D&D 5E Gnolls: Playable or Not?

[QuietBrowser]

I made this thread before the great server crash, and it was huge there. Since the most recent podcast has Perkins specifically talking about gnolls as the first topic, I felt maybe it deserved to be brought back.

Gnolls are one of the oldest monstrous humanoids that can arguably be described as unique to D&D. Though their name is taken from the "gnoles", a race of malevolent forest goblins in two of Lord Dunsany's stories, and the White Box version was a similar "gnome/troll hybrid" little monster, the D&D gnoll became definitive in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, after it changed to a race of hyena-men. Now, despite being predatory in nature and culturally defined by the worship of the Demon Prince Yeenoghu, gnolls have actually been playable in every single edition that their hyena-man format appeared in; they had 1e stats (although I think that was for the gnome-trolls) in the Known World Gazetteer "The Orcs of Thar", they then went on to appear in the Complete Book of Humanoids for AD&D/2e, no fewer than four 3rd edition books (Monster Manual, Forgotten Realms: Unapproachable East, Savage Species, Races of the Wild), and in Dragon Magazine #367 for 4th edition. Even Pathfinder has rules for them, I believe, although I couldn't tell you where.

Traditionally, gnolls were described as having been created by a bestial demi-deity named Gorellik, who was so savage and disinterested in the mortal realm that he didn't even notice his people being stolen from him by Yeenoghu. In 4th edition, they were instead created directly by Yeenoghu, which is something that 5th edition has retained (although Perkins doesn't seem to want to admit it) - however, this was also explained in the aforementioned "Playing Gnolls" article to not make gnolls into an Always Chaotic Evil race. Although born from demonic corruption, at their hearts, they are still hyenas, a creature that, although intimidating, does have a place in the natural world, and thusly gnolls can reject the alien cruelty and brutality of their demonic lineage.

I might as well quote the relevant segment of the article:

The Soul of the Hyena

Gnolls agree that Yeenoghu crafted their race from demon and beast. But not all gnolls worship the Beast of Butchery. Though the fury of the fiend runs through the blood of the gnoll, some reject this emonic heritage and find solace in the spirit of the hyena that lies within them. Over the course of generations, this has produced clans of gnolls that are less savage than the Butcher’s Brood. Typically unaligned as opposed to chaotic evil, these gnolls still live as nomadic hunters on the fringes of society. However, they are more likely to hunt wild beasts than civilized creatures, and they take no joy in torture or unnecessary cruelty. These gnolls still love the thrill of the hunt, especially when tracking together with others of their pack; it is this that keeps them tied to the wild life, instead of settling down to form static communities. But they do not attack peaceful villages without serious provocation. They love to hunt and track—not to slaughter.


Such gnolls usually come to terms with the humans or other settlers who share their lands, and they might sell their services as trappers or hunters. Although they trade with members of other species, gnolls prefer the company of their own kind, along with their hyena companions. They do not take slaves, and while they do not kill peaceful humans who come to their camps, neither do they make them feel welcome. These gnolls are still predators and carnivores; while they are not quick to anger, a visitor to a gnoll camp would be wise to mind his manners.


When dealing with these gnolls, think of how their primal nature might play into their personalities. A gnoll is more comfortable in the wilds than in a town. He is a pack animal and prefers the company of his kin to solitude. Like the hyena, he is content to scavenge others’ kills—but like the hyena, he is a hunter and predator, ready to fight if provoked. Gnolls that follow the path of the hyena make excellent rangers; they might lack the brutal talents of the torturer of Yeenoghu, but they typically have excellent Nature and Perception skills.

With this long lineage, gnolls may not be as popular for the "redeemed monster" racial role as orcs or goblins or kobolds, but they do have a fandom. And it was reasonable to expect they'd appear in Volo's Guide to Monsters with a PC writeup. I mean, they're traditional, at this point, if nothing else.

Except... that's not the case. The first clue was a twitter from Perkins saying that gnolls were "too demonic" to be playable. In a recent podcast talking about the gnolls, he states that redeemed gnolls are "possible", but that the possibility wasn't something they were going to play around with much. Despite the fact that we know gnolls are getting a fairly detailed writeup, complete with both the return of the Flinds (elite gnolls), 4e's Fangs of Yeenoghu (demon-priests who can convert hyenas into new gnolls just like Yeenoghu) and even the Shoosuva - a demonic gnoll-ghoul that first appeared in Dragon Magazine #63 and went ignored until Dungeon Magazine #112.

