Homebrew Gnoll Freewalker Species Details

Spiteful Perversion

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. Yeenoghu has made many enemies, and is almost universally hated by other demon lords, much as his gnolls are universally hated by mortals. Yeenoghu has earned particularly wrathful ire from Baphomet, Orcus, and Malcanthet, worshipped by minotaurs, orcs, and succubi respectively. Being aware of Yeenoghu's plans for the material plane, occasionally a demon lord will instruct their more powerful magic users to make prisoners of gnolls defeated in combat and subject them to powerful demonic rituals. These rituals result in a total erasure of a gnolls memories, and also forms a powerful mental shield against any attempts Yeenoghu might make to seed his influence inside the gnoll's mind. These transformed gnolls are then reconditioned to follow the demonic prince that facilitated the transformation in order to spite Yeenoghu, while simultaneously adding particularly ferocious soldiers to their ranks. This act often causes Yeenoghu to guide his armies towards particularly ripe targets for annihilation, partially out of anger and partially to recoup his losses tenfold.

 

Lost Identity

 A gnoll liberated from the influence of Yeenoghu is commonly called a gnoll freewalker, and is typically branded with the symbol of whatever entity facilitated their transformation to begin with as a permanent reminder to Yeenoghu that he no longer owns that gnoll's life. Oftentimes, gnolls who have had this fate thrust upon them will escape their new masters and wander aimlessly for months on end, feeding on whatever they can scavenge as they suffer, forever severed from the ties to their master. While it is an uncommon occurrence for a gnoll to survive these rituals in the first place, it is even rarer still to find one that simply desires honest work. Of course it is normal, even expected, for a gnoll that has undergone this perverse transformation to still cling to its animal instincts when no other purpose is clearly defined. As such, most gnoll freewalkers hunt and kill as any predator would, occasionally taking up arms with small werewolf packs or a band of struggling bugbears as a welcome set of extra claws. On the off chance a gnoll freewalker does find its purposeless solitude to be torturous and lonely, they might seek out some sort of civilization. They typically favor settling in with other beast races, such as tabaxi or lizardfolk, although they will commonly accept any place they are offered, regardless of circumstance or personal cost simply for the sake of being given a purpose. If they are treated with enough respect, and given enough time, gnoll freewalkers can become valuable assets to any community, as they make for fearsome and tireless soldiers, and are quite intimidating. Many freewalkers can find mercenary work easily enough if all else fails.

 

Thirst for Blood

While their cosmic link to Yeenoghu is completely severed during a turning ritual, a primal blood-lust still lingers within the very essence of a gnoll. When overwhelmed by the sickly sweet aroma of blood and the rotting stench of death, it is not unheard of for freewalkers to temporarily lose hold of their senses and enter into a violent frenzy of cackling yips, flailing limbs and snapping jaws. These fits of temporary madness don't occur often in instances where a freewalker is adequately fed, but that small assurance does not adequately serve to make these lapses into madness any less terrifying.

Gnoll Freewalker Traits

Your gnoll character shares a number of traits in common with other gnolls.

Darkvision

As a creature that owes its existence to common hyenas, you are primarily nocturnal and have adapted to seeing in the dark. You can see in dim light places as if it were  bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution score increases by 2, your Dexterity score increases by 1, and your Intelligence is decreased by 2.

Age

Gnolls reach adulthood at the age of 8 and can live up to 55 years.

Alignment

While gnoll freewalkers are no longer compelled to follow the ways of their former lord, Yeenoghu, their demonic ties are nigh insurmountable. As such, freewalkers are chaotic in almost every documented case of their existence.

Size

Gnolls tower over common humanoids, normally reaching heights of anywhere between 7 and 8 feet tall, and usually weigh anywhere from 250 to 320 pounds. Your size is medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet. If you are not wearing heavy armor and you have no weapon equipped, you may run on all fours, increasing your speed by 20 feet while you are dashing.

Grisly Constitution

As a creature who is accustomed to surviving in harsh conditions, and is just as happy to consume carrion as you are to eat fresh meat, toughness is in your very nature. You have advantage on any Constitution saving throws you make, and you have resistance to poison damage. In addition, you are immune to all nonmagical diseases except for cackle fever, to which you are more susceptible than other creatures. The DC for any Constitution saving throw you make to resist contracting cackle fever or succumbing to its effect is increased by 5 for you.

Feral Weapons

Your claws and fangs are your most reliable weapons, and you are more than capable of putting them to use. Your claws deal slashing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier. Your bite deals piercing damage equal to 1d8 + your Strength modifier. If the target of your attack is prone, restrained, or incapacitated, your bite attack does an additional 1d8 piercing damage.

Rampage

Whenever you reduce a creature to 0 hit points with a melee attack during your turn, you may take a bonus action to move up to half your speed and make a bite attack. If there are no hostile creatures within range, but there is at least one ally within range, you must succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw to resist attacking your ally in a blind, cackling frenzy.

Languages

You speak Gnoll, Abyssal, and Common.