Androsphinx 5e: The Roar, the Spells and the Sphinx of Valor

The androsphinx is a CR 17 Large legendary creature with AC 17, 199 hit points, a 60-foot fly speed, truesight, cleric spellcasting and a Roar it can use three times per long rest, each one worse than the last: fear, then paralysis, then 44 thunder damage. In the 2024 rules (SRD 5.2.1) it is called the Sphinx of Valor. Same CR and hit points, but it becomes a Celestial, gains Legendary Resistance, and folds the roar into its Multiattack, so it roars every turn for the first three rounds.

Table of Contents

• •Androsphinx Stat Block (2014)
• •The Sphinx of Valor: the 2024 Androsphinx
• •How the Androsphinx Fights
• •Running an Androsphinx Encounter
• •How Players Beat an Androsphinx
• •Androsphinx Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Androsphinx Stat Block (2014)

The SRD 5.1 androsphinx:

It is a Wisdom caster with a 12th-level cleric's slots (save DC 18), immune to psychic damage and to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks, and immune to being charmed or frightened. Two claws at +12 deal 17 each. What it lacks is as important: no Legendary Resistance and no Magic Resistance. A 2014 androsphinx has to make every save the party forces on it, and its Charisma save is +6 with no proficiency.

The Roar, read carefully. Every creature within 500 feet that can hear it must save, friend or foe:

• •First Roar: DC 18 Wisdom or frightened for 1 minute (save again at the end of each turn).
• •Second Roar: DC 18 Wisdom or deafened and frightened for 1 minute. While frightened this way, the creature is also paralyzed. It repeats the save each turn.
• •Third Roar: DC 18 Constitution or take 44 (8d10) thunder damage and be knocked prone; half damage on a success.

Two consequences follow straight from the wording. A creature that can't hear (deafened, or inside a Silence spell) doesn't save at all. And because the Second Roar's paralysis exists only while the target is frightened, anything that makes a character immune to fear also makes them immune to that paralysis. In the 2014 rules, Roar is its own action, so a roaring androsphinx doesn't claw that turn.

Its spell list is a judge's toolkit: Zone of Truth, Detect Evil and Good, Banishment, Flame Strike, Dispel Magic and Heroes' Feast. Riddles, lairs and what a sphinx guards come from the Monster Manual, not the SRD; the SRD stat block says nothing about them.

The Sphinx of Valor: the 2024 Androsphinx

SRD 5.2.1 names sphinxes by role: the Androsphinx is now the Sphinx of Valor, the Gynosphinx the Sphinx of Lore, and the Tiny CR 1 Sphinx of Wonder is new.

What these changes do at the table:

• •It roars and claws in the same turn. Multiattack is two Claws plus Roar, so rounds one, two and three bring fear, paralysis and thunder in order, each on top of 40 claw damage if both claws hit.
• •The roar is harder to stop. DC 20 instead of 18, no hearing requirement (deafness no longer protects you), and the First Roar no longer allows a save to end the fear early. It also never hits the sphinx's allies.
• •Paralysis no longer depends on fear. In 2014, immunity to fear blocked the Second Roar's paralysis. In 2024 it is a separate Paralyzed condition, so fear immunity does nothing against it.
• •Weight of Years is a legendary action: DC 16 Constitution save or gain 1 Exhaustion level, usable once per round. Each Exhaustion level is −2 to every d20 Test in the 2024 rules, and a long rest removes only one.
• •Fewer combat spells. Banishment, Flame Strike, Command and Sacred Flame are gone. Dispel Magic is its only real combat spell, once per day.
• •Celestial type. Protection from Evil and Good now applies: in 2024 it covers Celestials, so the sphinx has Disadvantage on attacks against a warded creature, which also can't be frightened by it. It does nothing against the paralysis.

How the Androsphinx Fights

2014: decide when to roar. Roar costs the whole action. The ideal opening is the First Roar from the air before the party closes, then claws on the frightened, then the Second Roar once most of the party is in its 500-foot reach. Legendary actions fill the gaps: three Claw Attacks a round (three uses) adds about 38 damage against AC 18 (hits on a 6, 75%, 17 per hit).

2024: just keep the multiattack going. Against AC 18, two Claws hit on a 6 for 20 each, about 30 damage a round on average, plus the roar. Spend legendary actions on Arcane Prowl (30-foot teleport plus a Claw) to reach paralyzed targets: any hit within 5 feet of a Paralyzed creature is a critical hit, so a Claw that hits deals 4d6 doubled plus 6, about 34 damage. Use Weight of Years once a round on a wizard, cleric or rogue, none of whom have Constitution save proficiency.

