Hyena

Hyenas are a type of Beast and non-playable race who can be found travelling with gnolls and the Cult of the Absolute.

About

Of all the subspecies of hyena, only the spotted ones emit that strange cackling giggle that raises the hairs on the neck of a savannah hunter.

Hyenas are pack hunters and scavengers, who will often serve as hunting companions or pets to gnolls. The corpsed wombs of hyenas also regularly serve as the birthing place for new gnolls.

They can be found near a wrecked caravan on the The Risen Road during Act One, and with members of the Cult of the Absolute in the Shadow-Cursed Lands during Act Two.

A Bloated Hyena, stuffed with the spoils of fresh slaughter, will violently erupt and give birth to a Newborn Gnoll if not killed first.

Hyena enemy variants

• Bloated Hyena
• Hyena (Shadow-Cursed Lands)

Combat

Attacks and abilities

 Bite ()

2d4 (2~8) + Dexterity modifier Piercing

Bite a target.

 Melee: 1.5 m / 5  ft

Notable loot

• Hyena Ear

Gallery

• 

  A hyena in-game.

Notes

• There is a unique Hyena in Act One at X: 9 Y: 522with several improved abilities: It possesses the  Alert feat and has an additional +5 to initiative on Tactician, as well as 18 Wisdom.
  • This Hyena will dash to alert a nearby group of gnolls at X: -3 Y: 546 to the party's presence, and the boosts to initiative and Wisdom make it much more difficult to catch and restrain.
  • The total +11 bonus to Initiative is the single highest bonus on any character in the game.
• The in-game tool-tip text for the hyena Race implies that they are modelled off of the spotted hyena, a very social and matriarchal species of hyena.

External links

• Spotted hyena on Wikipedia
• Hyena on the Forgotten Realms Wiki
• Gnoll on the Forgotten Realms Wiki