What is the best way to portray gnolls?

I'd probably draw them in black and white
because they're shady

As striped hyenas

>>54178247
The stereotypical way is that they are big, strong, violent, brave in packs but cowardly solo, so they tend to break and run when they are losing. Nasty, carnivorous, slave takers and man eaters, but organized better than one might expect and with a strong loyalty to their pack. Basically Fallout Raiders, usually badly equipped but numerous.

>>54178247
Psudodicks
Seriously though
I like to see them as either tribal followers not of one evil god, but a mix of ancestor worship, various demons/spirits, and a smattering of gods (mostly evil) living out in the wilderness OR as a semi-civilized semi-nomadic people who live in cities with other races follow a weird mix of old tribal sin-eater beliefs and token homage to whatever gods are worshiped in their current city
Also yes, females being tall, curvy, and buff,
though that's how I like most "savage" races

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>>54178728
If you're going to go with the matriarchal society, go for it. Gnolls in D&D as far back as first edition did NOT use this organization and there's no indication whatsoever that the females are in charge, but for variety's sake feel free to do it that way. Now the females are bigger, stronger and meaner but the males are nothing to sneeze at. Odds are the males still do a lot of the fighting because as always they are the expendable gender but the females are going to be the toughest. So maybe all-male raiding parties or a single female giving orders. Might be something like the drow organization where the females are firmly in charge and the males are little more than slaves and servants.

But pseudopenis <> futa. Unless you want to make a magical realm race out of them, anyway. Female hyenas do not bone males (or females) and the thing retracts when they actually want to mate.

As the NPC chaotic avatars of a mad god that they were meant to be, free from the cookie cutter sentimental redemption arcs of players that just make them half-orcs for Pcs that want to commission furry porn.

>>54179075
I'm guessing that's a Forgotten Realms thing. Greyhawk Gnolls in 1st and 2nd edition worshiped Yeenoghu but they certainly weren't his avatars. You're trying to stereotype them as Always Chaotic Evil and black and white morality like that just leads to players killing every one they see, even ones who are legitimately trying to interact peacefully with people. Unless you're TRYING to create parties of murderhobos you should allow some shades of gray.

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>>54178247
As Dead

>>54178247
Powerful, but lazy. If they had a scrap of ambition and the patience to unite, they could conquer as far as the eye could see, but they'd much rather laze around than build empires (much to Yeenoghu's disappointment).

as an all-female race with pseudophallus vaginas which they use to rape other races to breed

>>54178815
It doesn't retract bernie, it just, well... opens up a little more.

It's really fuckin' awkward.

>>54178247
As the insane shock troops of a slavemongering desert culture of humans who have been granted the """"gift"""" of gnollhood by the grace of their demon-god.

Played otherwise, gnolls are just shitty furry-bait.

while fearsome warriors and potent shamans, perhaps the most important role Gnolls serve in the various Beast-Men civilizations is as Smiths, for Gnolls are among the most talented in the art of crafting metal among any mortal race, rivaling even the Dwarves or High Elves in this area

based on a real world belief in Africa that Witches(who often transform themselves into Hyenas) often act as smiths in their civilian lives

>>54178815
Females do indeed mount both males and other female to display dominance.

And it doesn't retract, it just...reconfigures. The thing is just not very conducive to it's purpose, to the point firstborns are almost guaranteed to die during labor trying to get through it

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>>54178247
As lewdly as possible

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>>54179075
I actually really like 5e's way of stripping them almost entirely of any civilization or society. The whole "hate clothes, only wear armor stolen from other creatures, don't care about anything except satiating an insane hunger" thing actually is a really cool angle.

>>54183738
>liking edge: the race
you're entitled to your opinions even if I disagree with them
I prefer 4e's approach

>>54183738
>I actually really like 5e's way of stripping them almost entirely of any civilization or society. The whole "hate clothes, only wear armor stolen from other creatures, don't care about anything except satiating an insane hunger" thing actually is a really cool angle.
nah that's retarded

>>54183962
Agree with this so much. 4e's gnolls were great.

I've also tried to put together gnolls as a more Stygian-styled "dark empire in he badlands", who are useful to the other nations because they have extensive black market goods, and as a warrior-slave caste ruled over by expies of the Hutaakans as necromantic magocrats.

>>54178247
Gnolls done right; the fucking hyenas from The Lion King

>>54178247
I like to base them on African wild dogs rather than hyenas. Mostly the same except with a desire to gruesomely draw out kills and not even a hint of pseudopenis

>>54178247

Africans who enslave their own and sell them to humans.

>>54188064
>>54183738
This is why when I run a setting like this I brew in the best of each edition'edition's fluff where I can, personally I don't see why they are mutually exclusive, different tribal cultures etc.

>>54188337
>gnoll slave wat do?

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>>54178247
Generally nice people, who can be absolute savages at the drop of a pin.

>>54178247
A council of matriarchs that each take a branch of tribal life and oversee everyone assigned to them. One in charge of hunting wild beasts, one in charge of fighting intelligent races, one in charge of looting and scrounging materials for their armor, etc.

Basically change up their society just enough so they aren't just futa orcs with fur.

I don't have gnoll but I do have shark people that mostly fill the role with a savage islander theme to them, it was a nautical campaign

>>54188163
So an exiled people who've been forced to adopt an unnatural way of life after a group of scavengers seized power.

Now trapped in a realm of bones where the scavengers don't rule, without any light that's not ominously green (and likely toxic) their only hope being a scavenger who seeks power by allying himself with the exiles?

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>>54188562
Ahh Sahuagin, a pretty neat race. Though why D&D keeps commissioning art of them looking like fish instead of the sharks they are clearly described as I will never know.

