So-called King of the Gnolls

[davegibsongreyhawkdm]

Have any of you created a description for the so-called King of the gnolls (whom is referred to in MM)? How powerful is he personally? Where within WOG is his lair and reign of authority?

[geneweigel]

I had 3 gnollkings one (a flind) in Bone March and two (a gnoll and a flind) vying for main gnoll king in the Pomarj.

[davegibsongreyhawkdm]

Apr 24, 2018 15:07:00 GMT -5 geneweigel said:

I had 3 gnollkings one (a flind) in Bone March and two (a gnoll and a flind) vying for main gnoll king in the Pomarj.

Were some of these kings humanoid cambion types? Or instead 8 HD or more leaders, perhaps with shaman or witch doctor abilities?

[geneweigel]

The Pomarj two were high (8 and 7?) but the Bone March one was a 5 HD monster.

Now that I look at them, I think they were just lazy fill-ins. I did have quite a few all powerful continental types for other monsters but they were from my brother pushing after he created the Kings of All Giantdom for one adventure.

[GRWelsh]

I've always thought of these references to humanoid kings, such as of the gnolls or the goblins, as analogous to the giant leaders in the G series -- exceptional versions of their race, perhaps with some interesting magic weapons or items, but that's about it. Following the pattern, a gnoll king would be about 1 or 2 HD higher than a gnoll chief, with slightly better damage and armor class, and more bodyguards. But I wouldn't think of them as being something beyond regional leaders lording it over a super-tribe made up of several ordinary-sized MM tribes. Humanoids are too culturally fractious to recognize a king of all gnolls on the Flanaess, Oerik, or Oerth, in the way druids recognize a Great Druid or Grand Druid. But since gnolls have a special connection to trolls, ghouls and the demon lord Yeenoghu, I like the idea of there being trollish gnolls, undead gnolls, and demon gnolls. There was an undead gnoll called a shoosuva detailed in DRAGON magazine #63 that played into the link between gnoll shamans and Yeenoghu, to allow them to summon a gnoll undead guardian. Places like the Pomarj and Bone March should certainly have exceptional and oddball humanoid types never encountered before. Trollish gnolls might have troll blood and regeneration. You could have something like a "brood of Yeenoghu"* or gnolls spawned by the demon lord himself, to challenge and surprise higher level characters.

*After doing an internet search, I found out there was a 3.5 "brood of Yeenoghu," but that isn't what I'm referring to -- I was thinking of demon/gnoll half-breeds or gnolls with demon ancestry.

[davegibsongreyhawkdm]

Apr 24, 2018 20:52:06 GMT -5 GRWelsh said:

I've always thought of these references to humanoid kings, such as of the gnolls or the goblins, as analogous to the giant leaders in the G series -- exceptional versions of their race, perhaps with some interesting magic weapons or items, but that's about it. Following the pattern, a gnoll king would be about 1 or 2 HD higher than a gnoll chief, with slightly better damage and armor class, and more bodyguards. But I wouldn't think of them as being something beyond regional leaders lording it over a super-tribe made up of several ordinary-sized MM tribes. Humanoids are too culturally fractious to recognize a king of all gnolls on the Flanaess, Oerik, or Oerth, in the way druids recognize a Great Druid or Grand Druid. But since gnolls have a special connection to trolls, ghouls and the demon lord Yeenoghu, I like the idea of there being trollish gnolls, undead gnolls, and demon gnolls. There was an undead gnoll called a shoosuva detailed in DRAGON magazine #63 that played into the link between gnoll shamans and Yeenoghu, to allow them to summon a gnoll undead guardian. Places like the Pomarj and Bone March should certainly have exceptional and oddball humanoid types never encountered before. Trollish gnolls might have troll blood and regeneration. You could have something like a "brood of Yeenoghu" or gnolls spawned by the demon lord himself, to challenge and surprise higher level characters.

I forgot about the goblin king - where might he be located within the WOG?

[GRWelsh]

The Pomarj is an obvious choice since it has the only known goblin heraldry.

[geneweigel]

I was just sorting through where the goblin king is located using encounters and I was like fuck it just blog all this info:

justkeeponrollin.blogspot.com/2018/04/world-of-greyhawk-goblin-king-location.html

[GRWelsh]

The more I think about it... I like a humanoid king being more than merely a local ruler and instead being a 'king of all goblins' or a 'king of all gnolls' because it has such an epic, mythic feel to it. Something I disliked about all of the stat write ups for the humanoid deities -- and for most deities in general -- was the lack of practicality. When are you ever going to use them? Never, or hardly ever as actual foes or monsters for the characters to fight... So they're just campaign flavor or fluff. But unique or exceptional versions of humanoids is a great idea if brought down to a more usable level. Like if Khurgorbaeyag was a goblin king of a special royal line who lived on Oerth, and wasn't a god but a sort of 'Great Goblin' far above any mere chief... The equivalent of a high-level character for goblins, a 'super-hero' or 'lord,' or even a 'personage.'