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Allosaurus 5e: Stats, Pounce and Running a Pack Hunt
The allosaurus is a CR 2 Large beast (450 XP) with AC 13, 51 hit points and a 60-foot speed, the fastest walker among the SRD dinosaurs. It has no Multiattack. Instead its claws carry a pounce: if it moves 30 feet straight at a Large or smaller creature and hits, the target falls prone and the allosaurus gets a free bite at it. A pack of them running down a party in the open is one of the scariest low-level beast fights in the game. This stat block comes from the 2024 rules (SRD 5.2.1). The 2014 Monster Manual has an allosaurus too, but it isn't in SRD 5.1.
Claws.Melee Attack Roll: +6, reach 5 ft. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) Slashing damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature and the allosaurus moved 30+ feet straight toward it immediately before the hit, the target has the Prone condition, and the allosaurus can make one Bite attack against it.
Stat block from the SRD 5.2.1 (2024 rules) by Wizards of the Coast, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Check an encounter with this monster in the encounter calculator.
Three numbers carry the stat block. Speed 60 means it closes any gap and runs down anyone fleeing on foot. Perception +5 (passive 15) means hidden characters need a good Stealth roll to stay hidden. Bite 15 is a big hit for CR 2. The claws only deal 8, but they're the attack that triggers the pounce.
How Allosauruses Fight
One attack a turn, so pick the right one. Against AC 15, its +6 attacks hit on a 9 or better, 60% of the time.
Allosaurus turn vs AC 15
Expected damage
Plain Bite (15)
about 9
Pounce: Claws (8), then a Bite with Advantage on a hit
about 12.4
Pounce vs AC 18 (hits 45%, 70% with Advantage)
about 8.3, vs about 6.8 for a plain Bite
The pounce math: claws hit 60% for 8 (4.8). On a hit, the target is prone and the bonus bite is against a prone creature within 5 feet, so it has advantage: 84% to hit for 15. That adds about 7.6. The pounce beats a plain bite every time, and it leaves the target on the ground for the rest of the pack.
Pack hunting. The first allosaurus pounces and drops a character prone. The second one doesn't need a run-up: it walks in and bites the prone target with advantage. Three allosauruses that focus one character deal about 35 damage in a round: about 12 from the pounce, then two bites that have advantage whenever the claws landed. That kills most level 3 characters.
Circle, then charge. The pounce needs 30 feet straight. An allosaurus engaged in melee backs off, eats an opportunity attack, and comes back in. With 60 feet of speed, it can do both in one turn: back 30, then forward 30 into the claw. On open ground, the pack keeps that cycle going.
Run when hurt. An animal with 51 HP and Intelligence 2 leaves when it's losing. A wounded allosaurus that breaks off at 60 feet a turn can't be caught on foot.
How Many Allosauruses for a Level 4 Party?
One allosaurus is 450 XP. For four characters:
Party level
Encounter
2024 budget result
2014 guidelines
2
1 allosaurus
Moderate
Medium
3
2 allosauruses
Moderate
Hard
4
2 allosauruses
Low
Medium
6
3 allosauruses
Low
Medium
The 2014 column applies the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (used by our encounter calculator) to the 2024 stat block. On open plains, play the fight one step harder than the table says. In a forest, one step easier.
How Players Beat an Allosaurus
•Break the line. Trees, boulders, wagons, a stream bank. Anything that stops a straight 30-foot run turns the allosaurus into a plain biter.
•Stand together. A pack wants one isolated character on the ground. When the party is grouped, the allosaurus that lands a pounce ends its turn next to three angry characters instead of one.
•Ready attacks. An allosaurus that backs off to charge again ends its run next to its target. A character with a Readied attack hits it as it arrives.
•Get up fast. Standing from prone costs half your speed. Stay down and every adjacent allosaurus bites with advantage.
•Don't run. A character with 30 feet of speed can't outrun a 60-foot dinosaur, and running in a straight line gives it the run-up for free.
Shape-Shifting Into an Allosaurus
Polymorph can turn a level 2 or higher creature into an allosaurus (the new form's CR can't exceed the target's level). Animal Shapes works too: the allosaurus is Large and CR 2, under that spell's Large-or-smaller, CR 4 cap. A party of allosauruses crosses 60 feet a turn and pounces as a pack.
Wild Shape can't reach it: the SRD druid caps at CR 1. The 2024 Conjure Animals no longer summons stat-block beasts, so it doesn't apply either.
Allosaurus Encounter Ideas
The salt flats. A caravan crosses miles of flat white ground with nothing taller than a rock. Three allosauruses have followed it for a day. The party has to pick the ground for the fight before the dinosaurs do.
Hunting the hunters. A lord pays well for a live allosaurus for his menagerie. Killing one is easy at level 5. Netting, roping and caging one with Speed 60 and a pounce is a puzzle.
The kill site. The party finds a dead triceratops and an allosaurus pack feeding. Feeding animals aren't hunting. Walking past quietly is possible. Their passive Perception of 15 makes it hard.
Frequently Asked Questions
What CR is an allosaurus in 5e?
The allosaurus is CR 2 and worth 450 XP.
Is the allosaurus in the 2014 SRD?
No. The SRD 5.1 (2014) dinosaurs are the plesiosaurus, triceratops and tyrannosaurus rex. The allosaurus stat block on this page is from SRD 5.2.1 (2024).
How does the allosaurus pounce work?
If the allosaurus moves 30 or more feet straight toward a Large or smaller creature immediately before hitting it with its claws, the target is knocked prone and the allosaurus can make one bite against it. The bite has advantage because the target is prone and within 5 feet.
Can a druid Wild Shape into an allosaurus?
Not under the SRD rules. The druid's Wild Shape caps at CR 1, and the allosaurus is CR 2. Polymorph and Animal Shapes can turn a creature into one.
Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.
This page includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Loreify is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.