I, personally, do not accept 'this is what book X says' as any kind of argument. The only canon that matters is the canon you and your players craft at your table. 'But the book says ...' Flux the book. It's YOUR game, not WotC's, and if something they print doesn't work in your game, change or ignore it.
You want playable gnolls? Make playable gnolls. Designing races in 5e is cake.
I, personally, do not accept 'this is what book X says' as any kind of argument. The only canon that matters is the canon you and your players craft at your table. 'But the book says ...' Flux the book. It's YOUR game, not WotC's, and if something they print doesn't work in your game, change or ignore it.
You want playable gnolls? Make playable gnolls. Designing races in 5e is cake.
So if you want an authentic Znir Pact Gnoll for that setting; that's as official as it gets for THAT setting. If you want a Gnoll for another setting; homebrew it is.
I made Gnolls a playable option in my world, here is my write up for their features.
Gnoll
Creature Type. You are Humanoid
Size. You are Medium.
Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
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.
Darkvision. 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.
Fearless. You have advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the frightened condition on yourself.
Hunter’s Sense. You gain proficiency with one of the following skills of your choice: Perception, Stealth or Survival.
Pack Lord. As a bonus action, you can direct one of your companions to strike. When you do so, choose a friendly creature who can see or hear you. That creature can immediately use its reaction to make one weapon or cantrip spell attack, adding 2x your proficiency bonus to the attack's damage roll. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all extended uses when you finish a long rest.
Rampage. When you reduce a creature to 0 hit points with a melee attack on its turn, then you can take a bonus action to move up to half its speed and make a bite attack.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Many GMs don't allow homebrew. Just staying "homebrew it" isn't a solution for a lot of players.
Then the only option then is a different GM, assuming the player is dead set on playing a gnoll. Because even if it is from a published source of WoTC, doesn't mean the DM would allow it in their campaign/world.
Really not my point, it was it has been published before for a setting. Just not WoTC.
Gnolls seem to be a race that a lot of people really want and have wanted for a while, so I wouldn't be surprised if WotC decides to capitalize on it sometime in the future- maybe with a new book, or maybe even as a playable race in 5.5e. Whatever the scenario, I personally like the idea of gnolls having demonic origins but not necessarily being demonic in nature. Sure, the slavering, bloodthirsty life of a rabid, feral hunter is easy and appeals to instincts. But for those who choose to persevere through their innately endless hunger to treat "food" like friends, they may turn their back on Yeenoghu, but maybe strive for a brighter future. Like the other monstrous races of D&D, there's a lot of innately evil or just negative stigma in a lot of worlds that the races in question attempt to overcome in their quests to be adventurers (read: PCs). I think it's noble, really, and if a race that is renowned for being chaotic evil stinky XP babies (goblins) can have a chance at redemption, why not gnolls?
Now sure, this may not sit well with other DMs. That's fine, to each their own. But having a gnoll race (or even a canine/non-shifter race) would, from what I see, make a lot of people pretty happy all around.
Kieth Baker, the creator of the Eberron setting, actually did make some stats for playable gnolls in a 3rd party book he published on DM's Guild called "Exploring Eberron."
Personally, I consider anything created directly by the creators of a setting to be 2nd tier canon. (Basically: Canon until WOTC makes an 'official' version.)
So, if anybody wants to play Gnoll characters, there are the current canon stats, according to Eberron Creator, Kieth Baker
Kieth Baker, the creator of the Eberron setting, actually did make some stats for playable gnolls in a 3rd party book he published on DM's Guild called "Exploring Eberron."
Personally, I consider anything created directly by the creators of a setting to be 2nd tier canon. (Basically: Canon until WOTC makes an 'official' version.)
So, I converted his work from his book into A "homebrew" race on the gallery
So, if anybody wants to play Gnoll characters, here are the current canon stats, according to Eberron Creator, Kieth Baker:
Please don't publish something as homebrew content if you didn't create it yourself - especially if it's from a paid product. All publicly published homebrew should be submitted by the original author only. As this homebrew appears elsewhere, it cannot be submitted except by the original author. You are welcome to use it privately.
This is my biggest problem with gnolls in 5e - they shouldn't be humanoids. Humanoid as a type implies that they're "people" much like other humanoids, capable of a variety of emotions and cultures, but their description is 100% in line with the Fiend type. IMO, anything that can have the humanoid type should be on the table for player options and relatable on the "human" level - hence why spells like "charm person", which rely on human-like minds, work. Anything else should be a different type.
And rabbits are rodents. - point being there’s always exceptions (and pretty much every character is one)
Also humanoid means has a humanoid body structure but isn’t necessarily human-looking, for example a Tabaxi is an example of a humanoid but it doesn't look much like a human, like a Gnoll, this doesn’t mean it’s not a humanoid. (This is my understanding and may be incorrect)
I made Gnolls a playable option in my world, here is my write up for their features.
Gnoll
Creature Type. You are Humanoid
Size. You are Medium.
Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
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.
Darkvision. 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.
Fearless. You have advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the frightened condition on yourself.
Hunter’s Sense. You gain proficiency with one of the following skills of your choice: Perception, Stealth or Survival.
