Hiend

Description

This humanoid creature is slightly larger than a human. It has a hyena-like head with a powerful, fanged jaw, and a body covered in a pale, shaggy coat of fur.

The hiend are a racial offshoot of gnoll that are descended from an infamous tribe of cold-dwelling half-fiends. While few of the original demonic traits still breed true among the hiend, the mixed blood has allowed them to successfully adapt to life in the bitterly-cold tundra regions.

Hiend are more stout but less powerful than a typical gnoll, and they have a thick, coarse and shaggy coat of pale fur that grows thinner during the summer months. Its leg paws are larger and wider than that of a gnoll, with webbing between the digits to provide improved traction in snow.

Combat

Hiend are proficient hunters who travel the wilds in search of game. They relish the ritual hunting other humanoid opponents, and when opportunity allows they sometimes track down and slaughter travelers just for sport. Prey are pursued relentlessly by the warriors of the tribe until the game is fatigued to the point of exhaustion. At that point it is surrounded and finished off in a sudden rush.

Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day―ray of frost, touch of fatigue (typical save DC 11). Caster level equals the hiend's Hit Dice. The save DC are based on Charisma and include a +2 racial modifier.

Cold Adaptation (Ex): Due to their fiendish bloodline, hiend gain resistance to cold 5. *They gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against cold, and have a +2 racial bonus on Balance and Tumble checks while on ice.

Hiend Society

The hiend have much in common with their erstwhile cousins, but are more self-sufficient and have little need for slaves who are just extra mouths to feed during the long winter months. Instead their tribes are intensely territorial, and view other intelligent species as a threat to their land. Most hiend will resort to the most horrific acts of brutality imaginable to strike fear into their foes, and the range of their hunting grounds are often marked by the disfigured remains of corpses propped up as a warning to intruders.

Most hiend dwell in remote regions far from civilization, traveling in small, semi-nomadic tribes. They have developed a fierce rivalry with winter wolves, who often hunt in the same areas. As they lack the resources to produce weapons and armor of metal, hiends use ivory, hide, and bone for their hunting implements, and occasionally trade with other evil races for rare metal tools they need.

Hiend as Characters

Most hiend leaders are barbarians or rogues. Hiend clerics worship the same deities as gnolls. Hiend characters possess the following racial traits.

• Strength +2, Constitution +4, Intelligence -2, Charisma -2.
• Size Medium.
• A hiend's base land speed is 30 feet.
• Darkvision out to 60 feet.
• Weapon Familiarity: Hiends are proficient with the greataxe, bola, and all simple weapons.
• Racial Hit Dice: A hiend begins with two levels of monstrous humanoid, which provide 2d8 Hit Dice, a base attack bonus of +1, and base saving throws of Fort +0, Reflex +3, Will +3.
• Racial Skills: A hiend's monstrous humanoid levels give it skill points equal to 5 x (2 + Int modifier). Its class skills are Listen, Spot, and Survival.
• Racial Feats: A hiend's monstrous humanoid levels give it one feat.
• +2 natural armor class bonus.
• +2 racial bonus on saving throws against cold.
• +2 racial bonus on Balance and Tumble checks while on ice.
• Natural Weapons: Bite (1d6).
• Special Attacks (see above): Spell-like abilities.
• Special Qualities (see above): Resistance to cold 5.
• Automatic Languages: Gnoll, Abyssal. Bonus Languages: Common, Giant, Goblin, Orc.
• Favored Class: Barbarian.
• Level adjustment +2.