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Lizardfolk 5e: Stat Block, Tactics and Fighting in the Water
This is the lizardfolk monster stat block the DM runs, not the playable lizardfolk species. A lizardfolk warrior is a CR 1/2 Medium Humanoid worth 100 XP, with AC 15 (thick scales plus a shield), 22 hit points, a 30-foot swim speed and a Multiattack that pairs a bite with a club, javelin or spiked shield for about 5 damage a hit. It holds its breath for 15 minutes, so it can wait underwater for the party to wade in. There is no lizardfolk in the 2024 rules (SRD 5.2.1); this page uses the 2014 block, which runs fine in a 2024 game.
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Lizardfolk Stat Block (2014)
This is the lizardfolk from the 2014 rules (SRD 5.1).
Lizardfolk
Medium humanoid (lizardfolk), neutral
Armor Class 15 (natural armor, shield)
Hit Points 22 (4d8+4)
Speed 30 ft., swim 30 ft.
STR
15 (+2)
DEX
10 (+0)
CON
13 (+1)
INT
7 (−2)
WIS
12 (+1)
CHA
7 (−2)
Skills Perception +3, Stealth +4, Survival +5
Senses passive Perception 13
Languages Draconic
Challenge 1/2 (XP 100; PB +2)
Traits
Hold Breath.The lizardfolk can hold its breath for 15 minutes.
Actions
Multiattack.The lizardfolk makes two melee attacks, each one with a different weapon.
Bite.Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.
Heavy Club.Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) bludgeoning damage.
Javelin.Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.
Spiked Shield.Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.
Stat block from the SRD 5.1 (2014 rules) by Wizards of the Coast, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Check an encounter with this monster in the encounter calculator.
Most CR 1/2 humanoids are either sturdy or dangerous. The lizardfolk is both, in a small way. AC 15 and 22 hit points mean a level 1 character needs three or four hits to drop one. Two attacks a turn at +4 means it hits as often as a goblin, twice. Its Multiattack has one rule: the two attacks must use different weapons. In practice that is a bite plus the club, the javelin or the spiked shield.
The skill line describes a hunter, not a soldier: Stealth +4, Survival +5, Perception +3 (passive 13). And the gaps matter as much as the strengths:
•No darkvision. Unlike most monsters at this CR, a lizardfolk sees only what light shows it.
•Intelligence 7. It fights directly and doesn't plan complex traps.
•Languages: Draconic only. A party with no Draconic speaker can't negotiate without magic.
Is There a 2024 Lizardfolk Stat Block?
No. SRD 5.2.1 (the 2024 rules) has no lizardfolk stat block and no lizardfolk player species. Use the 2014 block in a 2024 game. If you want 2024-style formatting, give it initiative +0 (Dexterity 10) and write its attacks as "Melee Attack Roll: +4". Everything else carries over.
One 2024 rule changes how it plays: underwater combat. The 2024 rules give a creature without a swim speed disadvantage on melee weapon attacks underwater unless the weapon deals piercing damage, and every ranged weapon attack underwater has disadvantage. Both rules sets favor the lizardfolk; the details are below.
How Lizardfolk Fight
The lizardfolk's whole kit points at one place: the edge of deep water. On land it is a solid CR 1/2 brawler. In a river, a swamp or a flooded ruin, it chooses when the fight starts and where.
Damage per round. Two attacks at +4, each averaging 5.5 damage (1d6 + 2):
Target AC
Hit chance per attack
Average damage per round
13 (leather, Dex +2)
60%
about 6.6
16 (chain mail)
45%
about 5.0
18 (chain mail and shield)
35%
about 3.9
That damage is steady rather than scary. Three lizardfolk deal about 15 a round to a character in chain mail. What makes them dangerous is where that damage happens.
Ambush from the water. A lizardfolk can hold its breath for 15 minutes, which is 150 rounds. It can lie in shallow, murky water beside a ford or a boardwalk and wait. How well it hides depends on the water: murky water can count as heavily obscured, which is the DM's call, and its Stealth +4 against the party's passive Perception decides the rest. The opening attack should come when the party is spread out on a crossing.
Fight where the party is slow. Bogs and mud usually count as difficult terrain, and a character without a swim speed spends 1 extra foot for every foot it swims. The lizardfolk swims 30 feet a turn at full speed. It can attack and back off into water where the party can't follow quickly.
Make the party fight underwater. Once characters are submerged, the underwater rules apply to them but not to the lizardfolk, which has a swim speed:
Underwater rule
2014 rules (SRD 5.1)
2024 rules (SRD 5.2.1)
Melee weapon attacks by a creature without a swim speed
Disadvantage unless dagger, javelin, shortsword, spear or trident
Disadvantage unless the weapon deals piercing damage
Ranged weapon attacks
Auto-miss beyond normal range; disadvantage within it unless crossbow, net or thrown weapon like a javelin
Auto-miss beyond normal range; disadvantage within it
Fire damage
Creatures fully underwater resist it
Anything underwater resists it
A paladin's longsword and a fighter's warhammer attack with disadvantage. The wizard's Fire Bolt does half damage to a submerged lizardfolk. The lizardfolk's own heavy club works fine because it has a swim speed.
