Hyena 5e: Stats, Pack Tactics and Running a Hyena Pack

A hyena is a CR 0 Medium beast with AC 11, 5 hit points, a 50-foot speed and a +2 bite for 3 (1d6) piercing damage. Alone it barely matters. In a group it has Pack Tactics: Advantage on its attack whenever another hyena (or any ally) stands next to the target. The 2024 rules (SRD 5.2.1) keep every number the same and add one thing: 60-foot darkvision, so the 2024 hyena hunts at night without a penalty.

Table of Contents

• •Hyena Stat Block (2014)
• •The Hyena in the 2024 Rules
• •How Hyenas Fight
• •How Many Hyenas for a Level 1 Party?
• •How Players Beat Hyenas
• •Hyena Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Hyena Stat Block (2014)

The bite is weak and the AC is low. The number that matters is the 50-foot speed. Most characters move 30 feet, so a hyena pack can reach a fleeing wizard, circle a fighter, or run off and come back on its own schedule. Passive Perception 13 means a party sneaking past at night has to beat 13 on its Stealth checks.

The Hyena in the 2024 Rules

Darkvision is the only change. Under 2014 rules a hyena in darkness attacks a target it can't see, which gives it Disadvantage and cancels Pack Tactics' Advantage. A 2024 hyena within 60 feet sees fine, so a pack attacking a camp after the fire dies keeps its Advantage.

How Hyenas Fight

A hyena pack wins by putting two bodies on one target. The math shows why:

• •One hyena, no help: +2 against AC 15 hits on a 13 or higher, 40% of the time, for 3.5 damage on average. That's 1.4 damage a round.
• •Two hyenas on the same target: each attack has Advantage, so each hits 64% of the time (1 − 0.6²). The pair deals about 4.5 damage a round, more than three times what one hyena does alone.
• •Four hyenas on a level 1 wizard (AC 12): each hits on 10+ with Advantage, about 80%. Expected damage is around 11 a round, enough to drop most level 1 casters in one turn.

So play them as a pack, not as a line of individuals:

1. •Pick the softest target and surround it. Fifty feet of movement lets the pack ignore the front line and reach whoever is at the back.
2. •Don't split. A lone hyena fighting a lone character loses Pack Tactics. If the pack scatters, the survivors regroup on one target.
3. •Retreat when hurt. Five hit points means one hit kills a hyena. A pack that loses half its members runs. With speed 50, nobody on foot catches it.

Pack Tactics counts any ally, not only other hyenas. A giant hyena (CR 1, 45 HP, +5 bite for 10) standing next to a target gives every normal hyena around it Advantage, and it's much harder to kill than the pack it leads. A gnoll warband with hyenas works the same way.

How Many Hyenas for a Level 1 Party?

Hyenas are worth 10 XP each, and the two encounter systems disagree about how dangerous a pack is.

• •2024 rules: four level 1 characters have a Low budget of 200 XP and a Moderate budget of 300 XP. Eight hyenas cost only 80 XP, a Low encounter (80 of the 200 Low budget). A pack of six hyenas led by one giant hyena (260 XP) is a Moderate encounter.
• •2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (used by our encounter calculator): eight hyenas are 80 XP, multiplied by 2.5 for a group of 7 to 10, which gives 200 adjusted XP. That's exactly the Medium threshold for four level 1 characters. Six hyenas plus a giant hyena reach 650 adjusted XP, far past the Deadly threshold of 400.

The 2014 multiplier is closer to the truth for Pack Tactics creatures, because the danger comes from numbers, not from each hyena's stats. Run 5 to 8 hyenas for a fair level 1 fight, and check the pack in the calculator before adding a leader.

How Players Beat Hyenas

• •Kill the ally that enables the Advantage. Pack Tactics needs a conscious ally within 5 feet of the target. Every hyena removed from a target's side takes Advantage away from the others.
• •Stand back to back. Two characters in a corner or doorway can only be reached from a few squares, which limits how many hyenas line up on one target.
• •Area spells. Five hit points dies to almost any damage. Thunderwave at 2d8 (9 average) kills a hyena about 9 times in 10 on a failed save, and a bit under half the time even on a successful save for half damage.
• •Make them flee. A hyena has Intelligence 2. Killing two quickly, or showing fire, is a reasonable trigger for a DM to have the rest run (DM ruling, not rules text: the SRD has no morale rule).
• •Charm one, then walk away. Animal Friendship works on hyenas in both editions (the 2014 spell fails on Intelligence 4 or higher; a hyena has 2). A charmed hyena can't attack the caster, which matters most out of combat: charm the hyena guarding a carcass and the party can pass without starting a fight.

Hyena Encounter Ideas

The battlefield cleanup. Two days after a skirmish, eight hyenas are working through the dead on a ridge. They ignore the party unless someone comes within 30 feet of a carcass. The party needs a signet ring off one of the bodies.

The night herd. A caravan has lost two camels in two nights. The hyenas come after the fires burn low, and in 2024 they see in the dark while the guards don't. Clever players keep a fire going and wait for the pack in the light.

The laughing leader. A giant hyena leads six normal ones and always stays adjacent to whoever the pack attacks. The party learns fast that the big one is the problem: as long as it stands beside a target, every bite from the pack has Advantage.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a hyena in 5e?

CR 0, worth 10 XP, in both the 2014 and 2024 rules. It has AC 11, 5 hit points and a 50-foot speed.

Does a hyena have Pack Tactics?

Yes, in both editions. A hyena has Advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of its allies is within 5 feet of that creature and isn't Incapacitated.

Do hyenas have darkvision in 5e?

The 2024 hyena has 60-foot darkvision. The 2014 hyena has no darkvision, only passive Perception 13.

What's the difference between a hyena and a giant hyena?

The hyena is CR 0 and Medium with 5 hit points. The giant hyena is CR 1 and Large with 45 hit points and a +5 bite that deals 10 damage. A giant hyena next to a target gives nearby hyenas Advantage through their Pack Tactics.

Can a 2024 wizard have a hyena familiar?

The 2024 Find Familiar spell allows any Beast of Challenge Rating 0, and the hyena is CR 0, so yes. A familiar can't attack, so the bite and Pack Tactics don't matter, but the darkvision and 50-foot speed do.

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.