Panther 5e: Stats, Pounce, Nimble Escape and the Stalking Cat

The panther is a CR 1/4 Medium Beast with 13 hit points, a 50-foot speed, a 40-foot climb speed and Stealth of +6 (2014) or +7 (2024). The two editions play it as two different hunters. The 2014 panther (AC 12) uses Pounce: charge 20 feet, claw, knock the target Prone, then bite as a bonus action. The 2024 panther (AC 13) loses Pounce and gets Nimble Escape, the goblin's trick: strike, then Hide or Disengage as a bonus action and vanish into the trees.

Table of Contents

• •Panther Stat Block (2014)
• •The Panther in the 2024 Rules
• •How Panthers Fight
• •Panther Wild Shape
• •Running a Panther Encounter
• •How Players Beat a Panther
• •Panther Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Panther Stat Block (2014)

The SRD 5.1 panther:

It has no Multiattack. On a normal turn it makes one bite (+4, 5 piercing) or one claw (+4, 4 slashing). Its real action is Pounce: if it moves at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a claw on the same turn, the target makes a DC 12 Strength save or is knocked Prone, and the panther can bite the Prone target as a bonus action. Stealth +6 and Keen Smell (Advantage on smell-based Perception) make it a natural ambusher.

The Panther in the 2024 Rules

SRD 5.2.1 rebuilds the panther around hiding instead of charging.

The 2014 panther wants a runway, 20 feet of straight ground to its prey. The 2024 panther wants cover to hide in after every attack.

How Panthers Fight

The 2014 Pounce

Pounce turns a one-attack animal into a two-attack one, with the second attack at Advantage. Here's the math against a character with AC 14 and Strength +0:

Expected damage from a pounce is about 3.4 (claw 2.2 plus bite 1.2), against 2.75 for a plain bite. The real payoff: about one time in three the target ends the panther's turn Prone, and everyone else adjacent gets Advantage against them too. A fighter with Strength +3 fails the save only 40% of the time; a wizard with Strength −1 fails 60%. Pounce the wizard.

Set up the runway. Pounce needs 20 feet of straight movement toward the target. Start the panther 25-40 feet away, hidden (Stealth +6 against passive Perception), on a branch or behind a rock. Once it's in melee it has to back off and come straight in again to pounce a second time, and leaving reach provokes opportunity attacks. So a smart 2014 panther pounces, fights a round, then breaks off and circles when the target is down or distracted.

The 2024 Hide and Strike

The 2024 panther hits on a 9 against AC 14 (60%) for 6 damage. With Advantage that rises to about 84%, so its damage per attack goes from 3.6 to about 5. It gets Advantage by hiding.

The loop. Each turn: move out of hiding, Rend, then use Nimble Escape to Hide. Under the 2024 Hide rules it needs to be Heavily Obscured or behind Three-Quarters or Total Cover, out of every enemy's line of sight, and to beat DC 15. With Stealth +7, it succeeds on an 8 or better (65%). On a success it has the Invisible condition, and its next Rend has Advantage. The climb speed helps: a tree trunk or a thick canopy is cover that melee characters can't easily reach.

Or the escape. If it can't find cover, it Disengages instead and walks 50 feet away (or climbs 40 up a tree) without provoking opportunity attacks.

Both editions

Run it alone. One cat stalking a camp, picking off whoever walks to the edge of the firelight, is scarier than four cats in a line.

It wants to eat, not die. With 13 hit points, a panther that takes a solid hit should run. A cat that keeps coming back wounded is a story beat: it's starving, protecting cubs, or trained.

Panther Wild Shape

The panther is CR 1/4 with a climb speed but no fly or swim speed, so a druid can take this form from level 2 in both editions.