Drag them in. The stat block has no grapple attack, but any creature can grapple using the general rules. Under the 2014 rules, the lizardfolk makes a Strength (Athletics) check at +2 (Strength 15, no proficiency) against the target's Athletics or Acrobatics. Strictly, a grapple replaces an attack of the Attack action, so it costs the lizardfolk its Multiattack that turn. Letting it replace one of the two Multiattack attacks instead is a DM ruling. Under the 2024 rules a grapple is an Unarmed Strike option: the target makes a DC 12 Strength or Dexterity save (8 + Strength modifier + proficiency bonus) instead of a contested check. Either way, a grappled creature can be dragged at half speed. Pulling the wizard 15 feet into deep water takes it out of the fight better than biting it. Use this sparingly. It is a strong move against a level 1 party.
Javelins at the water's edge. The Multiattack covers two melee attacks, so a lizardfolk that wants to throw makes one javelin attack (30/120 feet) as its action. Use the javelins against characters who stay on the bank and won't come into the water.
When it retreats. With no darkvision, a lizardfolk fighting at night is fighting blind beyond torchlight. A band that loses half its number dives and swims away. Nobody in the party is likely to catch it.
How Many Lizardfolk for Your Party?
Using the 2024 XP budget (SRD 5.2.1) for four characters:
Under the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines, which our encounter calculator uses, two lizardfolk are 200 XP multiplied by 1.5 to 300: Hard for four level 1 characters. Three are 300 XP doubled to 600, past the Deadly threshold (400) at level 1 and Hard (600) at level 2.
So, by level:
•Level 1: 2 lizardfolk, or 3 on dry land where the party can fight back properly.
•Level 2 and 3: 4 to 6, with a crocodile or two in the water. The crocodile's bite grapples and restrains its target, and a restrained character gives every lizardfolk advantage.
•Level 4 and up: lizardfolk as a band around a bigger swamp threat, or a group the party has to talk to rather than fight.
Count the water before you count the creatures. The same three lizardfolk are a fair fight on a dry road and a much harder one at a flooded ford.
How Players Beat Lizardfolk
•Stay out of the water. Every advantage the lizardfolk has depends on water. Fight from the bank, a boat or a bridge, and make them come up. On dry ground a lizardfolk is a 22 HP brawler with no tricks.
•Use piercing weapons if you go in. Spears, tridents, javelins and shortswords work underwater in both editions; under 2024 rules any piercing weapon does. Keep a dagger handy for the character who gets dragged under.
•Fight at night with darkvision. Lizardfolk have no darkvision. A party with darkvision and no torches can see them while staying unseen.
•Target Intelligence, Charisma or Dexterity saves. Its saves are Strength +2, Dexterity +0, Constitution +1, Intelligence −2, Wisdom +1 and Charisma −2. Wisdom isn't a strong save either: Hold Person works (it is a Humanoid) and lands about 55% of the time against DC 13.
•Sleep still works on one. The 2014 Sleep spell (5d8, average 22.5) puts a full-health lizardfolk to sleep about 57% of the time. Once it is hurt, the odds go up fast.
•Don't count on fire underwater. A fully submerged lizardfolk resists fire. Use Thunderwave or cold and lightning damage instead, or wait for it to surface.
•Learn Draconic, or cast for it. A lizardfolk speaks only Draconic. Comprehend Languages lets a character understand it. A Draconic-speaking character can open a negotiation that would otherwise be impossible.
Lizardfolk Encounter Ideas
The tide causeway. A stone causeway crosses a salt marsh and floods to waist depth twice a day. Lizardfolk attack travelers only when the tide is in, when everyone on the causeway is in difficult terrain and anyone who falls off is in deep water. A party that times the crossing for low tide never sees them. A party that doesn't learn about the tide fights at its worst.
The guide who quits. A merchant has hired two lizardfolk as swamp guides because nobody else knows the channels (Survival +5). They speak only Draconic, so the merchant's nephew translates, badly. When the barge reaches a stretch of water they refuse to enter, the nephew tells the party they want more money. They are actually saying something under the water is hunting.
The fishing war. A village has strung nets across the river mouth, and the lizardfolk upstream have started cutting them. The villagers want the party to drive the lizardfolk off. The lizardfolk, once someone can talk to them, explain that the nets have emptied the river above. They will stop cutting nets for a share of the catch. Getting the village to agree is harder than the fight would have been.
Swamp campaigns tend to fill up with names nobody can spell. Loreify's session recorder transcribes the session and keeps track of the NPCs and creatures the party met, including which lizardfolk band agreed to what.
Frequently Asked Questions
What CR is lizardfolk in 5e?
The lizardfolk is CR 1/2 (100 XP) in the 2014 rules (SRD 5.1). It has AC 15, 22 hit points and a 30-foot walking and swimming speed.
Is there a lizardfolk stat block in the 2024 rules?
No. The 2024 SRD (5.2.1) has no lizardfolk stat block and no lizardfolk player species. Use the 2014 stat block in a 2024 game.
Can lizardfolk breathe underwater?
No. The lizardfolk has the Hold Breath trait, which lets it hold its breath for 15 minutes. It has a 30-foot swim speed but no water breathing, so it has to surface eventually.
How many attacks does a lizardfolk get?
Two per turn. Its Multiattack makes two melee attacks, each with a different weapon: usually a bite plus a heavy club, javelin or spiked shield. Each attack is +4 to hit and deals 5 damage on average.
Is this the same as the playable lizardfolk?
No. This page covers the monster stat block the DM uses. The playable lizardfolk species is not in either SRD and has different traits.
How much XP is a lizardfolk worth?
100 XP. Two lizardfolk use the whole Low-difficulty budget (200 XP) for four level 1 characters under 2024 rules.
Stat block: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014), 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.