D&D 5E Let's Read: Volo's Monsters

[Leatherhead]

Gnolls and Gnoll Hunters are a bit of an interesting contrast. It really shows how bizarre some of the monster math can get when you calculate a CR. Or more likely, how the wotc dev team has adapted to how the people are playing the game.

Gnolls are in the srd, Basically they have:
15 ac (Hide and shield)
22 hp (5d8)
+2/+1/+0/-2/+0/-2 stat mods (and thus saves)
Darkvision 60', perception 10
Language Gnoll
CR 1/2
Rampage (bonus action to move and bite)
Pick one of the following to use per turn:
Bite +4/1d4+2
Spear +4/1d6+2
Longbow +3/1d8+1

Now, without getting too descriptive, imagine a stat block almost exactly like that but with a few changes:
Most notable, -2 ac
The exact same hp, but calculated differently due to having a better stat spread and less hd.
A way better stat spread, resulting in much better saving throws, even the weak ones are better.
The Same CR.
As a result of having better stats, and also some skill proficiency, the hunter has skill bonuses in areas relating to being a sneaky scout. As opposed to the bog standard gnoll, who doesn't do anything other than stab with a spear.

Ditto rampage, cause it's a gnoll.
Speaking of spears, take all of those attacks up there, and then you can make two of them per round, for reasons. Also you get to two-hand the spear because this guy isn't using a shield, bumping that damage die up. Also also, you get to deal more damage with the longbow, because of stats, and for no additional cost, the longbow reduces the targets speed. A speed reduction that stacks both with iteself, and with any other hunter that is shooting the poor sod who is trying to run away, mind you.

So basically, the Hunter is trading in two AC for much better non-ac defenses, extra attacks, more damaging attacks, more interesting attacks outside of their damage, and skills that are useful in the exploration pillar of play.

If you are a DM, I wouldn't blame you for blacking out the normal Gnoll stat block and just using hunters as the basic Gnoll 2.0, especially if you are in tier 2 of level progression.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

So basically, the Hunter is trading in two AC for much better non-ac defenses, extra attacks, more damaging attacks, more interesting attacks outside of their damage, and skills that are useful in the exploration pillar of play.

And it's not much of a tradeoff, since the normal gnoll loses two points of AC anyway when firing a longbow. (Hide + Dex = 13; the other +2 is from a shield.)

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Remember that it takes their whole turn to reposition however, and my maths above was wrong - they can only move 60ft in one go. Thus they can run from one place to another, but they cannot do so and also attack the same turn.

They move 90' actually. Sudden Rush increases their speed by 60', not to 60'. 30' + 60' = 90'.

 

[Charles Rampant]

They move 90' actually. Sudden Rush increases their speed by 60', not to 60'. 30' + 60' = 90'.

Aha, thanks. Me good at reading...

 

[Charles Rampant]

We end our tour of the Gnolls with the Witherling, the somewhat odd undead variant.

In the book image, the Witherling is standing in the exact same pose as the other Gnolls, only this time he has no skin. Since Gnolls have a pretty interesting skull - though, rather oddly, he still has ears - the image works for me, but only just. It definitely feels like the imagination ran dry for this group of monster images.

So it seems that Gnolls enjoyment of flesh eating extends to each other. Rather than being properly decadent about it and taking that as a euphemism, they instead actually kill their comrades, and then conduct dubious rituals to Yeenoghu to bring back the consumed Gnolls as undead. These then follow the warband around, killing but not eating their victims, meaning more food but fewer mouths to feed. It all seems like a subconscious population control measure. Probably the most interesting thought here is what other rituals Yeenoghu might have taught the Gnolls.

The Witherling is definitely not a plot-driving threat, though it is perhaps good as an initial threat for level one characters. This guy is basically presented as chaff to be sprinkled into fights with Gnolls. Its combat stats are extremely unexciting, as is normal for CR 1/4, but he does have the interesting Vengeful Strike rule, meaning that it can use a reaction to make a melee attack, if a Gnoll nearby dies. That’s a nice wrinkle to add to a fight - not so powerful as to make your players complain, but definitely something that’ll make them think. This, along with the Hunter’s crippling shots, gives the DM some options for spicing up combats without needing to bring in house rules or spellcasters.

With this, we end the Gnolls, and won’t be mentioning them again until the Leucrotta, I think. Just as well, since I’m pretty bored of talking about them!

 

[Chaosmancer]

Witherlings are an odd beast to me.

Other than the crawling hand, I think witherlings might actually be the weakest form of undead in the game. *Double checks books*

Okay, I guess that isn't quite true as Skeletons are a lot weaker than I remember them being. Still, I imagined Witherlings to be a rather significant threat and then was a little let down by the stat block.

