Imp 5e: Stats, Tactics and the Warlock's Favorite Familiar

An imp is a CR 1 Tiny devil with AC 13, a 40-foot fly speed, at-will Invisibility and a poison sting that hits for about 15 damage on a bad save. It has 10 hit points in the 2014 rules and 21 in the 2024 rules, which is the biggest change between editions: the 2024 imp survives a hit that would have killed the old one, but it also lost its resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren't silvered. Imps also show up on the players' side as familiars. A warlock who takes Pact of the Chain can choose one, and an invisible, flying spy with 120-foot darkvision that sees through magical darkness is one of the best scouts available at low level.

Table of Contents

• •Imp Stat Block (2014)
• •The Imp in the 2024 Rules
• •How Imps Fight
• •Imp vs Quasit: Devil or Demon?
• •Using an Imp as a Familiar
• •Running an Imp Encounter
• •How Players Beat Imps
• •Imp Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Imp Stat Block (2014)

This is the imp from SRD 5.1, the same stat block as the 2014 Monster Manual.

Three things decide how a 2014 imp plays. Ten hit points die to one solid hit, but resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren't silvered halves that hit for a party with mundane gear. Invisibility as an action, at will means it starts most fights unseen and can vanish again whenever it isn't attacking.

The sting is better than it looks. The 5 piercing damage is minor, but the DC 11 Constitution save for 10 (3d6) poison damage, half on a success, adds at least 5 more on every hit. Its fire and poison immunity and the Poisoned immunity make it a safe creature to send into a burning building or a gas-filled tunnel.

The Imp in the 2024 Rules

The 2024 imp (SRD 5.2.1) keeps the same AC, speeds, CR, senses and personality and changes its durability and its sting.

What the changes mean at the table:

• •The 2024 imp is twice as hard to kill with spells and about as hard with weapons. A 2014 imp has 10 hit points but halves bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks. A 2024 imp has 21 hit points and no weapon resistance. A level 1 fighter's longsword (1d8 + 3, average 7.5) needs about three hits on either version, while a Magic Missile (10.5 force) that usually killed the old imp in one cast now needs two.
• •Damage is steadier. The 2014 sting averages 5 + 7 = 12 against a typical level 1-3 character (a 40% chance to fail the DC 11 save for 10, otherwise 5). The 2024 sting deals a flat 13. No save means no lucky Constitution roll saves the wizard.
• •Invisibility is now the actual spell (concentration, up to an hour, ends after an attack roll, damage or a spell). The 2014 trait ends when the imp attacks. For a creature whose only damage is its sting, the difference is small.

How Imps Fight

An imp should almost never be seen and almost never stand still.

Open from invisibility. An imp that starts the fight invisible attacks with Advantage. Against AC 15, its +5 sting hits on a 10 or higher (55%). With Advantage that rises to about 80%. The first sting of the fight is the one most likely to land.

Sting, then leave. Because it's Tiny and flies at 40 feet, the imp can sting a target and fly out of reach on the same turn. It has no Disengage trick, so moving away from an adjacent character provokes an opportunity attack. A smart imp stings the wizard in the back rank, not the fighter, and flies up 30 feet where melee characters can't follow.

Go invisible again. Turning invisible takes the imp's action, so an imp alternates: sting on one turn, Invisibility on the next, then reposition while unseen. That's one attack every two rounds, which sounds weak until you realize the party spends both rounds trying to find it.

Damage per round against AC 15:

Fight in magical darkness. Its darkvision isn't blocked by magical Darkness. Pair an imp with a caster who drops a Darkness spell and the imp sees perfectly while the party is blind.

Talk before fighting. With Deception +4 and Common, a raven on the windowsill that offers a deal is a better use of an imp than a stand-up fight.

Run when hurt. An imp below half its hit points flies off invisibly and reports to whoever it serves. Let it go and it returns later with friends.

Imp vs Quasit: Devil or Demon?

The imp and the quasit share CR 1, AC 13, Tiny size, Magic Resistance, at-will Invisibility and three animal forms, but play differently.

The short version: an imp hurts, a quasit hinders. The imp's sting averages 12-13 damage; the quasit's attack deals 5 but leaves the target Poisoned (Disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks). The imp scouts from the air in its true form, while the quasit must become a bat to fly. And the imp is the talker.

Using an Imp as a Familiar

The regular Find Familiar list doesn't include imps. A warlock gets one through Pact of the Chain:

• •2014 rules (SRD 5.1): Pact of the Chain is a 3rd-level Warlock Pact Boon. It teaches Find Familiar as a ritual and adds four special forms: imp, pseudodragon, quasit or sprite. When you take the Attack action, you can give up one of your attacks so your familiar makes one attack with its reaction.
• •2024 rules (SRD 5.2.1): Pact of the Chain is an Eldritch Invocation with no level prerequisite, so a level 1 warlock can take it. You cast Find Familiar as a Magic action without a spell slot, and the special forms are Imp, Pseudodragon, Quasit, Skeleton, Sphinx of Wonder, Sprite or Venomous Snake. The attack-trade rule is the same.

Find Familiar itself gives you, in both editions, telepathy with the familiar within 100 feet, sight through its eyes (an action in 2014, a Bonus Action in 2024) and touch spells delivered through its reaction. A familiar can't attack on its own, but it acts on its own turn and can use its other actions, which for an imp means Invisibility and Shape-Shift.

