The Origin of the Gnoll (again)

[Aeolius]

I made up "gnoll" thinking of it as a cross between a gnome and a troll...

Which further muddies my gnorts (gnoll-troll crossbreed)

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Which further muddies my gnorts (gnoll-troll crossbreed)

Speaking of which, I never did publish the description and stats for a "thoul"...a troll-ghoul. It was listed as an encounter in the first edition of D&D, but thereafter it sort of got lost. Recently someone was asking, and I sound my notes on the critter, gave them the synopsis.

What a fun and nasty beastie the thoul is!

Cheers,
Gary

 

[alsih2o]

Recently someone was asking, and I sound my notes on the critter, gave them the synopsis.

What a fun and nasty beastie the thoul is!

Cheers,
Gary

let us in! post them here for enworld goodness! please!

 

[megamania]

Okay!

Here's the story:

I made up "gnoll" thinking of it as a cross between a gnome and a troll

Cheers,
Gary

Good to know but takes the fun out of it. Kinda like learning there was no Santa, Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy....

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Thoul

Okay, happy to share

Note I changed the name to tr'oul (ter-OOL), as I thought "thoul" was too ordinary...

Tr’oul
4+2 HD
AC 6
Regenerate 1 HP/round
Not harmed by holy water.
Sunlight harms at 1 HP/round, not regenerated, healed at 1/day

Paralyze by touch, one such attack per new opponent--success 21-40 rounds of paralysis.
Turn as ghasts +1
Damage 2 x 2d4 for claws

 

[Aeolius]

All this talk of hybrids has me thinking. Green Ronin is coming out with "Bastards & Bloodlines", while Mongoose Publishing's "Encyclopaedia Arcane: Crossbreeding" is in the works. As crossbreeding beasties is somewhat a hobby of mine, I'll be taking a gander at both.

I suppose I'll take another look at my trogres, a troll-ogre crossbreed, in particular the aquatic kresh, offspring of a marine merrow and scrag. Add to that the bakaruda (a koalinth/sahuagin hybrid), my half-krakens (the sykraken and krakidan), and the opinaku (children of sea elves and weresharks).

It goes without saying that my Night Hag Family Tree is chock full o' hybrids. No gnomes in there, just yet, though I did make the dark creeper a night hag/derro crossbreed. A night hag and svirfneblin... hrmmm.....

 

[Gez]

Here's what the CC crew made of the Thoul:

But they tied the beasts to hobgoblins, rather than trolls and ghouls...

Arcane experimentation by hobgoblin loremasters ages ago produced the bizarre hybrid race known as the thouls. It is assumed that the loremasters wanted to create a race of bodyguards that had the discipline of a hobgolin, the power and regenerative properties of a troll, and the paralyzing touch of a ghoul. What they got instead was a pitiful, pained creature that, although quite capable of filling the role of bodyguard, was nowhere near as powerful as the hobgoblin kings had hoped.

From a distance of greater than 10 feet a thoul closely resembles a hobgoblin; it takes a Spot check (DC 15) or previous experience with hobgoblins to tell the difference. A thoul’s skin is slightly greener and lumpier than that of a hobgoblin, and its nose is long and hooked—no doubt these features are holdovers from its trollish aspects. The eyes of a thoul have no pupils, giving them a stare that is most disconcerting to those not accustomed to them.
Thouls have no language of their own, and speak Goblin.

Some rare thouls know Orc or Common.

 

[Aeolius]

Good to know but takes the fun out of it. Kinda like learning there was no Santa, Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy....

A powerful fey who lives upon a cloud, in a castle made of children's teeth...now THAT'S an adventure!

 

[alsih2o]

Re: Thoul

Okay, happy to share

thanks so much

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Likely I should have added this:

A few months back I was DMing for a group that wanted to explore the original Greyhawk Castle dungeons. They got lost and ended up on "The Crypts" level. There they met and dealt pretty handily with some ghouls, but then the tr'ouls nearby entered the fray. Both their cleric and mage failed their saves vs. paralysis, and thus the denizens of the place were soon feasting on fresh adventurers...saving the largest which they set aside to properly age

Cheers,
Gary