KYPW: Gnolls - Dungeons and Dragons 5e

[@Taking20]

Check out Miniature Market here: miniaturemarket.com/taking20 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOW AVAILABLE - The Mist Walker! - New 5e Class! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Download the Mist Walker here: bit.ly/MistWalker Grab you rewards here: WelcomeAdventurers.com Join us on Discord: bit.ly/Taking20Discord The Lazy DM: amzn.to/2JvIWAN Check out our website for more TTRPG: bit.ly/Taking20net My recommend starting point to read Forgotten Realms books: amzn.to/2LfCUBk

[@cessna1022]

Taking20 where is kypw yuan ti. I’ve been thinking about running a campaign with yuan ti and other reptilian monsters and it’d be nice to have a well rounded guide. Keep doing what you do

[@gollum475dejong3]

I think i can use a gnoll as the new villian for the canpaing. Maybe his group was killed by soldiers. And then hé was beaten and in slave't. And now hé wants revenge on that kingdom.

[@InquisitorThomas]

Best use of Gnolls I’ve ever seen, have three run a butchers shop called the Grassy Knoll and name them Lee, Harvey, and Oswald.

[@studentmoviesandvibes1671]

i know thats a reference, i just cant remember to what

[@InquisitorThomas]

Shitpostin McGee Team Four Star’s Billy Punchy Face One Shot.

[@datalich]

I ran a game and had a player from an island called the Grassy Knoll, but everyone kept asking why there would be a grassy gnoll.

[@joegaylord87]

That's amazing. I'm going to straight up steal this at some point.

[@loganreads90]

The Lee Harvey Oswald thing hit me square in the face, but the Grassy Knoll flew straight over my head.

[@derekburge5294]

Interspersing a Gnoll's dialogue with fits of hyena laughter had a wonderful effect on my own group back in the day. They found shrieking laughter unsettling for some odd reason!

[@smokey3504]

I'm currently running a Gnoll pc and doing this, nobody'll mess with me XD

[@charlottewalnut3118]

- Ashtray - imma eat you

[@Neutral_Tired]

Hyenas only do that when they’re stressed, so imo I tend to use it as a tell for when they’re lying or uncomfortable, so far nobody I’ve played with has caught on, but I will keep trying

[@johngage2946]

I've been playing D and D since 1978. And I happy to see a young one such as yourself teaching this amazing game in such a fun and creative fashion. Keep up the good work!

[@Taking20]

Appreciate it John.

[@nicholasfrycklund9065]

My players came across a Gnoll with a flair of madness. They killed the gnoll, detached the skull of madness from the flail and was using it at a “baseball of madness” for several more sessions.

[@draxthemsklonst]

Thanks. This gnolledge was ungnome til now.

[@Taking20]

xD

[@Doribi117]

Matt Lynn be careful, those puns can be bad for your helf

[@draxthemsklonst]

Doribi I got tarrasque you, drow could you say that? Guess it was inevitable. Tiefling about it: aasimar options for role playing.

[@Doribi117]

I must say, it is a rarity to meet one whose pun skill dwarf my own. let's not dragon this battle of wits, as it is clear you are the superior in this field.

[@emc246]

If this were a dnd campaign, that joke would cause humans to hurt Orcill you.

[@IceCoolTea]

I can hear the gnolls in the background :D

[@InquisitorThomas]

Gnolls, the center of my first combat encounter, first party death and first TPK.

[@theDMLair]

What better way to be introduced to D&D, eh? 😃

[@InquisitorThomas]

the DM Lair Well it wasn’t exactly an introduction, the player I was playing with was fairly experienced, He was playing a second level Paladin with an 18 Armor Class, so I thought “might as well give him a taste of combat” so I set him up against a single Gnoll Hunter and a pair of Hyena, the Hyena did Jack Shit and the Gnoll lost his spear early on in the battle so it only had the Bite attack, and I thought the player would quickly beat the Gnoll, then he wiffed ever single attack roll.

[@theDMLair]

LOL - Yeah, bad dice rolls will do it every time. But at least he got a taste of combat, eh? 😃

[@gaz_bat2389]

What if the gnolls are lead by a bipedal lion with a black mane and a scar over his left eyr

[@maxquayle2519]

a wearlion

[@Neutral_Tired]

Tabaxi barbarian

[@matheustelles2116]

Named Sonata? Lol hahaah

[@TheoG414]

Be PREPAREDDDDDDD

[@wyattgrodzins5214]

Make it a raksasha!

[@zero98204]

KYPW has been awesome. I was building a Hag encounter when I ran across KYPW: Hags, and gnolls have always been some of my favorite monsters. Thanks!

[@jessicaberry5596]

If I'm not mistaken, Gnolls don't really care about whose in their war band, as they can usually sense any creautres' ties to their Demon Lord and thus allow such affected to work alongside them.

[@Gibbons3457]

I find that I prefer the Pathfinder Gnolls over 5e Gnolls purely down to Pathfinder giving Gnolls access to anti-gravitic ore. I just love the idea of these clans of Gnolls using weapons that are extremely light a huge benefit for a society that is always on the move. I also like to play it that the Gnolls have no idea where it comes from, they just keep finding it. Another thing I like to do with Gnolls is play on the Hyena-like traits to a significant degree. The big strong high standing Gnolls are the females, not the males, with males being barely considered citizens by anyone other than their daughters. So there's a lot of sneaky male Gnolls trying to get their daughters higher up the pecking order with dirty tricks, whilst other male Gnolls are beaten and broken almost feral. The females are the heavyweights in almost everything be it politics, combat, or religion. Further playing on the Hyena theme I like to play on the Hyenas laugh and how pop culture completely misunderstands it, mostly due to the Lion King. Hyenas only laugh when stressed. Their contact calls, an eerie whooping sound are very could at creeping out a party that's camping out in a wilderness grassland. Finally, I like to integrate them into my campaign worlds as war profiteers and weapons dealers. Emphasising their pathological conflict with the concept of settlements I like to give my Gnolls access to black powder often having them commit acts of terror against local cities whilst blaming the act on another city in efforts to start a war between the two, in hopes that the resulting war will destroy one or both of the cities and at least make them rich selling weapons to both sides. I also like to keep them slightly disconnected from the Yeenoghu and demons whilst not severing that connection. Having some Gnolls worship and summon demons is interesting, whilst having other gnolls hate demons and kill them on sight further makes the connection deeper, then have another group or groups of gnolls be passively assisting demonic agents without being in on it. This way my players don't know from the outset wihether they are going to be running into which kind of gnoll. Often I have a least two or three merchant gnolls in my campaign simply because players enjoy haggling with them whilst also scrutinizing me on whether this is a demon summoning gnoll or not. I have a real soft spot for Gnolls, my first pathfinder charater was a Gnoll.

