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teigue — Gnoll Cleric of Pelor
Published: 2008-06-27 15:31:06 +0000 UTC; Views: 7383; Favourites: 51; Downloads: 1418
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Description
With the advent of Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition, I decided to revamp my Gnoll character for the new system. In an appendix of the Monster Manual, we are now given 1st level PC stats for many of the core monsters, so no more need for racial levels and level adjustments. This is quite nice. Despite Monk being gone, I am extremely excited about the new Cleric features, so I moved my Gnoll from Monk to Cleric and have been experimenting with different power combos.This is a rough sketch of the character, Teigue Namotur, a Good Alligned (It's Good and Lawful Good now, no more Chaotic and Neutral Goods) Cleric of Pelor. I'm still not sure if I'm going to go shield and one handed mace or stick with a big two handed morning star. The extra AC with the shield always helps, and with a light shield I can still use that hand for actions, but I have to use my first level feat to get proficiency with it. And every time I look at the d10 of damage with the morningstar it's very tempting. Especially when I can do something like Cascade of Light to make an enemy take extra damage from my attacks, then do the Gnoll's racial ability Ferocious Charge to add even more damage to my attack. Granted, using a d8 one hander for that same combination is still extremely brutal. Part of me does think it would be fitting for a cleric of the sun god to use a morningstar. I did try to make the one handed mace look morningstar-ish. I'll experiment a bit more and see if there's a feat that would really help out more than shield proficiency at level 1. Part of my decision will probably depend o the party makeup of whatever campaign I join. If they need more of a heavy hitter, I can go with the two-hander. If they need a healer/defender, I can go shield and one-hander.
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Comments: 15
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I like the clothes, but the character, being a gnoll, looks more wolf than hyena.
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I really like this drawing! The anatomy is good, the costume looks pretty awesome, and I especially like his stance; very befitting of a noble cleric of Pelor!
I actually made a gnoll cleric of my own for a 4e game that started recently. His name is Rictus and he's a cleric of Avandra of himself. He's a devoted cleric, though, so he specializes more in healing and buffing up the party than he does fighting close quarters. Also uses a quarterstaff, because I figured it's as much a tool of a world-traveler as it is a weapon.
I'd actually be really interested to hear of his adventures, if he has any!
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After me and my crew had invested over a 1000$ into 3rd and 3.5 edition's book we had decided to stay into it when the 4th came up
I like the way you made your Gnoll look, If I saw one like him, never in my mind I would think he is evil, at least not with my eyes...
In my crew we have a stubborn golden Dwarf Cleric of Pelor and he is always complaining about the fact he take me the exalted Monk like a challenger just because I took the feat "nimbus of light"
(the golden ring always floting over my head that proof to anyone I am pure good)
hehe, jalousy ^,^
How long you play this character ?
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Interestingly enough WOTC just released a new article for Dragon Magazine about Gnoll society and possible motivations and options for Gnoll PCs.
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A very well-drawn gnoll. You manage to make her pleasant to look upon, whereas the Monster Manual seems to have done its best to make them look ugly. I'm interested in her story too. Gnolls are a violent and savage race of demon-worshipers. What made her turn from that life to a life of service to one of the more benevolent gods. I must say it intrigues me. Great picture.
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Oh, and I forgot to add in that his new surname, Namotur, he took from the cleric that brought him in when he came to the abbey and more or less raised him from then on. Brother Cadfael Namotur is ever Teigue's mentor and father figure. Teigue has, in fact, taken to refer to him as "father" out of affection.
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Cool! It's little details like that that make roleplaying great.
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It's a male actually. As far as turning away from the usual Gnoll lifestyle, he was raised outside of Gnoll society for much of his life. His original surname RedMoon, came from the fact that he was born under a harvest moon. One of the tribal shamans interpreted the event as a significant one, marking the boy as something special.
As it turns out, he grew to be the runt of his tribe. Small (for a Gnoll anyway), frail, and very susceptible to sickness, he was viewed as weak and a burden. The prediction of the shaman was newly interpreted as a sign that the boy was indeed unique in that he was a blight on the tribe. It was when he was in his early teens that he committed a blunder in a hunting excursion that led to the death of his brother, a strong Gnoll that was held in great esteem for his physical prowess and love of bloodshed. The tribe decided enough was enough and set out to do away with the weakling. Teigue barely escaped with his life. Seriously injured and left for dead, he collapsed in a clearing under a stone structure, the tribe still pursuing him. This was all during a dark and stormy night sorta setting. The scar along his snout is one of many that he receive that night.
He wasn't sure where he was, but it was a good enough hiding place to keep the tribe from finding him. For several days he lay there, slowly recovering. Several fruited plants grew nearby which provided him with food and recesses worn away into the stone caught rainwater. When he finally had the strength to move around, he stepped back and saw what he had been lying under. It was a massive statue of a figure (originally the god Phieran in 3rd Edition, but he hasn't appeared in any 4th edition material yet so I've changed it to Pelor) with arms outstretched and what was left of the worn statue's face showed a gaze full of compassion. All around were the ruins of what looked like an ancient chapel.
Nearby, Teigue found a talisman bearing the image of a stylized sun. For some time, Teigue wandered from place to place to find the meaning behind the symbol. He finally came to an isolated abbey where, although looked upon with suspicion at first, he was taken in by one of the brothers who recognized that he was in desperate need of help. To the gnoll's fascination, the same symbol on the talisman adorned many features of the abbey. It was there that, cared for and nursed back to health, he learned about Pelor. He took the recent events as a sign that the god Pelor had personally delivered him from death, led him to the abbey and wished him to follow his example; to show that same compassion by protecting the weak and innocent just as he had been saved himself. It was from then on that he devoted every moment of his life to becoming a Cleric of Pelor and living a life of compassion and protection. He's kept the talisman all this time, pinned to the strap holding his traveling pouch. You can see the pin on the upper right side of his chest.
This is sort of the readers digest version. There's more to it, but this gives you the main bullet points of his story.
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My mistake.
Even in a Reader's Digest version that's a very good story! I personally love characters that defy their heritage. Even a certain dual-wielding drow.
Very good indeed!
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Wow man, this is really good! I'm really digging the detail you put into this and it just looks great!
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Seems like a cool character you have for the game. I hope to play it someday.
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hmm very interresting character, I didn't know they allowed gnolls as playble characters, but I guess that's up to the GM to decide..
but then again I had a minotaur fighter/druid wealding dual weapons the short time I played D&D^^
what? no Lawful Good or Neutral evil? that's just.. lame since I really liked the old alignment states..
but anyhow sweet looking character! 
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Luckily the monster manual gives PC stats for Gnolls and other monsters so we don't have to deal with those annoying level adjustments and racial levels. Makes them much more acceptable. I reuploaded the image with a more morningstar-ish macehead to make it look more Pelor-ish.
And there is Lawful Good, by the way. The new system goes: Lawful Good - Good - Unaligned - Evil - Chaotic Evil.
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