Flind

The Flind is a hostile Gnoll warlord in The Risen Road Cave just west of The Risen Road Waypoint during the Act One. Unique among Gnolls for having become part Fiend, thus not counting as a Monstrosity. The warlord is one of the highest hitting enemies within the first act and comes with a wide mix of attack choices to unleash.

Gnoll Warlord
Flind
Stats
Level 5
STR 20 (+5) DEX 14 (+2) CON 19 (+4) INT 11 WIS 14 (+2) CHA 12 (+1)
Race	Gnoll Fiend
Type	Fiend
HP	85
AC	16
Movement Speed	9m / 30ft
Size	Medium
Weight	100kg
Proficiency Bonus	+3
Initiative	+8
Passive features
Darkvision  Opportunity Attack  Permanently Armed  Tenacity
Character information
Location	The Risen Road
Allies	Gnoll Hunter Hyena Gnoll Fang of Yeenoghu
Experience on kill	75

Act 1

The Warlord of a vicious band of Gnolls. Found gathered outside of The Risen Road Cave, having trapped Rugan and Olly that are transporting good for Zarys in the surrounded cave. After the first round, the Gnoll warlord will mentally link with you, revealing they're a forcefully made True Soul. The creature can be convinced to join the players' side for the fight using Illithid Persuasion, if it hasn't been used that day.

• DC 2 Wisdom check. Convince the Gnoll and her pack to focus on people in the cave, making them your allies.

• DC 2 Wisdom check. Convince the Gnoll to turn on her own pack to sate her hunger. Doing so will reward you the XP of all living enemies as if you have defeated them, including Flind.

After the fight is remains unsated still. Another Illithid Persuasion Check can be done for differing outcomes.

• DC 15 Wisdom check. If convinced to attack the cave, she can be urged to turn on her pack to sate her hunger.

• DC 10 Wisdom check. Convince her to leave the area peaceful.
• DC 10 Wisdom check. After all other Gnolls are dead, urge her to consume herself. This forces another check to follow.
  • DC 15 Wisdom check. Flind will kill herself.

Attacks and Abilities

Flail of Pain

Strike a creature with the Flail of Dread Skulls to inflict as much pain as possible.

Action

Attack roll: +8

1d10 + 5 (6~15) Piercing

3d10 (3~30) Psychic

Flail of Paralysis

Strike a creature with the Flail of Dread Skulls and possibly Paralyse it.

Action

Attack roll: +8

1d10 + 5 (6~15) Piercing

DC 16  Constitution saving throw to avoid becoming Paralysed for Duration: 1 turn.

Flail of Madness

Strike a creature with the Flail of Dread Skulls and possibly drive it Mad.

Action

Attack roll: +8

1d10 + 5 (6~15) Piercing

DC 16  Wisdom saving throw to avoid falling into Madness for Duration: 1 turn.

Multiattack

Aim on Flail of Madness, one Flail of Pain and one Flail of Paralysis at a target.

Action

Attack roll: +8

• See other attacks for damage and related saves.
• Can only use when Frenzied through their Seething Fury ability.

Multiattack (Ranged)

Action

Attack roll: +5

1d8 + 2 (3~10) Piercing

1d8 + 2 (3~10) Piercing

1d8 + 2 (3~10) Piercing

• May only do when Frenzied through their Seething Fury ability.

Bloodfest

Gorge on a corpse of the fallen to regain hit points.

Bonus action

1d8 (1~8) Hit Points

Seething Fury

Let the rage build within you. Once it overflows, you'll be able to attack multiple times per turn.

Bonus action

Recharge: Per combat*This will evolve into Festering Frenzy and than Frenzied, allowing the Gnoll to attack three times per turn.

Aura of Bloodthirst

Any nearby creatures with the Rampage trait can make a bite attack as a Bonus Action.

Tactics

Flind is a very powerful and dangerous enemy that can be encountered quite early if you're exploring aimlessly. Flind has quite a lot of Hit Points and notable amount of AC that makes them quite tanky. As for damage, their unique flail attacks can vary between dealing massive amounts of damage, paralyzing or turning a party member hostile for a time. The biggest threat is if they reach a frenzied state, allowing them to use all three of their unique flail attacks in one multiattack.

The warlord's weakness though is more of out of combat. So long as a party member hasn't used their Illithid Persuasion that day, the Gnoll Fiend can be converted into an ally against its pack and even forced to kill themself. In a direct fight though, it is best to focus on the Gnoll with their strongest melee fighters and using AoE spells or such as Cloud of Daggers and Alchemist's Fire. Knocking them Prone will also give an easy way to strike them down quickly before they can get up.

Notable Loot

• Shattered Flail
• Mind Flayer Parasite Specimen

Notes and Trivia

• The Flind has an extremely high initiative score despite lacking any clear means to increasing it so.
• "Flind" is not the creature's name, but is actually a superior type of Gnoll that is physically more powerful and vicious than their lesser cousins.

External links

• Flind on the Forgotten Realms Wiki