[@jonathanmcneely8568]

Gibbons3457 Why aren't you doing a D&D advice show? Love these ideas!

[@theDMLair]

Gibbons3457 Those are all really cool ideas! It breaks gnolls away from the "all we do is slaughter and eat" mentality and makes them quite a bit more interesting, honestly.

[@comic2050]

Where can I find more description about the antigravity ore that gnoll use? I am interested. Could you tell me which campaign setting should I be look into?

[@Gibbons3457]

You can find out about Anti Gravitic Ore on d20pfsrd under 3rd-party-races, rogue-genius-games, gnolls. I used it once to make my Gnolls more interesting and loved it so much I use it all the time now.

[@blankrodriguez4712]

This is one of the best interpretations of gnolls I’ve read in a while, truly amazing

[@megatroymega]

A Green Dragon named Karnovaxx allied himself with a warband of gnolls. They overran a wood elf village and the green dragon captured a powerful dryad that was the patron of the village. Wrapping an iron band around the dryad's preventing the dryad from returning into it and also the feywild. I made a gnoll blood shaman (vind whip reflavored as chain, fog cloud as red mist, etc) and used every gnoll in MM and Volos. My level 10-11 party crushed the gnolls as the dragon rushed to the village. They engaged and the dragon retreated back to dryad grove. At the grove it use macabre danse spell to summon witherlings which conveniently are immune to poison breath weapon. The witherlings were no match for Brent Arden cleric and Champion of Light. Karnovaxx retreated once more to its lair. The party freed the dryad and rested. Karnovaxx rested as well. The ancestral spirit of the elves guided the players to the dragons lair. They encountered a false chamber and false dragon (half dragon giant crocodile) which Mayla the Bear of Brindol suplexed as an air elemental. An Ooze awaited them in the giant chest in the false lair a honey pot if you will. Brent removed the water from a tunnel granting access to the sleeping chamber. The battle raged as the dragon called upon its home defense (lair actions) walls of thorn and enchantment mist. A yeth hound bound to Karnovaxx harried the group but was dealt with swiftly. Karnovaxx singled out a member valiant Tohi Shadow Fist who was immune to poison breath, but not claw, bite, and tail. As Tohi lay dying, Karnovaxx moved to retreat nearly dead. Brent could use his magic to kill Karnovaxx or rescue Tohi from death. He chose to stop the dragon. Tohi failed his death save. The following day Brent resurrected his ally by placing a diamond where Tohi's should be. There was much treasure and very odd creature in the hoard such as an ash cat, an awakened mouse, invisible octopus, an animated yard gnome, and a noble woman under feign death spell. Along with the fabled Torch of Turin an undeniable source of light (9th level continual flame). Oh I forgot the gnolls carved toothy grins into the trees and ate the elves, but that's a given right?

[@prowrestlingwithjuce1324]

Very good video. The editing is clean too. Great job bud! KYPW is my favorite series of yours.

[@ryanoutram7059]

I only started playing in 5e and I absolutely fell in love with gnolls when I saw them in the MM. I had an arc involving gnolls planned for a game that sadly fell through. A large, savannah-based nation that regularly had to deal with gnolls was capturing them and covertly releasing them within the borders of a smaller, less powerful neighbouring nation. The larger nation was then planning on "helping" the smaller nation by offering support from its military, with extensive experience in fighting gnoll, against this apparent gnoll invasion. Of course, this was only step one of the REAL invasion, with the larger nation planning on taking the smaller nation by surprise, with its military already deep within the unknowing enemy's borders. Of course, it was never to be and that group fell apart, but I really hope I get to see this thread through some day, all the same.

[@DarkVaati13]

Gnolls are my favorite early campaign enemies. One of the games I ran had Magnificent Seven type situation of farmers hiring the party to protect them against the Gnolls. Afterwards they went into the nearby swamps to destroy their shrine to Yeenoghu. If the game continued a later villain was going to actually be a Paladin of Yeenoghu, that believed he was an Avatar of the Demon Lord, looking to get revenge on the party for destroying his temple. He was going to use a cursed knife that was literally one of Yeenoghu's fangs that let him use Rage at the cost of lowering his sanity. Him and the war band he took control of were going to be hunting the party till the end of the earth.

[@TheInfamousBertman]

I love your explanations in this series, it really gives a great primer for these creatures, especially the creative twists that you provide. Thank you very much!

[@alesicamara7202]

Man your channel deserves more recognition

[@InkyPetrel]

Just found this video at random while googling for Gnoll information. Off to watch your other videos now :) This is great! I love your creative suggestions, it's so much fun when a DM takes a fairly straightforward encounter and really dials up the flavour. :D

[@jonavoll4651]

Thank you so much for the kypw series, it is such an amazing advice for new DMs like me.

[@Taking20]

Glad you like it Jona!

[@Corvus-fw2hr]

Regular gnoll, regular gnoll!

[@Jwilhoftstg]

In my game someone said regular maul and I immediately began chanting

[@AcePlaysTCGs]

I've been wanting to use gnolls in my game. I've needed something for the party to worry about in travel, and I had a idea of building the current arc toward a hag coven manipulating an orc band, so to have them also use gnolls sounds awesome. Thank you so much!