As for Gnolls as a whole, I'm very glad there are so many different types. It is harder to run 3-5 different types of gnolls as a DM, but it makes for a much more dynamic and interesting encounter if you can mix in these different groups.

Still need a Gnoll caster, because someone has to be doing these dark rituals and calling upon demonic powers like we keep hearing about, but other than that the Gnolls have a large and comprehensive series of creatures to call upon.

 

[Nistar]

One last thing about the Banderhobb - I googled it, and found this blog post by 'Steve' which discusses how he came up with it. Apparently this Steve worked on the 5e MM and DMG as well, but I'm failing to establish his last name from the blog.

It would appear that he may be Steve Winter, one of the designers listed in the book. Sorry if you've already gotten your answer had mine handy and decided to look.

 

[Leatherhead]

Oh man, even Witherlings deal more damage than the MM Gnoll, that's got to sting.
Anyway, uses for the Witherling include: Beefing up an encounter with a Pack Lord, Flesh Gnawer or Fang of Yeenoghu for low level parties. Most Gnolls don't do so well on their own, and Witherlings can logistically fit everywhere do to the fact they don't have to eat or sleep.

As for who performs the rituals? I would assume it's the Fang of Yeenough, they already have some kind of ritualistic power to turn Hyenas into Gnolls, pilling on the other rituals gives them some spice compared to their new contemporaries.

Now I would like to take a bit of time to talk about what other things you can find in a gnoll warband, for those of you who still need something else.

Hyenas: Well obviously, but it is worth noting that Hyenas have a 4 month gestation period, no dedicated mating season, reach maturity after 2 years. And most importantly, a Fang of Yeenoghu can press gang these beasts into a proper Gnoll over the span of a meal. A few cackles of Hyenas attached to a War Band over the course of a year or two will lead to an explosive growth in the Gnoll population.
*Barlgura: Big Demon Gorillas with telepathy, some minor spellcasting, and the ability to jump around the battlefield. Good for toppling a well fortified wall or gate with a rare bit of subterfuge.
Dretch: A small stinky Demon. Low CR, useful if you just want some demons around for reasons but don't want to commit to anything bigger or more important.
Ghouls: Undead flesh eaters with paralysis touch. An excellent partner for a pack of Flesh Gnawers.
*Hezerou: A Bigger Smellier Demon. High CR and Lots of Resistances including magic. Great if you plan on the warband fighting some casters.
Manes: The weakest of demon-like things. Basically there to show what happens to a soul that goes to the Abyss, but you could use them as a large mass of minion flesh between the PC's and a key target.
Trolls: They are bit sacks of HP that regenerate, good for roadblock. And if you want some complexity and levity you can also use the Loathsome Limbs Variant.
*: These Demons can also summon more Demons if they need backup, or if you are just being nasty.

Additionally, you can add cultist of any humanoid type, though Orcs and Humans are the most likely. Just remember they have to act like a Gnoll (including cannibalism) to fit in, or else they will be consumed.
Cult Fanatics add some lower level spellcasting options.
Warlock of the Fiend (in Volo's Guide no less) Is a much more potent spellcaster, and can serve as an alternate leader for a warband, a much more dangerous type of leader who can think and eat at the same time.
Champions and Warlords (Volo's again) fit the bill for extremely powerful warriors who happen to throw their chips in with Yeenough, and are also likely to be tactical leaders.

 

[Charles Rampant]

Plus you can give those NPC statblocks the Rampage trait, and call them Gnolls.

I agree that the variety of types is really good for Gnolls - easy to build encounters with complex tactics for the players, but without too much complexity for the DM to actually run.


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[Charles Rampant]

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In general, it seems that people were pretty happy with the contents of Volo’s Guide to Monsters. One exception, however, is the humble (and obscure) Grungs, who earned some ire. It is noteworthy that they made it in over somewhat better known critters like the Phaerimm. The designers apparently all had some ‘personal choices’ for the contents, and the Grungs were picked as an one, so we cannot blame their inclusion on anything more than one man’s madness; but now that we have them, let’s see what we can do with them.

The Grungs get another fairly static image - three standing side by side, pointing and posing in different directions - but I quite like it. There is a sticky quality to their skin, and the markings are pretty interesting. They do remind me of 90s computer games, though; stuff like Lemmings, Settlers, and that weird one with the aliens living in the space ship that you had to guide through life.

