Unapproachable East.pdf - The Forgotten Realms

of adventuring party. At best, a gnoll adventurer is willing
to go along with good-intentioned comrades, provided he’s
paid well for his services and given the respect he feels his
prowess deserves.
Gnoll Racial Traits
Gnolls have the following abilities and characteristics.
• +4 Strength, +2 Constitution, –2 Intelligence, –2 Charisma:
Gnolls are tough and strong, but are not especially bright
or personable.
• Medium-size.
• Land speed 30 feet.
• Darkvision: Gnolls can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
• Racial Hit Dice: A gnoll begins with two levels of humanoid.
This provides 2d8 Hit Dice, a base attack bonus of +1,
and base saving throws of Fort +3, Ref +0, and Will +0.
• Racial Skills: A gnoll character’s humanoid levels give him
skill points equal to 5 × (2 + Intelligence modifier). Gnoll
class skills are Listen and Spot.
• Racial Feats: A gnoll’s humanoid levels give him one feat.
• Natural Armor: +1 natural armor bonus.
• Weapon Familiarity: Gnolls treat battleaxes and shortbows
as simple weapons. No gnoll grows to adulthood without
learning something about fighting.
• Automatic Languages: Common, Gnoll. Bonus Languages:
By region.
• Level Adjustment: +1. A gnoll has an effective character
level (ECL) of 3 plus class levels, so a 1st-level gnoll ranger
would have an ECL of 4. See the Powerful Races sidebar.
• Favored Class: Ranger. A multiclassed gnoll’s racial Hit
Dice and ranger class do not count when determining
whether he suffers an XP penalty.
Hagspawn
Sons of malicious, predatory mothers, hagspawn are not a
complete race, as there are no females of their kind. Hags continue
their awful lineage by taking human males for mates,
usually murdering and devouring the hapless captive later.
The female children of a hag quickly grow into hags like their
mothers, but the male children are hagspawn, half-human outcasts.
Feared and hated by normal humans, hagspawn must
make their way in the world by dint of their strength, hardiness,
and sheer determination.
Hagspawn are found in any land but are especially
common where many hags dwell—Rashemen, for example.
Personality: All too often, hagspawn are filled with the
malice, violence, and resentment of their monstrous parent.
They are quick to take offense and view even the most innocent
remark as a hidden slight. People regard them as illtempered
monsters, and many hagspawn perpetuate distrust
of their kind by behaving exactly as expected. They look out
for themselves first and regard companions as temporary
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allies to be discarded when convenient. Unlike many other
evil-natured creatures, though, hagspawn are capable of
working furiously to achieve a desired end and do not shy
away from physical hardship or danger if the reward seems
worth the risk.
Many hagspawn overcome their evil tendencies and strive
to get along as best they can in human society, enduring the
suspicions of their neighbors while proving themselves
through their actions. Stoic and uncomplaining, a hagspawn
of this sort can be a great force against evil.
Physical Description: Hagspawn are tall and powerfully
built, with long arms, big hands, and a hunched posture. Their
black hair is long and lank, and their eyes gleam red with
malice. Their faces are heavy-featured and coarse, and their
skin color often hints at their mother’s subrace—pallid blue
for the sons of annises, sickly green for a green hag’s spawn,
and so on. In lands where hags are scarce, a hagspawn might
pass for a loutish and ill-favored human, but the folk of the
East know them all too well.
Relations: Hagspawn don’t get along well with anybody, although
they have a certain sympathy for half-orcs and
tieflings. Dwarves, elves, halflings, and other civilized nonhumans
generally judge a hagspawn based on his deeds, but not
so humans. In Rashemen, hagspawn are infamous for their
evil tempers, violent natures, and depraved crimes, and they
can expect no welcome in a Rashemi village. A few individuals
have overcome this social stigma by proving themselves
loyal and true, but most hagspawn either leave Rashemen or
die bitter and young, having finally done something awful
enough to rouse their neighbors against them.
Alignment: A typical hagspawn is a malefactor through and
through. Those who conquer their violent heritage don’t fit in
with very lawful societies but do best where an individual is
judged on his own merits.
Religion: Hagspawn most often adopt a faith that appeals
to the lonely, embittered, and vengeful. Bane, Shar, and Cyric
are common patron deities, although the elemental fury of
Talos and the battle skill of Tempus also speak to the hagspawn’s
violent nature. Good hagspawn most often worship
the deity of whatever community they eventually find a
home in.
Language: Hagspawn speak Common, Giant, and the human
language of their native region (usually Rashemi). Bonus languages
depend on their home region.
Names: Hagspawn usually take simple human names for
themselves in the language of their home region. In Rashemen,
these include Bor, Dor, Josel, Kurg, Sergel, and Vladir.
Some claim their father’s surname, while others who do not
care to hide their heritage call themselves “Hagson,” or use
their monstrous mother’s name.
Adventurers: In one sense, almost all hagspawn are adventurers,
with dim prospects for staying at home and living as
normal members of a human community. Many are wandering
brigands, thugs, and sellswords, never staying too long in
any one spot lest their neighbors blame them for some crime
or misfortune. Hagspawn make good fighters and rogues and
are well suited to a life of violence and robbery.