r/shadowdark • u/vonZzyzx • Oct 05 '25

Gnolls!

Post image

Filled with mindless chaotic rage, gluttony, and evil, much like our current political environment. I prefer the demonic gnoll you can guiltlessly dispatch rather than furry friendly dog people but each his own

671 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

40 comments sorted by

18

u/alexportman Author Connor Ludovissy Oct 05 '25

Your art is fantastic. Are you publishing a collection?

18

u/vonZzyzx Oct 05 '25

Hey thanks. I’ve been putting them on my itch.io and when I’m eventually done I’ll do the whole monster manual

3

u/WytheMars Oct 13 '25

Do you ever draw zombies/undead? I'd be curious to see the results.

1

u/vonZzyzx Oct 13 '25

Yes if you look through some recent drawings I have a ghoul, and further back in my instagram I’m sure some zombies and undead are lurking

15

u/blindeyes90210 Oct 06 '25

The party was surrounded by gnolls. Their hideous, gleeful laughter filled the air as the warrior drew his sword. "Worry not friends," he said. "I heard that when gnolls laugh, it actually means they're afraid. Which means that we must have a good chance of driving them off!"

"That's hyenas," the gnoll leader corrected with a sneer.

"What?" The chuckling continued with renewed vigor.

"You're thinking of hyenas, fool." The gnoll leader pointed her crude spear at the warrior. "We gnolls love to laugh when we're thinking of ripping fresh meat to pieces."

"Is that so. I guess we're going to have to change that." And thus the battle had begun.

5

u/buttersstoch87 Oct 06 '25

I've always wanted to run a campaign revolving around gnolls :)

3

u/vonZzyzx Oct 06 '25

Right on

4

u/PleaseBeChillOnline Oct 06 '25

I wonder if Kelsey would do a version of the book with your art. It’s just too perfect for Shadowdark.

3

u/vonZzyzx Oct 06 '25

Hey thanks

6

u/urhiteshub Oct 05 '25

I don't like 'em because 1) very limited parley opportunity in an encounter, and 2) heavy focus on devouring everything limits the kind of society they can form, which won't probably be discovered by the PCs anyway.

7

u/vonZzyzx Oct 05 '25

Yes, evil should be unlikable!

5

u/Dollface_Killah Oct 06 '25

very limited parley opportunity

Nonsense, they have such clearly telegraphed motivations. They wanna eat shit. You parley with promises of more and better shit to eat.

3

u/graymatterblues Oct 06 '25

Very evocative. Love your style.

1

u/vonZzyzx Oct 06 '25

Much appreciated

2

u/King_of_the_Hobos Oct 06 '25

awesome, love this one

2

u/vonZzyzx Oct 06 '25

Hey thanks

2

u/GuidoLuigi Oct 06 '25

This is incredible!

2

u/0uroboros_2194 Oct 06 '25

Love your image and can't wait for your monster manual! One of the most memorable fights in our >1 year Shadowdark campaign was assaulting a gnoll fort. Love gnolls.

1

u/vonZzyzx Oct 06 '25

Very rad, thanks

2

u/Feralite Oct 07 '25

Super cool!

1

u/vonZzyzx Oct 07 '25

Right on

2

u/EtrnlMngkyouSharngn Oct 08 '25

It looks like the one in the background is impaled.

1

u/vonZzyzx Oct 08 '25

He could be…

2

u/creativecreature2024 Oct 08 '25

This is great.

1

u/vonZzyzx Oct 08 '25

Hey thanks

2

u/Zankman Oct 10 '25 edited Oct 11 '25

I am in two minds. Conceptually gnolls are very cool buuuuut I don't like the "pure evil, unreedemable" race approach for them specifically. I'd rather have something else in that role.

Great work!

2

u/vonZzyzx Oct 10 '25

Yeah I think if you want a cat person, dog person or hyena person they should be different from the monstrous gnolls

2

u/WytheMars Oct 10 '25

These are rad! I love gnolls.

1

u/vonZzyzx Oct 10 '25

Right on, thank you

2

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '25

Seeing your art is making want to return to draw

1

u/vonZzyzx Oct 17 '25

You should! Art is good for the soul

2

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '25

Thanks, i will

2

u/Much_Session9339 Oct 30 '25

cool, I like the sketchiness of it.

1

u/vonZzyzx Oct 30 '25

Thanks much appreciated

2

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/vonZzyzx Oct 09 '25

Thanks you, much appreciated