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.—1e Monster Manual (1977).
Gnolls are arguably the most distinctive of the evil humanoids from early Dungeons and Dragons. While kobolds, goblins, hobgoblins, orcs, and bugbears all seem to spring from common Northern European/Tolkien roots, hyena-headed, demon-worshiping gnolls seem to originate from someplace altogether different.
While many of the classic humanoid monsters are first described in Chainmail (1972), gnolls debut in Dungeons and Dragons Book II: Monsters and Treasures (1974):
A cross between Gnomes and Trolls (… perhaps, Lord Sunsany [sic] did not really make it all that clear) with +2 morale. Otherwise they are similar to Hobgoblins, although the Gnoll king and his bodyguard of from 1–4 will fight as Trolls but lack regenerative power.
Note that none of the distinctive features of the gnolls as described in the 1e Monster Manual can be found here. A Greg Bell illustration of a “Gnoll,” on page 10 just looks like a generic, pointed-eared humanoid.
Lord Dunsany, the Anglo-Irish writer, is listed as “Inspirational and Educational Material” in Appendix N of the 1e Dungeon Master’s Guide (1979). “Gnoles” are mentioned in his enigmatic short story “How Nuth Would Have Practiced his Art upon the Gnoles” from The Book of Wonder (1912):
No track led up to the sinister gloom of the trees, either of men or cattle; not even a poacher had been there snaring elves for over a hundred years. You did not trespass in the dells of the gnoles.
Though [spoiler alert] gnoles are never actually seen in Dunsany’s story, they appear to be some manner of forest-dwelling bogeymen. Although I’ve never been sure how influential Dunsany really was on him, Gygax seemed to have had a special fondness for gnolls. They appear in the “Example of the Referee Moderating a Dungeon Expedition” from OD&D Book III, The Underworld and Wilderness Adventures. The party encounters a room with “a half-dozen gnolls,” but although Gygax describes the physical dimensions of the room and its contents in great detail, he doesn’t actually describe what a gnoll looks like.
Gygax also developed a new gnoll card to the Dungeon! Boardgame. He mentions gnolls in his short story “The Search for the Gnome Cache,” from The Dragon 3 (October 1976). Writing under the pseudonym “Garrison Ernst,” Gygax portrays them much like the bogeymen of Dunsany:
Yer ain’t heard ‘bout that terribul country? Why, airs most slimey great beastswhatlives in the waters o’Nyrn, an’ the hills above the lake are cursed too! Ain’t no folks lives there—only bad things like gnolls.
Enter Yeenoghu
So where did the familiar hyena-headed gnolls of the 1e Monster Manual come from? I can’t find a direct source, but here’s a promising but extremely obscure lead: Strategic Preview Sub-titled TSR Jobbies #5 (Summer 1976), a TSR in-house newsletter produced in vanishingly small numbers. As detailed by Frank Mentzer over at Dragonsfoot, this newsletter featured the very first appearance of Yeenoghu, and most of the information closely mirrors the description from the 1e Monster Manual:
Yeenoghu resembles a human in general form, except that his head is a hyena’s, his chest canine in form, his hands paw-like, and his feet are pawed.
The Strategic Preview entry differs mainly on one point, but it’s a doozy: Yeenoghu is described as “The Demon Lord of Orcs.”
So at some point between Strategic Preview 5 and the publication of the Monster Manual one year later, someone decided to connect Yeenoghu with gnolls, and to have gnolls resemble their hyena-headed demonic patron.
So who did it? Gygax is the presumptive answer, but as Mentzer pointed out in a followup post, “Throughout the 4 Strategic Previews, there is no mention of authors, artists, or copyrights. [Determining an author for] the writing is trickier, and this entry is not written in HighGax.”
I have sometimes wondered if Yeenoghu might actually be the creation of Rob Kuntz. I don’t have anything to support that idea beyond “feel.” The name Yeenoghu, the exoticism of his appearance, the connection to ghouls all feel inspired by the pulp writer Clark Ashton Smith. And while Gygax supposedly hadn’t read him, Kuntz is a well known fan of CAS.
Earlier this year James Maliszewski posted a nice Grognardia entry on Clark Ashton Smith’s short story "The Tomb-Spawn," which describes monsters that might be a direct inspiration for the hyena-headed gnoll: the Ghorii.
The story is part of CAS’s Zothique cycle of weird fiction. While it’s not entirely clear whether the Ghorii are a tribe of bestial humans or inhuman monsters, they certainly sound gnollish in nature:
Into this waste, which was seemingly unpeopled and void of life, the caravan went warily. Urging their camels to a swift trot in the narrow, deep-walled ravines, the merchants made ready their spears and claymores and scanned the barren ridges with anxious eyes. For here, in hidden caves, there lurked a wild and half-bestial people, known as the Ghorii. Akin to the ghouls and jackals, they were eaters of carrion; and also they were anthropophagi, subsisting by preference on the bodies of travelers, and drinking their blood in lieu of water or wine. They were dreaded by all who had occasion to journey between Yoros and Tasuun.
* * * * *
[The] gully swarmed and seethed with the hideous earth-brown bodies of the Ghorii, who appeared instantaneously on all sides, leaping wolfishly from the rocky slopes or flinging themselves like panthers from the high ledges.
These ghoulish apparitions were unspeakably ferocious and agile. Uttering no sound, other than a sort of hoarse coughing and spitting, and armed only with their double rows of pointed teeth and their sickle-like talons, they poured over the caravan in a climbing wave.
