Gnoll

* 4e
* 3e
* 2e
* 1e

The gnolls are friends because they taught the Dark Elves how to hunt in the wilds of Hesperidea. We hunt our food because of the gnolls, never forget that. Although we come to blows, not every gnoll is evil and not every gnoll is good. The race is not wholly good or wholly evil either.

Beyond the edge of their enemies' torchlight, the gnolls' tittering
growls and snickering vocalizations disrupt the stillness. Occasionally,
 the light of reflective eyes dances in the darkness, but it is never
enough to give a clear idea of the gnolls' number or plan of attack.

## Description

Like the hyenas that hunt with them, these pack humanoids use
misdirection, fear, and coordinated attacks to wear down their prey.
With a cackling and irksome confidence, they murder at a leisurely pace,
 one spear strike at a time, ripping flesh and drawing blood until their
 enemy is too weak to resist their final onslaught.

Creatures primarily of the burning desert and arid plain, gnolls know
 that survival relies on the pack. The matriarch of the pack enforces
simple rules of gnoll cohesion. The struggle is not from within the
pack, but outside of it. That which is weaker than the gnoll is food.
Rest ensures sufficient strength for the hunt. Bite off only what you
can chew, saving the rest for the survival of the pack—but always claim
your share. Raise whelps to be strong, and discard the weak.

Any creature that is not part of the pack is nothing more than moving
 meat. Even when a gnoll pack serves a powerful master from outside the
pack, it does so with only its own survival in mind, and it quickly
abandons that master if continued service would be suicidal. Other races
 might look down on the gnolls as selfish, lazy, and ultimately
destructive, but gnolls merely cackle at such judgments. For gnolls,
survival is the only morality, and eating one's enemies is the ultimate
display of power.

It was once believed that gnolls were a scourge of savannas and
deserts alone, but while most gnolls prefer the regions favored by
hyenas, they live and hunt in nearly every climate. Because gnolls'
survival and pack cohesion rely on the hunt, if a pack becomes too
large, it splinters. The weaker group is pushed beyond the borders of
its former pack's hunting territory, often into regions with different
ecologies and prey. While gnolls are numerous in arid climates, smaller
and more desperate packs roam highlands, lowlands, forests, taigas, and
even the Darklands.

Gnolls are strictly carnivorous, even to the point of resorting to
cannibalism in times of great need, during religious rituals, or to show
 their dominance after defeating a rival. The majority of their meat,
however, comes from the hunt. Nearly any kind of meat can provide
sustenance, but they have a strong preference for the flesh of sentient
creatures. This preference is both practical (as sentient creatures are a
 great threat to the pack's stability and survival) and bound up with
the common gnoll superstition that consuming a creature allows one to
absorb its power. That said, there is a prevalent taboo among most
gnolls against eating the flesh of the pugwampi (*Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2*
 144). Their disdain for these fawning fey is so great that most gnolls
believe that eating pugwampi flesh weakens gnolls and can even curse the
 entire pack. It is better to kill them, weave their flesh into *pugwampi braids* —which at least have some use—and leave their meat to rot.

Gnoll packs are matriarchal because female gnolls tend to be larger,
more aggressive, and more cunning than males. Size aside, there are few
physical differences in the appearances of female and male gnolls. On
the average, a gnoll male is around 6 feet in height while the average
gnoll female is closer to 6-1/2 feet, though gnolls of both genders
appear shorter due to their stooping posture.

## Racial Traits

**Humanoid (Gnoll)**

* **Flexible:** Gnolls recieve +2 bonus in any two ability scores, although Str and Con are suggested.
* **Size:** Medium.
* **Base Speed:** Gnolls run at 30 ft. per round.
* **Natural Armor:** Gnolls gain a +1 natural armor bonus to their Armor Class.
* **Low-Light Vision**:Gnolls can see twice as far as a race with normal vision in conditions of dim light.
* **Languages:** gnolls are xenophobic or don't care to learn many new languages. They speak only Gnoll and Common.

