Gnoll

Gnoll FemaleGnoll Male
Gnolls are deeply religious and disciplined. They prefer wide open landscapes, like the Daggergrass Steppes, where they practice a nomadic lifestyle within shogunates ruled from grand cities on top of hills overlooking the plains. They are adept riders and favor Axe Beak and Terror Bird mounts for their ability to navigate through daggergrass without becoming shredded by the razor sharp leaf blades. Gnoll commoners are mostly herders and live in yurts while they migrate with the animals. Gnoll empires are made up of several shogunates united under a single shogunate clan. If there is an Empress, all shoguns will be male. If there is an Emperor, all shoguns will be female. This is to ensure that strategic marriages might be possible, thus producing a new emperor or empress from a different clan. Gnolls are fiercely loyal to their shogunate, and many are samurai in service to their lord. They are highly civilized, but at the same time, very aggressive. Gnoll paladins are extremely rare wandering ronin in service to no shogun, but rather to their deity.  These ronin are feared and hated, yet revered for their divine connection. Gnolls who go rogue and forsake the empire become wanderers and tend to succumb to their more feral nature which lies just beneath the surface of their disciplined culture.

Gnolls and Kitsune share the same pantheon, but gnolls revere only the more lawful deities and despise and reject the gods of chaos.

Religion:  Gnoll Pantheon

## Gnoll PC classes include:

> Fighter, Brawler, Monk, Samurai, Paladin, Warpriest, Cleric, Druid, Rogue, Ranger, Slayer or Magus
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Overall gnoll culture trends toward LN to LE.

Gnoll culture is loosely based on Japanese, Tibetan, Mongolian, and Chinese cultures

Gnoll Shogunate Cities:

Gnoll Palace 1Gnoll Palace 2

* Size: Gnolls are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
* Type: Gnolls are humanoids with the gnoll subtype.
* Base Speed: Gnolls have a base speed of 30 feet
* Languages: Gnolls begin play speaking Gnoll. Gnolls with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Catfolk, Common, Kitsune, Lizardfolk, Orc. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.

### Natural Armor

Gnoll hides are remarkably tough, granting them a +2 natural armor bonus.

### Darkvision

Gnolls have darkvision and so can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet

### Weapon Familiarity

Gnolls are proficient with the flail, dire flail, flindbar, and dire flindbar, and treat any weapon with the word “gnoll” in its name (such as the gnoll partisan) as a martial weapon.

### Alternate Racial Traits

* **Ancient Enmity:** Gnolls have long been in conflict with Kitsunes. Gnolls with this trait receive a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls +1 racial bonus on CMB checks, and a +1 dodge bonus to AC against humanoid creatures of the kitsune subtype. This racial trait replaces weapon familiarity.
* **Cautious :** Some gnolls have been specially trained to detect kitsune traps and assassins.  Gnolls with this trait gain a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks to find hidden objects (including traps, and secret doors), to determine whether food is spoiled or poisoned, to identify a potion by taste  and a +6 racial bonus on Perception checks to detect kitsunes in human form,. This trait replaces darkvision.
* **Bite Attack:** Gnolls with this racial trait gain the powerful jaws from their hyena heritage and can make a bite attack that deals 1d3 points of damage as a primary attack (or secondary attack, if the gnoll uses a weapon). This racial trait replaces the gnoll's natural armor.
* **Carrion Finder:** Some Gnolls have a natural affinity for carrion, unable to control their feral nature. Gnolls with this racial trait gain the scent ability, but only in regard to corpses and badly wounded creatures (those reduced to 1/4, or less, of their total hit points). This racial trait partially replaces darkvision, replacing it with low-light vision.
* **Civilized:** Some gnolls live in large cities within their shogunates. Gnolls with this racial trait gain a +2 bonus on Diplomacy and Sense Motive checks. This racial trait replaces weapon familiarity.
* **Feral:** Gnolls with this trait give in to their animal natures at the expense of their intellects. A gnoll with this racial trait gains a +2 bonus to Perception and Stealth and these are considered class skills. In return for this racial trait, the gnoll starts with a -2 penalty to Intelligence.
* **Heat Acclimated:** Gnolls are accustomed to the extreme temperatures of the plains and deserts they inhabit. Gnolls with this racial trait automatically succeed on Fortitude saves to avoid heat dangers for conditions up to and including severe heat. These gnolls have a more unsettling appearance and start with a -2 penalty to Charisma.
* **Mounted Friend:** Gnolls and their mounts have a mutual respect for one another, and some gnolls truly embrace the bond between the two creatures. Gnolls with this racial trait gain a +2 racial bonus on Handle Animal checks, and Handle Animal is always a class skill for them. This racial trait replaces weapon familiarity.
* **Information Hunter:** Enlightened gnolls who live in large settlements have learned to apply their hunting and scavenging instincts to more esoteric pursuits. Gnolls with this racial trait gain a +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy checks to gather information, and Knowledge (local) is always a class skill for them. This racial trait partially replaces darkvision, replacing it with low-light vision.
* **Influential:** Some gnolls are charged with the cultivation of bushido in their society and use their gifts to more readily enslave gnoll captives. Gnolls with this racial trait gain a +2 bonus on Diplomacy checks and add +1 to the saving throw DCs for their spells of the enchantment school that they cast. This racial trait replaces weapon familiarity.
* **Light Build:** Some gnolls are light and proportionately weaker but more agile. These gnolls start with a +2 bonus to Dexterity. This racial trait replaces the +2 Strength bonus.
* **Loper:** Some Gnolls live outside of daggergrass savannahs and find success by moving faster than their kin, sometimes at the expense of the thick fur protecting them. Gnolls with this racial trait gain a +10 bonus to their base speed, and they gain an additional +10 foot racial bonus when using the charge, run, or withdraw actions. This racial trait replaces the natural armor racial trait.
* **Shinto Enlightened:** Some Gnolls are raised within palace walls with the most advanced training and education available to the empire. Gnolls with this racial trait start with +2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, and -2 Constitution, and they have a +1 racial bonus on all saving throws. This racial trait replaces the starting attribute bonuses.

## Favored Class Bonuses:

**Fighter:** Add +1 to the gnoll’s CMD when resisting a disarm or bullrush attempt.

**Brawler:** Add ¼ to the brawler’s effective level to determine the gnoll’s unarmed strike damage.

**Monk:** Add +¼ point to the gnoll‘s ki pool.

**Samurai:** Add +½ to the gnoll’s bonus to damage against targets his challenge.

**Paladin:** Add +½ hp to the gnoll’s lay on hands ability (whether using it to heal or harm).

**Warpriest:** Add +¼ to the gnoll’s effective level when determining the damage of his sacred weapon.

**Cleric:** Add a +1 bonus on caster level checks to overcome the spell resistance of creatures with the kitsune or shapechanger subtypes.

**Druid:** Add +¼ to the gnoll’s natural armor bonus when using wild shape.

**Rogue:** Choose either  flindbar or gnoll partisan. Add a +½ circumstance bonus on critical hit confirmation rolls with that weapon (maximum bonus of +6). This bonus does not stack with Critical Focus.

**Ranger:** Choose either  flindbar or gnoll partisan. Add a +½ circumstance bonus on critical hit confirmation rolls with that weapon (maximum bonus of +6). This bonus does not stack with Critical Focus.

**Slayer:** Gain +1/6 of a new slayer talent.

**Magus:** Add +¼ point to the gnoll’ arcane pool.