Charles Rampant
Explorer
We get a blast from the past today, as the Leucrotta reminds us of the glory days of the Gnoll entries. We first discussed these guys in the context of the Gnoll warbands when we covered the Maw Demon and Shoosuva, so you might want to look back at that post to see how they fit into the wider Gnoll shenanigans.
The Leucrotta art in Volo’s is not the most attractive image in the world, but then the Leucrotta is not the most attractive animal in the world. It is a little plain though, and reminds me of the fairly simple art of second edition.
This is a surprisingly complex beast, for a horse-sized Gnoll companion. They are masters of torture, much more capable than the Gnolls of prolonging the misery before death, and they are a sort of entertainment for the Gnolls in this function. In addition, the Leucrotta are smarter than the Gnolls, and seem to operate as a ‘power behind the throne’ in what we might charitably describe as Gnoll society, advising the leaders of a given group. The Leucrottas are actually peers of Gnolls, being formed at the same time and the same way - Yeenoghu’s rampages and Hyenas - so I think that the two races are much closer in temperament and alliance than, say, Man and Horse. Yet the Leucrotta have another facet, namely their Mimicry ability - like Kenku, they are masters of imitating the noises of others, and even have deer-shaped hooves, which can be a big surprise for someone in your party who is using the survival skill to find their dinner. This makes the Leucrotta a solid option for an encounter while traveling, I think, since you can initially frame it as a ‘slice of life’ moment - showing the Ranger doing his thing - but rapidly develop it into a dangerous combat encounter.
The Leucrotta have some interesting abilities, and I think that we can frame them as Gnoll Rogues, albeit Large sized. They can run into combat, make a Bite and a Hooves attack, and then use Kicking Retreat to use the Disengage action as a bonus action, which is pretty potent on 50ft movement. This combines with a fairly low AC and fairly high HP to make them a solid option, probably a lot more interesting when used in pairs to harrass and annoy the players. They have the Rampage trait, so combine very nicely with Gnolls such as the Pack Lord or Flind, especially when you note that their Bite attack (which the Flind triggers) has triple critical damage, a subtle but fun little trait.
Sent from my iPad using EN World mobile app
The Leucrotta art in Volo’s is not the most attractive image in the world, but then the Leucrotta is not the most attractive animal in the world. It is a little plain though, and reminds me of the fairly simple art of second edition.
This is a surprisingly complex beast, for a horse-sized Gnoll companion. They are masters of torture, much more capable than the Gnolls of prolonging the misery before death, and they are a sort of entertainment for the Gnolls in this function. In addition, the Leucrotta are smarter than the Gnolls, and seem to operate as a ‘power behind the throne’ in what we might charitably describe as Gnoll society, advising the leaders of a given group. The Leucrottas are actually peers of Gnolls, being formed at the same time and the same way - Yeenoghu’s rampages and Hyenas - so I think that the two races are much closer in temperament and alliance than, say, Man and Horse. Yet the Leucrotta have another facet, namely their Mimicry ability - like Kenku, they are masters of imitating the noises of others, and even have deer-shaped hooves, which can be a big surprise for someone in your party who is using the survival skill to find their dinner. This makes the Leucrotta a solid option for an encounter while traveling, I think, since you can initially frame it as a ‘slice of life’ moment - showing the Ranger doing his thing - but rapidly develop it into a dangerous combat encounter.
The Leucrotta have some interesting abilities, and I think that we can frame them as Gnoll Rogues, albeit Large sized. They can run into combat, make a Bite and a Hooves attack, and then use Kicking Retreat to use the Disengage action as a bonus action, which is pretty potent on 50ft movement. This combines with a fairly low AC and fairly high HP to make them a solid option, probably a lot more interesting when used in pairs to harrass and annoy the players. They have the Rampage trait, so combine very nicely with Gnolls such as the Pack Lord or Flind, especially when you note that their Bite attack (which the Flind triggers) has triple critical damage, a subtle but fun little trait.
Sent from my iPad using EN World mobile app
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