Originally Posted by DistantStranger
What went so absurdly wrong that the Gnolls got close enough to deal damage in melee?

In the first encounter on the road with the hyenas, kill the hyenas from range, walk around the hill and circle back toward them from the higher elevation, keep going past them to the ledge that hooks back around. Two rounds, max, you should be able to take them out with long bows and short bows. They should never even get close enough to see you. Sneak attack helps here, but other that that, I used arrows and cantrips (I refuse to let my party sleep since Lez wants the cure first). If you are talking about the second, sneak up to the top of the overlook near the cavern entrance. Kill the unit closest to you with stealth (Rapier, 16 dex, it was a one hit kill and should always be an automatic crit) which launches a surprise round in which you should be able to pick off the caster and one or two of the damaged archers. The Flind and the hyenas shouldn't do anything for two more rounds. By that time, only the Flind should be left. If the Flind is left at all.
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This is all just free xp


Except I don't have a high dex character who can use a rapier, because I set my party up the way I like it not the way you like it. Also, I ended up attacking Flind right away, and they got a high initiative roll, so they are constantly closing in on me, I'm just using Ray of Frost to slow them down. But that isn't even the freaking point of this post, it doesn't matter if you managed to get in a good sneak attack, it wouldn't even matter if I nuked the lot of them with the absurd amount of scrolls and throwables I have, the issue is that the Gnolls would still be allowed 3 attacks per turn and get Critical Hits on stupidly low rolls. Also, Gnolls with bows exist, and they very much like to make themselves and their acid arrows known. And their triple fire per turn, that almost always crit because they apparently aren't bound by the rules the PC's are and get to crit on low rolls.