Gnolls have slaughtered their way to gaming infamy, and they are a favorite of gamemasters (GMs) and players alike. This article can be used by GMs to round out this age-old monster, or players can use it to create new characters. The following gnoll variant is formatted for AGE—though you can convert the material to your preferred system easily enough—and is specific to the Midgard campaign world.

Gnoll Avenger

Sallying forth from the edge of sandstorms, gnoll avengers ride chariots into battle. Though encountered across Midgard, avengers tend to be concentrated in the Southlands, especially in the river city of Nuria and particularly at the Palm Palace, as well as the outlying cities of Corremel and Per-Kush. Avengers are used en masse to conquer others or defend the kingdom, or they work in smaller formations to hunt, track, race, and make war. The bloodline of these gnolls originates with a common ancestor—a large gnoll named Arrna—and each avenger has remained loyal to the king and queen of the river kingdom since then. Riding ornate ceremonial chariots, statues of avengers are found within royal tombs, even protecting their charge in the afterlife. Like other gnolls, avengers capture slaves, especially those with the skills to perpetuate or amend the technology of their vehicles, and they engage in cannibalism, eating fallen brethren to absorb their twisted souls. Avenger leaders employ falcons for scouting, while the rank and file have an affinity for barbed nets (see below), spears, and short bows.

Playing a Gnoll Avenger

If you choose to play a gnoll avenger, modify your character as follows:

• Add 1 to your Dexterity. Avengers must be agile to fight from chariots.
• Pick one of the following focuses: Constitution (Driving) or Strength (Spears).
• You can speak Nurian.
• Take the warrior class.

Roll twice on the accompanying table for additional benefits. Roll 2d6 and add the dice together. If you get the same result twice, re-roll until you get something different.

Avenger Chariots

Chariots are two-wheeled vehicles fashioned from skin stretched over steam-bent wooden frames. Slaves or free artisans with a Journeyman level of the Invention talent, or with the Cunning (Engineering) and/or Dexterity (Crafting) focuses can design and/or build chariots. A simple gnoll chariot costs upwards of 100 sp. Under a GM’s supervision, more complex chariots can be acquired or constructed, such as those with armor, intelligence, or magical resistance, or with additional offensive capabilities such as the ability to spread disease.

Chariots are drawn by 1–4 hyenas (that lose their bite attack due to a bridle, though maintain the stunt Knock Prone) and have a driver and an armed rider. When chariots are used in numbers, they fight in closed ranks to overwhelm enemies. On open terrain, chariots provide great speed and maneuverability, offering stable platforms from which to launch arrow, javelin, and spear attacks (weapons fired/thrown from a moving chariot add +1 to damage). Chariots have a speed of 15 at full speed and an armor rating of 4. Driving is a minor action, and any charioteer makes a Constitution test every round. If this fails, a Dexterity test is made. If this fails, the charioteer falls from the chariot and makes another Dexterity test for damage. The GM can determine target numbers based on terrain and speed.

New Gnoll Weapon: Barbed Net

This rope net is covered in spider-venom-coated hooks and costs 20 sp. Considered a missile weapon with a short/long range of 2 yards and no reload, the user makes a ranged attack to successfully throw the net. With a hit, the hooks cause 1d6 damage and the spider venom inflicts –2 to Dexterity. If able, the user performs a Knock Prone (SP2) stunt, entangling the target.

The first scenario I ran was The Forgotten King’s Tomb by Mike Franke adapted to Green Ronin’s excellent AGE system. The premise of the adventure is that the adventurers are members of an elite cadre of kobold irregulars sent to seek a tomb with supposedly enchanted writing that their Akinji (dragonkin lord) Shard had discovered during an expedition into the Sands of Sorrows many years prior.

The mix of kobolds covered the standard archetypes of an adventuring party, but with the added benefit of some infighting politics centered around who really led the group, despite what the Akinji decreed. The kobold irregulars selected by the players were Char (pyromaniac mage and leader), Night Shade (thrill-seeking sniper), Klikjack (warrior enforcer for Char), Ghost (opportunistic albino rogue), and Dractus (elementalist mage and Char’s rival).

I started the irregulars off already trekking through the Sands of Sorrows looking for their Akinji’s lost tomb. The players received the information from the adventure background and roleplayed their meeting with their dragonkin lord in a flashback before we resumed play in the present. The players really seemed to enjoy the Arabian feel of the Dragon Empire as well as the high magic vibe of the setting with the idea of ley lines, magical travel, and magic used to transform oneself and station.