The imp familiar variant in the 2014 Monster Manual is not part of SRD 5.1, so it isn't covered here.

Why the imp is the pick. It's the only Pact of the Chain option that flies at 40 feet, turns invisible at will, and sees through magical darkness. It can scout a dungeon while you watch through its eyes, and in 2024 the 21 hit points mean a stray arrow won't end it.

The 2024 imp hits harder through the pact. Its sting deals a flat 13 on a hit, and the Investment of the Chain Master invocation (level 5+ warlock) lets you command it to take the Attack action as a Bonus Action and turn its piercing damage Necrotic or Radiant.

Losing it is cheaper in 2024. A familiar that drops to 0 hit points disappears until you cast Find Familiar again. A 2014 Chain warlock has to recast it, which takes an hour (more as a ritual) and 10 gp of materials. A 2024 Chain warlock recasts it with one Magic action and no spell slot, though the 10 GP of incense is still consumed.

Running an Imp Encounter

Imps are a level 1-4 threat in combat and a threat at any level as spies. An imp is worth 200 XP.

Under the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (used by our encounter difficulty calculator), three imps are 600 XP, doubled to 1,200 for a group of three. That's past Deadly (800) for four level 2 characters and Hard (900 to 1,600) at level 3. In practice imps play below their CR in an open room and above it in the dark, where invisibility and flight let them pick targets.

Imps work best as part of something bigger: the eyes of a cult leader, a messenger for a bearded devil, or a swarm of four harassing a party that's trying to fight something else.

How Players Beat Imps

• •Make it visible. Faerie Fire outlines an invisible imp and stops it benefiting from being invisible, but the imp has to fail a Dexterity save (+3), and Magic Resistance lets it roll that save twice. Throwing flour or dust to reveal it isn't in the rules text; letting it work is a DM ruling.
• •Ready an action. The imp has to become visible to sting you. Ready an attack for "when the imp appears and attacks," and you swing when it does.
• •Use damage that ignores its defenses. It's immune to fire and poison in both editions, so Fire Bolt and Burning Hands do nothing. Cold is resisted. Use force, radiant, lightning, thunder or acid. Magic Missile deals 10.5 force on average with no attack roll and no save, usually killing a 2014 imp in one cast and taking half of a 2024 imp's hit points.
• •In 2014, bring magic or silver. The 2014 imp halves bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks that aren't silvered. A silvered weapon costs 100 gp in SRD 5.1. The 2024 imp has no weapon resistance.
• •Target Strength. Its worst save is Strength (-2). Most save spells target Dexterity, Constitution or Wisdom, where it has +3, +1 and +1, and Magic Resistance gives it Advantage against all of them.
• •Protect the caster. Protection from Evil and Good works against fiends in both editions: imps have Disadvantage on attacks against the warded creature.
• •Banish it. An imp on the Material Plane is a long way from the Nine Hells. If Banishment holds for the full minute, it doesn't come back, though against its Charisma +2 and Magic Resistance that's a big slot for a CR 1 creature.

Imp Encounter Ideas

The raven at the window. For three nights a raven has watched the party's inn room. On the fourth it speaks: its master, a minor noble, wants them to retrieve a sealed letter from a rival's study, and will pay well. The raven is an imp, the "noble" doesn't exist, and the letter is a signed contract that binds whoever opens it.

The inkwell thief. A town archive keeps losing pages from its oldest property ledgers. No locks are broken. The culprit is an imp in spider form that climbs in through the chimney flue, and someone is rewriting who owns the land under the old temple. Catching it means a fight in a room full of paper and candles, where the imp's fire immunity is a real advantage.

The familiar's defection. A rival warlock's imp familiar approaches the party in secret. It wants out of its pact and offers its master's travel plans in exchange. Imps are liars, but this one is telling the truth because its master is about to trade it to something worse. The party has to decide whether to trust it, and the warlock will want it back.

A talkative fiend that shows up three times across a campaign is easy to lose track of. Loreify records your session and keeps your session notes organized, including the NPCs and monsters the party has met.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is an imp in 5e?

An imp is CR 1 (200 XP) in both the 2014 and 2024 rules. It has AC 13, with 10 hit points in the 2014 rules and 21 in the 2024 rules.

Can an imp be a familiar?

Yes, through the Warlock's Pact of the Chain in both editions. In the 2014 rules it's a 3rd-level Pact Boon; in the 2024 rules it's an Eldritch Invocation a warlock can take at level 1. The basic Find Familiar spell list doesn't include imps.

Is an imp immune to fire?

Yes. Imps are immune to fire and poison damage and to the Poisoned condition in both editions, and resistant to cold. The 2014 imp also resists bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren't silvered.

What's the difference between an imp and a quasit?

The imp is a devil and the quasit is a demon. The imp flies in its true form, deals more damage with a poison sting, and is smarter and more persuasive. The quasit walks faster, poisons targets instead of dealing heavy damage, can frighten one creature once per day, and has to turn into a bat to fly.

What forms can an imp turn into?

A rat (speed 20 ft.), a raven (20 ft., fly 60 ft.) or a spider (20 ft., climb 20 ft.). Its statistics stay the same apart from speed, and its equipment doesn't change with it.

Can an imp see through magical darkness?

Yes. The 2014 imp has Devil's Sight, and the 2024 imp's 120-foot darkvision is unimpeded by magical Darkness. That makes it a natural partner for anyone who casts the Darkness spell.

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.