[@RykerDavis123]

In my setting I have a major port city that has races of all types including a neighborhood of gnolls. I had them ask the party for help breaking the bloodlust of a group of gnolls in the country side

[@DolphinJellydoughnuts]

I had a port town that was the same though it was a pirate town so it was the kinda place gnoll's could be gnoll's and still be in a setting

[@theDMLair]

That's interesting: civilized gnolls. Or at least gnolls that have discarded their bloodlust; perhaps found a different deity to worship?

[@RykerDavis123]

the DM Lair they worship my custom neutral good God of redemption

[@jonathanblais8058]

Just a quick word. I dont even know if you will read this, but I just want to say thanks for your vids. Im back in D&D after 15 years without playing. A lot of people around me was talking about D&D and they asked me if I wanted to be a DM, since I played for like 10 years straight. So, I accepted the challenge, but I was kind of nervous, didnt know where to start...Ok, this comment is way too long for what I wanted to say...hehe...Anyway, with the power of your words, you gave me the spark to build, I think, an incredible campaign for my players. So thanks a lot :)

[@kaydencox1561]

Gnolls are legit my favorite monster in 5e. There is such an interesting primal savagery that really speaks to the kind of adventure I love. Thank you for the wonderful idea of a consistent chase. That would be an engaging session.

[@sombertone395]

Yay! My favorite! I've been looking forward to this one.

[@BijutsuYoukai]

As someone who's favorite creature/race of creatures is Gnolls, I was really pleased to see a take on situations where the Gnolls weren't just mindless servants of Yeenoghu and 100% evil.

[@pixelgrits894]

these are great ideas and glad to have all the backstory for these creatures. Thanks for this and keep it up!

[@heykenzo4284]

I WAS WAITING FOR THIS!

[@brianwilkins3105]

Love the video. It was gave me plenty of ideas for my own adventure that i am sending my group through here soon. You gave me alot to think about when they actually come to interact and fight the warban that is soon to coming knocking at the castle doors with all their cackeling goodness. One thing iv been craving is gnolls to become a playable race with actually race features much like how the goblins and orcs have, gotta love playing anything that is as far away from the standard human as i can ^^

[@Trodon13]

I'd love to see you do a video on goblinoids as a whole, with their added lore from Volo's guide I've had my intrest piqued.

[@dmitryibadov6577]

Thank you for the video! In my homebrew setting nordic human people of Flaan'In is going through rough times. Their old gods left them, their magic almost doesn't work anymore and people are slowly dying out because of sickness and famine. In despair, some of Flaan'In contacted a being from abbyss, and Yeenoghu helped them and gifted its worshippers with health and power. But it cheated them, and humans slowly slipped into bloodthirsty madness, becoming gnolls. I used both fully transformed gnolls and Yeenoghu worshippers on the path, the latter provided exciting social encounters with outlander PCs. But it never occured to me that gnoll warbands can be tracking PCs through large distances, and that perfectly fits my campagin with lots of exploration!

[@josiahburkhardsmeier3119]

Literally just had almost that same idea you mentioned first. 5 days of travel, hunted by a large force of gnolls. They were using hit and run attacks to wear us down. We managed to get a head start, but by the end of the final day we had to stop or die to exhaustion. We were surrounded at night, but the gnolls didnt attack. They watched from outside our ring of campfires while we waited for the final assault. Then the fires flaired up and the party all had brief visions through the flames. As it faded the gnolls were no longer watching. All of them had died in what looked like a horrible way. We ran out of that forest as fast as we could...

[@uzernamefail]

Gnolls are cool, but I think “as presented” they’re a little TOO tied to Yeenoghu as a race. If gnolls are going to be a major force, your campaign inevitably moves onto demons. By comparison, orcs/goblins can have goals completely unrelated to their gods and are allowed to be their own characters without living in a demon lord’s shadow.

[@Taking20]

I think I agree with you here. All their lore is: "Look how cool Yeenoghu is." I think I would have preferred a little more depth, personally. Infighting, pup raising, relations with similar monstrous races, something.

[@InquisitorThomas]

I disagree, the fact that their so heavily tied with the abyss and demons make them stand out from other similar monsters, there’s no “Oh Orcs just come from bad society. Drow can be heroes too, the Goblins just need love and acceptance” Gnolls are inherently a disease that are intent on bring an apocalyptic end of civilization.

[@dreadreaver55]

To be fair, nothing is stopping you from making your own things up about gnolls.

[@animusnocturnus7131]

I can totally understand that a minimum of civility is appealing for us as DMs to use in our games, but I honestly have to ask myself: How many savage humanoids that only have a different culture than the 'civilized' races do we need? We have Orcs, who are basically the savage warrior race of the wilds, with the strongest and biggest of them as a ruler, we have Goblins, as the sneaky slavers, Bugbears as the thugs, Hobgoblins as the civilized honorable warrior race... there aren't that many niches to fill. What niche should Gnolls then fall into? Because I feel like in the days of yore Gnolls and Orcs kinda lost their unique selling point exactly because of this otherwise strong similarity between them.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

Animus Nocturnus, I can't say that I disagree... At the same time, there's plenty of room to "monkey with the setting" too. If you try to run EVERYTHING by the canon, it's too easy to get "clutter-f***ed" in the game-world... SO I usually just "sweep stuff out" so to speak. It clears the area of play for stuff I want/need to have in there. If Gnolls are a thing, fine... if not, also fine... We can demonically spawn just about anything else, and from just about any other demon we want to, so... canon might be great for the broad-strokes of world creation or setting themes and all, but for the finer parts and details, flesh out the world (or sweep and clear out) as you see fit. It also lends focus... AND within the play of the game, focus can be important, especially when setting a thematic expectation. If you want to focus more theme toward Lycanthropes, for instance... Well, gnolls really don't have much to do, other than distract from the actual were-wolves and such. If on the other hand, you already have a theme build for a demonic focused campaign (whether pro-demon or anti-demon) Gnolls present an excellent plague to harass and persecute the PC's... and you can even go so far as to create a few "tribes" that might've been spawned by different demons for different purposes... all destructive, of course, but dubiously hairsplitting different none the less. ;o)