Whether created by Gygax or Kuntz, the 1e Monster Manual firmly established the look of gnolls, their connection to ghouls and their demonic patron, Yeenoghu.
Amongst the ranks of demon princes, Yeenoghu is one of the most powerful and most feared. There will normally be 66 gnolls of the strongest sort … in attendance upon Yeenoghu, and if he is alone he can summon from 6–66 in one turn. As this demon prince also receives homage from the King of Ghouls, he can similarly summon from 6–16 ghouls if he so desires.
Fourth Edition introduced the witherling in the Monster Manual 2 (2009), a form of undead gnoll. The concept makes a lot of sense, but I find the design and artwork a bit underwhelming. Fifth edition brought the witherlings back in Volo’s Guide to Monsters (2016), and the artwork really sold this monster to me. When WizKids introduced witherling miniatures as part of Wave 15 of their Nolzur’s Marvelous Miniatures line, I knew I had to get these.
These were really fun miniatures to paint. I sprayed a zentihal undercoat of black which helped establish shading; in retrospect I should have done a second coat of white on top of this.
I then used several washes of different Army Painter Quickshade tones, which helped create a pallid, desiccated look that reasonably matched the artwork in Volo’s. Using washes also helped preserve the fine details of the skeletal areas, which sometimes get lost with chalky white paints.
I was fairly happy with how these miniatures came out and look forward to using these in an upcoming game.
Undead Gnolls in the Great Dungeon
The gnolls of the Great Dungeon venerate the foul demon lord Yughooragh, who also “commands the service of hyenas, ghouls, ghasts, and trolls.” As a sign of his power, he grants many gnoll shaman the ability to create and command undead gnolls, which assume a variety of horrid forms. Slain shamans or chieftains especially favored by Yughooragh are sometimes called back from the Abyss as ghoul-kissed gnolls.
For 5e games, I would simply use Witherlings as described in Volo’s. But in a 3e game I would make use of the many undead templates available. Green Ronin’s Advanced Bestiary provides a handy Dread Ghoul template which suits our purposes quite well. The following text is Open Game Content.
Ghoul-Kissed Gnoll CR 2
CE Medium undead (augmented humanoid, gnoll)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent; Listen +4, Spot +5
Languages Gnoll
Defense
AC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 13
hp 13 (2 HD)
Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +2
Special Defenses turn resistance +2
Offense
Spd 30 ft., climb 30 ft.
Melee bite +4 (1d6+3 plus paralysis), 2 claws +2 (1d3+1 plus paralysis)
Special Attacks command ghouls, create spawn
Statistics
Str 17, Dex 14, Con –, Int 10, Wis 15, Cha 10
Base Atk +1; Grp +5
Feats Multiattack, Track B
Skills Climb +11, Survival +10
Special Abilities
Command Ghouls (Su) A ghoul-kissed gnoll can automatically command all normal ghouls within 30 feet as a free action. Normal ghouls never attack a ghoul-kissed gnoll unless compelled.
Create Spawn (Su) In most cases, ghoul-kissed gnolls feast on the bodies of the fallen. However, any creature killed by a ghoul-kissed gnoll that lies undisturbed until the next midnight rises as a dread ghoul at that time. The new dread ghoul is not under the control of its creator. A protection from evil or gentle repose spell cast on the corpse prevents this.
Paralysis (Ex) A creature damaged by a ghoul-kissed gnoll’s natural attack must succeed on a DC 11 Fortitude save or be paralyzed for 1d4+1 rounds.
Scent (Ex) A ghoul-kissed gnoll can detect approaching enemies and sniff out hidden foes by sense of smell alone.
Skills A ghoul-kissed gnoll can always choose to take 10 on Climb checks, even if rushed or threatened.
Undead Traits Immune to mind-affecting effects, poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability damage to its physical ability scores, ability drain, energy drain, fatigue, exhaustion, or death from massive damage.
Skeletal Gnoll CR 1
CE Medium undead
Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +0, Spot +0
Defense
AC 18, touch 11, flat-footed 17
hp 13 (2 HD)
Fort +0, Ref +1, Will +3
Immune cold; DR 5/bludgeoning
Offense
Spd 30 ft.
Melee morningstar +3 (1d8+2)
Statistics
Str 15, Dex 12, Con –, Int –, Wis 10, Cha 1
Base Atk +1; Grp +3
Gear leather armor, heavy wooden shield, morningstar
Special Abilities
Undead Traits Immune to mind-affecting effects, poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability damage to its physical ability scores, ability drain, energy drain, fatigue, exhaustion, or death from massive damage.
Zombified Gnoll CR 1
CE Medium undead
Init -1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +0, Spot +0
Defense
AC 16, touch 9, flat-footed 16
hp 29 (4 HD); DR 5/slashing
Fort +1, Ref +0, Will +4
Defensive Abilities undead traits
Offense
Spd 30 ft.
Melee morningstar +5 (1d8+3)
Statistics
Str 17, Dex 8, Con –, Int –, Wis 10, Cha 1
Base Atk +2; Grp +5
Gear leather armor, heavy wooden shield, morningstar
SQ single actions only
Special Abilities
Single Actions Only (Ex) Zombified gnolls have poor reflexes and can perform only a single move action or attack action each round. A zombified gnoll can move up to its speed and attack in the same round, but only if it attempts a charge.
Undead Traits Immune to mind-affecting effects, poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability damage to its physical ability scores, ability drain, energy drain, fatigue, exhaustion, or death from massive damage.
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