A Pack of Undead Gnolls... on Dinosaurs

What's worse than gnoll slaver pirates riding dinosaurs? 

Undead gnoll slaver pirates riding dinosaurs. 

Scratch that. Have 'em ride undead dinosaurs. Ghoulish gnoll riding a skeletal triceratops? Yessir, I'll have some more of that please. But we can't just throw these badboys in anywhere! A terror like these is just begging for some kind of horrific story and setting to back it all up. Because really, if your starting point for the adventure is badass undead gnolls riding around on skeletal triceratops, then the boss has to be the gnoll necromancer-shaman riding on the back of a ghoul t-rex. You thought a t-rex was hungry? Think about how hungry he is when he hasn't eaten in several thousand years. 

We'd need a good, wide-open, sprawling jungle temple for this one. With plenty of Indiana Jones style deathtraps just waiting to be set off. 

And a pit full of snakes. Wait... Undead snakes. 

I think it's about time I cracked open my DMG2 and started applying some monster templates.

Gnoll Samurai

It's been a little while since my last Pack of Gnolls post, so here we go. Someone found this blog by searching for "what d&d book is the gnoll samurai in" and that query scrambled my creative juices a bit. Stereotypical assumptions about gnoll "society" would definitely be antithetical to traditional Japanese Samurai. However, if your campaign has a Far East equivalent (as I'm sure many of them do) it would not be outside the realm of possibilities that a roving band of gnolls would manage to take down a lone samurai (albeit having suffered numerous losses, no doubt!). That samurai's gear would undoubtedly go to the pack leader, which would result in a gnoll with a katana and full samurai armor. This gnoll, however, would obviously be lacking in the years of training necessary to acquire Samurai combat skills, so he (or she) would just have nice gear. That's a little boring. 

However, what if we dressed Tom Cruise up as a gnoll, a la "The Last Samurai", and then we have a gnoll with full samurai combat training and a sense of honor to match. This can go one of two ways. First, you have a gnoll NPC that blows the PCs' expectations out of the water. Second, you have a gnoll BBEG leading an incredibly well-trained Pack. And of course, there's no reason that over the course of your campaign, that NPC couldn't be betrayed (by the PCs?) and become a BBEG...

I've got way too much work to do getting Saturday's game ready to go, otherwise I'd stat that badass up properly. Maybe next week. Or maybe I'll save it til after my PCs meet him... 

Pack of Pirate Gnolls

Ahoy matey! You thought Gnolls were scary when they were riding dinosaurs around? I'll show you scary! Jam a hundred of those filth-ridden bastards on an airship to raid the skies, now that's scary! 

Captain Blacktooth is a big nasty gnoll with a flair for the dramatic and a taste for flesh. Specifically, he thinks halfling flesh is the most tender, tastiest morsels he's ever ripped off a bone. Blacktooth is probably the most well-dressed gnoll you'll ever meet, as befits someone of his station, being Captain of one of the most feared skyships ever to pirate through the clouds: the Vulture. 

The Vulture was once an elegant eladrin Cloudskipper, the Peregrine, until Blacktooth captured it in a daring midair raid. He slew every last eladrin on board and took the ship as his own, corrupting its very nature with his presence alone. Ever since he has terrorized the skies. 

The Vulture has a crew of some hundred and fifty battle hardened gnolls. They are loyal to Blacktooth to the death. When not out pirating the skies, they can typically be found on the Crag, a pirate haven and generally lawless island. 

A Pack of Gnolls on Dinosaurs

So, what's scarier than a slavering, bloodthirsty, 'roided-out pack of gnolls? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

A slavering bloodthirsty 'roided-out pack of gnolls riding dinosaurs, that's what! 

I think this Pack of Gnolls would be most appropriate in the 4e published Eberron setting, where "behemoths" (aka dinosaurs) are common enough critters that barbarian halflings ride them around the Talenta Plains. 

A clan of gnolls that has trained a number of dinosaurs to be mounts and pack animals would be a force to be reckoned with as they travelled across the plains. They would undoubtedly butcher whole tribes of halflings and use their skulls to drink their blood. Nasty stuff like that. Because gnolls are evil, you know. 

Come to think of it, this clan of dino-riding gnolls may get its own Island in the Sky...

A Pack of Gnoll Slavers

Well, the blog is called "A Pack of Gnolls", right?  Gnolls are some of my favorite monsters.  Just plain nasty buggers: demon-worshipping, humanoid-sacrificing, hyena-men.  Their god wasn't tough enough to handle Yeenoghu, so now they worship that evil bastard. So I'm gonna start coming up with some unique gnoll packs for use in adventures.  Because, really, using gnolls just as random bandits along a road or in another bland dungeon room is just boring and doesn't really explore the full potential of their cruel, malevolent, sadistic nature.  


Azrebe's Fangs


This band of a dozen gnolls is led by Azrebe, a cunning and power-hungry gnoll who is currently in Yeenoghu's favor, thanks to the hundreds of slaves and sacrifices he has brought to the Abyss.  Entire villages worth of people have disappeared, leaving ghost-towns behind.  The few who escaped the mass slaughter and kidnappings are driven mad by the atrocities they witnessed.  


Azrebe has a magical knife that has Yeenoghu's blessing upon it.  Once per day, as a standard action, Azrebe can use the knife to sacrifice an innocent (typically a child) upon an altar built to Yennoghu; this action causes a portal to Yeenoghu's Realm in the Abyss to open, at the Gathering Gate. This portal can remain open for up to two hours, as long as Azrebe maintains it.  


Azrebe's primary lieutenant is a twisted, mad gnoll called Skar.  


The Fangs have been roving across the land now for months, never staying in one place for very long, unless they find a place that is soft and ripe for the taking.  Azrebe's primary concern is presenting as many slaves as possible to Yeenoghu, in hopes of receiving some kind of twisted, abyssal boon.  The Fangs will typically attack a secluded farm or homestead late at night, make a sacrifice to open the portal to the abyss, and then fan out in groups of two or three to find more victims to herd to the portal.  Once the portal is open, Azrebe must maintain it, so Skar takes the lead on finding more victims.  On the other side of the portal are gnolls ready to take the victims and torture them into submission.  Or sacrifice them.  Or eat them.  Or all of the above.  


From the Monster Vault: 
Azrebe is a Fang of Yeenoghu (p 145)
Skar is a Gnoll Blood Caller (p 144)
The other ten are Deathpledged Gnolls (p 144)


That's a Skirmisher, a Soldier, and 8 Brutes, so make sure to introduce some good terrain elements or something to keep combat interesting.