>>54189424
Someone knows their hyena facts.

>>54178247
As a people. A savage and bestial people, yes, but a people nonetheless. For myself and my world, I use a combination of PFs take on gnolls, the Digger comic, Rabari and Kazakh culture, and spotted hyena behavior. The female is bigger and stronger, fully in charge of the tribe. Men are weaker and subservient, but this doesn't mean they aren't strong ass warriors. The men are lower ranked, but able to participate in any activity besides governance. The women are generally higher ranked in any activity, able to participate all activities, and often having great honors.

Socially, they are eerily human, but with gender displays reversed. Men still pursue women, but the types women like tend to be softies and non dominant individuals. They like the "betas" if you're into that terminology.

They mine and are excellent smiths, enjoying the fruits of precious metals, gems, and such. They are also excellent textile creators, weaving intricate patterns and colors into their garments and home furnishings. The food is meat heavy, and spiced heavily. Its Kazakh cuisine

Religion wise, their pantheon is called the Hundred Gods, though it's actually a mere 27 with numerous primal spirits and various almost gods padding out the number. The evil gods falls on three main ones: the Nameless, the Glutton Yeenoghu, and the Lustful Lamashtu.

The only problem is that most every other race upon the world didn't know about the more decent form of their folk due to the punishment system of the civilized gnolls. All the evil cultists, murderers, outlaws, slavers, raiders, and generally nasty folk were exiled to live on the edge between notEurope and the gnoll lands.

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>>54178247
Everyone in this thread is dicks
Big sweaty hairy barbed dicks

>>54190129
Jackal like gnolls? Mite be cul

>>54190129
>>54190152
Fun fact; in Basic D&D, there were a race of jackal-like humanoids called the Hutaakans, and gnolls were believed to have been created as an attempt to replicate them. Also, the two races are believed to have interbred to create the Lupins, a race of wolf-people.

>>54190201
>he two races are believed to have interbred to create ...a race of wolf-people
Wat the shit dnd. Your biology and genealogy suck ass so much

Sitting around a war room table in full dress uniform smoking and arguing about whether the nation should send the bulk of their Hellcats and Avenger torpedo bombers to Juneau or to Midway Island

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>>54190129
>Big sweaty hairy barbed dicks

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>>54190275
:D

>>54190233
Oh, it gets worse; originally, lupins were just "canid people", so the subraces consisted of:
* Two kinds of Wolf People
* Two kinds of Fox People
* Generic Dog People
* Doberman People
* Maremma People
* Mastiff People
* Pitbull People
* Shar-Pei People
* Great Dane People
* Basset Hound People
* Beagle People
* Bloodhound Peole
* Chow-Chow People
* Golden Retriever People
* Spanish Gun-Dog People (I think, not sure what "Ispan Pistoleros" are based on)
* Hiking Dog People of some kind
* Three kinds of Sheep Dog People
* Bulldog People
* Schnauzer People
* Malamute People
* Dalmatian People

And even more I can't be bothered to name.

And no, I'm not making ANY of this shit up!

https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Lupin

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>>54190859
Haha
What the shit

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>>54189911
The 2000 character limit is dumb.

The gnolls are masters of Truenaming magic. It features heavily in their myths and culture. The first male god was exiled and became the Nameless after causing the first gnoll death. Since then the worst punishment a gnoll can receive is to have his name eaten and become nameless, an unperson. Each gnoll has two names, their truename which is used among family and for important rituals, and their pseudonym, which is used among society and those they do not trust.

They are also steeped deeply in occult magics, with ancestor worship via mediums and spiritualists common Hyenas are associated with spirits and death. Psychic powers are not unheard of, with many being powerful diviners Hyenas are said to possess a third eye which can be removed from the skull and will give oracular visions..

Gnoll domesticated species includes a couple species of antelope (addax and eland), Indricotheres (or as they call them Boz heyvan), and several types of drakes and dragonlets kept as pets and alternative food sources (like chickens).

Recent contact and trade has begun with notEurope, where the intricate and colorful rugs and clothing of the gnolls is considered a must have for any well-to-do noble.

Oh man I almost forgot looks. There exist roughly 6 types of gnoll coloration, each of the forms of hyaenidae, painted dogs, and
mixed. In shape they tend to be lean but strong, digitigrade, often with pot bellies, long arms, and stand straight with the illusion of a hunched back do to long neck held at an angle.

>>54190233
Early D&D was rife with silly and stupid ideas about biology. In some ways it still is.

>>54190129
I'll have you know that gnolls only sweat from their hands and feet, and their dicks are nice and smooth, disregarding the small ring of barbs at the base of the glans.

Also, jackal themed gnolls could be interesting as another ethnicity to play with.

>>54183602
No, they don't. You've let the futa fans program you with false information.

>>However, female hyenas are still females and behave as such - female-female mounting is rare, and the females are incapable of actually mating. If a hyena pup indulges in sex play, involving mounting other pups, that hyena is almost invariably a male.

>>54190201
Weren't early D&D gnolls half-gnome half-troll?

>>54192515
Way, way back, yeah. That was retconned at some point, but I don't know when. I think Gnolls as Gnome/Trolls was before the actual D&D name was applied - I actually don't know that much about D&D's long list of names and iterations. I can hardly keep Basic & Advanced and 1e and 2e separate.

>>54192569
Regardless, they were based on http://doyleandmacdonald.com/d_nuth.htm

Personally I see them as That Guy
Take the shitiest things players do and add them as the gnolls traits...
Though explaining why the Gnolls sleep with body pillows would be awkward.

>>54192515
>>54192569
Literally only the first version, and that was frankly stupid. They were retconned into hyena headed people in the next version and have basically stayed that way since.