The players all said that they had a fun time playing as the kobolds, and I fielded several questions concerning the Midgard setting and the AGE system. As the session came to a final close the consensus seemed to be that Midgard offered a solid variety in terms of the types of games one could run with the setting and that the AGE system really brought the cinematic aspects to the fore with the stunt mechanics. Overall the first scenario and game set in Midgard was a very positive experience.

The second Midgard scenario I ran at MACE 2012 was Beyond the Ghostlight Reef by Christina Stiles. For this game I adapted the scenario to Savage Worlds to help facilitate the adventure fitting into the four-hour slot I had to run it in. Savage Worlds is a great system for a variety of reasons, but one of my favorite aspects of the system is its combat resolution that facilitates fast play at the table, a real bonus when running games at conventions.

I really liked the premise of the Seven Cities backdrop that the adventure was set in. The Seven Cities are a collection of nation-states made up of a variety of races in a near-constant state of warfare and political infighting set against the backdrop of the ruins of a once mighty empire. The area seemed, upon reading, to be very dynamic and a place where enterprising adventurers could forge their own fortunes.

For the adventure, I created an assortment of characters for the players to select from that highlighted the variety of player races that the campaign setting offered and lent themselves to the idea of a freebooting adventuring company seeking their fortunes. The pregens that were selected by the players were an arrogant human blade master, an impulsive kobold alchemist, an honorable Northman warrior, a greedy minotaur ranger, a heroic dwarf cleric, and a curious gearforged wizard.

The adventure opened with the freebooters answering the summons of Balack Giolan, a wealthy noble of Fruila. The adventurers made some common knowledge rolls to get some background about the noble and the general state of affairs in Fruila. This gained them the information about the rivalries of The Bibliotori and their desire to constantly outdo one another with secrets and knowledge. After some aggressive negotiations, led by the greedy minotaur, the group accepted the noble’s commission to secure a set of recently recovered chests in possession of the red hags of the Ghostlight Reef.

As with the previous adventure, my players all said that they had a fun time playing in the world of Midgard. Several of the players enjoyed the fact that it wasn’t just the typical fantasy races that were available to play. In addition, the sheer variety in terms of the types of games one could run with the setting seemed to really stand out to everyone as we talked about Midgard. As before, the adventure and setting proved to be a very positive experience.

My third venture into the world of Midgard was this past April at MACE West 2013. Christina had contacted me about helping with the Midgard Mayhem event and for this convention I decided to come up with my own scenario rather than use either of the ones I had used at MACE 2012. I had really liked the Zobeck entry in the Midgard Campaign Setting so I ordered the Zobeck Gazetteer from DriveThruRPG to gain a deeper understanding of the free city. When I had finished reading through the gazetteer I had decided that the adventurers would all be characters of a decidedly gray morality.

Using Savage Worlds once more, the pregens that were selected by the players for Zobeck City Nights were an honorable darakhul (true ghoul) paladin of Marena (the death goddess), an elf-marked swashbuckling magus, a greedy gearforged warrior, a huginn (ravenfolk) assassin, an impulsive kobold pyromancer, and a curious gnoll archer. Each of the characters was of veteran rank with a few magic items for each that put them closer to heroic rank. I had developed a series of questions related to the group’s identity as The Six-Fingered Hand and their individual lives. This allowed for a faster immersion of the players into the free city while organically developing their bonds as members of a very mercenary adventuring company within Zobeck.

The adventure opened with the group finishing a commission for a mysterious patron that involved the capture of a would-be crime lord. The group successfully defeated the crime lord’s retainers and captured the man alive in a pitched battle in the Dock District.

In all, I was very pleased with how Zobeck worked in play and that the evocative nature of the setting allowed for the shades of gray play I was interested to see happen in the city-based game. The players all stated that they had a fun time and most of them really liked the variety and diversity of Zobeck specifically and Midgard as a whole.

I have enjoyed helping Christina with the Midgard Mayhem events at these last two conventions. I think the events help to showcase that the setting handles a wide variety of play styles as well as game systems. Looking at the various locales contained within Midgard, each with their own distinctive flavor and adventure potential helps to make the campaign guide a truly great resource. I look forward to running additional adventures set within the Midgard campaign setting and encourage anyone at a convention that is running a Midgard Mayhem event to find a game and have some fun.

