FREQUENCY: Uncommon (any except arctic || arid)

FREQUENCY: Common ([Dungeon Level II])

FREQUENCY: Uncommon ([Temperate Civilized Mountains], [Temperate Civilized Hills], [Temperate Civilized Forest], [Temperate Civilized Swamp])
FREQUENCY: Uncommon ([Temperate Civilized Plains])

FREQUENCY: Uncommon ([Temperate Wilderness Mountains], [Temperate Wilderness Hills], [Temperate Wilderness Forest], [Temperate Wilderness Swamp])
FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Temperate Wilderness Plains]) <check all above>

FREQUENCY: Uncommon ([Tropical Civilized Mountains], [Tropical Civilized Hills], [Tropical Civilized Forest], [Tropical Civilized Swamp])
FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Tropical Civilized Plains])

FREQUENCY: Uncommon ([Tropical Wilderness Mountains], [Tropical Wilderness Hills], [Tropical Wilderness Forest], [Tropical Wilderness Swamp])
FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Tropical Wilderness Plains]) <x=hyena>

NO. APPEARING: 20-200 <(hyenas: II, hyaenodons: III, orcs: I, hobgoblins: I, bugbears: III, ogres: III, trolls: VI, normal flind: II, leader flind: III)>

ARMOR CLASS: 5 (+***)
MOVE: 9"
HIT DICE: 2 (+***)
% IN LAIR: 20% (20 Gnolls: swamp, TPL18:3rd, REF3.60)
TREASURE TYPE: Individuals [L], [M]; [D], [Q] (x 5), [S] in lair
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 ~ 16 (15)
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-8 or by weapon <weapon +1: cf. DMG. 15>
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
STRENGTH: 16
INTELLIGENCE: Low-average
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil <(rapacious)>
SIZE: L (7'+ tall)
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: II | 28 + 2
DEITY: Gnolls worship the Demon Prince Yeenoghu.

Gnolls attempt to use a pit to their advantage in a fight.

Gnoll shamans compel worship of Yeenoghu through of the god's wrath should he be slighted.
Yeenoghu's symbol is his triple flail, and all of his shamans wield similar (though non-magical) weapons. <footmen's flails, prb.>
Gnoll shamans can advance up to the 5th level of clerical ability. <x: should be 'shamanic'>

*** For guards and leaders.

SAVES: 14.15.16.17.17

Gnolls travel and live in rapacious bands of loose organization, with the
largest dominating the rest. These bands recognize no other gnoll as
supreme, but they do not necessarily dislike other bands, and on occasion
2 or more such groups will join together briefly in order to fight, raid,
loot, or similarly have greater chance of success against some common foe
or potential victim. They are adaptable and inhabit nearly any AREA save
those which are arctic and/or arid. They have a so-called king, very
powerful personally and with a double normal--sized following, but his
authority extends only as far as his reach.

For every 20 gnolls encountered there will be a leader-type with 16 HP (attacks as a 3 HD creature). <THACO 16>
If 100 or more of these creatures are encountered there will be the following additional gnolls with the band:

a chieftain (AC 3, 22 HP, attack as a 4 hit dice creature and does 4-10 HP damage/attack) and
2-12 guards (AC 4, 20 HP, attack as 3 hit dice monsters, and do 3-9 hit points damage).
If the gnolls are encountered in their lair there will always be a chieftain there,
and there will be from 5-20 guards with him.
The lair will also contain females and young equal to 50% and 200% respectively of the number of males present.

Gnolls are subterranean 85% of the time, but occasionally (15%) they will
take up residence in an abandoned (or cleared) village or building of
some sort. In the former case they are 30% likely to have 1-3 trolls living
with them and acting as guards. In the case where gnolls are found above
ground, they are quite likely (65%) to have 4-16 hyenas (80%) or 2-12
hyaenodons (20%) as pets and guards. They always have a number of
captives for food or slave labor (1 per 10 gnolls is minimum).

Gnolls employ a great variety of weapons, all carry swords, and a typical
force will have the following percentages:
 
 

15%	great bow <daikyu?>	01-15
35%	pole arm	16-50
15%	two-handed sword	51-65
20%	battle axe	66-85
15%	morning star	86-00

Gnolls will generally be on friendly terms with orcs, hobgoblins, bugbears,
ogres, and even trolls -- providing the weaker types are not very much
weaker in numbers and the gnolls are relatively equal in strength to the
stronger monsters.

Gnolls are strong, but they dislike work and are not good miners. They
have infravision. They speak their racial tongue, chaotic evil, troll, and
often (60%) orcish and/or hobgoblin.

Description: There is a great resemblance between gnolls and hyenas.
Gnolls have greenish gray skins, darker near the muzzle, with reddish gray
to dull yellow mane. Eyes are dull black and nails are amber colored. Their
armor is of horn, metal plates, and leather; like their fur capes and vests, it
is shabby, and the latter are moth-eaten and dingy, being brown, black or
grayish pelts. Gnolls have short life spans -- 35 years being average.

Tribal Spell Casters : Shamen (C5 maximum) OR witch doctors (C5 / MU2 maximum). Not recommended for random encounters.

GNOLLS
Gnolls worship the Demon Prince Yeenoghu (see MONSTER MANUAL, DEMON, Yeenoghu).
Gnoll shamans compel worship of Yeenoghu through fear of the god's wrath should he be slighted.
Yeenoghu's symbol is his triple flail, and all of his shamans wield similar (though non-magical) weapons.
Gnoll shamans can advance up to the 5th level of clerical ability.

The name for gnolls is from Dunsany, but nothing else.
 

Julian Grimm wrote:
Gary,

After reading the original descriptions for thr gnoll and seeing the original artwork for the bugbear what prompted the changes from their original forms ( Bugbear, a pumpkin headed baddy and the Gnoll a Gnome/Troll mix) to their AD&D versions?
 

LOL!

The pumpkin-headed bugbear was an artist taking literally my diesription of the monster as having a head like a pumpkin, i.e large, round flat oval.

Akthough the gnole might be such, I thought that a cross between a gnome and a troll was quite unlikely in the developing game system, so I decided to make the gnoll a hyena-like humanoid. I took a dislike to hyenas odor and appearance when I was a wee lad taken to the zoo regularly by my father.

Cheers,
Gary

Quote:
Originally Posted by scadgrad
I'm curious about the origins of a few of the original monsters from the MM; the Gnoll in particular and later, the Flind. I've heard that these have an origin in fantasy literature, but for the life of me I can't imagine which series one might find them featured in. As a follow up to that question, of the monsters in that early tome, and in fact quite a few beasties of OD&D and AD&D, there are a good number which were entirely made from whole cloth, name and all. Of those, is there one, or a group, which you're particularly pleased with? I've always found the idea of the Puddings to be just wildly imaginative and appreciate the way that such strange, original creatures have become part of our shared experience.
 

I took the general name from a short story in The Magazne of Fantasy & Science Fiction,
"The Man who sold Rope to the Gnoles".

everything else i made up to suit the game

The flind is not my creation, it was done by a Brit, and first apeared in White Dwarf magazine, then in the Fiend Folio.

<
death_jester: Gnolls are sadistic and nasty mosters."
>