Homebrew Gnoll Species Details

 

"Bring me their heads! Bring me their flesh! Bring me their bones! Bring everything they own to me, and burn it to the ground!"

-Dagnyr, a pack lord gnoll

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.

Murderous Scavengers

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.

Gnoll Names

Gnoll names tend to sound like the growling and yipping of hyenas, combined with utterings and phrases from the Abyssal language, making their names very hard for most races to pronounce or understand.

Male Gnoll Names: Dagnyr, Dhyrn, Doryc, Ghyrryn, Gnasc, Gnoryc, Gnyrn, Hyrn, Lhoryn, Lhyr, Mognyr, Sorgnyn, Thyrn, Toryc, Yrgnyn, Yrych

Female Gnoll Names: Dagnyra, Gnara, Gnora, Gnyrl, Hyra, Hyrgna, Lhyra, Lhyrl, Malgna, Myrl, Sargna, Shyrla, Tarnyra, Yrgna

Gnoll Traits

Your gnoll character has the following racial traits.

Darkvision

Your ancestors have spent long nights hunting, granting you the ability to see in the night better. 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.

Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score increases by 2.

Age

Gnolls mature at a faster pace than most races, maturing at age 6 and living for only up to 40 years.

Alignment

Almost all gnolls have an inclination towards the ways of chaos, from both having the blood of a demon lord, and the body of one of hyenas.

Size

Gnolls are typically over 7 feet tall, and weigh almost twice as much as humans do. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base 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 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Rampage

When you reduce a creature to 0 hit points with a melee weapon attack, you can move up to half of your movement speed and make one bite attack, as a bonus action.

Ferocity

The natural hunting instinct you have enables you to crush your foes. When you miss with an attack roll, you can choose to reroll it, adding your Strength modifier (min +1) as a bonus to the attack roll. After using this feature, you must take a short or long rest before doing so again.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common, Gnoll, and Abyssal. Gnoll is a series of loud yips, barks, and snarls, that can be understood by only gnolls, hyenas, and the rare few that choose to learn the language.