Minotaur 5e: Stats, the Charge and the 2024 Minotaur of Baphomet

A minotaur is a CR 3 Large monstrosity with AC 14, 76 hit points, a 40-foot speed and a single big attack each turn: a greataxe for 17 damage or a gore that hits for 22 when it charges 10 feet in a straight line, with a DC 14 Strength save to avoid being shoved 10 feet and knocked prone. Its Reckless trait gives it advantage on every melee attack it makes, at the cost of giving the party advantage against it. The 2024 rules rename it the Minotaur of Baphomet and rebuild it: 85 hit points, a 10-foot-reach glaive that deals slashing plus necrotic damage, a recharging gore that knocks targets prone with no save, and no Reckless or Labyrinthine Recall at all.

Table of Contents

• •Minotaur Stat Block (2014)
• •The 2024 Minotaur of Baphomet
• •How the Minotaur Fights
• •How Many Minotaurs for Your Party?
• •How Players Beat a Minotaur
• •Minotaur Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Minotaur Stat Block (2014)

This is the minotaur from SRD 5.1, the same creature as the 2014 Monster Manual. The SRD's only lore on it is one line in its description of monstrosities: minotaurs are among the creatures that are "the product of terrible curses."

Read the actions closely and one thing stands out: there is no Multiattack. A minotaur swings once per turn. All of its threat is packed into that one swing, which is why the traits that boost it (Charge and Reckless) matter so much.

Passive Perception 17 is the other number to respect. With Wisdom 16 and Perception +7, it hears and sees better than most of the party, so sneaking past one in a corridor is harder than its Intelligence 6 suggests. Labyrinthine Recall means it never gets lost on a path it has walked, which makes it a natural maze guardian and a terrible creature to try to lose in a chase through its home.

The 2024 Minotaur of Baphomet

The 2024 rules (SRD 5.2.1) keep the CR, AC, ability scores and XP but replace almost everything the minotaur does in combat. The name ties it to Baphomet, a demon lord from the Monster Manual's lore (that lore is not in the SRD; the stat block gives only the name).

What changed from 2014:

What those changes do at the table:

• •It stops handing the party advantage. The 2014 minotaur's best damage comes from Reckless, which makes it easy to hit. The 2024 version has no such trade, so the fighter's attacks land at normal odds all fight.
• •Reach 10 changes positioning. The glaive threatens a 10-foot ring, so a character who steps back 5 feet is still in range, and leaving that ring provokes an opportunity attack from farther away.
• •The charge is now a burst, not a habit. The 2014 minotaur can charge with its gore whenever it has room to run. The 2024 gore recharges on a 5 or 6, so after the opening charge it comes back about one turn in three. When it lands with a run-up, it deals 28 damage on average and the target is Prone, no save allowed.
• •Necrotic damage. Half the glaive's damage is necrotic, which very few player characters resist. Barbarian rage, for example, covers bludgeoning, piercing and slashing only, so a raging barbarian takes the full 10 necrotic.

One SRD spell interaction flips completely. The 2014 Maze spell says a minotaur automatically succeeds on its check to escape. The 2024 Maze has no such exception: escaping takes a DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation) check, and a Minotaur of Baphomet (Intelligence 6, no Investigation skill) can roll at most 18 (in the 2024 rules a natural 20 is automatic only on attack rolls). Without outside help, such as a bonus to the check, it cannot escape the 2024 Maze.

How the Minotaur Fights

A minotaur is a battering ram with one hit per turn. Its job is to close distance fast and make that hit count.

Open with the charge. A 40-foot speed covers most rooms. The first turn a minotaur sees a target, it runs at least 10 feet in a straight line and gores.

• •2014: the gore hits for 13, plus 9 (2d8) from Charge, for 22 average. The target then makes a DC 14 Strength save or is pushed up to 10 feet and knocked prone. A fighter with +5 to Strength saves fails 40% of the time. A wizard with -1 fails 70% of the time.
• •2024: the gore hits for 18, plus 10 (3d6) from the run-up, for 28 average, and the target is Prone automatically if it is Large or smaller.

Go reckless when the math favors it (2014). Reckless is declared at the start of the minotaur's turn and lasts until its next turn. Against a typical AC 16 character:

The 80% comes from rolling two d20s and needing a 10 or higher on either one (1 - 0.45 x 0.45). The cost is that every attack against the minotaur also gets advantage until its next turn. A minotaur alone against four characters should be reckless on the charge turn and when it's chasing a soft target. A minotaur already surrounded by the fighter and paladin should not be, because doubling four characters' hit rates costs it far more than it gains.

Run the corridor play (2014). The Charge push sends a target 10 feet away from the minotaur. In a narrow passage that means the minotaur can shove the front-liner back down the hall, or off a ledge, or into a pit. A target pushed the full 10 feet ends up 15 feet away, so on its next turn the minotaur can run straight at it and charge again. If someone else steps up to block, it can back off 10 feet and run back in, 20 of its 40 feet of movement. Backing away from an adjacent character provokes an opportunity attack, and a minotaur with 76 hit points will usually take that trade.

Use the reach (2024). The Minotaur of Baphomet fights best at 10 feet. It glaives the wizard over the fighter's shoulder, and anyone backing away inside 10 feet is still a target. Save the recharging gore for the moment it can get a straight 10-foot run at someone; a Prone target gives advantage to any attacker within 5 feet of it until it stands, and standing costs half its movement.

Retreat and ambush. A minotaur has 76 or 85 hit points and no way to heal. When it drops below about a third, have it break off and use the maze. In 2014 it knows every path it has walked. In 2024 it has Survival +7 to track the party. Either way, it can come back from a different corridor a few rounds later and charge again from the dark (it has 60-foot darkvision).