[@kotinayler2856]

One fun use of Gnolls I had was a campaign a ran in Eberron. The campaign was inspired by westerns and featured a few factions of bandits and one was the Wild Bunch. The group was lead by Gnolls but also had Minotaurs and Goblinoids in the ranks. The fun thing was the characters completely had the possibility to join them. The Wild Bunch were the second most feared faction but were really kind to their friends. But as the leader race, they were way smarter than the Minotaurs, Goblins and Bugbears who they worked alongside.

[@martinschafer6002]

First of all: I love FR Gnolls! They are more of a force of nature, like locusts. The best demon companions are Volo's Guide's Maw Demon and Shoosuva, but also the other additional Gnoll options are great. In my mind, a Gnoll war band in a nearby swampf would easily be handled, because they are simply too chaotic for "proper" warfare. But, if a Flind, for example, would arise from among those Gnolls, gifted with a Shoosuva and a bunch of maw demons, that Gnoll war band would become a serious threat to any comunity in or adjacent to said swamp! Also, like you said, Gnolls pick on what is left, so they are a great "second wave", if your party has cleared whatever problem was in an area (lizardfolk, hobgoblin, goblins, ...), they might have to find out that the area wasn't safe for long, since the Gnolls came next :-)

[@ARH8585]

You and your fellow motley friends scout through the thick forest. An hour passes by and you start to notice pieces of bone scattered here and there on the ground, some animal and some possibly human? Stopping for a break, as you wipe sweat off your brow, you glance at the symbols painted on the tree trunks knowing you are trespassing in feral territory. Later on you take a knee and pick up a chunk of balled up fur and feel the coarseness of it, you know you are close to the hunt...after a few hours later, your troop member halts the staggered group and signals you all to crouch and conceal. Looking out the treeline you see a ravenous pack of wild monsters feasting on a dead horse when suddenly....one stops chewing, the darkness makes it hard to see thier silhouette but you can see the two circles of eyes lit from the moon light..then another pair. ..and another...your second in command, an elf, slowly pulls out an arrow from his quill...

[@spehizle]

Tonight's game: The party is hired by an eccentric mage/alchemist/scholar/tinkerer who is the secret head of a thieves' guild in a desert-coastal city who, TWIST, is actually a Copper Dragon polymorphed into humanoid form. Apparently, his shipments of fine goods (silks, embroidered tapestries, clockwork curios, and restored relics), are being regularly raided on the road. He hires the party to find who is raiding his caravans and, if possible return his goods to him. The party tracks and discovered that a large band of gnolls has been raiding these caravans. However, what use are fine goods and elegant curiosities to gnolls, who just seem to be storing them? A little investigation/interrogation will reveal that the gnolls are in thrall to a wealthy and corrupt merchant prince of a nearby garrison who, TWIST, is a polymorphed Blue Dragon seeking to subvert the Copper Dragon. The Blue Dragon had bought the gnolls as tribute from a cabal of demon worshipers to use as disposable raiding forces and deniable assets. However, TWIST, being bound to the Blue Dragon's will has quieted the howling bloodlust in their minds, and they seek only to be free from both their old and new masters. The party must now decide if they will simply slaughter the gnolls and finish their job as hired, or if they will now risk the ire of a powerful and cruel merchant prince (who also happens to be a dragon) to help these pitiable creatures.

[@spellbladeoff-hand7662]

