Rampage. When the gnoll reduces a creature to 0 hit points with a melee attack on its turn, the gnoll can take a bonus action to move up to half its speed and make a bite attack.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage.
Spear. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage, or 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage if used with two hands to make a melee attack.
Longbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d8 + 1) piercing damage.
How gnolls fight
A gnoll is a CR 1/2 hyena-headed raider with 22 hit points and AC 15 from hide armor and a shield. It attacks once a turn with its spear (1d6 + 2, or 1d8 + 2 two-handed, and it can be thrown), a longbow (1d8 + 1), or its bite (1d4 + 2).
Its trait is Rampage. When a gnoll drops a creature to 0 hit points with a melee attack on its turn, it can use a bonus action to move up to half its speed and bite. Gnolls get more dangerous as a fight goes on: every kill is a free extra attack.
Running gnolls at the table
Swarm the weak. Gnolls go for whoever is closest to dropping. Every kill feeds another Rampage.
Soften with arrows. Longbows first, then spears once the party is bleeding.
Bring hyenas.Hyenas and giant hyenas run with gnoll packs and make the numbers feel right.
Don’t negotiate. Gnolls in the Monster Manual are demon-touched raiders driven by hunger. They don’t take prisoners and rarely retreat while there’s prey.
Common questions
How does a gnoll’s Rampage work?
On its own turn, when it reduces a creature to 0 hit points with a melee attack, it can use its bonus action to move up to 15 feet (half its speed) and make a bite attack. It works once per turn, since it needs the bonus action.
Does Rampage work on an unconscious character?
Only if the melee attack reduced the creature to 0 hit points. Hitting a character who is already at 0 causes a death save failure, not a new drop to 0, so it doesn’t trigger Rampage.
How many gnolls for a party of four 1st-level characters?
Gnolls are 100 XP each. By the Dungeon Master’s Guide’s encounter math, two gnolls are a Hard fight and three are Deadly for four 1st-level characters. At 2nd level, three is Hard and four is Deadly.
Where are the gnoll pack lord and Fang of Yeenoghu?
They’re in the Monster Manual but not the SRD, so they aren’t on this site. A giant hyena or a berserker makes a good pack leader, or give a regular gnoll more hit points and a second attack.
Are gnolls humanoids?
In the 2014 rules, yes: humanoid (gnoll), so Hold Person and Charm Person work on them. The 2024 gnoll warrior is a fiend, so those spells don’t affect it.
CR 1. A bigger hyena with Rampage of its own, often a gnoll’s hunting partner.
How many gnolls for a fight?
A gnoll is worth 100 XP. Using the 2024 encounter budgets (SRD 5.2), this is how many gnolls fit each difficulty for a party of four characters of the same level. A dash means even one would be over the budget.
Party level
Low
Moderate
High
1st
2
3
4
2nd
4
6
8
3rd
6
9
12+
4th
10
12+
12+
Budgets add up every monster’s XP, so you can swap some for other creatures of the same total. Try other party sizes and mixes in the encounter calculator.
How the gnoll compares at CR 1/2
Against the 32 other challenge 1/2 monsters in the SRD 5.1, the gnoll has more hit points than 15 of them, which makes it a little frailer than most at its CR. See every CR 1/2 monster.
Statistic
Gnoll
CR 1/2 average
Armor Class
15
12.3
Hit points
22
20
Best attack bonus
+4
+4
2024 stat block: Gnoll Warrior
The 2024 Monster Manual revised the gnoll, and the SRD 5.2 carries the new stat block. What changed:
Bone Bow. Ranged Attack Roll: +3, range 150/600 ft. Hit: 6 (1d10 + 1) Piercing damage.
Bonus actions
Rampage (1/Day). Immediately after dealing damage to a creature that is already Bloodied, the gnoll moves up to half its Speed, and it makes one Rend attack.
