While most of their people remain mired in the cruelty of their demon prince, a few tribes of gnolls seek to pull themselves out of savagery. These tribes walk with weapons in hand, knowing that the civilized races hate and fear their people and that other tribes of evil gnolls already seek to strike them down.
Fueled by their own bestial strength and the cruel will of the demon prince Yeenoghu, most gnolls roam the wild in search of sentient prey. These savages know little of mercy and honour, and nothing of kindness or compassion. The exceptions to this rule, who have banded together in rough tribes that roam the plains and forests, have begun to learn the value of personal honour. Some even approach the harsh but ultimately fair codes that tribes of barbaric humans often adopt. Geared more toward survival than the cruelty of their kin, these gnolls stand at a critical juncture: Either they will succeed in allying with the civilized races and pull some of their people away from the cruel worship of Yeenoghu — or they will fail, and their tribes will slip back into evil and brutality.
Personality: Cruelty and viciousness remain the defining traits of most gnolls, but a few tribes have managed to pull away from this bestial outlook and the worship of the demon prince Yeenoghu that usually accompanies and engenders this behaviour. Although far from altruistic, these gnolls temper the viciousness of their kind with a rough sense of honour and an unwavering bond with their chosen companions.
Even those gnolls who have turned from the evil ways of their demon prince are less intelligent and less charismatic than the average human. Gnolls don’t see this deficiency as a weakness, however, placing more value on physical abilities and natural cunning than on subtle thought or persuasive abilities. Gnolls also remain very suspicious of other races, especially humans and their allies, with whom they have had generations of conflict and strife.
Gnolls are travellers, hunters and scavengers; adventuring gnolls travel almost constantly. To a gnoll, sitting in one place isn’t cowardly or illogical; it’s simply unpleasant. Some gnolls are drawn simply by the thrill and variety of the hunt, while others are motivated only by curiosity. As a pack of gnolls grows, the bond of the pack serves as a major impetus for travel — the most adventurous gnolls pull the rest of the pack along on their hunts. Packs of evil gnolls are driven to travel by the will of their demon prince, and packs of neutral gnolls travel to escape the influence of other gnoll packs and the wariness of human cities accustomed to fighting off their cruel and evil kin.
Physical Description: Gnolls have hyena-like heads, and their long limbs possess a lean strength. Gnolls are covered in coarse yellow or reddish-brown fur, and their feet and legs are structured more like a hyena’s hind legs than those of other humanoids. Despite the somewhat awkward appearance of their legs and feet, gnolls walk as bipeds and are as agile and speedy as a normal human. The wild gnolls who prey on the civilized races use patchwork armour and rusted weapons that they’ve stolen from past kills. Tribes that have found some level of personal honour favour hide or leather armour similar to the barbarian tribes of humans.
Relations: Few races regard gnolls as anything other than feral creatures who pose a menace to peaceful life. Because of the prevalence of evil gnolls, this assumption isn’t far from the truth, and player character gnolls should find it difficult to move unescorted through a human city.
Gnoll Lands: Driven into the mountain foothills and deep forests by the armies of human nations and their allies, gnolls live in scattered wilderness areas much like those preferred by tribes of barbaric humans. Competing against humans, orcs, giants and more exotic species is the norm for gnolls in these wilderness areas, and the gnolls occasionally form alliances with other evil humanoids. In rare cases, large groups of gnolls gather above or below ground. These settlements serve only as a common crossroads for more nomadic gnolls — those who leave to continue wandering are balanced against new tribes arriving to trade or swear fealty to a powerful leader.
As some gnolls turn away from the worship of the dread prince Yeenoghu, however, gnolls grow more and more scattered rather than less so. Driven away from their kin by the wrath of Yeenoghu’s priests, yet still subject to the suspicions of the civilized races, these gnolls wander far and wide in a near-permanent nomadic state.
Gnoll settlements are rough and crude, rarely anything more than temporary shelters. Gnolls prefer underground lairs for longer stays, especially when a travelling group of gnolls must await new births. Large groups of gnolls often have several crude underground complexes between which they wander. While these caves might not even be large enough to house the entire group of gnolls, they provide the group’s strongest warriors a place to sleep in relative safety. Weaker members of the tribe must make do with the less trustworthy shelters they can set up outside of the cave complex.
