Page 163 - Monster Manual [11th Print]

GNOLLS

Gnolls are feral humanoids that attack settlements
along the frontiers and borderlands of civilization
without warning, slaughtering their victims and
devouring their flesh.
Demonic Origin. The origin of the gnolls traces back
to a time when the demon lord Yeenoghu found his way
to the Material Plane and ran amok. Packs of ordinary
hyenas followed in his wake, scavenging the demon
lord's kills. Those hyenas were transformed into the first
gnolls, parading after Yeenoghu until he was banished
back to the Abyss. The gnolls then scattered across the
face of the world, a dire reminder of demonic power.
Nomadic Destroyers. Gnolls are dangerous
because they strike at random. They emerge from
the wilderness, plunder and slaughter, then move
elsewhere. They attack like a plague of locusts,
pillaging settlements and leaving little behind but razed
buildings, gnawed corpses, and befouled land. Gnolls
choose easy targets for their raids. Armored warriors
holed up in a fortified castle will survive a rampaging
gnoll horde unscathed, even as the towns, villages, and
farms that surround the castle are ablaze, their people
slaughtered and devoured.
Gnolls rarely build permanent structures or
craft anything of lasting value. They don't make
weapons or armor, but scavenge such items from the
corpses of their fallen victims, stringing ears, teeth,
scalps, and other trophies from their foes onto their
patchwork armor.
Thirst for Blood. No goodness or compassion
resides in the heart of a gnoll. Like a demon, it lacks
anything resembling a conscience, and can't be taught
or coerced to put aside its destructive tendencies. The
gnolls' frenzied bloodlust makes them an enemy to all,
and when they lack a common foe, they fight among
themselves. Even the most savage ores avoid allying
with gnolls.
GNOLL PA K LORD
C
The alpha of a gnoll pack is the pack lord, ruling by
might and cunning. A pack lord earns the best of a gnoll
pack's spoils, food, valuable trinkets, and magic items. It
ornaments its body with brutal piercings and grotesque
trophies, dyeing its fur with demonic sigils, hoping
Yeenoghu will make it invulnerable.
N
E
GNOLL FA G OF YE N O G H U
Gnolls celebrate their victories by performing demonic
rituals and making blood offerings to Yeenoghu.
Sometimes the demon lord rewards his worshipers
by allowing one of them to be possessed by a demonic
spirit. Marked as Yeenoghu's favorite, the lucky recipient
becomes a fang ofYeenoghu, the chosen of the Gnoll
Lord. In much the same way Yeenoghu created the
first gnolls, a hyena that feasts on a fang's slain foe
undergoes a horrible transformation, becoming a full­
grown adult gnoll. Depending on the number of hyenas
in a region, a fang ofYeenoghu can lead to a startling
increase in the gnoll population. Finding and killing the
fang is the only way to keep that population in check.