A pegasus is a CR 2 Large celestial with AC 12, 59 hit points, a 60-foot walking speed and a 90-foot fly speed. Its one attack is a hoof strike for 11 damage. Mechanically it is a modest creature. What makes it matter is the fly speed: a pegasus that agrees to carry a rider gives a low-level party flight long before any spell would. The 2024 version is almost the same, with radiant damage on its hooves and a Constitution save bonus.
The SRD 5.1 pegasus, the same stat block as the 2014 Monster Manual.
Large celestial, chaotic good
The numbers that matter: fly 90 feet, faster than a griffon or a giant eagle (80 each), and a 60-foot walk that matches a riding horse on the ground. Perception +6 (passive 16) means it spots ambushes. Int 10: as smart as an average person. It understands Celestial, Common, Elvish and Sylvan but can't speak, so it follows conversations and makes its own decisions. It is chaotic good.
There is no Multiattack and no special trait. Its hooves hit at +6 for 11 (2d6 + 4) bludgeoning.
SRD 5.2.1 keeps the pegasus at CR 2 (450 XP) with the same AC, HP and speeds.
Large Celestial, Chaotic Good
| 2014 Pegasus | 2024 Pegasus | |
|---|---|---|
| Hooves | +6, 11 (2d6 + 4) bludgeoning | +6, 7 (1d6 + 4) bludgeoning + 5 (2d4) radiant |
| Saving throws | Dex +4, Wis +4, Cha +3 | Dex +4, Con +5, Wis +4, Cha +3 |
| Everything else | AC 12, 59 HP, 60 ft., fly 90 ft., CR 2 | Same |
The 2024 hooves deal 12 on average instead of 11, and part of it is radiant, which matters against creatures that resist bludgeoning. That's the whole difference.
Can a character ride a pegasus? Yes. The SRD mount rules (both editions) say a willing creature at least one size larger than its rider, with an appropriate anatomy, can serve as a mount. A Large pegasus can carry a Medium or Small rider.
Mounting. Getting on or off costs half your speed (15 feet for a speed of 30), once during your move.
Controlled or independent? You can control a mount only if it has been trained to accept a rider. A controlled mount moves on your initiative and can only Dash, Disengage or Dodge. An independent mount keeps its own place in the initiative order and acts as it likes. The 2014 rules add that intelligent creatures act independently. With Int 10, a pegasus is a partner, not a vehicle. Run it as an independent mount that chooses to help, attacking with its own hooves on its own turn.
Falling off. If an effect moves the pegasus against its will while you ride it, you make a DC 10 Dexterity save or fall off and land prone within 5 feet. You make the same save if you are knocked prone. If the pegasus is knocked prone, the 2024 rules give you the same save; the 2014 rules instead let you use your reaction to dismount and land on your feet, or you fall off prone. At 90 feet of altitude, falling off means 1d6 bludgeoning per 10 feet fallen: 9d6, about 31 damage. A pegasus rider at level 3 wants to stay low.
Carrying weight. Under both editions' carrying-capacity rules, a Large creature with Strength 18 can carry 540 pounds. A rider in armor with gear fits easily. Two Medium riders usually don't fit the anatomy, even if they fit the weight: that's your call.
Ways to get one (and ways that don't work):
A pegasus is not built to win fights. It has 59 hit points, AC 12 and one attack per turn: about 7 damage a round against AC 15 (+6 hits on 9 or better, 60%, for 11 or 12). Played well, it fights like what it is: a fast, smart animal with wings.
It refuses to be pinned. With a 90-foot fly speed, a pegasus that is losing simply leaves. It doesn't need to Disengage if it starts out of reach, and most enemies at CR 2 can't follow.
It strikes and climbs. Split the 90-foot fly speed: drop out of the sky, kick, and climb back out of reach. The enemy gets an opportunity attack as the pegasus leaves, but a ground-bound melee fighter never gets a swing on its own turn.
It protects riders and foals. As an NPC, a pegasus that fights is protecting something. Use that: it puts itself between an attacker and the one it cares about, and that tells the party who the real victim is.