Pack Lord. As a bonus action, you can direct one of your companions to strike. When you do so, choose a friendly creature who can see or hear you. That creature can immediately use its reaction to make one weapon or cantrip spell attack, adding 2x your proficiency bonus to the attack's damage roll. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all extended uses when you finish a long rest.
Rampage. When you reduce a creature to 0 hit points with a melee attack on its turn, then you can take a bonus action to move up to half its speed and make a bite attack.
I feel like that’s the same as Gnoll Pack Lord. Or relatively similar.
This looks like a reasonably well thought out interesting playable concept
Looking back at that post there are a couple of wording changes I made. The current version is:
Race: Gnoll Gain +2 Str, +1 Cons. Age: Gnolls typically mature around 9 or 10 years old, reaching around 50 to 60 years of age. However, abyssal gnolls are said to live for up to centuries. Alignment. Despite misconceptions, many gnolls are loyal towards their famnily units which are known as "Cackles". However, they could care less towards the views and laws of other societies. As such, tend towards neutral alignments. However, Abyssal Gnolls tend towards chaotic evil. Speed: 30ft. Size: Despite being a Medium sized creature, gnolls are usually pretty tall beings. Some stretch well over 6-7 feet. Darkvision: 60ft. Carrion Eater: Your exposure to sickly flesh and gross meats has fortified your body against plagues and filth. You gain advantage on saving throws vs. diseases and poisons and have resistance to Posion Damage. Bite: Your powerful jaws can snap through bones and bring foes to ruin. You are considered proficient with this attack and base damage is 1d4 piercing damage, using your Strength for attack/damage. This base damage increases to 1d6 at 6th level, 1d8 at 12th level, and 1d10 at 18th level. When you take the Attack action you may make one bite attack as a bonus action. Savage Attacker: You gain the Rampage ability and can use it once per short rest, If you hit a target witha melee attack and it falls to zero hit points you can use your Reaction to move up to half of your movement and make a bite attack against another target. Survivalist: Gain survival as a bonus skill.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
* Need a character idea? Search for "Rob76's Unused" in the Story and Lore section.
If someone was intent on making a gnoll playable character race, this is a great start. My only suggestion would be that the bite attack should not change damage die as level increases. In general playable races with extra melee options do not increase damage output on these attacks as level increases.
To be honest, playable races with natural weapons generally have a hole in their build precisely where those natural weapons are. They just don't compete with normal weapons and, apart from niche circumstances, they just don't get used, in my experience.
I'm not sure about a d12 Edit: d10 (I misread it) bonus action...but something needs to change.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
Honestly, changing them to a D6 is mostly fine... there are quite a few D6 weapons that some players will still happily use as their default weapon. At the very least the fact that it doesn't actively occupy one of your hands is enough to give tactical options that relying on weaponry doesn't. I feel like if you really, really want to just use your natural weapons as your only weapon, getting beyond a D6 in damage should depend on your class/feat choices. I think, if anything, it'd be cool to just create a new feat that affects natural weapons in some way. I kind of wish there were more "restricted" feats in the game... similar to racial feats, or like One D&D with more feats limited by level.
I, personally, do not accept 'this is what book X says' as any kind of argument. The only canon that matters is the canon you and your players craft at your table. 'But the book says ...' Flux the book. It's YOUR game, not WotC's, and if something they print doesn't work in your game, change or ignore it.
You want playable gnolls? Make playable gnolls. Designing races in 5e is cake.
Or go with someone that already did. Keith Baker, published a book on DMsguild: Exploring Eberron - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild (dmsguild.com)
So if you want an authentic Znir Pact Gnoll for that setting; that's as official as it gets for THAT setting. If you want a Gnoll for another setting; homebrew it is.
Many GMs don't allow homebrew. Just staying "homebrew it" isn't a solution for a lot of players.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I made Gnolls a playable option in my world, here is my write up for their features.
Gnoll
Creature Type. You are Humanoid
Size. You are Medium.
Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
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.
Darkvision. 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.
Fearless. You have advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the frightened condition on yourself.
Hunter’s Sense. You gain proficiency with one of the following skills of your choice: Perception, Stealth or Survival.
Pack Lord. As a bonus action, you can direct one of your companions to strike. When you do so, choose a friendly creature who can see or hear you. That creature can immediately use its reaction to make one weapon or cantrip spell attack, adding 2x your proficiency bonus to the attack's damage roll. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all extended uses when you finish a long rest.
Rampage. When you reduce a creature to 0 hit points with a melee attack on its turn, then you can take a bonus action to move up to half its speed and make a bite attack.
"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Characters for Tenebris Sine Fine
RoughCoronet's Greater Wills
Then the only option then is a different GM, assuming the player is dead set on playing a gnoll. Because even if it is from a published source of WoTC, doesn't mean the DM would allow it in their campaign/world.
Really not my point, it was it has been published before for a setting. Just not WoTC.
I was just asked to play a gnoll by one of my players, I was going to use the bugbear with a few tweeks but then found this. I like it , thank you.
