ever played a chaotic evil character? I feel like even without the DM overruling this it could work to play them in the forgotten realms as long as the other party members could stand them. In D&D you can be whoever you want (With some restrictions) so being a demon spawn should be fine.
I'd love to play as a gnoll, but this would basically never work in Forgotten Realms.
You'd be surprised. They were a playable race in 2e since they were included in the Humanoid's Handbook.
Not getting slaughterdead the first time one decided to approach a city, though... there's the challenge. ;P
Have you read the 5e lore for them in Volo's? That's what I was referring to. Gnolls in 5e are basically demons inhabiting soulless humanoid hyenas.
No, admittedly I had not. I see nothing in VGTM that says they are demons, only that they were created by Yeenoghu, with certain traits such as their insatiable hunger for the flesh of sentient creatures. They are said to be Hyenas that are transformed into Gnolls in the wake of a Demon Lord's destruction but that doesn't mean they are demons. The Shoosuvas, though, are a different story, though they are demonic hyenas and not Gnolls.
As far as my opinion is concerned they are no more demons than Kobolds are dragons. They have a demonic taint but aren't demons themselves, but then you didn't say the are demons, only that they are basically demons so ultimately you're not wrong. And considering how people generally react to beings of demonic origin it would probably be a challenge to play one in Forgotten Realms, so again you're not wrong.
I'd love to play as a gnoll, but this would basically never work in Forgotten Realms.
You'd be surprised. They were a playable race in 2e since they were included in the Humanoid's Handbook.
Not getting slaughterdead the first time one decided to approach a city, though... there's the challenge. ;P
Have you read the 5e lore for them in Volo's? That's what I was referring to. Gnolls in 5e are basically demons inhabiting soulless humanoid hyenas.
No, admittedly I had not. I see nothing in VGTM that says they are demons, only that they were created by Yeenoghu, with certain traits such as their insatiable hunger for the flesh of sentient creatures. They are said to be Hyenas that are transformed into Gnolls in the wake of a Demon Lord's destruction but that doesn't mean they are demons. The Shoosuvas, though, are a different story, though they are demonic hyenas and not Gnolls.
As far as my opinion is concerned they are no more demons than Kobolds are dragons. They have a demonic taint but aren't demons themselves, but then you didn't say the are demons, only that they are basically demons so ultimately you're not wrong. And considering how people generally react to beings of demonic origin it would probably be a challenge to play one in Forgotten Realms, so again you're not wrong.
"As creatures that sprang up in the wake of a demon lord, gnolls are creatures of savage blood lust, incapable of understanding or acting on any other impulse. They are extensions of Yeenoghu’s will. They pause only to devour what they have killed, and to fashion crude weapons and armor from their victims’ corpses."
sounds demonic to me. also, Cowardford himself has said he would have made them fiends had he released gnolls now, instead of when he did. ...and there are two gnolls who legitimately are fiends right now as they are written too, by the way.
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Formerly Devan Avalon.
Trying to get your physical content on Beyond is like going to Microsoft and saying "I have a physical Playstation disk, give me a digital Xbox version!"
"As creatures that sprang up in the wake of a demon lord, gnolls are creatures of savage blood lust, incapable of understanding or acting on any other impulse. They are extensions of Yeenoghu’s will. They pause only to devour what they have killed, and to fashion crude weapons and armor from their victims’ corpses."
sounds demonic to me. also, Cowardford himself has said he would have made them fiends had he released gnolls now, instead of when he did. ...and there are two gnolls who legitimately are fiends right now as they are written too, by the way.
Demonic as in how they act, sure. They're still essentially just magically mutated hyenas. They have none of the physical or magical traits of demons. They follow Yeenoghu's will and have an insatiable hunger. They are evil creatures, but not demons. I think at this point it depends on whether you mean "demonic" as in "exhibiting a behaviour otherwise attributed to demons" or "demonic" as in "having the traits of a demon".
Nothing in VGTM states that they are demonic beings. If they want to retcon the previous editions' information on the Gnoll they should just do it. If they feel that Gnolls should be fiends then they should just make the change especially if it makes sense for the creature. It wouldn't be the first change that's been made, it certainly won't be the last, and as you have pointed out it wouldn't really be a big change given how they're written for 5e.
