Rolzup
First Post
An idea that I had recently....
Gnolls are what happens when a hyena consumes the flesh, and along with it the soul, of a living human. Over a period of several days they change, gaining sapience and learning to walk upright. They can speak instinctively in whatever language their victim once spoke, as well as their own bestial tongue.
Even so, they remain animals. Cruel and sadistic animals, at that, who kill as much for pleasure as for food.
And it's not unknown for a burgeoning pack of gnolls to take living captives, solely for the purpose of feeding them to their still animalistic brethren.
On a largely different note, a poster over at RPGnet had an utterly brilliant idea of recasting D&D's halflings as something akin to Arthur Machen's "little people"....
...and this strikes me as an absolutely brilliant idea.
Gnolls are what happens when a hyena consumes the flesh, and along with it the soul, of a living human. Over a period of several days they change, gaining sapience and learning to walk upright. They can speak instinctively in whatever language their victim once spoke, as well as their own bestial tongue.
Even so, they remain animals. Cruel and sadistic animals, at that, who kill as much for pleasure as for food.
And it's not unknown for a burgeoning pack of gnolls to take living captives, solely for the purpose of feeding them to their still animalistic brethren.
On a largely different note, a poster over at RPGnet had an utterly brilliant idea of recasting D&D's halflings as something akin to Arthur Machen's "little people"....
Halflings are the remnants of an much earlier wave of human settlement. The newer waves of humans don't even think of Halflings as other humans. They live in the wilds, hunting and living a mostly subsistence lifestyle. Although there were fierce, near genocidal battles during the last wave of colonization, those days are long gone. In the cities, "Halflings" or "The Little People" are considered nearly-mythical. But in the small villages of the country, they have come to an accord with the humans. Most households make regular offerings of milk, cheese, and butter, by placing them outside the doors at night. Halflings love dairy products, as they never developed that type of farming. In return, the Little People keep the wilderness around the villages clear of humanoids and sometimes even bring in wild game. Of course, every once in a while, a Hafling gets bored of this and decides to explore the rest of the world....
...Haflings are essentially Stone/Bronze Age folks, although they have stolen bits from later human settlers over the years. However, they still prefer their traditional domicile: they dig earthen homes in the ground. After a few years, these homes become so grown-over with vegetation, that they appear to be natural hills. Thus, humans have learned to be respectful of the sidh they find in the wild, for the Little People dwell within.
Also worth noting that not all Halflings have come to accord with cousins. There are some very aggressive communities left in the world; their bellicosity perhaps exacerbated by the generations of in-breeding to which the dwindling population is subject. Regions inhabited by these sorts of Halflings--euphemistically called "the Good Folk" to avoid attacks--are often uninhabited wilderness. Any human village so unfortunate as to be located near them, soon finds themselves cut off from trade routes (caravans frequently disappear into the woods), with cattle that disappear into the night, and crops that are destroyed. This has lead to one of the darkest secrets of the age: some human settlers have learned to offer up sacrifices, generally young girls, to the Good Folk. They try not to think too much about what happens to them.
...and this strikes me as an absolutely brilliant idea.