Great video, thanks for all the info and advice. After watching this and doing a bit of research here’s what I have for my player’s next adventure, the notes are a little messy as I’ve just blasted them out now but anybody feel free to borrow and adjust this to your games at will. (WARNING, this is loooong) The players come to stop at a small town on their travels, expecting to stay a few nights at one of the nearby inns an resupply before continuing their journey. In the town they notice they are DOZENS of people homeless on the streets, and the taverns/canteens/anywhere with food all have queues and/or crowds of hungry/starved looking people waiting, with owners of the establishments either rushing but clearly overtaxed trying to help the needy or shouting them away and denying them free food dependent on each individual’s temperament. Upon investigation, they’ll discover that this town has had a massive influx of refugees from a nearby larger town and many of the surrounding farmlands. The larger town was unexpectedly attacked in the middle of the night by a force of around a hundred Gnolls - Successful History/Religion checks will allow the PCs to know that aside from this number being an alarming and dangerous amount, it is incredibly odd. Due to Gnolls chaotic nature and their eternal hunger meaning they refusing to share food with large numbers, Gnoll warbands rarely reach two dozen in number and them surpassing this is practically unheard of. And this is A HUNDRED. (Note that my party is 6 Level 3 / 4 characters and have completed a few small quests where I have ensured they are capable of defeating the enemy. This is my attempt at giving them a situation where they explicitly know they cannot take on the full force and expect to win, gotta get creative.) Whilst many managed to escape the town during the attack, hundreds were left behind presumably to be eaten alive. Depending on who they ask, they may hear recollections of people being dragged away by the Gnolls whilst they attack, but I aim to subtly make sure nobody ever gives an account of the Gnolls attacking/killing people - more on that later. The people of this town figure that eventually the Gnolls will be coming this way and many have already fled / making preparations to flee. The PCs are asked to check up on a few farmlands and a secluded chapel, in hopes that the smaller buildings on the outskirts of the towns have managed to avoid the Gnolls notice for now and they can be escorted away from these vulnerable locations. Some of these locations have not yet been attacked, others show clear signs of struggle & slaughter, whereas others will have small bands of Gnolls… keeping guard over innocents as prisoners. Again, Gnolls are eternally hungry. The idea of them keeping prisoners and not immediately eating them is bizarre. Of course the Gnolls aren’t going to communicate effectively with the players and will be fought on sight. As the players move between the areas of interest they’re investigating they’ll come across signs of hastily buried piles and scraps of bones, another curiosity as Gnolls have never been known to care for burying scraps. Basically, at this point it should be clear this Gnoll warband is massive and is acting in ways that are unorthodox and suspicious for what is one of the most savage yet straight forward types of demon there is. The chapel is where the players will find the biggest pack of Gnolls yet, led by a Pack Lord. If the battles goes in the player’s favour, the Pack Lord will attempt to cease the fighting and converse with the player. (In my party, we have a Tiefling Wizard. The Pack Lord will attempt to speak to the Tiefling in Abyssal, who will not understand but hopefully the Mystic who has telepathy will pick up on this, as they need no language to communicate) Once they establish a way to communicate, the Pack Lord will very reluctantly compliment the party on their strength and ask for their help. The Pack Lord will explain that a Fang of Yeenoghu found their warband and asserted himself as its leader. Normally a warband is ecstatic to have a Fang in their ranks as it makes them much more powerful, but this particular Fang is tyrannical (Even for Gnoll standards) and perhaps too cunning for the other Gnolls to appreciate. He has forbid any Gnolls from eating or even killing the victims of their raids; all must be brought to the Fang so he can kill them personally and his packs of Hyenas feed upon the corpses, transforming into Gnolls themselves. They are also breeding these hyenas in captivity, another tactic that’s more long-term than Gnolls are usually capable of considering. Even with their vastly increased size and power, the Gnolls eternal hunger is more painful than ever and most secretly wish to be rid of this Fang, but they cannot raise up against him as a Fang is capable of slaying lesser Gnolls easily (In combat portraying this as advantage on attacks against fellow Gnolls and Auto-Crits on hit.) and Gnolls who are executed for displeasing their Fang overlords will be sent to Yeenoghu for punishment for all eternity (Religion Check will show this claim is actually a lie, spread by the Fang himself to sow absolute obedience) From here the players may enter into a very tenuous partnership with the Gnoll lieutenant to work together to defeat the Fang of Yeenoghu. At this point they know the Gnoll warband is using the remains of the ransacked town as a base to bring prisoners too and the number of 100 Gnolls is steadily growing, so they have to find a way to strike at the Fang even though he is heavily guarded at all times. I’ve yet to think of a way for the PCs to discover and use this information, but the “secret” behind the Fang of Yeenoghu will be one of the following: A) The Fang is actually a human cultist of Yeenoghu using illusion magic/some form of artefact to disguise himself as a Gnoll and manipulate them in order to please the demon lord. If the Gnolls discover this they will tear the cultist apart brutally, even if they are currently fighting the party. B) Like the ideas presented in this video, The Fang is a Gnoll who previously pleaded mercy from a Cleric/Paladin and begged them remove the curse of eternal hunger from them. Unfortunately with the Gnolls eternal hunger banished, they were still a creature brought up and raised in a brutal, evil culture and their morality had not changed, but with the constant hunger gone they now possessed a foresight and ability to plan ahead unknown to Gnolls. Either way, their lack of eternal hunger and ability to think ahead and strategize beyond Gnoll capacity is key here. Somehow the players must figure out how to get to the Fang guarded in the centre of the ransacked town or get coax him out and into a more vulnerable situation to kill him. After he is killed, the rest of the Gnolls now longer fearing punishment descend into cannibalistic chaos feasting on each other, giving the PCs their chance to escape whilst the Gnolls tear each other apart - but not completely in the clear, as any Gnolls who notice them fleeing in the chaos will still attempt to eat a party of adventurers over their own brethren. I’ll probably try to cap this adventure off using a Skill Challenge as a chase scene as the party escapes the town with hordes of Gnolls at their back.

[@telepylus111]

i love learning stuff about dnd i didn't know before

[@kaelhound]

As a primarily Pathfinder player I do quite like their flavour on Gnolls. Instead of just being mindless, hungering, destroyers they're depicted as lazy, family-oriented, slavers who are surprisingly devout followers of The Mother of Monsters, Lamashtu. They will avoid hard labour at all costs, putting it in the hands of their slaves, and their priestesses often bear scars on their belly from the monstrous caesarean births they perform, be they of gnolls or actual monsters as gifted by Lamashtu. Despite their deep connection to a female deity they are still depicted as a largely patriarchal race, at least politically. Betrayal of the tribe is punished with exile and branding, and their deep connection to family means this often leaves the exiled gnolls suicidal to some degree. I ended up playing a gnoll necromancer/warpriest at one point who had abandoned the worship of Lamashtu in favour of the Horseman of War, after her village was slaughtered at the hands of a local human force an Lamashtu sent no aid. Seeing that their species' mother figure had abandoned her children (at least in my character's eyes) Jayn's (my character's) faith was broken, and she now lives only to reconquer her tribe's homeland, oust the human kingdoms present, and lead the gnolls into a golden age of despotism and easy living on the backs of an army of slaves and undead. She was LE, if that weren't easy to tell. Fun character to play, if a little disturbing in her methods at times.

[@Hadthese]

In my campaign, a Yuan Ti Whisperer, a survivor from another one off campaign set in the same world, has done exactly what you’ve described for the hags in that he lurks near the warband, giving them “omens” and “dreams” meant to further his goals of reviving the YT empire!

[@AlexNewman42]

In a Spelljammer campaign gnolls are the perfect reavers in the same style as Firefly. Tying the dead to the outside of their ships, going from settlement to settlement in a path of senseless destruction.

[@fukushinvect9574]

At the moment I am working on my first story as DM. The main plot is about a Green Hag coven where 1 bargains with a Gnoll tribe and another one with a city and the players. Basiclly the Coven wants to start a war and depending on what Quests PCs accept, they make the final fight against the Hags far worse or easier.