### Race Options

#### Bouda (Witch)

These strange and often solitary witches have a strong connection to curses, the evil eye, and hyenas.
**Alignment**: Because of the dark nature of her magic, a bouda
must be of an evil alignment. If a character with the bouda archetype
ceases to be evil, she loses the ability to use all alternate class
features granted by this archetype (but still retains all other witch
class features), though she's still considered to be a bouda when taking
 further levels in the witch class. A bouda regains use of all archetype
 alternate class features if she atones for her violations (see the *atonement* spell).

 **Fetish**: A bouda keeps a small fetish: sometimes a carved
idol, other times a necklace adorned with teeth or bones. A bouda's
spells come from the will of evil spirits residing in the fetish, and
its ability to hold spells functions in a manner identical to the way a
witch's spells are granted by her familiar. The bouda must commune with
her fetish each day to prepare her spells and can only prepare spells
stored in the fetish.

At 3rd level, a bouda can use her fetish to deliver touch spells a
number of times per day equal to 1/4 her witch level (minimum 1). When
casting a touch spell, as a free action she can use this ability. When
she does, she can deliver her spell as a ranged touch spell within a
range of 30 feet. At 10th level, she can deliver these spells within a
range of 60 feet. At 15th level and higher, she can deliver these spells
 within a range of 90 feet.

This ability replaces the familiar class feature.

**Bouda's Eye (Su)**: A bouda's gaze can bestow ill
 fortune on her enemies. This hex can affect a creature within 30 feet
that the bouda can see. The target takes a –2 penalty on one of the
following (bouda's choice): AC, ability checks, attack rolls, saving
throws, or skill checks. The hex lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3
 + the bouda's Intelligence modifier. A successful Will saving throw
reduces the duration of the hex to 1 round. Once per day when the bouda
uses this hex, she can impose two different penalties on the target
instead of just one. If the bouda takes the evil eye hex, it increases
the number of different penalties she can impose on the hex's target by
1. At 8th level, the penalties imposed by this hex increase to –4. This
is a mind-affecting effect.

This hex must be taken as a bouda's 1st-level hex, and only a bouda can take this hex.

**Hyena Shape (Su)**: At 10th level, a bouda
gains the ability to turn into a hyena or dire hyena and back again a
number of times per day equal to her Intelligence modifier. This ability
 functions as *beast shape II*,
 except for the following. The effect lasts for 1 hour per witch level,
or until the bouda changes back. Changing form (to animal or back) is a
standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. At 20th
level, a bouda can change her form at will. If a bouda dies while in
hyena shape, she does not revert back to her true form.

The bouda does not lose the ability to speak while in animal form,
and can communicate with hyenas and dire hyenas as if under the effects
of *speak with animals* . Furthermore, while in this form, the bouda gains the benefit of the Natural Spell feat, even if she does not meet the prerequisites.

This ability replaces the major hex granted at 10th level.

#### Pack Rager (Barbarian)

Barbarian rages can be a thing of savage beauty, exhibiting a lethal
grace. While such uncontrolled displays of carnage often disregard group
 tactics, there are those barbarians whose rages inspire and spur on
their allies during the ferocious dance of death.
**Bonus Feat**: At 2nd level and every 4 levels thereafter, the
pack rager can take a bonus teamwork feat. This teamwork feat must also
be a combat feat. This ability replaces the rage powers gained at 2nd,
6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th level.

**Raging Tactician**: At 7th level, while a pack rager is raging,
she grants a single teamwork feat she knows to all allies within 30 feet
 who can see and hear her. She chooses the feat at the start of the
rage, and cannot change it during the rage. An ally who moves more than
30 feet away from the raging pack rager loses access to the feat, but
regains it again each time he moves back within 30 feet of the raging
pack rager. Allies do not need to meet the prerequisites of these
teamwork feats.

At 13th level, the pack rager chooses two teamwork feats when she
enters a rage, and grants her allies the use of both of those feats when
 they are within 30 feet of her.

At 16th level, the pack rager grants these teamwork feats as long as her allies are within 60 feet of her.

At 19th level, the pack rager chooses three teamwork feats when she
enters a rage, and grants her allies the use of all three feats when
they are within 60 feet of her.

This ability replaces the damage reduction class feature.