By the book,though, the Gnoll is considered a humanoid, not a fiend or demon. With regard to the two Gnolls that are fiends, while I don't know anything about them we do know that individuals can, through various means, become a demon so I don't see anything outwardly unusual about this.
At this point, though, I usually fall back to the "not my table, not my ruling" clause and agree to disagree. :)
All that said, isn't there rumoured to be a new Eberron book at some point that's supposed to have a playable Gnoll race in it? If it's true, I'll be interested to see how they differentiate them from the Gnolls we're talking about, if they do at all.
I don’t know if this thread is dead or not but I’ve been using the bugbear racial information for my gnoll grave cleric and in my opinion it’s pretty much perfect in most aspects except for swapping goblin as a language to abyssal.
I think it would be almost impossible to play a non-chaotic evil gnoll. but, PCs can always by chaotic evil, and I did say almost impossible. an example of how a non chaotic evil gnoll could be one whom a deity granted goodness.
In 3.5, I played a Gnoll Bard with a concertina and a whip. And a necklace made from spoons. I like having the option to revive the character in other systems.
In Volo's, they're not so much a species as an affliction that hyenas can suffer from. Bordering on non-sentient. I can see not allowing that as a PC, but anything that is sentient is at least theoretically, playable, so in any setting where they are a being that can think I'd at least tentatively allow it. Even demons could be PCs in the right campaign. That's actually part of the premise behind a book series I'm working on for the DM's Guild; Everything in the Monstrous Manual, as PCs. Sentient versions of the non-sentient stuff too.
There are worlds (such as Eberron and Exandria) where gnolls are not feral, demonic monsters, and are instead sentient humanoids like all other species.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
There are worlds (such as Eberron and Exandria) where gnolls are not feral, demonic monsters, and are instead sentient humanoids like all other species.
But in Forgotten Realms, they are basically borderline sentient creatures who's entire existence is rooted in their primal hyena instincts to hunt and kill.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
There are worlds (such as Eberron and Exandria) where gnolls are not feral, demonic monsters, and are instead sentient humanoids like all other species.
But in Forgotten Realms, they are basically borderline sentient creatures who's entire existence is rooted in their primal hyena instincts to hunt and kill.
I know, but the Forgotten Realms shouldn't prevent a gnoll PC from existing in other worlds.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
There are worlds (such as Eberron and Exandria) where gnolls are not feral, demonic monsters, and are instead sentient humanoids like all other species.
But in Forgotten Realms, they are basically borderline sentient creatures who's entire existence is rooted in their primal hyena instincts to hunt and kill.
I know, but the Forgotten Realms shouldn't prevent a gnoll PC from existing in other worlds.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
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It would probably be best to use/create homebrew details. As far as I know no books have racial details.
SAUCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Player's Handbook to Midgard has a gnoll race.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
How does the Midgard book compare to the existing Dungeon Master's Guide, Page 282 version?
It's better. No intelligence negative, and there are subraces, and abilities specific to gnolls.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
See, i want to do a gnoll insult comedian
Worth noting: Keith Baker's Exploring Eberron book, from DM's Guild, has a playable gnoll race in it. For obvious reasons I can't repeat/duplicate it here, but aside from gnolls having a surprisingly shit lifespan (in line with aarakocra), the stat block isn't too far off what one would expect. That book is absolutely fan-goddamned-tastic and well worth the purchase for Eberron enthusiasts, as well as people who want what's likely as close as folks are going to get to an 'Official' playable gnoll stat block.
EDIT:
Raise your hand if you saw the thread title and immediately sang to yourself 'playable gnoll, playable gnoll!' to Breaking the Law. Because all the gods that ever were bless Critical Role.
Please do not contact or message me.
Has no one ever played a chaotic evil character? I feel like even without the DM overruling this it could work to play them in the forgotten realms as long as the other party members could stand them. In D&D you can be whoever you want (With some restrictions) so being a demon spawn should be fine.
You'd be surprised. They were a playable race in 2e since they were included in the Humanoid's Handbook.
