Rhinoceros 5e: Stats, Charge and How the Fight Plays

A rhinoceros is a CR 2 Large beast with 45 hit points, a 40-foot speed and a +7 gore for 14 (2d8 + 5) damage. Its whole game is the charge: if it moves at least 20 feet straight at a target before goring it, the hit deals an extra 9 (2d8) damage and can knock the target Prone. The 2024 rules (SRD 5.2.1) raise its AC from 11 to 13, change the gore from bludgeoning to piercing, and make the Prone automatic with no saving throw, but only against Large or smaller targets.

Table of Contents

• •Rhinoceros Stat Block (2014)
• •The Rhinoceros in the 2024 Rules
• •How the Rhinoceros Fights
• •Running a Rhinoceros Encounter
• •How Players Beat a Rhinoceros
• •Rhinoceros Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Rhinoceros Stat Block (2014)

The 2014 rhino has AC 11 (natural armor) and a Dexterity of 8. It gets hit a lot and acts late. What it has is Strength 21. A DC 15 Strength save against Charge is hard for anyone without Strength proficiency: a wizard with Strength 8 makes it only 25% of the time.

The Rhinoceros in the 2024 Rules

The 2024 change is a trade. Against Medium and Small characters the charge got stronger, because nobody gets a save. Against Huge creatures it got weaker: a 2024 rhino charging a giant gets neither the extra damage nor the knockdown. The piercing damage also matters for resistances: a creature resistant to bludgeoning but not piercing (or the reverse) now takes different damage.

How the Rhinoceros Fights

First turn: charge. At +7 against AC 16, the gore hits on a 9 or higher, 60% of the time. A charging hit averages 23 damage, which is enough to put a level 2 wizard or rogue at 0 hit points in one blow, and it leaves the target Prone.

After that, it needs room. Once the rhino is adjacent to a target it can't charge that target again without first getting 20 feet away. The rules text allows the rhino to move away and then charge straight back in one turn: 20 feet out and 20 feet back is exactly its 40-foot speed. Moving away provokes opportunity attacks, so a rhino doing this takes hits every other round. A DM running it smart picks a different target 20 feet away instead.

Prone helps someone else. The rhino has one attack a turn, and the target stands up on its own turn for half its movement. The knockdown pays off when allies are nearby: an attacker within 5 feet of a Prone target has Advantage. Pair a rhino with something that attacks often, like a pack of hyenas or a couple of orcs, and its charges set up their hits.

Mounted targets. A horse is Large, so the 2024 charge knocks it Prone with no save, and its rider must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity save or fall off Prone too. In 2014 the horse first gets its DC 15 Strength save; if it fails, the rider either spends their reaction to dismount and land on their feet or falls Prone. See the prone rules for how standing up works.

Expected damage: about 14 on a charging turn (0.6 × 23) and about 8.4 on a turn without a charge.

Running a Rhinoceros Encounter

A rhinoceros is worth 450 XP.

• •2024 rules: for four level 2 characters, Low is 400 XP and Moderate 600, so one rhino (450 XP) is a Moderate fight. At level 3 two rhinos (900 XP) match the Moderate budget exactly.
• •2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (used by our encounter calculator): one rhino is a Medium fight for four level 2 characters. Two rhinos at level 3 reach 1,350 adjusted XP (900 × 1.5), a Hard fight. Check it in the calculator.

Open ground makes the rhino stronger. Give it a plain, a riverbank or a wide road and it charges every round. Put the fight in a ruin full of pillars and it has to work for every straight line.

How Players Beat a Rhinoceros

• •Break up the straight line. Trees, boulders, walls and other creatures in the way stop a 20-foot straight approach. Fighting from a doorway or a thicket means the rhino gores without the extra 2d8.
• •Hit it, it's easy to hit. AC 11 in 2014 and 13 in 2024, with no resistances and no immunities. A +5 attack hits a 2014 rhino 75% of the time.
• •Target its mind, not its body. It has Intelligence 2 and Dexterity 8, with no save proficiencies. Animal Friendship targets Wisdom (+1) and, if it works, the rhino can't attack the caster.
• •Spread out. Characters 20 feet apart give it a fresh charge target every turn. Characters standing together force it to back off and provoke opportunity attacks before it can charge again.
• •Strength save proficiency. Against a 2014 rhino, the fighter or barbarian with Strength +5 (including proficiency) saves against DC 15 on a 10 or higher. Put them where the rhino charges.

A druid can't Wild Shape into a rhino using the SRD rules: the Wild Shape maximum is CR 1, and the rhino is CR 2.

Rhinoceros Encounter Ideas

The ford. A rhino has claimed the only shallow crossing on a river and charges anything that enters the water. Treat the river as difficult terrain for everyone (DM ruling): the rhino can still charge, but 20 feet of wading costs it its whole 40-foot move. The party can fight it in the shallows, lure it away, or calm it with magic.

The war beast. A band of raiders drives a rhino ahead of them into a village palisade gate. It charges the gate guards while the raiders follow behind and attack whoever it knocks Prone.

The tusk merchant. A trader is paying well for a rhino horn and doesn't mention that the last three hunters didn't come back. The rhino lives on open savanna, so the hunters had nowhere to hide.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the rhinoceros Charge work in 5e?

In 2014, if the rhino moves at least 20 feet straight toward a target and hits it with its gore on the same turn, the target takes an extra 9 (2d8) bludgeoning damage and must make a DC 15 Strength save or be knocked prone. In 2024 the bonus is 9 (2d8) piercing and the target is knocked Prone with no save, but only if it's Large or smaller.

What CR is a rhinoceros in 5e?

CR 2, worth 450 XP, in both editions.

What is the rhinoceros's AC?

AC 11 (natural armor) in the 2014 rules and AC 13 in the 2024 rules. It has 45 hit points in both.

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.