“Striped Gnoll” © Cindy Avelino, accessed at her FurAffinity page here

[Commissioned by @listmaker-lastcity​. To quote Pathfinder Bestiary 2: “ Certain animals, particularly those associated with scavenging activities (such as hyenas, buzzards, or jackals) or parasitism (like lampreys or ticks) specifically do not have agathions associated with them—these animals are not intrinsically evil, but their habits and ecological niches are far from the noble and proud traditions that most of the souls who seek enlightenment upon Nirvana would associate with themselves.” Bull. There’s enough people in the real world that love “unlovable” animals that contrarian souls would seek to associate with them upon death and incarnation into a perfect spiritual being.



In D&D and Pathfinder both, hyenas are linked strongly to gnolls, which are usually among the most evil of humanoids, and almost universally demon worshipers. So I wanted to incorporate that hyenas = gnolls = demons line of thought into the text explicitly. If you’re looking for an excuse to have a tribe of good gnolls in your otherwise traditional game, here’s an option. The sin eater ability literally came to me in a dream, and the atonement-focused flavor text is inspired by The Avatar’s Handbook’s Hallowed class of angels.]

Agathion, Crocuttal

CR 10 NG Outsider (extraplanar)

This creature resembles a humanoid hyena a head taller than a man, with a strong neck and clawed hands. Despite its ferocity, it has a sense of purpose and calm, rather than mindless savagery.

Crocuttals are benevolent outsiders of hyena-like aspect. They embody virtues demonstrated by hyena behavior—cooperation and communication, flexibility and standing up to the powerful. They are highly social, and are almost never found alone. Even a crocuttal without a pack will find a group of like-minded creatures to band together with, and they may join adventuring parties for a time as allies.

In combat, a crocuttal is fierce, but not without mercy. They work together, supplementing each others’ martial prowess with spell-like abilities—they tend to take turns acting as casting support, with the pack member focusing on magic alternating from battle to battle. Although they will soften foes up at a distance using bows and spells, crocuttals prefer close combat. Their usual strategy is to knock a foe to the ground and tear into it until it stops moving. One crocuttal takes some time to stabilize and shield the fallen, as the pack moves onto the next target.

An evil creature rendered unconscious by a crocuttal is given supernatural visions of their wickedness, and offered the chance to atone and change their alignment. This is in fact the purpose of the crocuttals—they are the rare example of an agathion molded more by mortal desire than the needs of the empyreal lords. The first crocuttals were created from the souls of a band of adventurers who died attempting to redeem a pack of gnolls from the worship of demons. Although they failed in the broad scope, they had successfully converted a few of the individuals, and argued that they should get a chance to continue that work. Now, crocuttals can be created from the souls of any goodly creature that cares to fight for the cause of redemption. A lone crocuttal may infiltrate a pack of gnolls to make friends and allies, confronting their leadership and offering a choice between the hard work of salvation and the quick release of death. Every soul that avoids descending to the Lower Planes is a mark in the crocuttal’s favor, and some of the redeemed will become crocuttals themselves after they die, continuing the cycle. Demon lords and other archfiends hate crocuttals, even more than they do many other good outsiders, and target them for death when their activities become known.



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