Insanely pedantic query: The hind-quarters of a Gnoll!

[MeepoTheMighty]

I much prefer the 3E one...it looks a lot more menacing. The 2E one just looks...well...dopey. What's with that posture? He looks like has a beer belly.

 

[Tuzenbach]

Perhaps there can be more than one species of Gnoll? The "pawed" Gnoll and the "footed" Gnoll? Footed Gnolls look more intelligent than pawed Gnolls. I'm guessing it's the footed variety that become PCs.

 

[Rabelais]

3e all the way!

Gnolls look a lot more dangerous now.


What's their ECL again?

 

[frankthedm]

3 with thier racial HD. pretty costly compared to a 1st level barbarian orc

GNOLL


Medium Humanoid (Gnoll)

Hit Dice: 2d8+2 (11 hp)

Initiative: +0

Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)

Armor Class: 15 (+1 natural, +2 leather armor, +2 heavy steel shield), touch 10, flat-footed 15

Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+3

Attack: Battleaxe +3 melee (1d8+2/x3) or shortbow +1 ranged (1d6/x3)

Full Attack: Battleaxe +3 melee (1d8+2/x3) or shortbow +1 ranged (1d6/x3)

Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.

Special Attacks: —

Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft.

Saves: Fort +4, Ref +0, Will +0

Abilities: Str 15, Dex 10, Con 13, Int 8, Wis 11, Cha 8

Skills: Listen +2, Spot +3

Feats: Power Attack

Environment: Warm plains

Organization: Solitary, pair, hunting party (2–5 and 1–2 hyenas), band (10–100 plus 50% noncombatants plus 1 3rd-level sergeant per 20 adults and 1 leader of 4th–6th level and 5–8 hyenas), or tribe (20–200 plus 1 3rd-level sergeant per 20 adults, 1 or 2 lieutenants of 4th or 5th level, 1 leader of 6th–8th level, and 7–12 hyenas; underground lairs also have 1–3 trolls)

Challenge Rating: 1

Treasure: Standard

Alignment: Usually chaotic evil

Advancement: By character class

Level Adjustment: +1

Gnolls are hyena-headed, evil humanoids that wander in loose tribes. Most gnolls have dirty yellow or reddish-brown fur. A gnoll is a nocturnal carnivore, preferring intelligent creatures for food because they scream more.

A gnoll is about 7-1/2 feet tall and weighs 300 pounds. Gnolls speak Gnoll.

COMBAT
Gnolls like to attack when they have the advantage of numbers, using horde tactics and their physical strength to overwhelm and knock down their opponents. They show little discipline when fighting unless they have a strong leader; at such times, they can maintain ranks and fight as a unit. While they do not usually prepare traps, they do use ambushes and try to attack from a flanking position. Because of its shield, a gnoll’s modifier on Hide checks (untrained) is –2, which means gnolls always take special care to seek favorable conditions when laying ambushes (such as darkness, cover, or some other form of advantageous terrain).

GNOLLS AS CHARACTERS
Gnoll characters possess the following racial traits.

—Strength +4, Constitution +2, Intelligence –2, Charisma –2.

—Size Medium.

—A gnoll’s base land speed is 30 feet.

—Darkvision out to 60 feet.

—Racial Hit Dice: A gnoll begins with two levels of humanoid, which provide 2d8 Hit Dice, a base attack bonus of +1, and base saving throw bonuses of Fort +3, Ref +0, and Will +0.

—Racial Skills: A gnoll’s humanoid levels give it skill points equal to 5 x (2 + Int modifier). Its class skills are Listen and Spot.

—Racial Feats: A gnoll’s humanoid levels give it one feat.

— +1 natural armor bonus.

—Automatic Languages: Gnoll. Bonus Languages: Common, Draconic, Elven, Goblin, Orc.

—Favored Class: Ranger.

—Level adjustment +1.

 

[Tonguez]

I always thought the 2e version was about to be blown over by a strong gust of wind

the 3e version is definately more menacing but IMHO needs bigger footpads (and thicker calves)

 

[Orius]

I much prefer the 3E one...it looks a lot more menacing. The 2E one just looks...well...dopey. What's with that posture? He looks like has a beer belly.

