This is all as written in MToF, of course. I don't remember them being so "consummately evil" so much as anti-social/barbaric/marauders in prior editions, maybe with actual family dynamics and a biology conducive to it.
This is probably my biggest problem with it. They actually did some pretty extensive writeups in earlier editions (including a really nice article in 4e) that heavily expanded upon their ecology and social dynamics. Then in 5e they just threw it all in the trash in favor of "okay but they're the most evilest evil ever!!!"
Gotcha, so yeah when the publisher itself is that inconsistent, and radically inconsistent, with their canon/lore, DMs in my book have license to do whatever they want for their worlds. I appreciate that perspective. I think a lot of folks import other edition lore and own head canon more often. than some lore/canon adherents make out. And really, it is an odd niche on the evil essential train. I mean looking at their representation in RotFM and OotA, I could see someone sticking with the 5e lore, or doing something different. I like these discussions when wiggle room is created rather than absolutes, just because I like hearing about varieties of games not everyone playing the same game.
Of course, the last time a player of mine encountered a gnoll was like 20 something years ago.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Yuani -ti aren't mindless. They are pretty much snake romans.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Hello!
By reading this signature, you have agreed to pull 20 cards from the deck of many things. If you lose your soul in any way, it will go to me and the following will happen: When you create your next character, you will become a celestial warlock in servitude to me. Once a month, I require an ounce of empyrean blood. If you fail to deliver on this, all the cards you pulled will converge on you at once.
This is interesting, but only from the perspective that if a demon lord has a race so far under his thumb that every creature is influenced by his base hungry, the question i ask is simple: which other demon lords have similar races under their thumb?
I mean, Yeenoghu isn't known for his brains. But even if he were, I can easily see this being spread out to other demons and devils. Think that drow is peaceful and kind, he is, just until he sticks that knife into the king, setting off a war so he cen reap 100s of slaves.
Maybe undead are actually kind and decent, but are driven by Orcus to be hateful and despise towards life and goodness.
In many ways, the stupid thing Yeenoghu did was make ALL gnollls connected to him. Now his enemies know how to treat them. Outliers bring uncertain, and that brings oppurtunity.
This is interesting, but only from the perspective that if a demon lord has a race so far under his thumb that every creature is influenced by his base hungry, the question i ask is simple: which other demon lords have similar races under their thumb?
I mean, Yeenoghu isn't known for his brains. But even if he were, I can easily see this being spread out to other demons and devils. Think that drow is peaceful and kind, he is, just until he sticks that knife into the king, setting off a war so he cen reap 100s of slaves.
Maybe undead are actually kind and decent, but are driven by Orcus to be hateful and despise towards life and goodness.
In many ways, the stupid thing Yeenoghu did was make ALL gnollls connected to him. Now his enemies know how to treat them. Outliers bring uncertain, and that brings oppurtunity.
It's more speculated in lore rather than official canon, but it's been insinuated that all oozes spawn from Jubillex. Again, Baphomet does have strong minotaur association in some game worlds, but how minotaurs (his cults actually create them through brutal violent rites in the mazes they construct as his temples). However, how minotaurs are actually cast varies from published game world to game world, let alone what homebrew worlds do. Orcus's sway over undead is in line with a lot of interpretations of necromancy as an abuse or corruption of the stuff of life. The way demons and demon lords are encouraged to be played, it's unclear whether a demon lord would really think "nice trick" and copping Yeenoghu's or whoever's tactics. With some exceptions, Grazzt and Fraz Urb'luu come to mind, Demons are not so much strategists but forces of ego. I'd even go so far as copping another demon lords tactic would be tantamount to subjugating oneself to another demon lord's superiority. Demonic incursions start corrupting prime material reality as soon as it makes entires. Devils are more the long con players and are the ones who engage in keeping apprised of what their rivals are up to, and maybe undermining or outright stealing tactics.
Remember the current Yeenoghu lore isn't so much Yeenoghu has subjugated the Gnoll race. Rather in 5e write ups Gnolls are a sort of byproduct of Abyssal toxicity left on carnage in Yeenoghu's wake, regular hyenas scavenge said carnage and are consumed by the abyssal residue and a gnoll bursts force. And they are sort of in his image. But there's plenty of prior edition lore that's food for thought for DMs who want to deviate from that canon (and as pointed out OotA has some "exceptional gnolls" thought RotFM has a "only thing worse than a gnoll is an undead gnoll" moment, so sorta a wash there).