[@azurethescaletipper210]

The DM I am playing with has Gnolls who have been working with Hobgoblins and (reluctantly) working with Drow as well. To what end, I dunno. But it is interesting. I mean, they would take an opportunity to get some sweet Hobgoblin armor to survive. I even fought a famous Gnoll warrior in there who had a sword for a hand. My character still has it, though he has a better sword right now. But I still have plans to use it again someday.

[@noahmorgan3772]

I am running a Campaign currently using Gnolls, it started as an all Bard game where player took 1 level in Bard and 2 in any other class (inlcuding Bard). Starting off, they came back from a quest, had some good times in the village doing *Bard Things*, and got a quest and took a rest. Skip to approaching their quest locale, they saw goblins attacking some travellers and went to help them, as they were approaching, Gnolls sprang from the treeline and made quick work of the Goblins attacking the travellers (who they quickly turned on) it soon became apparent that it wasn't just a small group of gnolls, but that (through the stormy conditions they were in revealed by Lightning) there was in fact thousands of gnolls racing across the countryside towards the village they had just been at. (They also watched a Detachment of Dwarves engage the Gnolls only to be overrun) After hiding in a ditch under a bridge, the party quickly went after the Gnoll horde back towards the town they had been at, only to find it in ruin, thousands of Dwarf carcasses and Gnoll bodies strewn about, the village torn to pieces and burnt to the ground.

[@nemstarslayer9491]

Yes! I've had gnoll on the mind for a while now. Once I finish my current campaign I'm going to start one focused on a gnoll war band trying to bring their Lord to the material plane

[@noobmurilo]

Dude, you got some awesome ideas. It'll blow my player's minds

[@Jeromy1986]

Use a plain of ashes as camouflage for the gray with black spots of a spotted hyena gnoll band.

[@YamadaJisho]

I had never thought of pairing Gnolls with Vrocks before. Now I can't stop thinking about it.

[@Comicsluvr]

I was at 1:30 and I was already impressed. Your information was VERY good, complete with plot ideas for DMs and players, a description of how destructive they are, where they come from etc. Based on this video, my players will be seeing Gnolls in the near future. Let's have more of this, dealing with groups or cultures in D&D rather than a specific enemy like Strahd.

[@raginbacon1160]

Thanks for the ideas. These are some good ones.

[@joegaylord87]

Cody, you do awesome work! I love your videos. For the next in the series, I have an offbeat, but potentially interesting thought. What about "Burrowers"? You could cover Ankhegs, Umber Hulks, Bulettes at low level and Remorhaz and Purple Worms at higher level. I find these provide really interesting tactical possibilities and opportunities for worldbuilding/ecology development.

[@Taking20]

Good suggestion Joe!

[@d.schaffer7366]

A favorite of mine when using Gnolls, is to have an arcane casting gnoll that can cast enlarge monster* have the gnoll pluck some ticks off their buddies or hyena pets, toss them at the party as they grow in size landing before the party much bigger and mindlessly attacking the party and mounts for their blood! Fun one

[@RayPoreon]

It should be mentioned that if a gnoll asks for help from the PCs, it's unlikely to do it conventionally since even the more neutral clans are based heavily on aggressiveness. For example, they don't make requests, they make demands, they might grab the end of the fighters spear and hold it to their own neck: "Either kill me or help me human!"

[@harrykeogh2466]

Iv'e been using Gnolls as a defeated "slave race" to a power full hobgoblin leader waging war on the surrounding areas. The Gnolls act as scouts and skirmishers for the invading forces and in payment get to eat/destroy whatever they they are set upon. Great vid, gave me some good ideas to layer into the campaign. :)

[@Bossaru9000]

i had one time about a year ago where my party and i ran into an old temple that gnolls had taken up residence in. We fought through the entire dungeon and made it to the last room where three gnoll priests were doing a ritual, or so we thought. We carelessly ran up and killed them, desperate to interrupt whatever ritual they were doing; however, they actually weren't doing a ritual at all, they were praying that we would kill them. When we killed them their blood spilled all over the alter they were praying at and ended up accidentally summoning a shadow demon which we had to fight while we were all wounded and i as the cleric was almost completely out of spell slots to be able to heal the rest of the party with. All in all it was a pretty memorable encounter with the gnolls and it was very satisfying to barely survive that encounter.

[@Twisted_Logic]

My friend ran a homebrew campaign a few years ago in 3.5e where the world's magic had all been used up and the gnolls were a militant industrial power led by a Rommel-esque dictator, complete with oversized dieselpunk vehicles roving the desert. It sounds weird, but I swear gnolls and dieselpunk are a match made in heaven.

[@trashking147]

Thank you for giving me Ideas for Tkp or allies for my campaigns

[@0NlRAPTOR]

I have had on the back burner a group of gnolls as Janissaries. Gnolls collected when young and trained to fight and kill wild gnolls. They are heavily trained and armed and armoured in a particular way so they have a dedicated look and manner. they wouldnt speak Abyssal, having never learned it but rather the language of their captures who would treat them humanely and feed and cloth them well teaching them literature and religion in contrast to their wild brothers.

[@ShortwickCreations]

Gnolls are one of my fav monsters.

[@leandrotoniut1619]

In a campaign that I had we met Gnolls that were strangely well organized, making tents and living in a more Goblin-like manner, taking long term slaves instead of devouring everything. It turned out that one of the Gnolls had stumbled upon a hat that bumped his intelligence to 12, had an awakening of sorts and started running a smooth operation.

[@Demonskunk]

I prefer the way Gnolls work on Pathfinder. But I'm a complete gnoll fanboy, so I'm not a big fan of them being one dimensionally evil. The idea that a band of gnolls would want to break that control, seeing the hunger as a curse, is an interesting one though. So is cackle fever.