I like to fluff them as essentially magically-bred child soldiers. Any who aren't being magically or otherwise dominated turn to either mercenary work or outright banditry. and there are rumors of a particularly savvy one with a missing eye and a fondness for cigars trying to create a nation where soldiers will always be useful... an Exterior Shelter, if you will...

I prefer the unapologetic evil kind. There's already enough monster races that have gotten the sympathetic treatment

On Athas, I'd have Gnolls as the mutant offspring of a defiler and a nature spirit who got too close to the pristine tower.

Altered by the experience, they gave rise to a race who worship defilers and the natural forces of the world equally.

So their shamans are often paraelemental clerics.

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Kurosawa gnolls is the only answer.

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>>54178247
It was a while ago, maybe a year now, /tg/ answered this question.

Gnolls are natural philosophers, but without the intelligence to come to lasting conclusions. They're also natural weaves and rope makers, this being their primary export.

>>54198044
That was a shitty thread

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>>54183722
>no pseudopenis

>>54183722
Cute.

>>54190129
....I am making her as a character for something.

>>54190962
So, gnolls from Digger.

>>54178247
Stronger than humans physically, but with -4 to intellect.

Because they will never amount to anything and will never build or invent anything of note other than torture and new ways to fuck up their slaves like the shitty thieves they are.

>>54178247
Huns/mongols.

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>>54178334

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>>54181663
Nice.

>>54183962
but those are basically the Reavers from Serenity because Keith Baker is unoriginal

>>54178815
I actually do the females leading males part.

I myself also made them one of more common races in my campain and they are allies with lizardfolk and kobolds, as other two can hunt in areas gnoll's can't

Lastly because I roll npc stats I make up warbands of similar strength gnolls, with weaker ones having better tactics and using deception, and coming in huge groups (Mostly males lead by a single female or two), ones in the middle that are smaller and are more of a hit and run style, with mix of males and females and the warbands of the strong are filled with these huge gnolls that also have other worthy warriors in there mists, such as fixed warforged that think they are gnolls and giant hyenas for mounts. These warbands have huge gnoll females in them and I even made so there bosses are size of ogres, but scarier and smarter, some of them being clerics, some eldrich knights and one was a ranger that had a bow size of two grown men.

>>54190458
What is this

>>54198832
Also it's kind of useful because big bad can control anyone related to dragons and they are most abundant non-scaly race in my campaign, so I will get to use them there.

(Human never entered the region I am running in, all dwarfs were turned into zombies, all orcs have been killed by elfs, all elfs have been hunt down by lizardfolk , halflings never existed and all gnones...Well kobolds are better in that role anyway

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How often do you think this happens with gnolls, /tg/?

>>54199844
Probably only when they are super drunk, because with noses like that their sense of smell will be twenty times as good as ours. They'd know male from female from across the room, just by the scent. And all this assumes that the DM has set up "realistic" gnolls with the female pseudopenis, which would be a magical realm thing to begin with.

>>54183738
I think I might be the only one here who agrees that demonic blight is the most interesting form of gnoll.

>>54178247
I run my gnolls as a way to have WFRP beastmen in my game. Minotaurs and a few other races are in there, too, just with their own take on how to be fucking terrible.

Setting writes most of the hordes as being what happens when druids get power-crazy and decide to cull humanity. This is why the Saneric Jihad happened, explains the lack of druidic orders in Talasir, gave the Holy Order of Saner Kipah dominance in the region and why you build a wall between you and the more fertile lands to the west.

>>54198833
My fetish.

>>54200664
Giant snake women or shamans?

>>54199961

>Probably only when they're super drunk

So about as often as it happens with humans. Stay out of Gnoll Thailand.

Cynocephali

>>54178247
Per their Ecology, Gnolls are a species Patron to a Demon Lord who is all-around lazy, that have actual ranger class features related to a totem being they hunt per tribe with flinds making up the upper echelons of their society, noted for being mostly female next to the Gnoll lord who runs that shti and his highly respected, scavening for Carrion, and also having a tradition of Adopting-Non gnolls as replacements for Gnolls slaughtered by the agressor in question.

It's a pretty good read.

>>54190458
>that head lift
would fucking worship

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>>54198171

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>>54178247
>What is the best way to portray gnolls?
I'd say something like polaroid, quick and fast.

I mean good luck getting them to sit still for you to paint them...

>>54178815
Hyenas are matriarcals though, so why shouldn't Gnolls be too? If they evolved from hyenas they have to keep their hierarchy too. so males get raped by females, and males are smaller than females, and males are weaker than females. Every Gnoll pack is lead by a female one. If she dies the whole pack retreats.

Eberron has them forsaking demon worship and becoming a staunchly anti-demon group, as well as working as some of the better scouts and guides in the world.

>>54206159
There was a 3.5 book called Races of the Wild that had a splinter group of gnolls that worshipped the god of nature, and who were neutral.

>>54206137
>Hyenas are matriarcals though, so why shouldn't Gnolls be too
I understand the idea but the reasoning still pisses me off.

>>54207807
Gnolls are Matriarchal though and are based on Spotted hyenas.

Read their ecology and flind ecology man, it's really neat.

>>54207807
But why? I always thought of them as matriarchal ever since my first GM told me "Gnolls. They are hyena-people", I mean its what it's meant to be. At least that's how its been for me.

Its rare to see the group go "Fuck, get the female one!". It is a cool and realistic way of portraying female power.