How Many Minotaurs for Your Party?

One minotaur suits a party of four at levels 3 and 4. Two minotaurs are a serious fight at level 4 and a solid one at level 5. Use the 2024 XP budget for your rules version (700 XP per minotaur):

These come from the SRD 5.2.1 XP budget per character (level 3: 150 / 225 / 400; level 4: 250 / 375 / 500; level 5: 500 / 750 / 1,100) multiplied by four.

The 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines, which our encounter difficulty calculator uses, treat a single minotaur as a Medium fight for four level 3 characters (700 XP against a Medium threshold of 600 and a Hard threshold of 900). Two minotaurs count as 2,100 XP after the ×1.5 group multiplier, which is Deadly for level 4 (threshold 2,000) and Medium for level 5.

Single-target damage makes the numbers lie a little. A minotaur that charges and crits the wizard at level 3 can drop them in one hit (a critical charging gore in 2014 rolls 4d8 + 4d8 + 4, average 40). Give the party room to spread out or a reason to see it coming.

Good partners: a minotaur skeleton (CR 2, 450 XP) as the undead remains of an earlier guardian, or ogres as dumb muscle in the outer halls.

How Players Beat a Minotaur

• •Deny the run-up. Both editions need 10 feet of straight movement toward the target right before the gore. Fight in spots where that isn't possible: around corners, in doorways, in rooms full of pillars, or with an ally standing in the straight line it would need. Difficult terrain alone doesn't stop it, because the rule counts feet moved, not speed spent. A minotaur that can't charge is a 17-damage-per-hit bruiser with AC 14, which a level 4 party can handle.
• •Punish Reckless (2014). When the minotaur declares Reckless, every attack against it has advantage until its next turn. That's the round for the rogue's Sneak Attack and the paladin's smite.
• •Stay out of the 10-foot ring (2024). Ranged characters should keep at least 15 feet away. The minotaur has no ranged attack, so if the party can keep it from reaching the casters, it does nothing.
• •Target the mind, not the body. Its saving throws are just its ability modifiers in both editions: Strength +4, Dexterity +0, Constitution +3, Intelligence -2, Wisdom +3, Charisma -1. Charisma and Intelligence are its weak spots. Banishment takes it out of the fight on a failed Charisma save. In the 2024 rules, Maze holds it for as long as the caster keeps concentration (up to 10 minutes), because it can't pass the escape check on its own. In the 2014 rules, Maze is useless against it.
• •Don't reach for Hold Person. A minotaur is a Monstrosity in both editions, so Hold Person and other Humanoid-only spells can't target it.
• •Shove it prone. A Medium character can shove a Large creature. In 2014 the minotaur contests with Athletics at +4 (it has no Athletics proficiency); in 2024 it makes a Strength save at +4. A prone minotaur spends 20 of its 40 feet standing up, and everyone adjacent attacks it with advantage until it does.

Minotaur Encounter Ideas

The tidal labyrinth. A sea-cave maze floods waist-deep at high tide. At low tide the minotaur roams the dry halls and hunts anything that enters. At high tide it waits in the one chamber that stays dry, a 50-foot hall with a clean run at the only door. The party has to choose between meeting a hunter on open ground or wading through difficult terrain toward a minotaur that has picked its charging lane.

The arena champion. A city's fighting pit keeps a minotaur as its unbeaten champion and offers a fortune to any group that survives three minutes in the ring with it. The arena is a 60-foot circle with nothing to hide behind: a perfect charging ground. A party that asks about the ring beforehand learns there are three iron posts that can be raised from below for a bribe. Players who watch the champion closely notice it keeps looking at the owner's box. It may want out more than it wants to win.

The cursed heir. A noble family's second son disappeared a year ago, and now something with horns is killing livestock in the hedge maze behind the manor. The SRD says minotaurs can be born of terrible curses. Whether this one can be cured, or just stopped, depends on who placed the curse and what they want from the family.

If your party is chasing a minotaur through a maze across several sessions, Loreify can record the sessions and keep track of the creatures and NPCs the party met, so nobody forgets which corridor led to the dead end.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a minotaur in 5e?

A minotaur is CR 3 (700 XP) in both editions. The 2014 minotaur has AC 14 and 76 hit points; the 2024 Minotaur of Baphomet has AC 14 and 85 hit points.

How does the minotaur's Charge work?

In the 2014 rules, if the minotaur moves at least 10 feet straight toward a target and hits it with its gore on the same turn, the gore deals an extra 9 (2d8) piercing damage and the target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength save or be pushed up to 10 feet and knocked prone. In the 2024 rules the charge is part of the Gore attack (Recharge 5-6): after a 10-foot straight run, a Large or smaller target takes an extra 10 (3d6) piercing damage and is knocked Prone with no save.

Does a minotaur get Multiattack?

No. Neither the 2014 minotaur nor the 2024 Minotaur of Baphomet has Multiattack. It makes one attack per turn, with its greataxe or gore (2014) or its glaive or gore (2024).

What is the Minotaur of Baphomet?

It's the 2024 version of the minotaur in SRD 5.2.1. It keeps the same CR and ability scores but swaps the greataxe for a 10-foot-reach Abyssal Glaive that deals slashing plus necrotic damage, makes its gore a recharging attack, and drops Reckless and Labyrinthine Recall.

Can a minotaur escape the Maze spell?

Under the 2014 rules, yes: the Maze spell says a minotaur automatically succeeds on its escape attempt. Under the 2024 rules there is no exception, and a Minotaur of Baphomet needs a DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation) check it can't reach, so it stays trapped for the spell's duration.

How much XP is a minotaur worth?

700 XP, in both the 2014 and 2024 rules.

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.