Chimera 5e: Three Heads, Fire Breath and How the Damage Adds Up

A chimera is a CR 6 Large monstrosity with AC 14, 114 hit points and a 60-foot fly speed. It attacks three times a turn at +7, once per head and claws, and its dragon head breathes a 15-foot cone of fire (DC 15 Dexterity, 31 damage) on a Recharge 5–6. Low AC, lots of hit points and a breath weapon that can hit two or three characters at once make it a damage race. The 2024 version adds a combo: its Ram knocks a Medium target prone, and its Bite does 18 instead of 11 when it has Advantage.

Table of Contents

• •Chimera Stat Block (2014)
• •The Chimera in the 2024 Rules
• •How the Chimera Fights
• •Running a Chimera Encounter
• •How Players Beat a Chimera
• •Chimera Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Chimera Stat Block (2014)

This is the chimera from SRD 5.1, matching the 2014 Monster Manual.

Each part of the body gets its own attack: bite (11 piercing), horns (10 bludgeoning) and claws (11 slashing), all at +7. When Fire Breath is charged, it replaces the bite or the horns, never the claws. That means a breath turn still includes two melee attacks.

Perception +8 (passive 18) is the other number to notice. A chimera spots a stealthy party long before most monsters of its CR would, so ambushing one is hard.

The Chimera in the 2024 Rules

The 2024 chimera (SRD 5.2.1) keeps the same AC, hit points, speeds, ability scores, Perception and CR. The attacks are reworked so the heads work together.

The 2024 chimera wants to Ram first. If the Ram hits a Medium or smaller creature, that creature is Prone, and melee attacks against a prone creature within 5 feet have Advantage. The Bite that follows deals 4d6 + 4 (18) instead of 2d6 + 4 (11). And because Fire Breath now replaces the weakest attack (the 7-damage Claw), a breath turn costs the 2024 chimera much less melee damage than it costs the 2014 one.

How the Chimera Fights

The breath math. Fire Breath is a 15-foot cone: 31 (7d8) fire damage on a failed DC 15 Dexterity save, half on a success. A character with +2 to Dexterity saves succeeds on a 13 or higher, 40% of the time:

Two characters in the cone take about 50 damage between them. Three take about 75. That's why the chimera's first breath matters most: the party is usually bunched up at the start of a fight.

How often it recharges. Recharge 5–6 means the chimera rolls a d6 at the start of each of its turns and gets the breath back on a 5 or 6, a 1-in-3 chance. It starts the fight charged. Over a four-round fight, expect about two breaths: one on round 1 and roughly one more across rounds 2 to 4. Don't plan on a breath every other round.

A full round, by the numbers. Against AC 16 a +7 attack hits on a 9 or higher, 60% of the time.

The 2024 numbers assume the Ram and Bite go to the same target. If the Ram hits (60%), the Bite has Advantage and hits about 84% of the time for 18. If it misses, the Bite is a normal 60% for 11. That averages to about 12 damage from the Bite alone.

Open from the air. The chimera flies 60 feet a turn. The best opener is to fly in, breathe on the cluster of characters at the front, and land next to the one it wants to maul. In the 2024 version, that's Ram plus Bite on the same Medium character. In the 2014 version, breath replaces the horns, and the bite and claws go to whoever is closest.

Stay or go. A chimera has no ranged attack besides the breath, so it has to fight in melee between recharges. Its AC 14 means it gets hit a lot. Use its 114 hit points as a timer: when the breath is spent and it drops below half (57), have it fly up and circle out of reach until the breath recharges, then dive again. Leaving melee provokes opportunity attacks, so it takes one or two hits on the way up. That's usually worth it for another 50-damage breath.

It is not smart. Intelligence 3. It doesn't focus the healer or play around concentration spells. It attacks what's closest, breathes on whatever group is biggest, and flees when hurt. Running it simply keeps the fight honest.

Running a Chimera Encounter

A chimera is worth 2,300 XP. With the 2024 SRD budget for four characters:

Below level 5, be careful. One breath averages about 25 per character in the cone, which can drop a level 4 wizard (around 20 to 25 hit points) in a single turn.

The 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines, which our encounter calculator uses, rate one chimera as Medium for four level 5 characters (thresholds 1,000 / 2,000 / 3,000 / 4,400). A chimera and a manticore together count as 4,500 XP after the ×1.5 multiplier, which is Deadly for that party.

How Players Beat a Chimera

• •Spread out. A 15-foot cone catches two or three characters standing together. Ten feet between characters often means the breath hits one person. This is the single biggest swing in the fight.
• •Hit it hard; it's easy to hit. AC 14 is low for CR 6. Martial characters should land most of their attacks. Dexterity is +0 with no save proficiency, so Fireball and Lightning Bolt usually deal full damage. It has no fire resistance or immunity in either edition, despite its breath.
• •Ground it. A flying chimera that has the Prone condition falls. Command "Grovel" works on a failed Wisdom save (+2). Under the 2014 rules, Command needs the target to understand your language; the chimera understands Draconic but not Common, so the caster must speak Draconic. The 2024 Command has no language requirement.
• •Stand back up fast (2024). Against a 2024 chimera, a character knocked prone by its Ram should stand up on their turn (half their speed) so the next Bite doesn't have Advantage.
• •Use its weakest save. Intelligence is −4. Few spells use it, but anything that does is close to a sure thing.

Chimera Encounter Ideas

The handler's words. A cult keeps a chimera as a guard animal and gives it orders in Draconic, the one language it understands. The party hears the handlers shout the same three words before each feeding. A character who speaks Draconic can work out what they mean and, with a good Animal Handling or Intimidation check of your choice, use them once in the fight. Running the chimera against its own handlers is a better reward than killing it.

The burned terraces. A hillside vineyard has been half burned in long scorched strips, each roughly 15 feet wide. The vintner thinks it's arson. It's a chimera that hunts the goats on the upper terraces and breathes on anything that runs. The terraces give the party high and low ground, and the chimera's dive path from the ridge is predictable.

Bridge crossing. The party is crossing a 200-foot rope bridge over a gorge when a chimera attacks from below. Characters on the bridge can't spread out, so the breath is likely to catch two or three. Rope bridges burn. Decide in advance how many breaths the bridge takes before a section gives way, and tell the players once the first scorch marks appear.

When a monster like this becomes a running villain, Loreify can record the session and keep track of the cult, its handlers and the words that control the beast.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a chimera in 5e?

A chimera is CR 6 and worth 2,300 XP in both the 2014 and 2024 rules. It has AC 14, 114 hit points, and walking and flying speeds of 30 and 60 feet.

How often can a chimera use fire breath?

Fire Breath has Recharge 5–6. The chimera starts combat with it ready, and after using it, rolls a d6 at the start of each of its turns, getting it back on a 5 or 6. Expect about two breaths in a four-round fight.

How much damage does a chimera's fire breath do?

31 (7d8) fire damage in a 15-foot cone on a failed DC 15 Dexterity save, or half (15 or 16) on a success. The 2014 chimera uses it in place of its bite or horns; the 2024 chimera uses it in place of its claw.

Is a chimera immune to fire?

No. Neither the 2014 nor the 2024 stat block gives the chimera any damage resistances or immunities, so fire spells work on it normally.

Can you tame a chimera?

The SRD gives no rules for taming one. It has Intelligence 3 and understands Draconic, so it can follow simple orders in that language, but whether a character can win its loyalty is up to the DM.

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.