[@grayscribe1342]

I read you. We started a campaign in a region of Faerun (3rd Ed.) were Half-Drow regulary hire Gnolls among others and I played a very intelligent (Int 16) Gnoll Barbarian that had worked for one houses for a few years (even got promoted to guard captain) and saw the benefits of civilization. He was also aware of his physical and emotional needs. Combat gave him one outlet and he also figured out another for some of his emotional needs. His last job was to protect the daugther (another PC) of the noble house that got mostly wiped out by an internal dispute. After a while he pointed out to her, that he hasn't been paid in a while and he isn't at her disposal anymore, though if she said 'please' he would consider her 'request'. Though by that time the group had been together for a while, so they stayed together as part of the group. One time got pretty emarrassing as one of them made a rather cliched joke about how they could end up in bed together. The embarrassing part was that both realized that this cliche could actually happen in the situation they were in. Never happened, but it was still a fun time. Also many in the group kept forgetting how smart he was and he surprised them again and again. Just one of several Gnolls I played over the years.

[@justanaverageferret]

A group of gnolls begging for death and not fighting would really mess with some players, I like that idea.

[@Randomizer411]

I make my gnolls like a cross between zombies and werewolves. I noticed the cackle fever and added it as a possible consequence of fighting gnolls, with the added side effect of becoming a gnoll if gone untreated. My gnolls also warp the world around them. Areas they control sprout trees of dog flesh, and fields grow hyena fur instead of grass. The Dogscape creepypasta gives a perfect visual for what it would look like

[@zokerovextis6768]

As it happens, Yeenoghu does in fact have several specific varieties of demons that he favours. Also I really like the disease idea.

[@Troommate]

Got some Great encounter Ideas from this video. Keep them coming :D

[@Mark-G1978]

I enjoy these Cody.. thanks man.

[@quinnlee-newbury9003]

I'm currently setting up a fantasy/somewhat sci fi world in which the abyss is a black hole and the gnoll curse is basically a parasite. Probably gonna be the entry quest for when my party get to that world (still got a campaign to finish)

[@MrGalagoth]

my favorite version of gnolls was in this story called the tribe where they were pretty much the warboys from fury road

[@tyrongkojy]

In my 4e game I'm a Gnoll. It's great fun being this savage creature that enjoys brutality alongside these good and neutral characters.

[@sea_triscuit7980]

I made an old Gnoll that was part of a hunting party that would assault the town (which was being constructed at the time) and was injured so his pack left him behind. He escaped into the forest because he knew his pack would kill and eat him but the deeper into the forest he went. The more "clarity" he felt, having a sense of personality and individualism. He came across a druid after a few nights alone in the cold forest, finally accepting death but the druid saved him and nursed him back the health. The druid is a victim of the townsepeaople who killed off most of his tribe so the rest scattered but he stayed. The Gnoll now is an assistant to the druid and a protector of sorts as well. This is just an NPC too

[@Jpteryx]

For anyone who's read Animorphs, you could humanize the Gnolls by taking inspiration from that series's Taxxons. In this situation, the Gnolls have always suffered from endless, voracious hunger, and almost all of them have willingly given control of their minds over to Yeenoghu (the equivalent of the Yeerks in this situation) so that he can sate their hunger with the corpses of his enemies.

[@TheMalici0usM0nk3y]

Currently playing a Blood Hunter Gnoll in a OOTA campaign. I had the idea that some Gnoll Shamans were able to created a cursed poison, their own version of the Hunter’s Bane. When my PC took the poison he had a vision from Yeenoghu, leading him to the Underdark.

[@arccollins]

Cody, I would really like to hear about creative use of giants. They're such classic thing for heroes to fight in a European-style fantasy setting, even more than dragons. And they're just as prevalent in eastern mythologies! Their language is also one of the more fun ones to take as a player! Unfortunately, it seems to me like they'd be tricky to build into interesting in-game encounters, combat or otherwise.

[@NicheInterests82]

I love gnolls and use them as often as I can, whether as straight-forward enemies that cannot be reasoned with, or as singular NPCs to subvert their expectations. I've always found that when engaging with players it helps to really hammer home their savagry, even beyond animalistic, eating their fallen allies, hanging butchered prey from bloodied structures, chewing off their own limbs to escape traps/spells, etc.

[@wilverine5557]

Thank you for the Videos! IM LOVING THE KYPW VIDS! The ideas presented are fantastic! I am about to reboot a campaign at school, with the same people, and I'm afraid of repeating myself. So again THANK YOU! You have earned a subscriber today! I do have one small request tho, could you please do your next KYPW video on Hobgoblins. Not only are they misunderstood as monsters and not utilized for military prowess, but they would also weave into my next campaign and I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter. (A little selfish, I know, but I love the content and would greatly appreciate the advice)

[@draakgast]

I lost it when I saw the tumnail with the face you where making

[@Taking20]

Got to have a bit of fun right?

[@candmlyons]

I had an unusually intelligent gnoll band riding in war wagons pulled by demonic rhinocerous. I also had some gnolls riding giant hyeanas. They gave chase to a caravan of refugees protected by the characters. In the background, as the players were trying to figure out what the approaching cloud of dust behind them was, I had hyena sound effects, the instrumental intros to songs by Gojira, and isolated guitar riffs of the Doof warrior. The gnolls came into sight, and at their head there was a gnoll with completely black fur, and a gnoll bard with a flame throwing lute. This was when the players realized they were on Fury Road, the Gnoll Edition. The excitement of that running battle is the greatest thing I ever accomplished as a DM.

[@brentilda9535]

this was a great vid im running a gnoll campaign rn

[@wyattgrodzins5214]

For high-level gnolls. (Party level 8+) I have given my gnolls Vicious mockery as a bonus action. (Flavored as laughter infused with demonic energies) dealing psychic damage and giving my players disadvantage turns the CR 1/2 gnolls into something very threating. My players are on edge whenever i bust out the hyena laughter sound-bites to signal they are being hunted.