Even going off of what's been made explicit in 5e lore, I thought it was implied that gnolls in Wildemount aren't necessarily pure evil (or at least are capable of suppressing their hunger and violent urges enough to get along with other Kryn Dynasty humanoids). The same presumably goes for Eberron, since pretty much nothing there is innately evil.
You're right, Wildemount I believe does Gnolls less irredeemably evil and I'll take your word on Eberron though I don't even know if they're there*. That said, there seems to be a sort of unenforced "canonical lore" D&D which in 5e is MM, Volo's and Mord's with the Eberron and Exandria being sorta outside those lore's continuity. I don't think it's a big problem seeing it that way since lore for me is always a fuzzy thing and I certainly don't run my games to adhere to any world's lore. I get inspired by lore, but "you can't do that because lore" is definitely not in my DM consideration process.
*Conversely, not cannon but I could see in Spelljammer Gnolls being like the Reavers in Firefly/Serenity.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Same with me, even the standard multiverse isn't necessarily a given for my home games (I might use the standard planes, but I might just as easily and often invent my own).
Remember the current Yeenoghu lore isn't so much Yeenoghu has subjugated the Gnoll race. Rather in 5e write ups Gnolls are a sort of byproduct of Abyssal toxicity left on carnage in Yeenoghu's wake, regular hyenas scavenge said carnage and are consumed by the abyssal residue and a gnoll bursts force. And they are sort of in his image. But there's plenty of prior edition lore that's food for thought for DMs who want to deviate from that canon (and as pointed out OotA has some "exceptional gnolls" thought RotFM has a "only thing worse than a gnoll is an undead gnoll" moment, so sorta a wash there).
Really, it sounds more like a creation myth than a process that would produce gnolls in any significant numbers.
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Remember the current Yeenoghu lore isn't so much Yeenoghu has subjugated the Gnoll race. Rather in 5e write ups Gnolls are a sort of byproduct of Abyssal toxicity left on carnage in Yeenoghu's wake, regular hyenas scavenge said carnage and are consumed by the abyssal residue and a gnoll bursts force. And they are sort of in his image. But there's plenty of prior edition lore that's food for thought for DMs who want to deviate from that canon (and as pointed out OotA has some "exceptional gnolls" thought RotFM has a "only thing worse than a gnoll is an undead gnoll" moment, so sorta a wash there).
Really, it sounds more like a creation myth than a process that would produce gnolls in any significant numbers.
True, and moreover Gnoll reproduction would be dependent on a pre-existing population of hyenas. I don't think large communities of gnolls are supposed to be that common. I think these remnants, reminders of Yeenoghu's wrath consist of relatively small bands. Again, their small numbers is probably why they're so welcoming to others will to join their marauding.
I would say as written, the Volo's write up doesn't have the mythic tones of say, the stories of the Drow and Elves in Mord's. It's a matter of fact "it ain't pretty" description that leans more clinical than mythic. Volo seems to write more in the old "Ecology of" vein whereas Mord's is the guy who tries to cover "big picture cosmological level" stuff.
I kinda like the Gnoll as a slightly more sentient version of the Alien xenomorph. "Strong content" under spoiler
I could also see a lore liberal/brutal DM devise ways of spreading the species with slight morphological variations by adapting to other species as hosts, maybe the Fang's only stem from lineages of prior sentients. Could be a Texas Chainsaw Massacre/Hills Have Eyes sort of communal feast, etc. ... actually Rawhead Rex was very 5e Gnoll in bearing. Haven't thought about that movie for years. That though would make Gnolls nastier than I think D&D would want under their current standards and practices equivalent. To swing the other way, maybe the Gnolls are misunderstand and actually have a society like Midion in Nightbreed, there's an I believe unexamined inspiration for an Underdark environment."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Remember the current Yeenoghu lore isn't so much Yeenoghu has subjugated the Gnoll race. Rather in 5e write ups Gnolls are a sort of byproduct of Abyssal toxicity left on carnage in Yeenoghu's wake, regular hyenas scavenge said carnage and are consumed by the abyssal residue and a gnoll bursts force. And they are sort of in his image. But there's plenty of prior edition lore that's food for thought for DMs who want to deviate from that canon (and as pointed out OotA has some "exceptional gnolls" thought RotFM has a "only thing worse than a gnoll is an undead gnoll" moment, so sorta a wash there).
