Gnoll
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Gnolls are a race of hulking, humanoids that resemble hyenas in more than mere appearance; they show a striking affinity with the scavenging animals, to the point of keeping them as pets, and reflect many of the lesser creatures’ behaviors. Gnolls are capable hunters, but are far happier to scavenge or steal a kill than to go out and track down prey. This laziness impels them to acquire slaves of whatever type is available, whom they force to dig warrens, gather supplies and water, and even hunt for their gnoll masters.
Creatures other than hyenas and other gnolls are either meat or slaves, depending upon the temperament of the tribe. Even a dead or fallen comrade is a fresh meal for a gnoll, who might honor a distinguished tribe member with a brief prayer, or thoroughly cook one that has died of a wasting disease, but otherwise view a dead gnoll as little different from any other creature. The more “civilized” gnolls do not eat their prisoners, but instead keep them as slaves, either to defend or improve their lair or to trade with other tribes or slaver bands.
Gnolls relish combat, but only when they have the obvious advantage of numbers. In other situations, they prefer to avoid combat except as a means of winning a kill from another hunter, or as a clever ambush to bring down a large meal. These hyena-men see no value in courage or valor, instead preferring to flee once it becomes clear that victory is not possible, noting that it is better to run with tail tucked away than to lose one’s tail entirely.
During combat, gnolls use a strange mixture of pack tactics and individual standoffs. If a gnoll feels that it is winning, it attempts to take down a weaker being rather than aiding its fellows. If the gnolls are struggling, they gang up on a powerful leader and try to take that creature down, in the hopes of forcing its allies to flee.
Gnoll leaders are typically rangers, although clerics are highly regarded as well. Most gnolls find arcane magic difficult to master, and as a result it is relatively rare to see a gnoll bard, sorcerer, or wizard.
Gnoll Player Character Statistics
Basic Gnoll
CR 1
XP 400
CE Medium humanoid (gnoll)
Init +0;
Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +2
DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 10, flat-footed 15 (+2 armor, +1 natural, +2 shield)
hp 11 (2d8+2)
Fort +4, Ref +0, Will +0
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee spear +3 (1d8+3/x3)
Ranged spear +1 (1d8+2/x3)
STATISTICS
Str 15, Dex 10, Con 13, Int 8, Wis 11, Cha 8
Base Atk +1; CMB +3; CMD 13
Feats Power Attack
Skills Perception +2
Languages Gnoll
ECOLOGY
Environment warm plains or desert
Organization solitary, pair, hunting party (2–5 gnolls and 1–2 hyenas), band (10–100 adults plus 50% noncombatant children, 1 sergeant of 3rd level per 20 adults, 1 leader of 4th–6th level, and 5–8 hyenas), or tribe (20–200 plus 1 sergeant of 3rd level per 20 adults, 1 or 2 lieutenants of 4th or 5th level, 1 leader of 6th–8th level, 7–12 hyenas, and 4–7 hyaenodons)
Treasure NPC Gear (leather armor, heavy wooden shield, battleaxe, longbow with 20 arrows, other treasure)
Variants
Immature Gnoll (CR 1/2)
XP 200
CE Small humanoid (gnoll)
Init +6;
Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +2
DEFENSE
AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 14 (+2 armor, +2 Dex, +1 shield, +1 size)
hp 7 (2d8-2)
Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +0
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee club +2 (1d4)
Ranged longbow +4 (1d6/×3)
STATISTICS
Str 10, Dex 14, Con 8, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +1; CMB +0; CMD 12
Feats Improved Initiative
Skills Perception +2
Language Gnoll
Other Gear leather armor, light wooden shield, club, longbow
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Darkvision (60 feet): A gnoll whelp can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Flind (CR 2)
Flinds are a particularly nasty subrace of gnolls. The two races share some strong similarities, and at first sight inexperienced adventurers could easily confuse the two. Flinds are much stockier than their lanky kin, much stronger and hardier, and are certainly more dangerous. Flinds are often found among gnoll bands acting as leaders, as their strength and relatively superior intelligence puts them above their lesser brethren.
Flind combat tactics are similar to those of gnolls. They prefer to strike from ambush, using terrain and concealment to their best advantage. They are most often seen acting in the role of leaders to gnoll bands, keeping discipline with a ruthless hand and little mercy.