The Grung entry puts a lot of effort into keeping these guys distinct from Bullywugs and Kua-Toa, their nearest rivals for squishy amphibian evil humanoids. With the arrival of the Grungs and Fire Newts, that is a surprisingly competitive niche. Anyway, the Grungs are a caste-based society, with them being born into one of several roles in the tribe, and they usually stick there; interestingly, however, they can advance up the ranks if they are sufficiently impressive, through ‘herbal tonics and ritual magic’, which I am choosing to interpret as a mixture between homeopathic medicine and the Plasmids from Bioshock. This is one of those details that might be tough to make use of - your players won’t likely care about the colours of their enemies that much, nor social mobility issues - but if your storyline allows for dialogue between the group and the Grungs, it might come out as a very compelling element. I’ve found that players can take a real shine to talkative and amusing members of even the most repellent races, and cheerfully sponsor them, so you might find that your group latch onto the idea of their favourite Grung NPC becoming a higher caste through their intermediation.

The Grung are based on frogs - as opposed to the toads that Bullywugs take after - and this means that they don’t have a tongue theme but instead a poison one. I guess that sounds right? I’ll be honest with you guys - I’m a city boy, this animal stuff is all pretty esoteric to me. I do have vague memories of David Attenborough talking about rainforest poisonous frogs, so I’m willing to believe Wizards on this issue. Amazingly, the Monster Manual actually has separate statblocks for ‘Giant Frog’ and ‘Giant Toad’, so the Grungs do have an appropriate pet, albeit one that is pretty weak at CR 1/4. On the subject of pets, we also learn that Grungs are dutiful in their adherence to the Lawful Evil Race Guidelines and keep slaves, using their toxins to keep them lethargic. That titbit - and the fact that it takes powerful magic to restore a slave’s mind if this has gone on too long - seems like a solid plot hook.

The Grungs live in rainforests and tropical jungles, not a terrain that has been explored in the adventures thus far [1], so the arrival of the Grungs (as well as the Girallon and Yuan-Ti variants) would seem to suggest that they are giving DMs and their writers the tools to do so. I don’t know if I want to say we’ll definitely get a jungle adventure just because these guys are here, but a chapter in an AP would definitely not surprise me.

There are three statblocks given for the Grungs - Grung, Grung Elite Warrior, and Grung Wildling. That matches up with the castes, but not very nicely - we are told to use Grung for green, blue and purple castes, Grung Elite Warrior for the top castes of orange and gold, and Grung Wildling for the priestly red caste. I feel that there is definitely some room to expand these out a bit, but likely we’ll only get one more (a named NPC gold caste member) if a tribe turns up in an adventure. All three statblocks include poison damage in their attacks and can inflict poisoned condition through grappling. In other words, Dwarven characters will love these guys. They can also breathe underwater and jump really far, neither of which are what I’d call powerful abilities. The Grung is CR 1/4, and about as unexciting as you’d think. They’re only equipped with daggers in the statblock, which I think are distinctly un-jungly weapons - a blowpipe would have been my choice. The Elite Warrior is CR 2, a pretty hefty upgrade, but their statblock doesn’t really justify it at first glance. Their hit points and AC seem average; they make only the one weapon attack, and that for the same damage as the basic Grung. The saving grace is their Mesmerizing Chirr ability, a name which pleases me greatly, and which can inflict the stunned condition. Likely they lost the second attack due to how potent this could be - there is no immunity if you pass, so they can absolutely spam this until the party is crippled. You should definitely use this to shut down the front line of the party, and allow the weaker Grungs to make their mark. Finally, the Wildling is a CR 1 spellcaster - specified as a 9th level Ranger, oddly - and it can toss out some aiding spells like Cure Wounds, Spike Growth and Plant Growth. In combination with their skills - Survival, Stealth, Perception - these guys should be used less like High Priests and more like Patrol Leaders. Disappointingly, that leaves us with no ‘Boss Profile’ for the Grungs, and they don’t strike me as guys that will remain very interesting for a wide range of levels.

Finally, we get a Poisons table, which expands the Poisoned condition to have additional effects, depending on the caste of the Grung. It’s really fun, with stuff like ‘you are frightened of your allies’ and ‘you must immerse yourself in mud or water, and will take your action to do so’. I’d absolutely use this, as it gives a lot more combat character to the Grungs in my opinion.

What do I think of them? They are fun, but I think that we just don’t get enough - information, images, allies and leaders, whatever - to satisfy me. Perhaps I've just been spoiled by the extensive description given in Volo's and the APs to other groups, but these guys feel like they are half of an idea.

[1] Though, to be fair, ‘Mountains’, ‘Islands’ and ‘Arctic’ are the same. Mainly green fields in the adventures so far!