D&D 5E Gnolls: Playable or Not?

The problem, for me, with adding more and more non standard races is that people don't tend to "play" them - they just become a human (in this case with a dog face). One of the reasons that I stopped playing DnD around 3/3.5 was the plethora of new player race. It got to the position, I DM'ed a few conferences, that you had to play spot the human (and to a lesser extent short stocky Scottish humans, with a penchant for ale and humans with pointed ears).

If you want to play a Gnoll, how do they differ from humans in terms of diet, society, smell and hygiene (foxes and dogs often roll in animal poo). Play a Gnoll - but what is his/her motivation other than having a nice hair dye and perm?

I once played a lizard folk character, she was rescued as a child after her village had been destroyed by Sahuagin. She had a nasty habit (to humans etc.) of wanting to eat fallen enemies to honour the fallen;which she saw at religious ceremonies. According to village druids the creature's spirit had flown and the body now feeds the body and the ground. How would a Gnoll act? Would you be able to take then to a fine dining restaurant?

If you want to play a Gnoll, play a Gnoll not a block of stats and bonuses.

Ssara (the name given to her as no one could pronounce her real name) became a Ranger (I will leave you to guess what her favoured enemy was). She was great fun to role play, especially when interacting with those strange non saurian types.

Im creating a Gnoll to join a current group. He is shy to show himself due to the persecution he received young (from being a zoo exhibit). He eats the fallen if hungry and doesnt mind bringing along some take out for later. He is extremely obediant to a Moon elf whom he thinks is the moon godess. He speaks little outside of his Gnoll tongue. He runs on all fours after his prey and unleashes his barbarian clawed fury upon his enemies. He is extremely guarded but once he feels accepted and respects you he adopts you into his clan. he will then treat you as a brother. As for strangers he stays he steers clear as they have a tendency to attack and it has gotten him in trouble in the past for defensivly killing atatckers.

Well honestly? most people play EVERY race like a weird human. For example many people forget ELVES aren't human either! You live hella long and have lots of time but then rush around like a human for example. The PHB races have their own outlooks too that people have ignored in place of a stat block that works for their class.

I had a 2nd ed gnoll character i would like to recreate for 5e. He was a runt of the litter who was being hunted and persecuted by his pack. Was rescued and raised by a human ranger. As such he had a neutral alignment. Had some human traits but as the ranger himself was an outcast the gnoll also was not well socialised to huminoid society. Very protective of those he considered pack but distrustful of outsiders. Rarely enters a town or village and never a city. I found him a blast to roleplay.

As we say in Gnollish "barka-da-bark-bark".

Legit all I wanna ing know if Gnolls are even playable, ignoring the DM

Welcome to the boards.

Gnolls, as presented in Volo's Guide to Monsters, are not playable as a PC race in 5e. The designers made a choice to play up the demonic aspects of the race in this edition, and did not allow for exceptions (as they did for goblinoids, orcs, and yuan-ti) in the stats for monstrous humanoids.

Talk to your DM to find a workaround!

WaffleKitsune said:

Legit all I wanna ing know if Gnolls are even playable, ignoring the DM

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Based on this nuanced and comprehensive inquiry, I'm gonna go with "no."

WaffleKitsune said:

Legit all I wanna ing know if Gnolls are even playable, ignoring the DM

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No. You can’t play anything by ignoring the DM.
The rules don’t let you overrule a DM.

IF your Dungeon Master allows it, you can check out the Midgard Heroes Handbook, which has a gnoll race. And is a pretty awesome book in general.

OniDaimyo said:

Well honestly? most people play EVERY race like a weird human. For example many people forget ELVES aren't human either! You live hella long and have lots of time but then rush around like a human for example. The PHB races have their own outlooks too that people have ignored in place of a stat block that works for their class.

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I have never bought into the idea that long life makes one take more time making decisions, especially in emergencies. Context, Need, and ability to reason dictate the speed at which ones actions and choices are made. One doesn't sit around discussing options for hours when the house is on fire, no matter how long ones projected life span is, unless one wants end up as cinders with no life span at all.