For an "upcoming" game (read: game I've been mulling over for at least two years now), gnolls are being played in two parts:

1. The "original" gnolls are basically the dark, more primitive reflection(?) of elves. It's based a bit on the 4e (blasphemy I know) article on them. Where elves (especially wood elves) are these great "protectors of nature" and basically hippy trippy bullshit, gnolls are the "darker" side of nature. Where elves are commonly vegetarian because killing creatures is bad, gnolls are hunters and largely eat meat and bones. They're not psychotic, they don't just kill for the fuck of it, but killing is a part of nature. They're an animist people, largely focusing on spirit worship (so making decent shamans or druids). Where elves are standoff-ish, gnolls are quite direct. Where elves favor agility and silence, gnolls are all about resilience and the hunt. Very 'strong rule, weak are dinner' type. Where you would deal with Elves in a forest, Gnolls control the veldt/plains. Well, controllED, really because...

2. The tortured. Basically in the world history there's a huge world war. The 'evil' faction made a bargain with gnolls, using them as shock troops. Only they slowly tortured, bribed, enchanted, corrupted them into the gibbering mad things that you normally think of with gnolls. Eating sentient species and the like. "Regular" gnolls refer to these by some appropriately "fallen" title. Dead ones, mad ones, I dunno, haven't fully fleshed it out. Their strongest chieftain was made into a demigod, which is why Yeenoghu is still a thing.

I played a gnoll druid in 4e for awhile. It was a blast.

>>54206577
Their original god that created them was a nature god but he didn't give them enough attention or something and Yeenoghu was like" omg these guys look like me, I love it!" and tempted them over to his worship.

>>54183722
Elaborate

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Their jaws cause concussion damage.

(Pic is a hyena getting out of an elephant carcass' belly)

>>54209928
Gorellik, and it's more that he had little to offer in general.
He was a god of savagery, hunting, hyeanodons, and were-hyeanodons.

He's better treated as an animal lord, like the cat lord.

>>54203547
Source?

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>>54178247

>>54215992
Source is google it you faggot

>>54206137
Creatures do not always follow the social habits of their predecessors. Especially for intelligent creatures it would be up to not only biology but circumstance, culture, history, religion, etc. Bonobos and chimps split from the same ancestor yet the former is matriarchal and the latter patriarchal, despite being barely any different physiologically. Humans have done everything under the sun despite all being identical. Gnolls would not and should not be bound by the social habits of actual hyenas. There is also the tendency of them worshipping a demon prince; having a real, male deity telling them how to live would probably affect their social structure far more than anything else.

Personally I'd go with a variety; multiple cultures gives the impression of intelligent, authentic races better than monocultures imo

>>54208280
>It is a cool and realistic way of portraying female power.
Ironically this is achieved by making females males in every way but the genitals, and even then there's psuedopenis shenanigans

>>54218964
>There is also the tendency of them worshipping a demon prince; having a real, male deity telling them how to live would probably affect their social structure far more than anything else.
Not true though, we have had Female goddesses all through history and has never changed anyone. Virgin Mary is an example. We never became matriarchal due to a female goddess.

>>54219079
And god, spoken with male pronouns, is above her. Then there's the adam and eve story detailing the male/female power dynamic further.

We have a bunch of religions with female deities, but exceedingly few with female chief/supreme gods. Further, we've never had religions with gods that walk next to you and have personally steered the course of society.

As mad frothing rage-filled murderbeasts, not whatever the fuck all this furfag sexual matriarch fantasy shit is

>>54219483
the most boring post in the thread, and the worst type of race you could ever make
>THEY ARE JUST MURDERHOBOS
Just use bandits buddy, or a serial killer organization, you don't need to waste gnolls like that.

>>54219639
You miss the point if you just make them people. They have to be inhuman inside and out. Besides there's a million other races with overlapping niches to fuck with. One going full monster mode will hardly hurt much though they won't be much fun to world build for

>>54219639
>waste gnolls like that
What do you even mean? That is what gnolls are and always have been. There's nothing unique about the design of gnolls, they're literally just hyena and humans slapped together-- but they function just fine as unreasonable, goofy murder animals. There is nothing to waste except maybe the sexual excitement of furry virgins trying to inject their magical realm into the game with "ayy lmao pseudopenises".

>>54219743
>There's nothing unique about the design of gnolls,
then make them unique, don't be lazy

>>54219719
>One going full monster mode will hardly hurt much
If only he only used gnolls as murderhobos, but I think he uses everything that isn't an elf or dwarf as a murderhobo

>>54219719
Also he clearly has a sexual fixation with gnolls, now that I actually bothered to finish reading his post.

>>54178247
I may lack originality but for me they're a bit less petty and mischevious, a bit more stoic and hygienic goblins turned fury.

>>54219869
How are goblins in your setting? Aren't goblins meant to be smart and mischievous, curious, and having good craftsmanship?

>>54219799
>then make them unique
Why? Not every race needs to be a special snowflake so I can wank off about worldbuilding that literally no player ever will give a shit about. Even if I wanted to, using gnolls would be pointless-- it would be more interesting to have a different culture of another race I was more commonly using to show disparity in thinking from different cultural perspectives.

Gnolls are great murderbeasts, they've always been great murderbeasts, and there is literally no reason for them in particular to be anything else sans furry wankery a la kobolds.

>>54183722
Don't do it, anon. Don't try to convert me to furry. I already have to fight the pull of /trash/ as my new home.

>>54219949
Humans are the best murderbeast ever designed, why use a gnoll when you can use a human?

>>54219949
By the same logic including gnolls but avoiding cultural disparity between them cheapens their use in the first place

>>54219898
>Aren't goblins meant to be smart and mischievous, curious, and having good craftsmanship?
Yes, with exception of the craftmanship - obviously it depends on the setting but stereotypically goblins make stuff but a lot of it is often improvised, practical "it looks like crap but it works" stuff.