The Midgard Campaign Setting fan community is growing faster than an ill-advised alchemy experiment in Maillon! It’s an active, vibrant community, full of people who want to take what we’ve created and run with it in exciting and fun directions. So we thought, why not make it easier for them?

To encourage fan sites and free fan-created projects using Midgard and other Kobold Press IP, we’ve just launched the Kobold Press Community Use Policy. This policy covers free, fan-created material only; if you want to do a commercial project, check out our Freelancer Guidelines.

Along with guidelines on what fans can use and how, we’re also offering the first Kobold Press Community Use Package of resources. This first package contains 10 of the Midgard setting’s most iconic characters — and we’ll be adding new packages over time.

Tell us what you think in the comments! And if you have a Midgard fan project underway, or if this inspires you to start one, please let us know. We’d love to see it.

The following table redefines the metal values to align with AGE assumptions and the darker tone of the system. To use any of the ingots from earlier articles in AGE, multiply its weight by the value in this table.

The original setting for AGE introduced a couple of new metals, but it does not make any mention of mithral or adamantine. If you are playing in that setting, you can use the values of mithral and adamantine for those new metals.

For those who missed the announcement of this contest, you can find it right here.

Best of luck to those who have entered and intend to enter the contest, and have fun working on your pitch if that’s something you’re in the process of doing! The judges are looking forward to seeing what creative ideas you all come up with.

This issue is packed with Stygian foes, diabolical adventure, cannibal demon apes, soul-sundering artifacts and evil chocolatiers. Kobold Quarterly # 23 includes:

• The dark aristocratic glory of Dispater, First King of the Infernal City by Wes Schneider
• The Vile Black Book, a grimoire written by Asmodeus himself, with five new diabolical spells by Ed Greenwood
• Mechuiti, Midgard’s demon lord of apes and cannibals, with new spells, monsters and adventure hooks by Adam Roy
• “Devil’s Food”, an adventure among Midgard’s sinister gnomes by Michael Lane
• “The Urge to Evolve”, a new Pathfinder Society Quest by Adam Daigle
• GM tips from Steve Winter on creating an atmosphere of horror at the table

KQ # 23 also features inks and poisons from Midgard’s Seven Cities by Christina Stiles, worldbuilding with Monte Cook, Living Gods for 13th Age by Ash Law, a lamia PC race by Marc Radle, plus devil-smiting, soul-selling, and the ever-popular Ask the Kobold with Skip Williams.

The full table of contents for this issue is after the cut:

• Cover: Midgard’s Master of Demon Mountain by Emile Denis
• Dispater by Wes Schneider – Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
• Slithering in Moonlight by Marc Radle – Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
• Pages From Asmodeus by Ed Greenwood – Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
• Mechuiti by Adam Roy – Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
• Gauntlet Witch by Morgan Boehringer and Jim Wettstein – Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
• Selling your Soul by Rodrigo García Carmona – AGE System
• A Few Suggestions by James Thomas – Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, D&D 3.5, OSR
• The Devil Smiter by Peter von Bleichert – D&D 3.5
• Simplifying Sunder by Jeff Ibach – Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
• The Fruits of Friula by Christina Stiles – Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
• Monk of the Glorious Endeavor by Matt Blackie – Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
• Devil’s Food by Michael Lane – Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
• Crossroads Crowned by Terry Maranda & Eric Hindley – Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
• Pathfinder Society Quest: The Urge to Evolve by Adam Daigle – Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
• Living Gods for 13th Age by Ash Law – 13^th Age
• Different Kinds of World Building by Monte Cook
• Real Scares by Steve Winter
• Ask the Kobold by Skip Williams
• Sign of the White Bat by Wolfgang Baur
• d20 Monkey by Brian Patterson
• Bolt & Quiver by Stan!
• 10′x 10′ Toon by Stan!

Pick up KQ 23 in Print+PDF or PDF-only today!

The Midgard Preview includes:

• “The Bloodtide” and “At the Sign of the World Serpent”, two new Midgard stories by Jeff Grubb and Wade Rockett
• Huginn, a new ravenfolk PC race including notable huginn mercenary companies and a sorcerous bloodline
• Beautiful full-color art from the Midgard Campaign Setting
• A map of the Wasted West by Jonathan Roberts that shows the locations of the titanic Great Old Ones

Check it out, and get a free taste of Midgard!

