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 Cultist
Gnoll cultists have little patience for rituals, viewing torture and slaughter as ritual enough. Often, their devotion belongs to their assumed creator, the demon Mordiggian (also known as Vardesain), patron god of the ghouls. Other cultists revere Anu-Akma, Aten, Bastet, Horus, Ninkash, and Thoth-Hermes, and they seek out converts, prey, and slaves. Cultists wear symbols of piety, such as the eye of Mordiggian, the sistrum of Bastet, or the wedjat eye of Horus, and they use appropriate weapons, such as the flail for followers of Mordiggian and daggers for others, with many of the cult’s warriors having affinities for axes.
“Every man is a quotation from all his ancestors.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
In many tribal societies, the chieftain leads the social hierarchy (along with sometimes a council of elders), the hero leads war parties, and the shaman serves as spiritual leader. The tribal shaman is sometimes the only member of a tribe with magic, and he or she often serves a conduit to the spirit world.
Given the debate that preceded this week’s article (and its rebuttal), I reiterate once more that gaming is at its best when we mix familiar elements with new—use nostalgia with a twist. My gaming table is happiest when they expect the same old encounter and instead face something similar but different. Make your players respect the old hat monsters again, and I assure you your gaming table will be better for it. Join me after the jump for my last tribal template the tribal shaman (CR +3).
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.
“My lands are where my dead lie buried.”—Crazy Horse
Tribal cultures sometimes have a different leader in war then when in peace. The tribal chieftain template I discussed last week was for a chieftain who mostly leads primarily by speaking. The tribal hero, or war chief if you prefer, leads by action.
You can represent this by simply applying the advanced template if you want fast, easy, and boring. If, instead, you’d like to challenge your players with a template designed for guerilla warfare tactics, join me after the jump for the tribal hero (CR +2).
After several months of coding, testing, and review, it is here! Rejoice, Hero Lab users, for all the monsters and templates of the Midgard Bestiary for Pathfinder RPG are fully available as an add-on pack for Pathfinder in Hero Lab.
If you are an existing Hero Lab user, you can pick up this package of more than 100 monsters for just $6.99.
If you want to get started with Hero Lab, you can buy a license for that software right away by visiting the Hero Lab site.
We hope you enjoy this latest venture, and we look forward to your comments!
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.