And I take gnolls in a similar way, with, like I've said - a bit less of that mischeviousness and "gotta get everywhere" curiosity as it's toned down by more stoic, utilitarian behavior. Not exactly human-like as they're still mostly ruled by pack-like hierarchies but people of sorts - with their own culture (with big push on hunting rather than farming) and relatively primitive but workable villages or communal cave lairs. I'd imagine them as in a way down to earth and possibly slightly less taken by pursue of adventure and whatnot - they won't have many scholars, but they may have a shaman or two that serves both to remember the most important parts of their lore and work as spiritual leader, healer, defender against magical dangers. They won't have any dedicated entertainers, bards etc but each hunter knows a traditional tale or two, maybe even some song of their tribe. They don't do any commerce beside some side-trade of opportunity should one rarely happen but they understand the concepts of personal property and are willing to work with and for each other for some goods they cannot obtain on their own.

>>54219978
>aren't inhuman with alien mindsets
>having a human just murder things for no reason feels somewhat cheap whereas a race that inherently sees no problem with murdering things for no reason is more justifiable
You're right insofar as a human murderer or group of human murderers with motivations is probably going to be more interesting than any given mad indiscriminate murderanimal, but not everything in the world needs to be 2deep4u.

>>54220023
Nah, not really. Monolithic cultures can also be interesting. Why are said cultures monolithic, how they interact with each other, etc. can make a nice disparity between races with disagreements and cultures all over the place.

Not every race needs to be literally humans

>>54219978
This is the line of thinking which leads to "Humans only campaign", which if fine if you don't find it powerfully boring.

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I don't know who to quote specifically but whatever.

I don't like the human-tier intelligent noble savage dindu gnuffin gnolls but I also don't like random always evil monster race mooks. The trick is that you can have them be dumb goofy cannonfodder fucks and with an interesting culture and history at the same time. They can be scary and savage but that doesn't mean they are entirely absent from trade, conversation or the rest of the world. They can be big murdermonsters but they need something to do in their free time, some way to acquire resources, knowledge and traditions that are passed down to their children and so on. You don't even really need to answer "Why are they so violent and stupid." in an interesting way, you just need to answer "Are they interesting?" with a yes. Unless you're okay with mediocrity that is.

"I find gnolls to be boring generic beastmen anyways." Yeah, me too, the fucking trick is to find a way that makes it so you like them and so that you are interested in them. There are no bad concepts, only bad executions.

>>54220175
>gnolls not obsessed with sadistic entertainment
Pretty shit gnolls senpai
but seriously they sound really boring. They just have a generic hunter gatherer society.

>>54220237
DO NOT POST BEFORE LURKING FOR AT LEAST A YEAR

or at least 6 months will be fine

>>54220175
To expand on it - I view their mindset as of kind territorial isolationists. They aren't strictly evil but they have a land they see as their own to live and hunt int and while they don't exactly hate all sentients, they consider humans etc who settle nearby intruders challenging their tribes and possibly a source of unique items and goods should one be daring and strong enough to raid and fight for them.

>>54220278
M8 I meant that I didn't want to bother going through the entire argument to find everyone to reply to. The message in my post was meant for both sides. It's not because I don't know how to fucking quote.

See look I can even do green text.
<fuk

>>54220273
Kinda yes. I don't go for anything unique here as I believe that not every race has to be a fucking special snowflake. Proper execution of tropes in a campaign together with them already having one uncommon trait - pack hierarchy and mentality - is enough to build a solid backstory.

I tried making every race and social circle to have a gimmick and something special about them when I was younger. Turned out that often it looks just silly and still won't make up for mediocre GMing.

Also, goblins are the ones for sadistic entertainment in my world.

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>>54220175
That's cool, hyenas are curious. Here are hyenas meeting with their human friend in a city. The guy feeds hyenas and then they go back to the wilderness.

>>54220237
/thread, good post we can all go home now

>>54220320
You say pack hierarchy defines them, but your description doesn't make them seem any different than primitive people. In truth pack hierarchy isn't very different from basic human social structure so using that as a focus does little to set them apart. They just seem like time displaced cavemen. Is that the point? Why bother at all?

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>>54215992
Murenase! Shiiton Gakuen

The Cynocephali--"We leap from branch to branch to suck the eggs, and we pluck the little birds; then we put their nests upon our heads after the fashion of caps.

"We do not fail to snatch away the worst of the cows, and we destroy the lynxes' eyes. Tearing the flowers, crushing the fruits, agitating the springs, we are the masters--by the strength of our arms and the fierceness of our hearts.

"Be bold, comrades, and snap your jaws!"

Blood and milk flow from their lips. The rain streams over their hairy backs.

-Temptation of St Augustine, Chapter 7

>>54219949
>and there is literally no reason for them in particular to be anything else sans furry wankery a la kobolds.
Kind of like >>54219483, I find it fascinating how humanizing a fictional race is obviously never done for any other reason than for someone to jack off to, and this only applies to races based off of animals. You guys seriously need to try taking a leave of the internet for a few weeks or a month, because you're projecting some serious insecurities about sexuality and what people do for their own enjoyment. If you look at gnolls and your mind immediately turns to "eww, furries", I'd say there's no helping you at this stage, and I 'm glad you choose to voluntarily remove yourself from any games with them so that the rest of us wouldn't have to put up with your bitching and outdated memes.

This is frightening similar to /tg/'s threads on werewolves, where you have the usual gronards frothing about how having reserved, intelligent, or (GASP) peaceful shapeshifters is verboten because of the dreaded furry bogeyman, but apparently the ACCEPTABLE design of a lycanthrope is a roid-raged, beefy, full-frontal nude, bloodthirsty serial killer filled with testosterone and adrenaline. That's the kind of hypocritical shit that would make Freud's eyebrows ascend to the stars.