Gnolls seem to be a race that a lot of people really want and have wanted for a while, so I wouldn't be surprised if WotC decides to capitalize on it sometime in the future- maybe with a new book, or maybe even as a playable race in 5.5e. Whatever the scenario, I personally like the idea of gnolls having demonic origins but not necessarily being demonic in nature. Sure, the slavering, bloodthirsty life of a rabid, feral hunter is easy and appeals to instincts. But for those who choose to persevere through their innately endless hunger to treat "food" like friends, they may turn their back on Yeenoghu, but maybe strive for a brighter future. Like the other monstrous races of D&D, there's a lot of innately evil or just negative stigma in a lot of worlds that the races in question attempt to overcome in their quests to be adventurers (read: PCs). I think it's noble, really, and if a race that is renowned for being chaotic evil stinky XP babies (goblins) can have a chance at redemption, why not gnolls?
Now sure, this may not sit well with other DMs. That's fine, to each their own. But having a gnoll race (or even a canine/non-shifter race) would, from what I see, make a lot of people pretty happy all around.
Kieth Baker, the creator of the Eberron setting, actually did make some stats for playable gnolls in a 3rd party book he published on DM's Guild called "Exploring Eberron."
Personally, I consider anything created directly by the creators of a setting to be 2nd tier canon. (Basically: Canon until WOTC makes an 'official' version.)
So, if anybody wants to play Gnoll characters, there are the current canon stats, according to Eberron Creator, Kieth Baker
Please don't publish something as homebrew content if you didn't create it yourself - especially if it's from a paid product. All publicly published homebrew should be submitted by the original author only. As this homebrew appears elsewhere, it cannot be submitted except by the original author. You are welcome to use it privately.
They are a long-eared mammal, not a rodent.
Characters (Links!):
Faelin Nighthollow - 7th Sojourn
Also humanoid means has a humanoid body structure but isn’t necessarily human-looking, for example a Tabaxi is an example of a humanoid but it doesn't look much like a human, like a Gnoll, this doesn’t mean it’s not a humanoid. (This is my understanding and may be incorrect)
Characters (Links!):
Faelin Nighthollow - 7th Sojourn
I feel like that’s the same as Gnoll Pack Lord. Or relatively similar.
Characters (Links!):
Faelin Nighthollow - 7th Sojourn
I really like Eberron. I can’t wait to see some more books for it. And I think playing a gnoll would be cool.
I really like D&D, especially Ravenloft, Exandria and the Upside Down from Stranger Things. My pronouns are she/they (genderfae).
This looks like a reasonably well thought out interesting playable concept
Looking back at that post there are a couple of wording changes I made. The current version is:
Race: Gnoll
Gain +2 Str, +1 Cons.
Age: Gnolls typically mature around 9 or 10 years old, reaching around 50 to 60 years of age. However, abyssal gnolls are said to live for up to centuries.
Alignment. Despite misconceptions, many gnolls are loyal towards their famnily units which are known as "Cackles". However, they could care less towards the views and laws of other societies. As such, tend towards neutral alignments. However, Abyssal Gnolls tend towards chaotic evil.
Speed: 30ft.
Size: Despite being a Medium sized creature, gnolls are usually pretty tall beings. Some stretch well over 6-7 feet.
Darkvision: 60ft.
Carrion Eater: Your exposure to sickly flesh and gross meats has fortified your body against plagues and filth. You gain advantage on saving throws vs. diseases and poisons and have resistance to Posion Damage.
Bite: Your powerful jaws can snap through bones and bring foes to ruin. You are considered proficient with this attack and base damage is 1d4 piercing damage, using your Strength for attack/damage. This base damage increases to 1d6 at 6th level, 1d8 at 12th level, and 1d10 at 18th level. When you take the Attack action you may make one bite attack as a bonus action.
Savage Attacker: You gain the Rampage ability and can use it once per short rest, If you hit a target witha melee attack and it falls to zero hit points you can use your Reaction to move up to half of your movement and make a bite attack against another target.
Survivalist: Gain survival as a bonus skill.
Nice. Being able to use the bite as a bonus action when taking the attack action finally makes having a natural weapon a useful trait.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
If someone was intent on making a gnoll playable character race, this is a great start. My only suggestion would be that the bite attack should not change damage die as level increases. In general playable races with extra melee options do not increase damage output on these attacks as level increases.
But overall: this is good
To be honest, playable races with natural weapons generally have a hole in their build precisely where those natural weapons are. They just don't compete with normal weapons and, apart from niche circumstances, they just don't get used, in my experience.
I'm not sure about a
d12Edit: d10 (I misread it) bonus action...but something needs to change.If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
Honestly, changing them to a D6 is mostly fine... there are quite a few D6 weapons that some players will still happily use as their default weapon. At the very least the fact that it doesn't actively occupy one of your hands is enough to give tactical options that relying on weaponry doesn't. I feel like if you really, really want to just use your natural weapons as your only weapon, getting beyond a D6 in damage should depend on your class/feat choices. I think, if anything, it'd be cool to just create a new feat that affects natural weapons in some way. I kind of wish there were more "restricted" feats in the game... similar to racial feats, or like One D&D with more feats limited by level.
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