DnD Gnolls Race

Gnolls are blood­thirsty, half-hye­na-like crea­tures known for their brute strength, mer­ci­less nature, and eter­nal hunger for destruc­tion. They inhab­it the wild regions of the world: vast savan­nas, arid grass­lands, scorch­ing deserts, and open wood­lands. Their com­mu­ni­ties are rough and tem­po­rary small, nomadic camps that move with the hunt.

A Gnoll typ­i­cal­ly stands between 2.1 and 2.3 meters tall, walks upright, and has a mus­cu­lar body cov­ered in coarse fur. Their faces resem­ble those of hye­nas, com­plete with sharp teeth and wicked, grin­ning snouts. They pos­sess a keen sense of smell, excel­lent hunt­ing instincts, and are almost always on the move search­ing for their next prey.

Society and Camps

Gnoll camps are any­thing but hos­pitable. They are built from wood, bones, raw hides, and skulls, and resem­ble slaugh­ter­fields more than dwellings. Totems of skulls or stakes adorned with sev­ered heads of oth­er races mark the edges of their ter­ri­to­ry meant to instill fear in any­one who dares approach.

The leader of a Gnoll pack is called the Zhakra a title earned only through brute strength or by defeat­ing the pre­vi­ous leader. The Zhakra is not nec­es­sar­i­ly the smartest or most strate­gic, but always the dead­liest. His com­mand is law, and dis­obe­di­ence is usu­al­ly pun­ished with death.

Gnolls are pack crea­tures, but there is lit­tle room for affec­tion or loy­al­ty. The strongest dom­i­nate, while the weak­est are eat­en or exiled. They live for the hunt, for blood­shed, and for dis­plays of strength.

Behavior and Culture

Gnolls are almost always hos­tile toward oth­er races. They see out­siders as poten­tial prey, not as con­ver­sa­tion part­ners. Only under excep­tion­al cir­cum­stances for exam­ple, when an out­sider shows extra­or­di­nary strength or when a tem­po­rary alliance is ben­e­fi­cial will Gnolls tol­er­ate any­one not of their kind.

And what do they eat? Every­thing. Gnolls are can­ni­bal­is­tic and con­sume near­ly any liv­ing being, includ­ing mem­bers of their own pack if nec­es­sary. Humanoids such as humans, elves, and dwarves rank espe­cial­ly high on their list.

Stats

• Abil­i­ty Score Increase: Your Strength score increas­es by 2, and your Dex­ter­i­ty score increas­es by 1.
  
  
• Dark­vi­sion: You can see in dim light with­in 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in dark­ness as if it were dim light. You can’t dis­cern col­or in dark­ness, only shades of gray.
  
  
• Size: Medi­um
  
  
• Speed: 30 ft.
  
  
• Ram­page: When you reduce a crea­ture to 0 hit points with a melee attack on your turn, you can take a bonus action to move up to half your speed and make a bite attack.
  
  
• Heart of the Hunt: You can add twice your pro­fi­cien­cy bonus to any Strength (Ath­let­ics) checks relat­ed to chas­es and run­ning.
  
  
• Keen Smell: Thanks to your sen­si­tive nose, you have advan­tage on Wis­dom (Per­cep­tion), Wis­dom (Sur­vival), and Intel­li­gence (Inves­ti­ga­tion) checks that involve smell.
  
  
• Bite: You have a fanged maw that you can use to make unarmed strikes. When you hit with it, the strike deals 1d6 + your Strength mod­i­fi­er pierc­ing dam­age , instead of the blud­geon­ing dam­age nor­mal for an unarmed strike.
  
  
• Lan­guages: Your char­ac­ter can speak, read, and write. Com­mon, Scar and one oth­er lan­guage that you want.