>>54221280
"Fisi, the hyena, hermaphroditic self-eating devourer of the dead, trailer of calving cows, ham-stringer, potential biter-off of your face at night while you slept, sad yowler, camp-follower, stinking, foul, with jaws that crack the bones the lion leaves, belly dragging, loping away on the brown plain . . . "

-Ernest Hemingway

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>>54178247
opportunistic nocturnal killers

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>>54221364

>>54178247
North-African inspired roustabouts with a penchant for slavery and a reverence for their matrons.

>>54198833
I forget the name; it was a preview for a next gen game where you play a shaman who can control beasts and commune with primal spirits of the land

>>54224449
jesus christ that atrocious foot anatomy. cool concept with the monstrous private security force though.

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>>54178247
basically this with arms

all of these other answers are wrong.

So, honest question: in mythology, even in the present day, hyenas have a lot of sexual connotations. Spotted hyenas have long been mistaken for genderbenders or hermaphrodites. Striped hyenas are still used by witch doctors today for love potions and other sexual talismans.

Is there any way to reinvent gnolls that can take advantage of that kind of mythology without it going full magical realm?

>>54228676
Bumping this, because I really am curious to see if /tg/ can actually present interesting ideas on pulling it off.

>>54228676
Fertility centric culture? With the amount of firstborn deaths in hyenas it wouldn't be too hard to believe they'd become obsessed with figuring out how babies work.

The genderbender thing could play easily into a trickster/shapechanger style interpretation.

You could also go full slaneesh with their demon worship, but that might be too magical realm. Maybe the whole reason they turned to demon worship was to do something about their infant mortality rates, but ended up with a bunch of demon tainted children that have since overrun their society.

>>54228676
>>54229701
Please stop trying to ruin gnolls.

It's the equivalent of saying "HEY, CHINESE PEOPLE EAT TIGER DICKS, HELP ME WRITE FURFICTIONFAGGOTRY ABOUT RAKASHAS."

All it ever leads to is retarded posts like this, which are actually dumber thanks to the effort the idiot puts into his post.
>>54231239

>>54228676

>Is there any way to reinvent gnolls that can take advantage of that kind of mythology without it going full magical realm?

Might be magical realm, might just be too dark. Maybe turning into a gnoll is what happens if you don't get circumcised? Sort of a 'all humans are were-hyenas unless something preventative is done.' That shit would probably scar a society in neat ways. Especially if it happens to girls too.

>>54231239
Perhaps every gnoll receives a demonic taint during birth to save them from death, but they end up changed by it; their sex might flip or they end up intersex if the imbued demonic spirit doesn't match the child's sex.

The culture itself would be focused on witch doctory medicines, with potions infused with literal spirits or demon blood or something. A proper witch doctor might be able to contol those who imbibe the potions by just commanding the spirit within, giving it an even more voodoo vibe.

The power of a matriarch may be centered around how many children she's birthed successfully instead of just raw physical might. They'd all be psycho demon spawn though, so she'd conveniently also have a small army of berserker warriors to enforce her will

>>54231277
Why do you hate fun anon?

>>54188064
How did 4E do gnolls?

>>54231400
>Why do you hate fun anon?
Because it involves even a hint of sex so is badwrongfun

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>>54231938
Pulled this from the archive. It's what I used to run a Gnoll Druid PC. Was a super fun character, and pretty different personality from my usual characters.

>>54231400
>hey guys, i'm sorta making up and exaggerating how hyenas have a lot of sexual connotations compared to all the other, dramatically more influential and important connotations. How can I steer creatures based on hyenas towards being more sexual?

If you want to defend that as "fun", your "fun" is stupid. You're free to keep having "fun", but be aware of just how stupid it is.

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>>54228676
feminist society, amazonian type thing.

in the wild actual real hyenas, its the females who are the bigger dominant side of the species. the whole gender bender thing is the females look like they have dicks cause they have clit dicks cause they have a lot more testosterone in their systems. this means that childbirth is horrifying for them.

so id do it by not talking about their genitals in game and also basically making them clan Escher. weak males & bad ass crazy warrior women trope

Don't forget they're only gonna cackle when scared.

When hunting they're more likely to be quiet.

>>54233387
Intelligent animal behavior doesn't always have to match up with primitive versions. Baring teeth is a threat display in a bunch of species yet humans do it to be friendly.

Maybe it could be a cultural thing for gnolls to tackle at others mockingly,basically calling them scaredy cats. They might do it at victims simply because they know it scares the shit out of people

>>54225856

Look at the history of the pre-Islamic Berbers if you're interested in that kind of thing. They lived in tribal groupings and made extensive use of light cavalry. When fighting, they carried the totem of their war god before their armies. In a similar vein, gnolls should be divided into tribes led by (Since they are hyenas) the alpha female, who keeps the alpha males as her bodyguards and companions. They in turn keep her rivals in check, bedding them as they please. Older warriors should wear chain mail and carry axes (Great against chain mail), while younger warriors should carry just a spear, with those who succeed being rewarded with armour and better weapons over time. Tigers should be used as mounts when available. Finally, they should carry a totem representing their matriarchs and their gods before their armies. Like a Roman eagle, a totem should be defended to the death, as it is a symbol of the divine favour of the gods. If it is lost, the tribe should be disbanded, its members forced to live in exile until death, regarded as outcasts and traitors by gnoll society at large.