Really, it sounds more like a creation myth than a process that would produce gnolls in any significant numbers.
Gnoll Fangs of Yeenoghu have the ability to transform hyenas into other gnolls through a dark ritual. I think the Yeenoghu rampage thing is pretty much only how the original knolls were created.
Remember the current Yeenoghu lore isn't so much Yeenoghu has subjugated the Gnoll race. Rather in 5e write ups Gnolls are a sort of byproduct of Abyssal toxicity left on carnage in Yeenoghu's wake, regular hyenas scavenge said carnage and are consumed by the abyssal residue and a gnoll bursts force. And they are sort of in his image. But there's plenty of prior edition lore that's food for thought for DMs who want to deviate from that canon (and as pointed out OotA has some "exceptional gnolls" thought RotFM has a "only thing worse than a gnoll is an undead gnoll" moment, so sorta a wash there).
Really, it sounds more like a creation myth than a process that would produce gnolls in any significant numbers.
Gnoll Fangs of Yeenoghu have the ability to transform hyenas into other gnolls through a dark ritual. I think the Yeenoghu rampage thing is pretty much only how the original knolls were created.
Still begs the question where your average Eurocentric pseudo medieval game world is getting all these hyenas from.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Remember the current Yeenoghu lore isn't so much Yeenoghu has subjugated the Gnoll race. Rather in 5e write ups Gnolls are a sort of byproduct of Abyssal toxicity left on carnage in Yeenoghu's wake, regular hyenas scavenge said carnage and are consumed by the abyssal residue and a gnoll bursts force. And they are sort of in his image. But there's plenty of prior edition lore that's food for thought for DMs who want to deviate from that canon (and as pointed out OotA has some "exceptional gnolls" thought RotFM has a "only thing worse than a gnoll is an undead gnoll" moment, so sorta a wash there).
Really, it sounds more like a creation myth than a process that would produce gnolls in any significant numbers.
Gnoll Fangs of Yeenoghu have the ability to transform hyenas into other gnolls through a dark ritual. I think the Yeenoghu rampage thing is pretty much only how the original knolls were created.
Still begs the question where your average Eurocentric pseudo medieval game world is getting all these hyenas from.
They're harvested from the hyena plants, near the gnoll farms mate, check your facts
Remember the current Yeenoghu lore isn't so much Yeenoghu has subjugated the Gnoll race. Rather in 5e write ups Gnolls are a sort of byproduct of Abyssal toxicity left on carnage in Yeenoghu's wake, regular hyenas scavenge said carnage and are consumed by the abyssal residue and a gnoll bursts force. And they are sort of in his image. But there's plenty of prior edition lore that's food for thought for DMs who want to deviate from that canon (and as pointed out OotA has some "exceptional gnolls" thought RotFM has a "only thing worse than a gnoll is an undead gnoll" moment, so sorta a wash there).
Really, it sounds more like a creation myth than a process that would produce gnolls in any significant numbers.
Gnoll Fangs of Yeenoghu have the ability to transform hyenas into other gnolls through a dark ritual. I think the Yeenoghu rampage thing is pretty much only how the original knolls were created.
Still begs the question where your average Eurocentric pseudo medieval game world is getting all these hyenas from.
They're harvested from the hyena plants, near the gnoll farms mate, check your facts
Some worlds do seem to presuppose hyenas grow on trees if the Gnoll population is any measure.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Remember the current Yeenoghu lore isn't so much Yeenoghu has subjugated the Gnoll race. Rather in 5e write ups Gnolls are a sort of byproduct of Abyssal toxicity left on carnage in Yeenoghu's wake, regular hyenas scavenge said carnage and are consumed by the abyssal residue and a gnoll bursts force. And they are sort of in his image. But there's plenty of prior edition lore that's food for thought for DMs who want to deviate from that canon (and as pointed out OotA has some "exceptional gnolls" thought RotFM has a "only thing worse than a gnoll is an undead gnoll" moment, so sorta a wash there).
