Homebrew Gnoll Species Details

Demonic Origin. The origin of the gnolls traces back to a time when the demon lord Yeenoghu found his way to the Material Plane and ran amok. Packs of ordinary hyenas followed in his wake, scavenging the demon lord’s kills. Those hyenas were transformed into the first gnolls, parading after Yeenoghu until he was banished back to the Abyss. The gnolls then scattered across the face of the world, a dire reminder of demonic power.

Nomadic Destroyers.Gnolls are dangerous because they strike at random. They emerge from the wilderness, plunder and slaughter, then move elsewhere. They attack like a plague of locusts, pillaging settlements and leaving little behind but razed buildings, gnawed corpses, and befouled land. Gnolls choose easy targets for their raids. Armored warriors holed up in a fortified castle will survive a rampaging gnoll horde unscathed, even as the towns, villages, and farms that surround the castle are ablaze, their people slaughtered and devoured.

Gnolls rarely build permanent structures or craft anything of lasting value. They don’t make weapons or armor, but scavenge such items from the corpses of their fallen victims, stringing ears, teeth, scalps, and other trophies from their foes onto their patchwork armor.

Thirst for Blood. 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. The gnolls’ frenzied bloodlust makes them an enemy to all, and when they lack a common foe, they fight among themselves. Even the most savage orcs avoid allying with gnolls.

Gnoll Traits

Your Gnoll character has the following traits.

Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score increases by 2 and your Dexterity score increases by 1.

Age

Gnolls reach adulthood at around 5 to 6 years and live to 30 years.

Alignment

Gnolls under Yeenoghu’s influence tend to be chaotic or neutral evil, while gnolls integrated into other communities have a broader set of morals, usually erring on the chaotic side of things.

Size

Gnolls tend to be taller than humans often standing over 7 feet tall. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

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.

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.

Rampage

When the gnoll reduces a creature to 0 hit points with a melee attack on its turn, the gnoll can take a bonus action to move up to half its speed and make a bite attack.

Pack Tactics

You have advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of your allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn’t incapacitated.

Frightening Presence

You have proficiency in Intimidation checks.

Languages

You speak, read, and write Common and Gnoll.