D&D 5E Gnolls: Playable or Not?

[Corpsetaker]

I remember back in 3rd edition we had an all gnoll game and it was a blast. All we did was basically roam the land and attack anything we thought we could handle. We had nothing but rangers, barbarians, druids, and a cleric.

Best of times.

 

[Corpsetaker]

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.

Nah!

I think it's just Mearls' explanation sucks.

 

[Zardnaar]

You don't have to drink the Mearls kool aid though and his explainations are often BS or have a corporate tinge to them.

Drow are sexy so demon worshipping elves and fiendish bloodlines are fine but no demon worshipping beast men.


Southland Heroes $5 for 6 races and 7 backgrounds.

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/153959/Southlands-Heroes-for-5th-Edition

Aasimar
Gnoll
Lizardfolk
Minotaur
Tosculi (bugmen)
Werelion

 

[gyor]

Flinds, I think they'll use Flinds as less demonic throw backs for Gnolls as a PC race.

 

[QuietBrowser]

Flinds, I think they'll use Flinds as less demonic throw backs for Gnolls as a PC race.

I can't really say I understand why people suggest this. Haven't flinds traditionally been basically the even nastier kindred of gnolls? I know for a fact that Pathfinder makes them into demonically-augmented "champions", born through selective breeding and the blessings of Lamashtu. Plus, in the podcast, I'm pretty sure Perkins outright states that he's taking them down the Pathfinder route and making them born champions of Yeenoghu - at the least, they're wielding triple-headed heavy flails in Yeenoghu's honor.

I mean, I certainly wouldn't complain if flinds were used as just "the gnolls who have renounced Yeenoghu", it's just... why do people think that's a thing that Volo's Guide will do?

 

[Parmandur]

I can't really say I understand why people suggest this. Haven't flinds traditionally been basically the even nastier kindred of gnolls? I know for a fact that Pathfinder makes them into demonically-augmented "champions", born through selective breeding and the blessings of Lamashtu. Plus, in the podcast, I'm pretty sure Perkins outright states that he's taking them down the Pathfinder route and making them born champions of Yeenoghu - at the least, they're wielding triple-headed heavy flails in Yeenoghu's honor.

I mean, I certainly wouldn't complain if flinds were used as just "the gnolls who have renounced Yeenoghu", it's just... why do people think that's a thing that Volo's Guide will do?

Podcast makes it pretty clear Flinds are worse, so I doubt it.

 

[Tormyr]

We have a half-gnoll paladin of Heironeous with a Charisma score of 8. The player asked if he could bring the son of his character in our previous encounter, a human druid who hooks up with a gnoll aasimar NPC. The PC is kind, fierce, a bit dopey, and a lot of fun.

Best line ever: the party was investigating a cult of Hextor. The clerics of Hextor were trying to lure the party into an arena with a large statue of Hextor in the middle, and the party was having none of going into a kill box. The half-gnoll paladin ran out and peed on the statue of Hextor. One of the clerics broke ranks and charged, and the paladin retreated to cover and dealt with the enemies as the could. The head cleric waded into the mix. The party and the head cleric were on fumes. The cleric's turn came up, and was going to heal himself before finishing the party off. As he was about to heal himself, the paladin yelled out,

"I peed on your god!"

The cleric lost his cool and attacked instead and missed. The party finished him off.

 

[I'm A Banana]

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.

Yeah, that's one of this fiction bits that I think changed somewhere between 2e and 5e and it's not a change I'm a big fan of.

My gnolls are a fallen warrior race, no more demon-created than drow or orcs. However, while drow and orcs and whatnot worship deities, gnolls - for one reason or another - have forgotten theirs. They are a living example of what happens when you surrender your society to the thirst for destruction and power, when you give into the temptation of a demon lord and become its willing minions. Few gnolls today likely even remember that there were days long-past when war was not a constant.

"I created gnolls by exposing hyenas to cosmic rays i mean gamma radiation i mean radioactive spider bites i mean exposure to the rays of our yellow sun i mean "the ooze" i mean magic i mean a wizard did it i mean demonic magic" is a pretty generic origin story, and it trades pathos and possible redemption for All Evil All The Time Blood And Guts Hooray. Compared to the other narrative, I like it significantly less, and I don't think I'll be using it.

So for me, gnolls might be a PC race like drow or orcs or goblins or githyanki are - you could perhaps be a gnoll that has stumbled on a ruin of an advanced gnoll city from a bygone age of peace and plenty and you wonder today, "how do I get here, for myself, and for my people?"

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Honestly between this, the frankly dumb "firbolgs suck at these classes don't do it" nonsense, and some other "this race has an unsustainable society" stuff, why would I buy this book? The crunch I can just make on my own. I'd rather not, but I'm not paying for crap writing and lazy world building.

 

[not-so-newguy]

My favorite Gnoll origin is The Mystara setting where they were created by the Nithian Empire, then broke free and wreaked havoc across the Known World.

The Pandius site has loads of stuff for Gnolls.