You are leaving the town through a "wrong" gate. The gate to the left leads to the Nymph Lake - with that cca 10 trolls near the town on your way. Well, the trolls aren't so bad comparing with spiders, for example
If you don't want to get those nice skulls so quickly, then:
- Use the "money generaing in the inn" trick to get some starting money.
- Equip your party with something usable.
- Leave the town through the right gate. The way there goes to the Crypt. Ignore the Crypt for now and get some XP first.
As to the trolls behind the left gate:
- Do not fight all of them at once. If you see one then wait until it goes to you and kill him. Then wait for another one.
- Note that you can always flee to the town. Once entering the town, all your spellcasters get their mana points restored. This allows you to cast far more spells you would expect
- If your have too many trolls too near to the town gate then enter the town and leave it using the right gate. Wait a short while and return to the town. The trolls will try to follow you to the right gate so that they leave their positions at the left gate. This way, you can surprise them at the left gate again.