At long last, the fey roads have opened! The gods don their masks, the Northern reavers sound their horns, and the dwarven forges burn like suns. The emperor of the ghouls rises from his dark throne, the wild elves leave the earth behind and ride the wind, and the mercenary armies of the Seven Cities march to war. Midgard Campaign Setting is here.

You can get it right now in the Kobold Store, in hardcover+PDF and softcover+PDF, and in PDF-only at DriveThru RPG.

Wolfgang Baur, along with Jeff Grubb, Brandon Hodge, Christina Stiles, Dan Voyce and the always-astounding community of Midgard patrons, have created a book that culminates years of Open Design adventures and sourcebooks, KQ articles, convention games, and the campaigns of countless GMs who took their players on epic adventures in this dark world of deep magic.

The 296-page book includes:

• Pathfinder RPG and AGE System rules for gearforged, kobold, and minotaur PCs
• 26 new backgrounds, 3 new schools of magic, and new specialties for AGE System
• New clerical domains including clockwork, moon, hunger, and beer
• More than 50 kingdom write-ups, with new feats and traits for each region of Midgard
• New spells, magical items, and incantations
• New gear and weapons unique to the setting
• Ley line magic and the secrets of the shadow roads

From the Northern fjords to the hidden tombs of the gnolls, from the raven-headed reavers to the ruins of the great mage-kingdoms: all of Midgard is yours!

We’re going to celebrate the launch with a party at AFK Tavern in Everett, WA on Saturday, October 13 from 6 PM to 8 PM, with a special menu of Midgard-themed food and drink, giveaways, and general merriment. We hope you can join us there! In that spirit of celebration, here’s a sneak peek at the Midgardian clerical domain of Beer:

Beer Domain

Deities: Ninkash, Sif

Granted Powers: Ninkash’s sweet nectar invigorates your mind even as it dulls those around you. The secrets of Ninkash’s faith grant you a +2 sacred bonus to Fortitude saves against ingested poisons. Also, Profession: Brewer is now a class skill for you.

Blessed Brew (Su): Once per day, with a touch, you may transform a container of non-magical liquids into a number of draughts of Blessed Brew equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier, negating any special attributes those liquids might have previously had. Imbibers of this brew may choose to gain either a number of temporary hp equal to half your cleric level (minimum 1), gain a +2 sacred bonus to Charisma based skill checks, a +1 dodge bonus to AC, or a +1 to caster level to Enchantment (Charm) spells. This bonus lasts for an hour, then fades, leaving a warm buzz behind. A creature may benefit from only one Blessed Brew within a 24 hour period.

Aura of Inebriation (Su): At 8th level, you may emit a 30 ft. aura as an immediate action which does not provoke attacks of opportunity. This aura grants allies a bonus equal to your Wisdom modifier to morale checks and saves against fear.

All other creatures entering, and for 1 round after leaving the aura, must make a Will save (DC equal to 10 + one-half your level + your Wisdom modifier) or take a sacred penalty equal to your Wisdom modifier to Wisdom-based skill checks and suffer the effects of the spell touch of gracelessness (from the Advanced Player’s Guide). A successful save negates the spell effect but not the Wisdom penalty.

This aura may be active for a number of rounds equal to your cleric level and these rounds need not be consecutive. Dispelling this aura is a free action.

Domain Spells: 1st—bless water, 2nd—delay poison, 3rd—cup of dust*, 4th—neutralize poison, 5th—cleanse, 6th—hero’s feast, 7th— vision, 8th—euphoric tranquility*, 9th—miracle

*- From the Advanced Player’s Guide.

Subdomains: Family and Loss. The blessings of Ninkash can tighten the bonds of friendship and kin, but their abuse can lead to the failure of those bonds.

Family Subdomain Replacement Power: The Binding Ties power replaces the Blessed Brew power of the Beer domain.

Family Replacement Domain Spells: 2nd—calm emotions, 3rd— create food and water.

Loss Subdomain Replacement Power: The Aura of Forgetfulness power replaces the Aura of Inebriation power of the Beer domain.

Loss Replacement Domain Spells: 5th—enervation, 6th—modify memory, 9th—energy drain.