Not getting slaughterdead the first time one decided to approach a city, though... there's the challenge. ;P
Have you read the 5e lore for them in Volo's? That's what I was referring to. Gnolls in 5e are basically demons inhabiting soulless humanoid hyenas.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
No, admittedly I had not. I see nothing in VGTM that says they are demons, only that they were created by Yeenoghu, with certain traits such as their insatiable hunger for the flesh of sentient creatures. They are said to be Hyenas that are transformed into Gnolls in the wake of a Demon Lord's destruction but that doesn't mean they are demons. The Shoosuvas, though, are a different story, though they are demonic hyenas and not Gnolls.
As far as my opinion is concerned they are no more demons than Kobolds are dragons. They have a demonic taint but aren't demons themselves, but then you didn't say the are demons, only that they are basically demons so ultimately you're not wrong. And considering how people generally react to beings of demonic origin it would probably be a challenge to play one in Forgotten Realms, so again you're not wrong.
"As creatures that sprang up in the wake of a demon lord, gnolls are creatures of savage blood lust, incapable of understanding or acting on any other impulse. They are extensions of Yeenoghu’s will. They pause only to devour what they have killed, and to fashion crude weapons and armor from their victims’ corpses."
sounds demonic to me. also, Cowardford himself has said he would have made them fiends had he released gnolls now, instead of when he did. ...and there are two gnolls who legitimately are fiends right now as they are written too, by the way.
Formerly Devan Avalon.
Trying to get your physical content on Beyond is like going to Microsoft and saying "I have a physical Playstation disk, give me a digital Xbox version!"
Demonic as in how they act, sure. They're still essentially just magically mutated hyenas. They have none of the physical or magical traits of demons. They follow Yeenoghu's will and have an insatiable hunger. They are evil creatures, but not demons. I think at this point it depends on whether you mean "demonic" as in "exhibiting a behaviour otherwise attributed to demons" or "demonic" as in "having the traits of a demon".
Nothing in VGTM states that they are demonic beings. If they want to retcon the previous editions' information on the Gnoll they should just do it. If they feel that Gnolls should be fiends then they should just make the change especially if it makes sense for the creature. It wouldn't be the first change that's been made, it certainly won't be the last, and as you have pointed out it wouldn't really be a big change given how they're written for 5e.
By the book,though, the Gnoll is considered a humanoid, not a fiend or demon. With regard to the two Gnolls that are fiends, while I don't know anything about them we do know that individuals can, through various means, become a demon so I don't see anything outwardly unusual about this.
At this point, though, I usually fall back to the "not my table, not my ruling" clause and agree to disagree. :)
All that said, isn't there rumoured to be a new Eberron book at some point that's supposed to have a playable Gnoll race in it? If it's true, I'll be interested to see how they differentiate them from the Gnolls we're talking about, if they do at all.
I don’t know if this thread is dead or not but I’ve been using the bugbear racial information for my gnoll grave cleric and in my opinion it’s pretty much perfect in most aspects except for swapping goblin as a language to abyssal.
I think it would be almost impossible to play a non-chaotic evil gnoll. but, PCs can always by chaotic evil, and I did say almost impossible. an example of how a non chaotic evil gnoll could be one whom a deity granted goodness.
[REDACTED]
I am an average mathematics enjoyer.
>Extended Signature<
In 3.5, I played a Gnoll Bard with a concertina and a whip. And a necklace made from spoons. I like having the option to revive the character in other systems.
In Volo's, they're not so much a species as an affliction that hyenas can suffer from. Bordering on non-sentient. I can see not allowing that as a PC, but anything that is sentient is at least theoretically, playable, so in any setting where they are a being that can think I'd at least tentatively allow it. Even demons could be PCs in the right campaign. That's actually part of the premise behind a book series I'm working on for the DM's Guild; Everything in the Monstrous Manual, as PCs. Sentient versions of the non-sentient stuff too.
There are worlds (such as Eberron and Exandria) where gnolls are not feral, demonic monsters, and are instead sentient humanoids like all other species.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
But in Forgotten Realms, they are basically borderline sentient creatures who's entire existence is rooted in their primal hyena instincts to hunt and kill.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
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Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
I know, but the Forgotten Realms shouldn't prevent a gnoll PC from existing in other worlds.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
I didn't say that it should...
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.