Gnolls have little in the way of power groups. Among tribes of evil gnolls, the strongest warriors rule by brute force. Occasionally, exceptionally powerful or persuasive priests of Yeenoghu will lead a tribe, usually by ensuring that the strongest warriors are devoted to the dark worship of the demon prince. Even those rare gnoll tribes that place a greater value on personal honour are led by the most physically powerful warrior. Because of this, when a gnoll adventures with members of other races, he will sometimes expect to lead if he is the strongest, regardless of the difficulties he faces when travelling within the members of other races and regardless of other group members’ more developed social skills.
Religion: Most gnolls pay homage to Yeenoghu, demon prince of gnolls. Yeenoghu’s cruel and selfish beliefs inspire gnoll priests to keep their people firmly on the path of evil. Those few gnolls who have managed to pull away from the dark cult at the centre of their people’s existence often revere Obad-Hai or turn away from religion altogether.
Language: Gnolls who travel beyond the homeland of their tribes usually try to adopt the speaking habits of those around them, hoping to lessen other humanoid’s sense of discomfort around them. Around their own kind, gnolls use their racial tongue and usually speak in the imperative, considering it polite to show strength by phrasing statements as commands rather than requests.
Names: Gnoll names often sound like growls to members of other races, featuring multiple “r” sounds. Gnoll tribal names, although not widely shared with other creatures, are usually compound words, as in the following examples.
Male Names: Derror, Grerr, Remmar, Thurrg.
Female Names: Arrna, Mirrin, Ryssa, Thrrae.
Tribal Names: Bloodfist, Greatfang, Speardeath, Thunderdance.
Adventurers: Gnolls adventure to see the world, to rise above the savagery of their people, and to find what civilization has to offer. While some return to their tribes thinking less of the civilized races because of their experiences as adventurers, others find wealth, power or prestige far beyond the normal images of gnoll warriors.
Source: Races of the Wild (Page 99)
Your character can be either male or female.
Every player character starts as an adult. You can choose or randomly generate your character’s age. If you choose it, it must be at least the minimum age for the character’s race and class (see Table: Starting Ages). Your character’s minimum starting age is the adulthood age of his or her race plus the number of dice indicated in the entry corresponding to the character’s race and class on Table: Starting Ages.
Alternatively, refer to Table: Starting Ages and roll dice to determine how old your character is.
| Adulthood | Intuitive1 | Self-Taught2 | Trained3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 years | +1d4 (15—18) years | +1d6 (15—20) years | +2d6 (16—26) years |
1 This category includes barbarians, rogues and sorcerers.
2 This category includes bards, fighters, paladins and rangers.
3 This category includes clerics, druids, monks and wizards.
With age, a character’s physical ability scores decrease and his or her mental ability scores increase (see Table: Aging Effects). The effects of each aging step are cumulative. However, none of a character’s ability scores can be reduced below 1 in this way.
| Middle Age1 | Old Age2 | Venerable3 | Maximum Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 35 years | 53 years | 70 years | +2d10 years |
1 -1 to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution; +1 to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
2 -2 to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution; +1 to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
3 -3 to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution; +1 to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
When a character reaches venerable age, the DM secretly rolls his or her maximum age, which is the number from the Venerable column on Table: Aging Effects plus the result of the dice roll indicated on the Maximum Age column on that table, and records the result, which the player does not know. A character who reaches his or her maximum age dies of old age at some time during the following year, as determined by the DM.
The maximum ages are for player characters. Most people in the world at large die from pestilence, accidents, infections or violence before getting to venerable age.
Note: The Races of the Wild appears to have a misprint for the bonus to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma for Old Age and Venerable. The Player’s Handbook has these at +1, rather than +2 and +3.
Choose your character’s height and weight from the ranges mentioned in the appropriate race description or from the ranges found on Table: Height and Weight. Think about what your character’s abilities might say about his or her height and weight. A weak but agile character may be thin. A strong and tough character may be tall or just heavy.
Alternatively, roll randomly for your character’s height and weight on Table: Height and Weight. The dice roll given in the Height Modifier column determines the character’s extra height beyond the base height. That same number multiplied by the dice roll or quantity given in the Weight Modifier column determines the character’s extra weight beyond the base weight.
| Gender | Base Height | Height Modifier | Base Weight | Weight Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 5’ 4" | +2d12 (5’ 6"—7’ 4") | 200 lbs. | ×2d6 (204—488 lbs.) |
| Female | 5’ 2" | +2d12 (5’ 4"—7’ 2") | 180 lbs. | ×2d6 (184—468 lbs.) |
Source: Races of the Wild (Page 106)