>>54233387

Cackling could be used as a type of psychological warfare. Imagine you are walking through a dark forest, alone, and you begin to hear an inhuman cackle which seems to come from all around. You begin to run, but it comes closer and closer. You think you can see things put the corners of your eyes, running from tree to tree, but you aren't quite sure. Then, the crackling grows closer, and finally you see the creature that has been chasing you, its teeth bared, its eyes blood red, its claws poised for action...

Or something like that.

I like Eberron's approach to them. They're a loose confederation of tribes, the Znir Pact, that formed after they got free from the demons that created them. Unlike the goblins they've never really had the organization or inclination to build a proper empire or anything, but they've got a continuous culture.

In modern Droaam, they're probably the most disciplined force, hiring themselves out as mercenaries to pretty much anyone, but with the stipulation that they won't fight other gnolls. So they're smart enough to know what way the wind is blowing and work themselves into that emerging power structure, even if they aren't the ones instigating it.

Not quite laziness, per se, but not really having that driving ambition as a group to build something.

>>54178247
live in swamps, are natural friends of lizardmen

>>54192704

body pillows:
> Gnolls are well known slavers and slaves of other races are considered living proof of Gnoll superiority
> Being valuable as status symbols, such slaves are often pampered as pets - personal closeness seen as mastery
> Those of lesser standing who cannot afford such slaves often make do with imitations such as painted pillows and effigies

>>54237202
You know, actually, that's not a bad trait for a gnoll civilization that practices slavery, but not of the "work 'em to death and eat 'em" variety. Something more like a decadent culture - an idea I've tossed around in my head in various versions of this thread.

> tfw some fucker in my next group is gonna play a gnoll in curse of strahd of all things
> first game he's actually gonna be in
> keeps bringing up some bit of lore he brought up about how gnolls somehow give their slaves stockholm syndrome and shit
i need an adult

>>54237202
That's actually pretty funny, I could see it in a less serious game

>>54228676
If you want mythology, check this out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buda_(folklore)

>>54221364
some of these are fat as fuck kek

they look hilarious

I'm not a furry so I don't really have strong opinions on gnolls.

>>54228676
Slaneesh Gnolls?

>>54232501
Saved, thanks.

>>54237648

And since the pillows are the lazy/poor option they often have anatomical inaccuracies in parts that are normally covered.

> PC: Well actually, elf girls don't have those.
> Gnoll: Painted by a pro. Like I'm gonna trust some adventurer over a pro.
> PC: We have an elf in our group.
> Gnoll: Yeah, so? You gonna strip her?

>>54241156
I actually like that idea for a grimdark setting

my orcs are basically samurai so i made my gnolls orcs.

more or less mammalian lizardfolk, but with more emotion, as being mammalian would imply.

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>>54221086
>Males are all animal with human posture
>Females are humans with animal ears and maybe something at the end of their limbs
RRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

>>54246830
Japs are scum

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>>54246830
>>54247179
>REEEE HOW DARE JAPS ENJOY SOMETHING OTHER THEN MY SPECIFIC FURFAG TASTES

I take solace in the fact that you will never procreate.

>>54248458
This, I find it hilarious, japs remove the furry aspect of races, but of course furfags like >>54246830
>>54247179
will cry about it, the rest of the world? We are glad japs exist to remove your filth

>>54183738
I agree with you. if making them retarded chaotic evil is the only way to keep "OwO what's this" turbofaggots at bay, then so be it.

Plus it's good to have at least one irredeemably evil scourge race.

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>>54221086
>females are cute kemonomimi grills
>males are furries
>everyone except for token focus character looks the same

Two nukes weren't enough.

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>>54248529
It's not about removing furry aspect, it's about not removing it hard enough.

>>54248458
>>54248529
The entire point is to make it more cute and fuckable. The critical flaw in jap thinking is that they need to be fuckable at all. Animal people are not for sexual in any form.

>>54249731
>Animal people are not for sexual in any form.
Furries are a western inventions though. Modern furries discovered they were furries by watching shit like Robin Hood from Disney or some shit. We also have endless cartoons about animal people.

Japs take the higher high ground, and know people will fuck anything, thus fixes it before it becomes a problem.

>>54248529
>>54249850
Why even have them then? Just use all humans. It's like the thing with shapeshifting dragons in a lot of modern media. The shapeshifting aspect completely overshadows any semblance of them being a dragon, and at that point it's clear that they would have been better off not using a dragon, and instead using a creature/race that actually fit what they wanted to present in the first place, since it clearly wasn't a dragon.

>>54250101
>his dragons can become boring just because they shapeshift
Sounds like you're shit at making dragon unique beyond Big Fucking Lizards, famalamaloo.

>>54248635
The other species look different, but yeah. Background characters get little variation.

>>54250288
Why use a dragon, or whatever creature if you aren't going to bother making use of its traits? If one were to use a shapeshifted dragon as a typical evil overlord type, then why use a dragon instead of a human, or even a vampire or similar being if you just constrain it to humanoid form 100% of the time? Functionally, any of the other choices work better and don't throw away most of the things you would actually want a dragon for.

>>54250498
>not wanting a scene where heroes bust into evil overlord's throne room only to see him rising from his throne staying on enormous pile of treasure and walking towards heroes, shapeshifting into his true form on the way

Also, if just a single thing that could make a cool villain even cooler ruins the whole concept for you, you might go search for another hobby. I heard fidget spinners are big this summer.

>>54250101
>Just use all humans
There is a limit to how many hair styles you can give a character to make him unique.

Japs have to make their characters stand out above the competition. And every character has a nearly identical face, with the hair style and gimmicks such as cat ears being the whole thing that makes them different from one another.

>>54250685
Too bad such a great scene can easily be ruined by killing them long before that happens, leaving them face down in their vulnerable and now dead human form, with nobody knowing that they were in fact a dragon at all. And that, is basically the point where one re-evaluates why they made them a dragon in the first place, when it turns out to be completely irrelevant.

