Humanoid - Monstrous Humanoid

[Marimmar]

While creating a new monster, I stumbled over the Humanoid and the Monstrous Humanoid type. The Monstrous Humanoid is explained as a Humanoid with bestial or animalistic features but why then are Gnolls Humanoids whereas Derros are Monstrous Humanoids? AFAIC Derros are far more human than Gnolls or Bugbears. Is there something obvious I missed?

~Marimmar

 

[Gez]

Gnolls are just mean furries.

"Monstrous Humanoid" is more a category of "charm person won't work on those" than anything else. I would tend to suppress it totally (making them humanoids (for derros), giants (for minotaurs), or aberration (for ormyrr, that caterpillarman in the MM2)); but that's too much of a hassle, so I've decided I don't care.

 

[Stormrunner]

Agreed, the distinction seems totally arbitrary. There is some tendency to put humanoids with strong magical powers into the MH category (which I suspect is why the Derro are MH), but frex Centaurs don't fit that criteria either.
Personally, IMC I class all "half-animal" races (gnolls, centaurs, merfolk, lizardfolk, etc) as MH - but also expand _charm person_ to affect MH as well as "standard" humanoids.

 

[Urbannen]

That sounds like a good way to go, Stormrunner.