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| Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Type | Humanoid |
| Image | Wizards.com image |
| Stats | Open Game License stats |
| Publication history | |
| First appearance | Dungeons & Dragons (1974) |
Gnolls are a fictional race of humanoid creatures. In Middle English the word noll meant a troublemaker or hooligan.[citation needed]
Gnolls in Dungeons & Dragons
Physical description
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, gnolls greatly resemble hyenas[1]. They are usually between seven and eight feet tall, weighing around 250 to 320 pounds,[2] and use armor made of horn, metal, or leather[1]. Gnolls are generally depicted in the game world as feral nomads who kill and pillage without warning[3]. Their whole bodies are covered in reddish-brown fur which becomes shorter as it surrounds their faces and clawed hands to reveal grey colored skin. Their pelts vary from mono-colored to spotted and their eyes are either yellow or black.
Subraces
Within the context of the Dungeons & Dragons game, one notable subrace of gnoll is the flind, which is shorter, broader, and stronger than other gnolls[4]; flinds are often found leading a tribe or settlement of gnolls[4]. Flinds use a nunchaku-like weapon called a flindbar, which consists of a pair of metal rods linked together by a chain[4].
Religion
Gnolls in most Dungeons & Dragons settings are worshippers of the demon lord Yeenoghu, who also holds domain over ghouls. Gnolls indulge in humanoid flesh in imitation of this aspect.[5].
Publication history
Gnolls are the literary descendants of Lord Dunsany's "gnoles", who were clever, evil and nonhuman. Gary Gygax writes in the earliest edition of "Dungeons & Dragons" (1974): "A cross between gnomes and trolls (...perhaps, Lord Dunsany did not really make it all that clear) with +2 morale. Otherwise they are similar to hobgoblins..." [6]
Dungeons & Dragons (1974-1976)
The gnoll was introduced in the earliest edition of the game, in the Dungeons & Dragons "white box" set (1974), where they were described as a "cross between gnomes and trolls." [7]
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)
With the 1977 publication of Gygax's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual gnolls were described as hyena-men, a characterization that continues to the present.[1] This book also describes Yeenoghu, a demon lord that many gnolls devote themselves to.
The flind, a more intelligent but less physically powerful relative to the more common gnoll, was introduced in the Fiend Folio (1981)[8]
The mythology and attitudes of the gnolls are described in detail in Dragon #63 (July 1982), in Roger E. Moore's article, "The Humanoids."[9] The article also describes the shoosuva, servants of Yeenoghu that have characteristics of both gnolls and ghouls.
The first "Creature Catalog" article, an insert in Dragon #89 (September 1984), featured the ghuuna, a lycanthrope-like creature that could transform between a gnoll and hyaenodon form.
Dungeons & Dragons (1977-1999)
This edition of the D&D game included its own version of the gnoll, in the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (1977, 1981, 1983).[10][11][12] The gnoll was featured as a player character race in the Orcs of Thar gazetteer (1989). Gnolls were also later featured in the Dungeons & Dragons Game set (1991), the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991),[13] the Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game set (1994), and the Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game set (1999).
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)
The gnoll and flind appear first in the Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989),[14] and are reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993).[15]
The flind is also detailed in Dragon #173 (September 1991), in "The Sociology of the Flind," a variation on the "Ecology of..." column.[16]
The gnoll and flind are detailed as playable character races in The Complete Book of Humanoids (1993).[17] The gnoll and flind are later presented as playable character races again in Player's Option: Skills & Powers (1995).[18]
Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)
The gnoll appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2000).[2]
Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003-2007)
The gnoll appears in the revised Monster Manual for this edition (2003).[2]
The flind appears in Monster Manual III (2004).[4]
Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)
The gnoll appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008), including the gnoll huntmaster, the gnoll claw fighter, the gnoll marauder, and the gnoll demonic scourge.[3]
The gnoll was later released as a supported 4th edition player race in Dragon #367.[19]
Gnolls in general
In folklore and literature
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Gnolls are similar to the were-hyenas of African bushman folklore, and the tall dog men (Cynocephales) of early European travellers logs and bestiaries. Hyenas were associated with death because they dug up and ate human corpses.
Gnolls in the Discworld series are small, matted and dirty enough to sprout fungi and grasses on their hides (and seem to relate to soil as trolls relate to rock), and act as street-cleaners in cities like Ankh-Morpork; as Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson puts it, they "pick up this, pick up that, maybe bang it against the wall until it stops struggling..." In the case of at least Stoolie, if not every gnoll on the Discworld, there seems to be a tendency to drop the vowels in words, reflecting a croaking sort of voice.
References
- ^ a b c Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual (TSR, 1977)
- ^ a b c Cook, Monte, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2000)
- ^ a b Mearls, Mike, Stephen Schubert, and James Wyatt. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2008)
- ^ a b c d Burlew, Rich, et al. Monster Manual III (Wizards of the Coast, 2004)
- ^ Sargent, Carl (1992). Monster Mythology. TSR. ISBN 1-56076-362-0.
- ^ Gygax, Gary; Dave Arneson (1974). Dungeons & Dragons (3-Volume Set). TSR.
- ^ Gygax, Gary; Dave Arneson (1974). Dungeons & Dragons (3-Volume Set). TSR.
- ^ Turnbull, Don, ed. Fiend Folio (TSR, 1981)
- ^ Moore, Roger E. "The Humanoids." Dragon #63 (TSR, 1982)
- ^ Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson [1974], edited by J. Eric Holmes. Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (TSR, 1977)
- ^ Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson [1974], edited by Tom Moldvay. Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (TSR, 1981)
- ^ Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson [1974], edited by Frank Mentzer. Dungeons & Dragons Set 1: Basic Rules (TSR, 1983)
- ^ Allston, Aaron, Steven E. Schend, Jon Pickens, and Dori Watry. Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (TSR, 1991)
- ^ Cook, David, et al. Monstrous Compendium Volume One (TSR, 1989)
- ^ Stewart, Doug, ed. Monstrous Manual (TSR, 1993)
- ^ Jones, Spike Y. "The Sociology of the Flind." Dragon #173 (TSR, 1991)
- ^ Slavicsek, Bill. The Complete Book of Humanoids (TSR, 1993)
- ^ Niles, Douglas and Dale Donovan. Player's Option: Skills & Powers (TSR, 1995)
- ^ Baker, Keith. "Playing Gnolls." Dragon #367 (Wizards of the Coast, 2008)
Additional reading
- Pramas, Chris. "Chainmail: The Gnolls of Naresh." Dragon #289 (Paizo Publishing, 2001).
External links
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