Homebrew Pictun (Painted Gnoll) Species Details

On the world of Oryssm the death of the demon lord Yeenoghu left the race of Gnolls shattered and purposeless. Without their bloodthirsty king they split into two races, the violent Laughing Gnolls, and the more civilized Painted Gnolls, or as they call themselves, the Pictun.

Sleek Hunters

Painted Gnolls resemble nothing so much as spotted bipedal dogs, with massive disk-shaped ears. The average Painted Gnoll stands around five and a half feet tall, but the hunch with most of them walk makes them usually appear only five feet tall. 

Their sleek fur is usually spotted or covered in black splotches. Other than basic fur patterns most Painted Gnolls can be difficult to tell apart, but most Painted Gnolls rely on smell to tell each other apart anyway.

Nomads and Scavengers

The life of most Painted Gnolls was up until recently short, difficult, and painful. Most Painted Gnolls congregated in loose packs of four to twenty individuals, scavenging or opportunistically hunting as game or food could be found. The social bonds of the Painted Gnolls tended to be loose at best though. As soon as a pack leader died, it was equally likely that each member would go their own way as they would appoint a new leader. 

Technology until recently was beyond the Painted Gnolls. While occasionally they might acquire a gun or a sword due to a merchant or trader, most of their tools were primitive, cobbled together from whatever natural materials they could find. Likewise, magic was only as advanced as any one Painted Gnoll could discover in their lifetime or pass down to their offspring. Spells were regularly learned, forgotten, then rediscovered among various packs.

No Childhood, Short Adulthood

Painted Gnolls mature fast, reaching full maturity at only one year old. This leads to the odd conundrum of an intelligent race that is fully emotionally and mentally developed within a year, but has almost no practical knowledge. Elders would do their best to educate their children in tribal times, and schools exist now, but its still not uncommon to run into an adult Painted Gnoll who has no knowledge of things like money, or basic manners.

The Huttserite Revolution

The Painted Gnoll way of life all changed though with the discovery of the miraculous material Huttserite. The Vodi desert had long been dotted with plinths of strange, bluish white rock, but it wasn't until a passing mage noted to a Painted Gnoll pack leader that it was a valuable component in Aetheric machinery did the Painted Gnolls realize the goldmine they were sitting on. A loose tribal confederacy formed, based around harvesting the Huttserite and ensuring any money earned from it remained in Pictun hands. The change was immediate and immense. Suddenly the Pictun found themselves flooded with wealth, and with it medicine, food, and technology. Despite a few uprisings that could have easily blossomed into full blown civil wars, the Pictun managed to transform their new wealth into a truly modern civilization. 

Today the Pictun are a technocratic society, taking the money earned from their Huttserite mining and investing it back into themselves. While some might decry the Pictun civilization as borderline fascist, the Pictun see it as the only way to survive in a harsh and unforgiving environment. After all, its not too long ago that most of them were sleeping in literal holes in the ground.

Hashnamaput, the God Who is Promised

Religion didn't used to factor too much into Pictun life before. Tribes or packs would usually form their own superstitions and abandon them just as quickly, but organized religion was beyond their capabilities. All that changed with the Huttserite revolution, and with it, the Pictun have decided they need a god of their own. To that end the Pictun have decided to create a god by simply worshiping a god that doesn't even exist yet. The belief is that by concentrating enough belief in one place, their god, named Hashnamaput, the God who is Promised will spring into being.

Debate rages on how Hashnamaput will come to be. Some claim Hashnamaput will be born out of a sacred baobab tree on a moonless night, while others swear that by building a heart of Huttserite a body will grow around it. The prevailing theory though is that a normal Pictun will simply spontaneously become Hashnamaput, by performing an act of profound bravery and sacrifice.

Pictun (Painted Gnoll) Traits

Unlike the warlike laughing gnolls, painted gnolls tend more towards caution and stealth. Your traits make you an excellent observer and assassin.

Ability Score Increase

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

Age

Painted Gnolls reach maturity by 1 year of age. Painted Gnolls living in primitive conditions rarely live past 10 years old, but in civilization can live up to 40 years.

Alignment

Most Painted Gnolls tend towards Lawful, knowing that its only the strong bonds they have with each other that keeps them alive. Most Painted Gnolls consider life too short to debate morality, so they tend towards Lawful Neutral.

Size

Pictun range from four to five and a half feet tall. Their svelte bodies rarely weigh more than 150 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common, and Gnoll.

Sandsense

Painted Gnolls have a mystic connection to sand. If you come across sand, you may spend a minute smelling it and studying it in order to find out exactly which creatures have walked across it within the last 24 hours. Likewise, if you sprinkle sand on an object or person, for the next 24 hours you can tell in which direction that object is, and if it is moving or not. Once you use this feature you cannot use it again until you finish a short rest.

 

Rampage

Whenever you reduce a creature to 0 hit points on your turn, you can take a bonus action to move up to half your speed and make a bite attack.

 

Bite

Your strong jaws grant you a natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage for an unarmed strike.

 

Keen Ears

Your huge ears let you pick out the subtlest of sounds. You are trained in perception and have advantage on perception checks to hear