>>54216405
First time I died in WoW was from this bastard. Hogger is forever my template for gnolls since.

>>54251060
>human form
>more vulnerable
>implying implicit implications

>>54250906
It wasn't nearly as bad in the past. Hate to link to tumblr, but this should explain what the hell's been going on in anime in the past 20 years.

http://badcharacterdesign.tumblr.com/post/161923072450/persefones-glitchmeow-anime-why-do-anime

>>54251154
That's literally how it always works. You don't get to have the smaller form of a human and keep all the power and physical advantages of your true dragon form. Otherwise, the dragon form is clearly worthless and they again, might as well not be a dragon at all.

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>>54248617
Yena needed more prominance. She's much better than the shitty wolf.

>>54251397
>That's literally how it always works.
No.

but at this point we're firmly in our own preferencelands. For some, dragon shapeshifting is literal shapeshifting, for some it's akin to "a form you are comfortable with" thing (either because of pity or of vanity, in "look at me, i'm better as human than you are" sense).

Also if we're speaking of same RPGs, no way human at the end of campaign will die from a single attack.

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>>54249731
>>54250101
The critical flaw is in your brain.

Catgirls -> fuckable
Actual cats -> unfuckable

>Animal people are not for sexual in any form.
The only thing worse than a furry is a furry in denial.

>>54248617
>>54251502
Yes, yes, go back to Furaffinity, no one cares about your degenerate animalfucker opinions.

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>>54248617

>>54248529
>>54248458
I was not even talking frm a sexual point of view. This form of "sexual dimorphism" just triggers me.
It is somehow even worse then Oglafs >>54251502

>>54255437
It's pretty much the same

>>54254511
S2 never.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1Fa9TQMaZg

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>>54179075
This is the only right answer.

>>54258426
You do realize that's Donald J trump right? Are you aware of how many people are getting triggered right now because of what you posted?

Be more considerate next time. Thanks

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>>54258575
No brakes on this train, snowflake.

>>54258426
>drumpf the bigot is endorsing ATTACKING innocent furries now
Is anyone in the lgbtqiaf++ sandwich safe from his hatred?

>>54257696
No. There they still have full body features like the scale shit on the trex. In all that anime it is literally a human with with animal ears.
Bonus points if they still for some reason have their human ears aswell.

So, query: do anons think gnolls make more sense as a mage-bred warrior-slave race for a race of necromancy & demonology-practicing jackal-people (Hutaakan expies), as having killed their creators and taken over, or just using the black magical arts themselves?

>>54262091
I like the first one because you empower the race, which I think is good.

>>54262237
Uh... the first one empowers "the race" (meaning, I presume, the gnolls)? Huh?

>>54262368
Of course, they killed their creator. That's empowering.

The other choice of backstory has less depth, and doesn't actually explain how they got their hands into black magic.

>>54262458
...Killing their creators is option #2; option #1 is the race still being slaves to the not!Hutaakans.

>>54262091
Using jackal people just brings up more questions on why the fuck there are jackal people

>>54262237
Well you see the jackal people are actually the creation of the snake people.

>>54262778
Who in turn are a creation of the toad people

>>54262849
Where do the toad people come from though?

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>>54262004
>Bonus points if they still for some reason have their human ears aswell.
THIS
ASWFDERWYTAZSDSTQHTDWSARESQASQAF

>>54235238
I use that one, now I have gnoll and lizardfolk river pirates that attack mercant ships

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>>54248458
>>54248529
>>54252882
>FURFAG REEEE
>Not making guys less furry instead

>>54263629
I'm a little disappointed the hyenas didn't reverse the trend, with bishonen males, and bestial females

>>54263709
That wouldn't appeal to the NEET male market of japs

>>54263778
Good point, make them traps.

>>54232576
Ahuh. Well us grown ups will have fun acknowledging that sex and sexuality are part of life and can be a positive contributor to our games. You can miss out.

>>54264227
>injecting their fetish into their games is what furries consider to be maturity
really explains quite a bit if you think about it

>>54178247
Small, feral, insectivorous monsters who make tunneled homes. Base them on Aardwolves rather than spotted hyenas.

>>54178247
Replacement for Orcs in the setting

>>54264227
>can be a positive contributor to our games

Except that the overwhelming majority of the time, it's not, to a degree where it's actually safe to say "Unless you have a very good reason to include it, don't."

"I'm horny and have zero self awareness" are not particularly compelling reasons, Mr. Grown Up.

>>54265620
Do they get elves to corrupt or something else aswell?

>>54265733
>Except that the overwhelming majority of the time, it's not, to a degree where it's actually safe to say "Unless you have a very good reason to include it, don't."
How do you know?

Isn't it ironic how pissed off /tg/ gets over the idea of non-Chaotic Evil beastman races, when such things have been playable in D&D pretty much since it was *called* D&D?

I mean, way back in Basic, you could play Hsiao (talking owls), Sphinxes, Tabi (flying monkeys), Lupins (faux-French dog-people), Rakast (cat people from either the not!Britain or from the not!Japan moon civilization who rode around on flying sabertoothed tigers), Hutaakans (priestly jackal-folk), Gnolls, and Lizardfolk.

>>54272767
I don't think /tg/ gets pissed so much as a handful of spergs

In my friends games the males usually act as chemists and siege/castle engineers for the dark lord or villains.
but he is a" that guy"so most of the time the females are also the interrogators and prison guards

>>54220309
don't waste your breath dude. both of those people play for reasons other than fun it seems. not worth

>>54221803
oh no. i would literally die if he cried because of his ice cream :c