Really, it sounds more like a creation myth than a process that would produce gnolls in any significant numbers.
Gnoll Fangs of Yeenoghu have the ability to transform hyenas into other gnolls through a dark ritual. I think the Yeenoghu rampage thing is pretty much only how the original knolls were created.
Still begs the question where your average Eurocentric pseudo medieval game world is getting all these hyenas from.
They're harvested from the hyena plants, near the gnoll farms mate, check your facts
Some worlds do seem to presuppose hyenas grow on trees if the Gnoll population is any measure.
Well, I mean to be fair that goes for most races. Imagine how few monsters should be around considering all the adventurers going about killing monsters all the time.
And if you really wanna go down that route, where, realistically, does the big cities get their food from? Considering people don't have fridges, food would have to be relatively close, or to have magic involved. Think of armies of old, there's a reason they didn't move too fast, because they had to bring as much food as they could and it slows them down. Also all the pillaging done by armies is for a reason as well. And an army isn't anywhere near the size of a "big city" so just imagine how much food they would have to produce.
Point being of course that, some things are best just to not think about too much.
Well, you know, thank God this kind of thing was actually dealt with years upon years ago by those supposedly "problematic" grognards who actually created the game. Point being, the majority of the "bad guys" (if you look at the random encounter tables) are human, with some demihumans and a sprinkling of actual humanoids and monsters. Places like The Caves of Chaos and the like are actually the exceptions, not the rule. Bandits would be the primary foes of civilization since they're as likely as humanoids to prey on caravans and other elements of civilization that keeps the flickering points of light aflame in the howling wilderness.
Its also why, with the assumed post-apocalyptic nature of most early Dungeons & Dragons settings, human population was so incredibly low per square mile (and only rises slightly when you factor in bandits and the like). Its why early published AD&D settings had an assumed hex area of 30 miles/10 leagues (or 24 miles/8 leagues with The Known World as presented in X1: Isle of Dread). There's lots of room to spare in those hexes, with plenty of wilderness to explore and chart. The borders of most kingdoms and the like are natural like rivers, mountains and such, with border areas being porous and needing defenders to keep the peace.
I think most medieval fantasy worlds are basically a few bastions of civilization surrounded by a howling wilderness, though there are sometimes a few large nations on the scale of the Roman Empire or the Islamic caliphates.
Half the time there's also a historical, vanished "Grand Ancient Empire" that leaves its ruins across the wilderness in various places (which is possibly likewise inspired, consciously or otherwise, by the state of medieval Europe in the wake of the Roman Empire).
Half the time there's also a historical, vanished "Grand Ancient Empire" that leaves its ruins across the wilderness in various places (which is possibly likewise inspired, consciously or otherwise, by the state of medieval Europe in the wake of the Roman Empire).
Flinds and Fangs of Yeenoguh are fiends, but pack lords and regular gnolls are creatures. Gnoll behavior could be explained as more alien than evil: pack mentality, scavenger sensibilities, tendency to burn forests, etc. Not that most humans would bother to tell the difference, even druids in the DMG hate them. The biggest logic roadblock would be the why, a gnoll would always choose to be with other gnolls if possible, so backstory would be important. Besides that there's cannon material to justify a gnoll that worships gorelik or amaunator to do the holy quest thing.
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Gotcha, so yeah when the publisher itself is that inconsistent, and radically inconsistent, with their canon/lore, DMs in my book have license to do whatever they want for their worlds. I appreciate that perspective. I think a lot of folks import other edition lore and own head canon more often. than some lore/canon adherents make out. And really, it is an odd niche on the evil essential train. I mean looking at their representation in RotFM and OotA, I could see someone sticking with the 5e lore, or doing something different. I like these discussions when wiggle room is created rather than absolutes, just because I like hearing about varieties of games not everyone playing the same game.
Of course, the last time a player of mine encountered a gnoll was like 20 something years ago.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Yuani -ti aren't mindless. They are pretty much snake romans.
Hello!