So, the purpose of all this? To see what people think. Do you think he's right to say that gnolls should not be playable? Or do you think that there's both enough historical precedent and that "DMs have the right to make up lore for their own settings", something acknowledge in their 4e PC writeup, that gnolls should get some kind of official PC stats, if it turns out that they aren't even getting the "quick and dirty" PC rules that Volo's Guide is supposedly going to have for some races?

 

[Zardnaar]

I have Gnolls in Southland Heroes from the Kobolds.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Mearls argument doesnt hold a lot of water for me. Gnolls are a mainly chaotic evil race associated with demon worship - and that's not PC material apparently. Can someone refresh my memory on drow? Oh right, a chaotic evil race associated with demon worship. A-OK for the PHB! Now I'm not calling him a liar, because I think lots of us arent internally consistent all the time, but I do have to shake my head. If someone wanted to play one in my game, I'd figure out a way to make it work.

I find gnolls interesting as a matriarchial "brute" society and like that they are the poster boys (girls?) for evil rangers. Plus I found it funny the Chainmail gnoll miniatures had 6 boobs because they apparently birth in big litters. See, they're already better than goliaths!

 

[Sacrosanct]

My monsters are all 1e based. So kobolds are dogfaced and gnolls are playable like any other monster race would be--depends on the situation as normally I don't allow monsterous PCs. I do not subscribe to Mearls' explanation of why they aren't playable in 5e. Luckily for me, at my game table I can ignore everything he says

 

[hawkeyefan]

I think anyone can play them if they want, and if players and DM are in agreement. I don't know if Perkins is saying they are not playable at all, so much as he's explaining why they weren't interested in visiting them again in that way. For their purposes in this book, the designers were more interested in their role as villains.

But I think just about any humanoid race can be played. And the 5E rules make it pretty easy to craft a suitable version of a playable gnoll. If I recall, several were offered in the lost thread.

 

[pukunui]

I'm not fussed either way really.

 

[Shiroiken]

As I said the last time this thread came around, the "official" reason is certainly bogus. Gnolls were not added because they overlapped several other potential monster PC races. They just wanted to find a better response than "we think other monsters have a bigger following, so you got cut."

Of course, for me this is irrelevant, as I wouldn't allow it at my game anyway, along with almost every other Monster PC race.

 

[Parmandur]

Odds are they have rules on the table of quick rules, Fr making NPCs and Bu extension PCs; I not Perkins said people can play them, he just doesn't recommend it.

Honestly, they went too far with the Gnolls for them to sit well as a PC race.

 

[QuietBrowser]

I find gnolls interesting as a matriarchial "brute" society and like that they are the poster boys (girls?) for evil rangers. Plus I found it funny the Chainmail gnoll miniatures had 6 boobs because they apparently birth in big litters. See, they're already better than goliaths!

The weird thing is, although many people would probably default to considering gnolls as a matriarchy, both because they're so obviously based on the infamous spotted hyena and it makes them stand out more compared to the traditionally patriarchal orcs & goblins, in D&D lore, gnolls have always been a patriarchal society! Even in Pathfinder, where they worship the Demon Queen Lamashtu, it's still stated that the women are brutally treated unless they are priestesses or mothers and menfolk are the ones in charge. I think 4e was maybe the only edition where female gnolls being in charge was given any serious attention, and even then, I don't think it amounted to more than a few mentions of famous Yeenoghu priestesses.

I have to wonder if perhaps part of the backlash against gnolls isn't so much "they're always chaotic evil!" as because of the fetish fuel thing - let's face it, between the connections drawn to spotted hyenas and the aforementioned Chainmail miniature, gnolls kind of invoke the furry fandom in some peoples' minds. I know this is hypocritical since Drow have been one of the biggest providers of elfin fetish fuel since the beginning, but "hot humanoid" is always more acceptable than "sexy beast-woman". That's just the way it is, I guess.

 

[pukunui]

Mearls argument doesnt hold a lot of water for me. Gnolls are a mainly chaotic evil race associated with demon worship - and that's not PC material apparently. Can someone refresh my memory on drow? Oh right, a chaotic evil race associated with demon worship. A-OK for the PHB! Now I'm not calling him a liar, because I think lots of us arent internally consistent all the time, but I do have to shake my head. If someone wanted to play one in my game, I'd figure out a way to make it work.

Perhaps it is because drow merely worship a demon lord and are free to reject that worship, whereas gnolls are *created* by a demon lord and therefore cannot change their nature any more than a true demon can.