Yeah, the gnoll is definitely one of the cases where I prefer the 3e art to 2e. The 3e MM gnoll looks nasty, vicious and maybe a bit rabid. Now inagine coming across both of those at night, remembering that gnolls are about 7 feet tall. Which one would make you soil yourself?

 

[s/LaSH]

the 3e version is definately more menacing but IMHO needs bigger footpads (and thicker calves)

I need to point out here that the bit going up from the ground to the first joint is not a calf, but a foot. 3e gnolls (and cats and dogs, with which I have more experience) are built out of exactly the same pieces as we humans, they're just slightly different lengths and angles. When they sit, the foot comes into full ground contact, and the knee touches or approaches the toes. It's not the perfect foot for balance, which might indicate a shambling, stooped posture in gnolls so they can use their arms to stay erect. Sitting, on the other hand, will be quite stable, and allow the sitter to spring up really powerfully.

That considered, the principle of armoursmithing for gnolls should be exactly the same; you just have to alter the lengths of various segments. Off-the-shelf armour won't do; but then, historically off-the-shelf armour was low-quality, probably not even with articulated legs, just a skirt of metal plates and some greaves strapped on. Personally fitted armour had to be made independantly each time, so the armourer confronted with a gnoll would only be at a minor disadvantage, being used to crafting unique pieces for high-end customers. The biggest difference would be in the boot - while a flexible toepiece would probably be de rigeur for humans, it'd have to be more flexible for gnolls, and the length of the foot and articulation angle of the ankle would necessitate some very different structures, as well as maintaining a decent sole along the length of the foot, perhaps providing a spike on the heel to assist 'digging in the haunches', the classical position of a canid being dragged somewhere they don't want to go.

 

[Snoweel]

...They show little discipline...

Well this explains the beer belly.

 

[Stormrunner]

Oh armorsmith, give both genders extra groin room. Naturalist have a VERY difficult time telling hyena genders apart due to the female 'bitz' being oversized.

Eyup. Not so much "oversized" as "identical in appearance to a male's". Telling the two hyena genders apart is extremely difficult, even for trained scientists, unless the female is pregnant or nursing, or the individual is tranked and examined up close and personal. Furthermore, the females are bigger, stronger, and generally more dominant and agressive than the males (one thing Lion King got right, anyway).

SO why does D&D assume gnoll society follows the usual stereotypical, patriarchal, treat-females-like- pattern?
Well, "identical in appearance to a male's", remember? Most adventurers are NOT going to closely examine the intimate bits of a smelly, filthy, flea-infested, soaked-in-its-own-blood-and-urine gnoll corpse (and if they do, it's time to start backing away slowly). If the dead gnoll leader looks like a "he", most will assume it's a "he".

But if the chief is a beeyotch, why are the other females so badly treated?
Because they're her rivals. As top dog in a chaotic evil pack, she doesn't dare show the slightest weakness or mercy, or she's dead. Which means, among other things, that she doesn't dare get pregnant - it would hamper/weaken her too much. Conversely, she needs to keep her rivals "barefoot and pregnant" as much as possible, for the same reason. Hence all the abuse heaped on subordinate females - who will look much more "female" to human eyes, with visible teats, etc., due to being pregnant/nursing. She can't just kill them all, someone needs to have pups if the tribe is to survive.

This implies that the tribal shaman, as the predominant source of contraceptive/fertility potions, holds great political power within the tribe. Undoubtedly it's quite common for the shaman to act as an eminence gris (shadow ruler), with the queen b!tch as muscle/figurehead. It also does much to explain why gnolls tend so strongly towards stupidity and brutality - the best and brightest females are the very ones who don't dare have pups.

 

[Snoweel]

But if the chief is a beeyotch, why are the other females so badly treated?
Because they're her rivals.

Yep.

Just like a reverse of human society, where the alpha males dominate the females who dominate the beta males.

That's an interesting postulation of what Gnoll society might look like, Stormrunner.