A pegasus is 450 XP. With the 2024 budget for four characters, two pegasi (900 XP) are a Moderate fight at level 3 (600 Low / 900 Moderate / 1,600 High). Under the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (used by our encounter calculator), two pegasi count as 1,350 XP with the group multiplier, a Hard fight for four level 3 characters.
Mounted enemies are where the pegasus earns its place in an encounter. A knight (CR 3, 700 XP) on a pegasus is 1,150 XP of aerial cavalry: Low for four level 5 characters in 2024 (1,150 of the 2,000 Low budget), but very hard to reach for a party without ranged attacks. Two mounted knights (2,300 XP) are Moderate at level 5 and play harder than the label suggests. In fights against flying mounts, a pegasus that loses its rider can choose to keep fighting or flee on its own initiative, and as a chaotic good creature it may not want to be there at all.
A party may not want to kill a pegasus at all. If it does:
The poachers. A gang of hunters has netted a young pegasus in a mountain valley and plans to sell it to a noble. The mother circles above, attacking anyone near the cage. The party can free the foal and earn a debt, or end up fighting the mother for the hunters. If they free it, the mother may let one of them ride her once, when it matters.
The sky courier. A temple keeps two pegasi for urgent messages between mountain shrines. One came back without its rider. It can't speak, but it understands Common perfectly and can lead the party to where the rider fell, if they think to ask yes-or-no questions.
The cavalry charge. An evil baron's two knights ride pegasi taken from a celestial grove. The pegasi obey because the baron holds their foals hostage. Free the foals, and the knights lose their mounts mid-battle.
A pegasus is CR 2 (450 XP) in both the 2014 and 2024 rules.
A pegasus has a fly speed of 90 feet and a walking speed of 60 feet in both editions.
Yes. A Large pegasus can carry a Medium or Small rider under the SRD mounted combat rules. Because it has Int 10 and understands Common, it is usually an independent mount that chooses to help, keeping its own initiative.
Not by the rules as written. The 2014 Find Steed lists a warhorse, pony, camel, elk or mastiff and lets the DM allow other animals. The 2024 Find Steed creates an Otherworldly Steed that gains a 60-foot fly speed when cast with a level 4 or higher slot.
No. Wild Shape and Polymorph only allow Beast forms, and the pegasus is a Celestial.
The pegasus (CR 2, Celestial) is intelligent, good-aligned and flies 90 feet. The griffon (CR 2, Monstrosity) is a predator that flies 80 feet and attacks with beak and claws. If a party trades their pegasus for a griffon or the other way around, Loreify can record the session and track who owes whom.
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.
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.
Aboleth 5e stats (AC 17, 135 HP, CR 10), how Enslave and the 2024 Dominate Mind work, its slime curse, legendary actions, and how to fight it out of the water.
Acolyte 5e NPC stats (AC 10, 9 HP, CR 1/4), its spells and healing, how to run temple guards and cult support, and the 2024 Priest Acolyte compared.
Air Elemental 5e stats (AC 15, 90 HP, CR 5, fly 90 ft.), how Whirlwind works in 2014 vs 2024, Conjure Elemental rules, and how to beat its resistances.
Allosaurus 5e stats (AC 13, 51 HP, CR 2), how its 30-foot claw pounce knocks prey prone for a free bite, damage math, Polymorph and Animal Shapes, and pack sizes.
Giant Elk 5e stats (AC 14, 42 HP, CR 2), how its Charge, Ram and Hooves combine, why the 2024 giant elk is a Celestial, and using it as a mount.
Griffon 5e stats (AC 12, 59 HP, CR 2, fly 80 ft.), dive tactics, the 2024 grab-and-drop Rend, riding a griffon as a mount, and encounter math by level.
Giant Boar 5e stats (AC 12, 42 HP, CR 2), Charge damage and prone math in 2014 vs 2024, Relentless vs Bloodied Fury, and how many giant boars for a level 2-5 party.
Gargoyle 5e stats (AC 15, 52 HP, CR 2, fly 60 ft.): how False Appearance ambushes work, its weapon resistance by edition, the 2024 Flyby gargoyle and encounter math.