LE Medium humanoid (gnoll)
Init +2;
Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +3
DEFENSE
AC 20, touch 12, flat-footed 18 (+5 armor, +2 Dex, +3 natural)
hp 15 (2d8+6)
Fort +6; Ref +2; Will +2
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft.
Melee flindbar +5 (1d8+4)
Ranged longbow +3 (1d8/x3)
STATISTICS
Str 19, Dex 14, Con 17, Int 12, Wis 15, Cha 12
Base Atk +1; CMB +5 (+7 disarm with flindbar); CMD 17
Feats Power Attack
Skills Handle Animal +6, Intimidate +3, Perception +3
Languages Common, Gnoll
Gear scale mail armor, flindbar, longbow with 20 arrows
ECOLOGY
Environment warm plains or desert
Organization solitary, pair, hunting party (2-5 flinds and 1-2 hyenas), band (10-100 adults plus 50% noncombatant children, 1 sergeant of 3rd level per 20 adults, 1 leader of 4th-6th level, and 5-8 hyenas), or tribe (20-200 plus 1 sergeant of 3rd level per 20 adults, 1 or 2 lieutenants of 4th or 5th level, 1 leader of 6th-8th level, 7-12 hyenas, and 4-7 hyaenodons)
Treasure standard
- A flindbar consists of two iron bars, approximately 18 inches long, connected by a short piece of chain (or, in some cases, connected to one another directly with loops at the ends). A flindbar is a one-handed exotic melee weapon that deals 1d8 points of damage as a Medium weapon, 1d6 as a Small weapon. While using a flindbar, you get a +2 bonus on opposed attack rolls made to disarm an enemy, including the roll to avoid being disarmed if such an attempt fails. Flinds are automatically proficient with flindbars and, thanks to their familiarity with similar weapons, treat nunchaku as martial weapons.
Giant Gnoll (CR 3)
Giant demon gnolls are not a separate species of gnoll, but instead are rare gnolls born with demonic taint. Due to this taint, they are larger, stronger, and more forceful than their mundane fellow gnolls.
XP 800
CE Large humanoid ( augmented, gnoll)
Init -1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +4
DEFENSE
AC 19, touch 8, flat-footed 19 (-1 Dex, +7 armor, +4 natural, -1 size)
hp 22 (3d8+9)
Fort +6, Ref +0, Will +1
Resist cold 5, fire 5; SR 8
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft. (30 ft. unarmored)
Melee 2 claws +4 (1d4+4) and bite +4 (1d6+4), or
Melee masterwork battle axe +5 (2d6+6/x3), or
Ranged javelin -1 (1d8+4, range increment 30 ft.)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks smite good (+1 attack rolls, +3 damage)
STATISTICS
Str 19, Dex 8, Con 17, Int 8, Wis 11, Cha 12
Base Atk +1; CMB +6; CMD 15
Feats Intimidating Prowess, Power Attack
SkillsArmor Check Penalty -7
Language Abyssal, Gnoll
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Smite Good (Su): 1/day as a swift action; adds Cha bonus to attack rolls and damage bonus equal to HD against good foes; smite persists until target is dead or the giant demon gnoll rests.
Ecology
Environment warm plains or desert
Organization solitary, pair, or war party (2-4 giant demon gnolls, 3-9 gnolls, and 2-4 hyenas)
Treasure potion of entropic shield, masterwork battle axe, two javelins, splint mail, plus approximately 150 gp of other gear)
Lore
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (local) can learn more about a Gnoll. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.
DC | Result |
11 | This muscular hyena-headed humanoid is a gnoll, an evil race of creatures that typically prefer intelligent beings for food because they scream more. Gnolls usually only speak their own language. This result also reveals all humanoid traits. |
16 | Gnolls are nocturnal carnivores, driven by hunger and little else. They dislike giants and most humanoids, but will sometimes make alliances with such creatures so long as it means a plentiful supply of food. |
21 | Gnolls prefer combat where they can rely on their physical strength and sheer numbers of fellow attackers to overpower those they fight with ease. They have little discipline in a fight, but typically choose clever ambush locations to give them the upper hand in the first few seconds of combat. |
26 | Gnolls tend to form loose tribes that are ruled by their strongest member, who uses fear, intimidation and strength to remain in power. |