[@TheBobon123]

i like the idea of a gnoll that consumed random magical artifacts and is subject to spontanious spell casting/ self destructing

[@rpgllama3036]

Gnolls in my world are extremely good at making herbal potions. Their decision to live in the wilderness allows them to leach off the back of the magical inventions of civilization while still allowing them to develop their own magic, mostly of the Druidic/alchemical variety.

[@ericnox2069]

I can't wait to see Goblin folk. Goblins, hobgoblin, and bugbears are always a ton of fun to make into plot hooks and main villains.

[@bray2964]

You've got the perfect warlock Her weapons and supplies But you need a place to track your stuff 'cause you're so disorganized You click "open the web page" You heard about at Critical Role And now you're ready to kick some but In a mineshaft full of Gnolls!

[@maromania7]

I made mine have a sort of expansionist empire like a demonic britian. They don't have 'cities' but there are major dens near huge shrines that are constantly well populated. Many don't stay more than a few days or weeks, but enough traffic in and out that there's always thousands. Except priests and some den mothers and such. The outside explorers sometimes resent or denounce this concept. But the party was going to raid a temple just to find some knoll explorers with slaves and khaki shorts doing the same, charging at them with crossbows and muskets and pith helmets.

[@WickedDreadroot]

gnolls are by far my favorite group of monsters followed very close by devils

[@deannekellogg8514]

I just clicked on videos about Gnolls because I want to play a gnoll druid. Perhaps he had a dream that inspired him. He got in touch with his innerbeing and wanted to become one with nature instead of destroying it. He tried to convince his clan but was laughed at and beaten up so he left them. I thought it'd be cool to ride a giant spider too. Is it possible to have a giant spider mount? Anyway, I really loved your ideas. Made me think of how Yash Tarush of Utter's clan and early life was like.

[@esolang]

In a campaign, I had some clans of gnolls regrouping for a war against the human empire. When the party finally found the location of their main "city", a group of 4 mayan style pyramids, they decided to sneak in the big one and reach the "boss floor". There, they fought against a high level Yeenoghu priest and his gnolls ghouls. When the fight started to turn to the favor of the party, the real "bosses" show up. It was a trio of Mind Flayer that has been controling the priest from the beggining, making him thought his demon lord was talking to him. My party had to fight an entire tribe of gnolls trying to reach their floor, while the priest, some ghouls and the trio of mind flayer wanted to force them going back to the stairs. It was a real rampage on both sides :D

[@bobsapdagger]

One idea could be to really play of the Gnoll’s obsession with death and decay. Just imagine a gnoll necromancer using the remains of whatever the hunting party doesn’t eat to turn into cannon fodder zombies or flesh golems then you could have a group of gnolls that become a much larger threat just by numbers thanks to their undead minions. You could even have a fun scene where the players can tell that the Gnoll army is approaching because the scent of decay is so overwhelming and then add in carriers of disease angle, these gnolls are surrounded by decaying minions constantly and even eat them for a quick meal and some of them are practically dead themselves from disease but the necromancer is keeping them alive so they have patches of rotting flesh with maggots writhing from within and a putrid ichor just oozing from wounds and they regularly vomit this noxious bile that seems to rot everything it touches. Enormous swarms of flies follow the gnolls and the gnolls can even command the thick, nearly impregnable swarms of flies as scouts. The gnoll necromancer itself is like this spin on a necromancer that focuses on using magic to affect decay as the ground it walks upon turns to rotten swampy shit and he has parts and organs from other creatures transplanted into him because his body is rotting away before him and he has these mismatched and misshapened parts and organs so he has a human arm and a Goliath’s legs with organs visibly hanging out of its torso because they were for a creature far bigger than it so it has lengths of intestines hanging out and multiple hearts visibly beating under its chest because it took a bunch of smaller hearts and put them together and its as if this necromancer can control disease itself. Bonus points for realism if you scrape up some old road kill and bring it to your session to help remind the players what they would be smelling

[@atreyudaylan]

Please help! I just had my first secession of my new campaign with 6 of my friends playing. Throughout the whole 2 hours only 1 of them was actively playing and paying attention how can I try to get the rest of them back in the game?

[@takeyouforgranite7850]

I really want to see you do something with Troglodytes... I don't feel like they get enough credit, though they have the potential to be pretty fun. Can that be the next episode?

[@TheoG414]

Does anyone have the stats for Yeenoghu? Can't find it online.

[@BR4IN1N4J4R]

I actually played a Gnoll Ranger (admittedly used Custom Lineage to play him) who had essentially been exiled from his clan and simply wanted to be left well enough alone. He didn't have the classic Spotted Hyena appearance, instead being almost an emaciated framed grey with black stripes Aardwolf. He had made a deal with an Archfey (Fey-Touched and later Fey Wanderer) to share a meal in exchange for being freed from his bonds to the Demon Lord, and soon Ulrich, as he became known, was a fairly respected hero of the land. Also, had an amulet that let me 1/day cast Summon Greater Demon and I was only allowed to summon Vroks. The other players when I used it would always shout "Trash Gang Unite!" and it made me laugh.

[@adolfhipsteryolocaust3443]

I remember playing a gnoll in 3.5 e Good ol' days

[@jasonmed2119]

A werehyena would be a valuable addition, as well as flinds.

[@cuffedjeans7320]

I used gnolls as servants of an orthon that was hunting the PCs through a frozen wasteland. Major Uruk-Hai vibes while hiding in a pine forest from muscle-bound brutes.

[@McSmacks]

My DM used gnolls to great effect in his campaign. Before they weren't anything special. Now. Now they're goddamned terrifying.

[@danielmurphy4406]

I plan on making a campaign that is mainly gnolls but change how they are by using 4 tribes one is bringing on Yeenoghu and the other 3 has broken away from that tribe and I plan to give my players a moral challenges

[@darenthegraysage9003]

I paired my gnolls with mouths of grolantors to create enough “hunger” to summon Yeenoghu