By reading this signature, you have agreed to pull 20 cards from the deck of many things. If you lose your soul in any way, it will go to me and the following will happen: When you create your next character, you will become a celestial warlock in servitude to me. Once a month, I require an ounce of empyrean blood. If you fail to deliver on this, all the cards you pulled will converge on you at once.
Many thanks,
Gweledydd Slantse
This is interesting, but only from the perspective that if a demon lord has a race so far under his thumb that every creature is influenced by his base hungry, the question i ask is simple: which other demon lords have similar races under their thumb?
I mean, Yeenoghu isn't known for his brains. But even if he were, I can easily see this being spread out to other demons and devils. Think that drow is peaceful and kind, he is, just until he sticks that knife into the king, setting off a war so he cen reap 100s of slaves.
Maybe undead are actually kind and decent, but are driven by Orcus to be hateful and despise towards life and goodness.
In many ways, the stupid thing Yeenoghu did was make ALL gnollls connected to him. Now his enemies know how to treat them. Outliers bring uncertain, and that brings oppurtunity.
It's more speculated in lore rather than official canon, but it's been insinuated that all oozes spawn from Jubillex. Again, Baphomet does have strong minotaur association in some game worlds, but how minotaurs (his cults actually create them through brutal violent rites in the mazes they construct as his temples). However, how minotaurs are actually cast varies from published game world to game world, let alone what homebrew worlds do. Orcus's sway over undead is in line with a lot of interpretations of necromancy as an abuse or corruption of the stuff of life. The way demons and demon lords are encouraged to be played, it's unclear whether a demon lord would really think "nice trick" and copping Yeenoghu's or whoever's tactics. With some exceptions, Grazzt and Fraz Urb'luu come to mind, Demons are not so much strategists but forces of ego. I'd even go so far as copping another demon lords tactic would be tantamount to subjugating oneself to another demon lord's superiority. Demonic incursions start corrupting prime material reality as soon as it makes entires. Devils are more the long con players and are the ones who engage in keeping apprised of what their rivals are up to, and maybe undermining or outright stealing tactics.
Remember the current Yeenoghu lore isn't so much Yeenoghu has subjugated the Gnoll race. Rather in 5e write ups Gnolls are a sort of byproduct of Abyssal toxicity left on carnage in Yeenoghu's wake, regular hyenas scavenge said carnage and are consumed by the abyssal residue and a gnoll bursts force. And they are sort of in his image. But there's plenty of prior edition lore that's food for thought for DMs who want to deviate from that canon (and as pointed out OotA has some "exceptional gnolls" thought RotFM has a "only thing worse than a gnoll is an undead gnoll" moment, so sorta a wash there).
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Even going off of what's been made explicit in 5e lore, I thought it was implied that gnolls in Wildemount aren't necessarily pure evil (or at least are capable of suppressing their hunger and violent urges enough to get along with other Kryn Dynasty humanoids). The same presumably goes for Eberron, since pretty much nothing there is innately evil.
You're right, Wildemount I believe does Gnolls less irredeemably evil and I'll take your word on Eberron though I don't even know if they're there*. That said, there seems to be a sort of unenforced "canonical lore" D&D which in 5e is MM, Volo's and Mord's with the Eberron and Exandria being sorta outside those lore's continuity. I don't think it's a big problem seeing it that way since lore for me is always a fuzzy thing and I certainly don't run my games to adhere to any world's lore. I get inspired by lore, but "you can't do that because lore" is definitely not in my DM consideration process.
*Conversely, not cannon but I could see in Spelljammer Gnolls being like the Reavers in Firefly/Serenity.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Same with me, even the standard multiverse isn't necessarily a given for my home games (I might use the standard planes, but I might just as easily and often invent my own).
Really, it sounds more like a creation myth than a process that would produce gnolls in any significant numbers.
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
True, and moreover Gnoll reproduction would be dependent on a pre-existing population of hyenas. I don't think large communities of gnolls are supposed to be that common. I think these remnants, reminders of Yeenoghu's wrath consist of relatively small bands. Again, their small numbers is probably why they're so welcoming to others will to join their marauding.
