Gnoll
- Type
- Humanoid
- Base HD
- 1
- Terror
- 0
- Height (cm)
- 165
Gnolls are hyena-headed humanoids that are shorter than elves but stronger than any common land humanoid but a Man. They are obligate carnivores that can starve for weeks or even months without ill effect so long as they gorge themselves after. They are seemingly always starving no matter how much they eat, though their stomachs are not infinite and it is possible for them to feel hungry even when physically unable to eat any more. Because they have no use for farmland they tend to convert any land they capture into pasture to feed livestock, which in turn makes any land inhabited for extended periods by gnolls relatively worthless to Men without substantial labor. Still their populations cannot be sustained at a high level, because cows and goats are much less nourishing per acre than potatoes or barley.
Gnolls are infamous for their blood frenzy that they can work themselves into when wounded, and their tendency to eat even their own fallen during the heat of battle. While terrifying to behold the frenzy also causes them to become almost animalistic with savagery, which means also that they become incapable of keeping formation or tactical maneuver and also that their morale depends heavily on obviously winning whatever fight they’re in. Hence their most fearsome trait to face in battle is the same tendency makes them quite poor soldiers and combined with their relatively low numbers makes them mostly unable to challenge disciplined or at least habituated armies of greater humanoids, such as Men. However, gnolls move extremely quickly overland and do not need to stop to eat, so they are very accomplished raiders and slave takers. The territories of gnolls tend to be vast compared to the number of inhabitants which ironically makes it more difficult to hold, because there is next to no forage for invading armies and the gnolls do not always give battle, instead targeting other, less prepared settlements or even outflanking the force sent to subdue them and attacking the cities behind it.