Save math against DC 20 Wisdom. A fighter with Wisdom +1 and no proficiency succeeds on a 19 or 20 (10%). A cleric with +10 succeeds on a 10 or higher (55%). Expect most of a typical party to be paralyzed after the Second Roar.

When it's losing. 2014: Teleport (2 legendary actions) up to 120 feet, then fly away at 60 feet. 2024: Arcane Prowl and the same fly speed to break contact. Either way, it can be talked to after the first exchange.

Running an Androsphinx Encounter

One androsphinx alone (18,000 XP) by the 2024 SRD budget:

The 2014 column uses the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide thresholds, which our encounter calculator uses. In its lair the Sphinx of Valor is worth 20,000 XP, which is still Moderate for four level 15 characters. The SRD gives the lair XP, extra Legendary Resistance and an extra legendary action use, but no lair actions or regional effects, so the lair is yours to describe.

The roar is the encounter. A level 13 party that meets a Sphinx of Valor without Wisdom save help can expect half its members paralyzed on round two. Signal the roar before the fight (the ground still shakes from one it gave a previous visitor) rather than cutting its numbers.

How Players Beat an Androsphinx

• •2014: deafen yourselves. A creature that can't hear the roar doesn't make the save. Silence centered on the party stops all three roars at the cost of your own verbal spells. A creature still deafened by the Second Roar can't hear the Third, so it doesn't save against it. The text doesn't say whether a successful save ends the deafness too. DM ruling, not rules text: treat the deafness as ending with the fear and paralysis.
• •2014: fear immunity is paralysis immunity. A paladin's aura or Heroes' Feast before the fight shuts off the Second Roar's paralysis.
• •2014: save-or-lose spells work. With no Legendary Resistance, a Banishment (Charisma save +6) or similar spell can end the fight. Banishment on a 2014 monstrosity sends it to a harmless demiplane rather than home, so it comes back when concentration ends.
• •2024: Lesser Restoration ends paralysis. In the 2024 rules it is a Bonus Action that ends the Paralyzed condition, so a cleric or paladin who passed the Second Roar can free an ally each turn. Greater Restoration removes one Exhaustion level from Weight of Years.
• •2024: strip the Legendary Resistances first with cheap saves before the spell you need to land.
• •2024: magic weapons aren't needed. The Sphinx of Valor has no weapon immunity, while the 2014 androsphinx ignores nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing and slashing.
• •Neither version cares about psychic damage, charm or fear spells. Don't bring them.

Androsphinx Encounter Ideas

The court of the roar. Two rival nobles want the same inheritance. Both agree to plead before an androsphinx, who casts Zone of Truth on everyone, including the party who escorted the honest one there. The fight only happens if someone lies inside the zone and runs.

The silent pilgrims. Monks with their tongues bound by vows walk past a sphinx's mountain pass every year untouched. The party learns why: they are always deafened before they arrive. The 2014 roar can't touch them. Now the party has to decide whether to copy them.

The sphinx that was asked a question. A Sphinx of Valor has been holding a bridge for a century, waiting for a specific answer to a question nobody alive remembers. Weight of Years has aged everyone who tried. The party finds a journal with half the answer.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is an androsphinx?

The androsphinx is CR 17 (18,000 XP) in the 2014 rules. Its 2024 version, the Sphinx of Valor, is also CR 17 and is worth 18,000 XP, or 20,000 XP when fought in its lair.

What is the androsphinx called in the 2024 rules?

It is the Sphinx of Valor. The gynosphinx became the Sphinx of Lore, and the 2024 rules added a CR 1 Sphinx of Wonder.

How does the androsphinx's roar work?

It roars up to three times between long rests: first fear, then paralysis, then 44 thunder damage and prone. In 2014 each roar is its own action (DC 18, every creature within 500 feet that can hear it); in 2024 it is part of Multiattack (DC 20, enemies only).

Does the androsphinx have Legendary Resistance?

Not in the 2014 rules: the SRD 5.1 androsphinx has legendary actions but no Legendary Resistance. The 2024 Sphinx of Valor has Legendary Resistance 3/day, or 4/day in its lair.

Is the androsphinx immune to nonmagical weapons?

The 2014 androsphinx is immune to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks, and to psychic damage. The 2024 Sphinx of Valor loses the weapon immunity, keeps psychic immunity, and gains resistance to necrotic and radiant damage.

Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.