Lord_Gareth
2012-04-18, 03:17 PM
Dreavarrian Gnoll
"I don't care what you heard about Jakka and me. Maybe he barked up his last job, and maybe I punished 'im for it, and maybe I didn't. The important thing is this: you hurt one of my boys, and now I'm going to kill all of yours."
When the average denizen of Dreavarr thinks of a thug or a brute, they're usually thinking of a gnoll. In the long shadows of soot-streaked slums, they cut an imposing image - fur braided with gang talismans, muzzles streaked through with ash and blood, eyes narrow and suspicious. Their short tempers and extended pack mentality mean that outbreaks of violence in gnoll-dominated neighborhoods are fairly common - but also fairly nonlethal, once dominance is established.
No legends recount how gnolls came to Dreavarr, and this is probably due in part to the significant discrimination gnolls face. Treated as little more than animals, they fall into criminal habits almost without thinking about it, forced to crawl into the dregs of society just to put food on the table. Joining or forming gangs only reinforces their extended pack mentality, which further fuels the stereotypes that surround them. Thankfully, some gnolls do manage to rise above their circumstances, usually through exceptional military service, and these few can serve as a beacon of hope that they may, one day, rise above savagery.
Appearance: Gnolls tend to be tall for humanoids, with slightly hunched bodies covered in thick, shaggy fur. Their faces bear canine muzzles and their fingers end in short, thick claws that, while useless as weapons, have proven useful in maintaining grips on slick or slippery surfaces. Many gnolls choose to braid or style their fur, and many weave gang or religious symbols into theirs. Since many gnolls live lives of violence, they are often found wearing armor, often painted in dark colors to blend in with the city around them.
Like their cousins on other worlds, gnolls tend to be muscular and somewhat rangy. Their fur and eyes range in color, though they mostly end up getting stained and filthy over the course of a gnoll's life. Gnolls are unlikely to express particular loyalty to their home nations (since all of them more-or-less treat them like vermin), but almost always show solidarity with friends or companions, even if the gnoll in question doesn't like a particular symbol or practice (leading many of Dreavarr's inhabitants to joke that it's safer to be in prison than it is to be bald and friends with a gnoll).
Racial Features
+2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, -2 Dexterity, -2 Intelligence. Gnolls are hardy and naturally cunning, but their natural bulk works against them and the prejudices of their societies work against them.
Medium Humanoid: As Medium creatures, gnolls have no penalties or bonuses associated with their size.
Base Land Speed: 30 Feet
Powerful Build (Ex): Gnolls are heavily built with dense muscles packed into their rangy frames; whenever they are subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as during grapple checks, bull rush attempts, and trip attempts), they are treated as one size larger if doing so is advantageous to them. They are also considered to be one size larger when determining whether a creature’s special attacks based on size (such as improved grab or swallow whole) can affect them. They can use weapons designed for a creature one size larger without penalty. However, their space and reach remain those of a creature of their actual size.
Scent (Ex): Gnolls gain the benefit of the scent special quality (see the system reference document or Monster Manual)
Pack Hunter (Ex): The extended pack mentality most gnolls fall into gives them unparalleled ability to work with their allies. A gnoll gains an additional +2 racial bonus on attack rolls made while flanking and a +1 racial bonus to armor class as long as he is adjacent to an allied creature. Additionally, if a gnoll and one or more of his allies all threaten a creature, they are treated as flanking that creature.
Vestigial Claws (Ex): A gnoll's claws grant him a +2 racial bonus on Climb checks, as well as any disarm checks the gnoll makes while unarmed.
Languages: Common, Gnoll. Bonus Languages: Any national, Gutterspeak, Smuggler's Cant, Brattack Code, Old Orcish.
Favored Class: Warblade.
Level Adjustment: +0
"I don't care what you heard about Jakka and me. Maybe he barked up his last job, and maybe I punished 'im for it, and maybe I didn't. The important thing is this: you hurt one of my boys, and now I'm going to kill all of yours."
When the average denizen of Dreavarr thinks of a thug or a brute, they're usually thinking of a gnoll. In the long shadows of soot-streaked slums, they cut an imposing image - fur braided with gang talismans, muzzles streaked through with ash and blood, eyes narrow and suspicious. Their short tempers and extended pack mentality mean that outbreaks of violence in gnoll-dominated neighborhoods are fairly common - but also fairly nonlethal, once dominance is established.
No legends recount how gnolls came to Dreavarr, and this is probably due in part to the significant discrimination gnolls face. Treated as little more than animals, they fall into criminal habits almost without thinking about it, forced to crawl into the dregs of society just to put food on the table. Joining or forming gangs only reinforces their extended pack mentality, which further fuels the stereotypes that surround them. Thankfully, some gnolls do manage to rise above their circumstances, usually through exceptional military service, and these few can serve as a beacon of hope that they may, one day, rise above savagery.
Appearance: Gnolls tend to be tall for humanoids, with slightly hunched bodies covered in thick, shaggy fur. Their faces bear canine muzzles and their fingers end in short, thick claws that, while useless as weapons, have proven useful in maintaining grips on slick or slippery surfaces. Many gnolls choose to braid or style their fur, and many weave gang or religious symbols into theirs. Since many gnolls live lives of violence, they are often found wearing armor, often painted in dark colors to blend in with the city around them.
Like their cousins on other worlds, gnolls tend to be muscular and somewhat rangy. Their fur and eyes range in color, though they mostly end up getting stained and filthy over the course of a gnoll's life. Gnolls are unlikely to express particular loyalty to their home nations (since all of them more-or-less treat them like vermin), but almost always show solidarity with friends or companions, even if the gnoll in question doesn't like a particular symbol or practice (leading many of Dreavarr's inhabitants to joke that it's safer to be in prison than it is to be bald and friends with a gnoll).
Racial Features
+2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, -2 Dexterity, -2 Intelligence. Gnolls are hardy and naturally cunning, but their natural bulk works against them and the prejudices of their societies work against them.
Medium Humanoid: As Medium creatures, gnolls have no penalties or bonuses associated with their size.
Base Land Speed: 30 Feet
Powerful Build (Ex): Gnolls are heavily built with dense muscles packed into their rangy frames; whenever they are subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as during grapple checks, bull rush attempts, and trip attempts), they are treated as one size larger if doing so is advantageous to them. They are also considered to be one size larger when determining whether a creature’s special attacks based on size (such as improved grab or swallow whole) can affect them. They can use weapons designed for a creature one size larger without penalty. However, their space and reach remain those of a creature of their actual size.
Scent (Ex): Gnolls gain the benefit of the scent special quality (see the system reference document or Monster Manual)
Pack Hunter (Ex): The extended pack mentality most gnolls fall into gives them unparalleled ability to work with their allies. A gnoll gains an additional +2 racial bonus on attack rolls made while flanking and a +1 racial bonus to armor class as long as he is adjacent to an allied creature. Additionally, if a gnoll and one or more of his allies all threaten a creature, they are treated as flanking that creature.
Vestigial Claws (Ex): A gnoll's claws grant him a +2 racial bonus on Climb checks, as well as any disarm checks the gnoll makes while unarmed.
Languages: Common, Gnoll. Bonus Languages: Any national, Gutterspeak, Smuggler's Cant, Brattack Code, Old Orcish.
Favored Class: Warblade.
Level Adjustment: +0