# Gnoll
A gnoll is a type of monster introduced in SLASH'EM. They have relatively damaging attacks and are generated with weapons. Gnolls are always generated hidden, so if you are able to detect them through telepathy it may be wise to avoid them completely. Higher level gnolls can be generated with dragon scale mail, but all gnolls are too large to wear body armor. None are considered a valid polymorphable form.
As Yeenoghu is considered the demon prince of gnolls, many are found in his lair in Gehennom.
Gnolls also appear in other variants, and are quite different in each variant.

Contents

1 Gnoll
2 Gnoll warrior
3 Gnoll chieftain
4 Gnoll shaman
5 Other variants

5.1 dNetHack
5.2 GnollHack
5.3 SpliceHack

6 Origin

Gnoll

G gnoll 

Difficulty

20

Attacks

Weapon 3d6, Weapon 3d6

G gnoll 

Difficulty

20

Attacks

Weapon 3d6, Weapon 3d6

Base level

18

Base experience

493

Speed

12

Base AC

5

Base MR

10

Alignment

-5 (chaotic)

Frequency (by normal means)

1 (Very rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

1800

Nutritional value

100

Size

Large

Resistances

None

Resistances conveyed

None

A gnoll:

 can blend in with its surroundings.

 has a head, a couple of arms, and a torso.

 can see invisible creatures.

 is poisonous to eat.

 is omnivorous.

 is not a valid polymorphable form.

 is normally generated hostile.

 likes gold.
 likes gems.
 can pick up weapons and food.
 can pick up magical items.

 has infravision.

 appears only in Gehennom.

 may turn against you when tame.

Reference

SLASH'EM_0.0.7E7F2/monst.c#line2518

Ordinary gnolls are generated with orcish equipment. High level characters have a high chance of running into them in the Mine King's level, where they will be much more difficult opponents than the regular gnomes.  One should always either use telepathy to detect them from afar, or avoid apparently blank spaces in the Mine King's room.

Gnoll warrior

G gnoll warrior 

Difficulty

26

Attacks

Weapon 3d6, Weapon 3d6

G gnoll warrior 

Difficulty

26

Attacks

Weapon 3d6, Weapon 3d6

Base level

24

Base experience

791

Speed

15

Base AC

0

Base MR

20

Alignment

-6 (chaotic)

Frequency (by normal means)

1 (Very rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

1800

Nutritional value

100

Size

Large

Resistances

None

Resistances conveyed

None

A gnoll warrior:

 can blend in with its surroundings.

 has a head, a couple of arms, and a torso.

 can see invisible creatures.

 is poisonous to eat.

 is omnivorous.

 is not a valid polymorphable form.

 is normally generated hostile.

 likes gold.
 likes gems.
 can pick up weapons and food.
 can pick up magical items.

 has infravision.

 appears only in Gehennom.

 may turn against you when tame.

Reference

SLASH'EM_0.0.7E7F2/monst.c#line2527

Gnolls can grow up into gnoll warriors through level gain. Randomly generated gnoll warriors have a 5% chance of being generated with orange dragon scale mail, 1.667% chance of being generated with splint mail, and otherwise scale mail. They also have a 66% chance of being generated with a katana.

Gnoll chieftain

G gnoll chieftain 

Difficulty

33

Attacks

Weapon 3d6, Weapon 3d6

G gnoll chieftain 

Difficulty

33

Attacks

Weapon 3d6, Weapon 3d6

Base level

30

Base experience

1168

Speed

18

Base AC

-5

Base MR

40

Alignment

-8 (chaotic)

Frequency (by normal means)

1 (Very rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

1800

Nutritional value

100

Size

Large

Resistances

None

Resistances conveyed

None

A gnoll chieftain:

 can blend in with its surroundings.

 has a head, a couple of arms, and a torso.

 can see invisible creatures.

 is poisonous to eat.

 is omnivorous.

 is not a valid polymorphable form.

 is normally generated hostile.

 likes gold.
 likes gems.
 can pick up weapons and food.
 can pick up magical items.

 has infravision.

 appears only in Gehennom.

 may turn against you when tame.

Reference

SLASH'EM_0.0.7E7F2/monst.c#line2535

Gnoll warriors can grow up into gnoll chieftains through level gain. Randomly generated gnoll chieftains are guaranteed an orcish helm, orcish shield, a katana, and a random offensive item. They have a 10% chance of being given blue dragon scale mail and a 90% chance of crystal plate mail.

Gnoll shaman

G gnoll shaman 

Difficulty

22

Attacks

Spell-casting, Spell-casting (clerical)

G gnoll shaman 

Difficulty

22

Attacks

Spell-casting, Spell-casting (clerical)

Base level

18

Base experience

513

Speed

15

Base AC

0

Base MR

60

Alignment

-10 (chaotic)

Frequency (by normal means)

1 (Very rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

1800

Nutritional value

100

Size

Large

Resistances

None

Resistances conveyed

None

A gnoll shaman:

 can blend in with its surroundings.

 has a head, a couple of arms, and a torso.

 can see invisible creatures.

 is poisonous to eat.

 is omnivorous.

 is not a valid polymorphable form.

 is normally generated hostile.

 likes gold.
 likes gems.
 can pick up weapons and food.
 can pick up magical items.

 has infravision.

 appears only in Gehennom.

 may turn against you when tame.

Reference

SLASH'EM_0.0.7E7F2/monst.c#line2543

Gnoll shamans have a 10% chance of starting with silver dragon scale mail, 72% chance of starting with crystal plate mail, and 18% chance of starting with red dragon scale mail. They are guaranteed an athame, two offensive items, and 12-15 shuriken.
Gnoll shamans are the only randomly-generated monsters in any version to use both arcane and clerical monster spells.

Other variants
dNetHack
Main article: Gnoll (dNethack)
In dNethack, gnolls are almost entirely different from their counterparts SLASH'EM. They are not represented by G, and have different stats. Gnolls can still be found in Yeenoghu's lair in dNethack.

GnollHack
In GnollHack, gnolls are a playable race. They also exist as monsters which are very different than SLASH'EM's gnolls.

SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, gnolls are represented by 9. A new gnoll was added, the marrashi. Gnoll shamans start with a parazonium instead of an athame. Otherwise they are similar to SLASH'EM's gnolls.

Origin

Wikipedia has an article about:
Gnoll

The gnoll is a Dungeons &amp; Dragons creature resembling a humanoid hyena.  Many serve and worship the demon god Yeenoghu.
Gnolls were an early creation of D&amp;D, and are described in the first manual, released in 1974.  Irish fantasy author Lord Dunsany (1878-1957) was given credit for inventing the word "gnoll", or, as he spelled it, "gnole", in a short story published in 1912 called "How Nuth Would Have Practised His Art upon the Gnoles".  
D&amp;D gnolls are somewhat different from Dunsany's "gnoles".  Dunsany does not give a description of what his "gnoles" look like, but portrays them as secretive but dangerous creatures that guard a hoard of emeralds in a house in a forbidding forest. The gnolls of D&amp;D, by comparison, are described as aggressive desert-dwelling nomads that actively raid and plunder other settlements.
Early D&amp;D manuals state that gnolls are a cross between gnomes and trolls, which implies that the name "gnoll" is a portmanteau of the two words.  However, the authors acknowledge that Dunsany never stated what the inspiration was for his word "gnole", and later manuals do not describe gnolls' pedigree.  SLASH'EM includes them in the gnome monster class, but does not consider them to be gnomish for purposes of cannibalism, so gnome players can eat their corpses without an alignment penalty. (Their corpses are poisonous, however, so one should avoid eating them without poison resistance.)