I would say as written, the Volo's write up doesn't have the mythic tones of say, the stories of the Drow and Elves in Mord's. It's a matter of fact "it ain't pretty" description that leans more clinical than mythic. Volo seems to write more in the old "Ecology of" vein whereas Mord's is the guy who tries to cover "big picture cosmological level" stuff.
I kinda like the Gnoll as a slightly more sentient version of the Alien xenomorph. "Strong content" under spoiler
I could also see a lore liberal/brutal DM devise ways of spreading the species with slight morphological variations by adapting to other species as hosts, maybe the Fang's only stem from lineages of prior sentients. Could be a Texas Chainsaw Massacre/Hills Have Eyes sort of communal feast, etc. ... actually Rawhead Rex was very 5e Gnoll in bearing. Haven't thought about that movie for years. That though would make Gnolls nastier than I think D&D would want under their current standards and practices equivalent. To swing the other way, maybe the Gnolls are misunderstand and actually have a society like Midion in Nightbreed, there's an I believe unexamined inspiration for an Underdark environment."
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Gnoll Fangs of Yeenoghu have the ability to transform hyenas into other gnolls through a dark ritual. I think the Yeenoghu rampage thing is pretty much only how the original knolls were created.
My only good homebrews: Races, Subclasses.
An aspiring DM and Homebrewer. Ask me if you need anything.
Still begs the question where your average Eurocentric pseudo medieval game world is getting all these hyenas from.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
They're harvested from the hyena plants, near the gnoll farms mate, check your facts
Some worlds do seem to presuppose hyenas grow on trees if the Gnoll population is any measure.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Well, I mean to be fair that goes for most races. Imagine how few monsters should be around considering all the adventurers going about killing monsters all the time.
And if you really wanna go down that route, where, realistically, does the big cities get their food from? Considering people don't have fridges, food would have to be relatively close, or to have magic involved. Think of armies of old, there's a reason they didn't move too fast, because they had to bring as much food as they could and it slows them down. Also all the pillaging done by armies is for a reason as well. And an army isn't anywhere near the size of a "big city" so just imagine how much food they would have to produce.
Point being of course that, some things are best just to not think about too much.
Well, you know, thank God this kind of thing was actually dealt with years upon years ago by those supposedly "problematic" grognards who actually created the game. Point being, the majority of the "bad guys" (if you look at the random encounter tables) are human, with some demihumans and a sprinkling of actual humanoids and monsters. Places like The Caves of Chaos and the like are actually the exceptions, not the rule. Bandits would be the primary foes of civilization since they're as likely as humanoids to prey on caravans and other elements of civilization that keeps the flickering points of light aflame in the howling wilderness.
Its also why, with the assumed post-apocalyptic nature of most early Dungeons & Dragons settings, human population was so incredibly low per square mile (and only rises slightly when you factor in bandits and the like). Its why early published AD&D settings had an assumed hex area of 30 miles/10 leagues (or 24 miles/8 leagues with The Known World as presented in X1: Isle of Dread). There's lots of room to spare in those hexes, with plenty of wilderness to explore and chart. The borders of most kingdoms and the like are natural like rivers, mountains and such, with border areas being porous and needing defenders to keep the peace.
I think most medieval fantasy worlds are basically a few bastions of civilization surrounded by a howling wilderness, though there are sometimes a few large nations on the scale of the Roman Empire or the Islamic caliphates.
Half the time there's also a historical, vanished "Grand Ancient Empire" that leaves its ruins across the wilderness in various places (which is possibly likewise inspired, consciously or otherwise, by the state of medieval Europe in the wake of the Roman Empire).
Hisses in Yaun-ti
My only good homebrews: Races, Subclasses.
An aspiring DM and Homebrewer. Ask me if you need anything.
If demon leftovers messed up hyenas that much it should probably do something to other beasts.
Flinds and Fangs of Yeenoguh are fiends, but pack lords and regular gnolls are creatures. Gnoll behavior could be explained as more alien than evil: pack mentality, scavenger sensibilities, tendency to burn forests, etc. Not that most humans would bother to tell the difference, even druids in the DMG hate them. The biggest logic roadblock would be the why, a gnoll would always choose to be with other gnolls if possible, so backstory would be important. Besides that there's cannon material to justify a gnoll that worships gorelik or amaunator to do the holy quest thing.