• •2014: you take the panther's 13 hit points and its attacks. Pounce works for you exactly as it works for the monster, which makes it a good opener at level 2. Stealth +6 is a strong scouting form, though your own skill proficiencies also carry over.
• •2024: you keep your own hit points and gain Temporary Hit Points equal to your druid level. The panther form gives you Nimble Escape, so you can Rend and then Hide or Disengage as a bonus action: a strong skirmisher for a druid who wants to hit and get out of melee. Darkvision 60 feet comes with it.

Compared to the wolf, the other common level 2 form: the wolf has Pack Tactics and a knockdown bite, and works best next to allies. The panther works alone and climbs. For a smaller scout, the cat is CR 0 and Tiny.

Panthers also appear from the gray Bag of Tricks on a roll of 5, in both editions.

Running a Panther Encounter

A panther is worth 50 XP. The 2024 budget (SRD 5.2.1) for four characters:

The 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (used by our encounter calculator) put two panthers at 100 × 1.5 = 150 adjusted XP, Easy for four level 1 characters, and four panthers at 400 adjusted, Deadly (exactly the 400 threshold).

The XP budget undersells one panther and oversells four. A single cat stalking a night of travel (a scream at the edge of camp, a missing mule, an ambush at dawn) can carry a session for 50 XP; four rushing in together are just four 13-hit-point targets. Give them a handler who gives them a reason to fight: a druid whose grove they guard, or a noble's hunt.

How Players Beat a Panther

• •Light the area. Darkness is heavy obscurement for characters without darkvision, and that's exactly what a panther hides in. A ring of torches or a Dancing Lights spell takes the hiding places away. The 2024 cat's own darkvision doesn't help it hide; what matters is whether the party can see it.
• •Deny the runway (2014). Stand with your back to a wall or among obstacles so the panther can't move 20 feet straight at you.
• •Ready an attack. If the cat keeps coming out from behind the same tree, ready an attack for the moment it appears.
• •Faerie Fire stops a hidden 2024 panther from benefiting from the Invisible condition and gives your attacks Advantage.
• •Calm it. Animal Friendship and Speak with Animals work on both versions, and a hungry cat will take a haunch of meat over a fight with armed people.
• •Strength saves matter (2014). Characters with good Strength shrug off the knockdown. Keep the wizard in the middle of the group.

Panther Encounter Ideas

The baron's cat. A minor baron keeps a panther as a pet, collared in gold. It slipped its chain during a storm and now it's in the town's market district, hiding on rooftops (climb 40 feet) and dropping on anyone with meat. The baron wants it back alive and unharmed. The butchers' guild wants it dead.

The ruined temple. A jungle temple's courtyard is overgrown and full of pillars, a perfect hunting ground for a 2024 panther that hides behind a pillar after every strike. The party has to cross the courtyard to reach the inner sanctum. The panther has a den in the sanctum with two cubs, which is why it won't leave.

The cat that follows. For three nights a panther follows the party's caravan at a distance. Mules go missing. On the fourth night it attacks. The cat was trained by bandits to scatter caravan animals before a raid, and the raid is tonight.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a panther in 5e?

A panther is CR 1/4 and worth 50 XP in both editions. It has 13 hit points, AC 12 in 2014 and AC 13 in 2024.

How does panther Pounce work?

In the 2014 rules, if the panther moves at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and hits it with a claw on the same turn, the target must succeed on a DC 12 Strength save or be knocked Prone, and the panther can then bite it as a bonus action. The 2024 panther doesn't have Pounce.

Does the 2024 panther have Pounce?

No. It has a single Rend attack (+5, 6 slashing) and Nimble Escape, a bonus-action Disengage or Hide.

Can a druid Wild Shape into a panther?

Yes, from druid level 2 in both editions. It's CR 1/4 and has a climb speed but no fly or swim speed.

What's the difference between a panther and a lion?

The lion is a Large CR 1 cat with Pack Tactics, so it fights best alongside other lions (the 2014 lion also has Pounce). The panther is a Medium CR 1/4 cat that hunts alone and climbs. If your players start naming the cat that stalked their caravan, Loreify's session notes keep the name on record.

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.