Gnoll Species

[Big_Jim]

Gnoll
You’re a gnoll, a bipedal canid humanoid known for nomadic wandering and a preference for nocturnal activity. A prominent barrel chest, humped shoulders and long lean limbs gives you the appearance of being both gangly and powerfully built at the same time. Despite this hunched stature your eye-line is easily six and a half feet off the ground and you would likely exceed 8 ft. tall if your frame would allow you to stand fully erect. You are covered in a short, often matted, fur that can range in color from a dirty yellow or reddish-brown through black, often with spots, tips and other canine coloration and markings.
You’ve likely spent your childhood moving constantly as you fellow tribe members raided other races’ homes for food, supplies and slaves. You also quickly learned to eat heartily when food was plentiful and conserve your efforts during the lean times. Your people are well suited to working at night and constant competition intertwined with coordinated actions gives you an outlook that puzzles comrades of other races.
Common Personality Traits: Brutal, chaotic, cruel, opportunistic, paranoid
Common Physical Traits: Lanky limbs, musty smell, nervous demeanor, predatory gaze, unkempt fur
Example Names: Gnawtooth, Keennose, Mornyelp, Yellowspot
Splinter Race Feats: laughing pack (hyena), hunter pack (lupine), sly pack (jackal/coyote). Unless you choose one of these, you’re a ‘mongrel pack’.
Type: Medium biped folk with a Reach of 1 (see Fantasy Craft, page 227).
Your maximum wounds equal your Constitution score.

•   Attributes: +2 Strength, –2 to the higher of Charisma or Intelligence.
•   Base Speed: 30 ft.
•   Bloodhound: Your base scent range is equal to your Wisdom score × 10 ft. Also, you gain a +6 bonus with Tracking checks.
•   Crunch!: Your Strength-based damage rolls inflict 1 additional damage.
•   Darkvision I: You ignore the effects of dim and faint light.
•   Hearty Appetite: You benefit from the first 2 food and 2 drink you consume in each day.
•   Lean Season: You require only 1 common meal per day.
•   Light Sleeper: Sleeping is never a Terminal Situation for you.
•   Reviled: The disposition of non-gnolls decrease by 10.

New Species Feats

Gnoll Blood
Both their tall lanky frame and short fuzzy fur point towards a half-gnoll’s parentage. That and the often pointed ears.
Prerequisites: Non-Gnoll Folk, Level 1 only
Benefit: Your Strength score rises by 1, you gain darkvision I (see Fantasy Craft, page 233), light sleeper (see Fantasy Craft, page 234), and you may select feats as if you’re a Gnoll. However, the Dispositions of non-gnolls worsen by 5.
Special: You may only have 1 “Blood” feat. When you gain this feat you may reduce any of your attributes by 2 to gain an additional Species feat with the requirement “Level 1 only.”

Hunter Pack
With wolf like features and dignity, you project an almost noble demeanor to others and can coordinate with your own kind on an almost subconscious level.
Prerequisites: Gnoll, Level 1 only
Benefit: You gain +2 morale bonus to Defense and all saves when at least 2 adjacent characters share your Species. Also, you lose the Reviled quality.

Hunter Alpha
Without question, you were born to lead the pack.
Prerequisites: Hunter Pack
Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus with Morale checks. Also, once per scene, you may speak to 1 of your teammates for 1 minute to grant them a +1 morale bonus with saving throws until the end of the current scene. Finally, you gain the grueling combatant NPC quality (see Fantasycraft, page 233).

Laughing Pack
While your coloration and pattern of spots are distinctive, it is your powerful hyena-like jaws that sets you apart from your cousins. That and your mocking, laughing war cry.
Prerequisites: Gnoll, Level 1 only
Benefit: You gain the Bite I natural attack (see Fantasycraft, page 235). You also gain a +5 gear bonus with Blend checks while in your choice of either Desert or Plains terrain.

Laughing Alpha
You can crush bone between your teeth with an ease that is truly unnerving.
Prerequisites: Laughing Pack
Benefit: Your Bite I natural attack increases to Bite II (see Fantasycraft, page 235). You also gain a trick.
Bonecrusher (Bite Attack Trick): If the target is a standard character with a lower Strength score than yours, he immediately fails his Damage save (damage isn’t rolled). You may use this trick a number of times per combat equal to the number of Species feats you have.

Sly Pack
Smaller that most of your cousins, you slink through the night with skill that makes all envious.
Prerequisites: Gnoll, Level 1 only
Benefit: Your Intelligence score rises by 2 and when taking the Basic Skill Mastery feat you have access to a new skill pair: Slinker (Notice & Sneak). Also you gain darkvision II and light-sensitive (see Fantasy Craft, pages 233 and 234). However, you lose Crunch!.

Sly Alpha
Keen ears compliment your stealthy nature.
Prerequisites: Sly Pack
Benefit: Your base Defense increases by 1. Also, your hearing range increments are equal to your Wisdom score x 10 ft. Finally, you may always act during a surprise round unless deafened.

[Krensky]

Gnolls are hyaenid, not canid. Hyenas are way on the other side of carnivora with the cats, mongooses, meerkats, and civits.

Also, a group of hyena is a clan, not a pack.

[Dhampire]

For Laughing Pack, I think I would have included something using or helping Taunt or Intimidate.

Overall, I think it's alright, mechanically.

[Gentry]

As a general observation, I hate the Reviled quality, as it presupposes campaign flavor. If it's how your campaign-world operates, then I've got no beef with it. But if this is a more generic idea submission I'd be inclined to drop Reviled, as well as a benefit to keep the point value right (Hearty Appetite, while an interesting combo with Lean Season, would be my choice for exclusion alongside Reviled).

[pawsplay]

OTOH, if you drop the Reviled quality, it has to be added back in for campaigns in which it is present. I think it's fair to assume Reviled exists because other folk are appalled by behaviors, which are stereotyped as belonging to the individuals of that species. Only if the Gnoll species did not practice abhorrent acts would Reviled seem out of place.