Satyr 5e: Stats, Tactics and the Satyr Pipes Question

A satyr is a CR 1/2 Medium fey with 31 hit points, a 40-foot speed, Magic Resistance and Performance +6. The 2014 satyr wears leather armor (AC 14) and fights with a shortsword, a shortbow and a weak head-butt. The 2024 satyr (AC 13) drops the weapons for Hooves that shove a target 10 feet and Mockery, a 90-foot psychic insult with no attack roll. Neither SRD stat block includes panpipes; the satyr's pipes come from the 2014 Monster Manual. Most satyr encounters are better as a party, a contest or a chase than a straight fight, and the stat block supports all three.

Table of Contents

• •Satyr Stat Block (2014)
• •The Satyr in the 2024 Rules
• •How Satyrs Fight
• •Satyr Pipes: What the SRD Has
• •How Many Satyrs for Your Party?
• •How Players Beat Satyrs
• •Satyr Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Satyr Stat Block (2014)

This is the satyr from SRD 5.1, the same stat block as the 2014 Monster Manual minus its optional panpipes.

The numbers say "skirmisher." The shortsword and shortbow both attack at +5 for 6 damage, while the Ram is worse (+3, also 6 damage), so a 2014 satyr has little reason to head-butt anyone. It makes one attack per turn, with no Multiattack.

31 hit points is a lot for CR 1/2. A level 1 fighter's longsword (average 7.5) needs four or five hits. Combined with a 40-foot speed, a satyr can stay in a fight longer than a goblin and leave it faster than most characters can follow.

Magic Resistance gives Advantage on saves against spells and other magical effects. At CR 1/2 that's unusual, and it's the main reason a satyr frustrates low-level spellcasters.

The Satyr in the 2024 Rules

The 2024 satyr (SRD 5.2.1) keeps the same hit points, speed, ability scores, skills, languages and CR, and replaces its weapons with two new actions.

What it means at the table:

• •Mockery ignores armor. Against a fighter in plate, a 2014 satyr's +5 shortbow hits AC 18 only 40% of the time. Mockery doesn't roll against AC at all: a Wisdom +0 fighter fails the DC 12 save 55% of the time. The 2024 satyr hurts heavily armored characters more and lightly armored, wise ones less.
• •Longer reach, less damage. Mockery reaches 90 feet with no disadvantage at long range and no ammunition. Each failed save deals 5. The bow dealt 6 per hit.
• •Hooves control position. A hit pushes the target 10 feet straight away. That can shove someone into a stream, off a ledge, out of a protective circle, or simply out of reach so the satyr can walk away without provoking an opportunity attack.

How Satyrs Fight

Satyrs have Intelligence 12, Charisma 14 and the temperament of someone who came for the party, not the fight. Play them as clever, loud and unwilling to die over anything.

Damage per round:

A satyr deals less damage than a goblin. What it has instead is staying power (31 hit points), speed (40 feet) and the ability to choose its targets.

2014: shoot and fall back. Stealth +5 in a forest gives a 2014 satyr the first shot. It fires the shortbow from 80 feet, and when a character closes in, it walks 40 feet back through the trees and shoots again. Most characters move 30 feet, so a satyr retreating on open ground can't be caught without a ranged attack or a faster character.

2024: mock the armored, kick the rest. The 2024 satyr has no reason to close with the fighter. It stands 60 to 90 feet away and uses Mockery on whoever has the worst Wisdom, usually the barbarian or the fighter. If someone gets adjacent, it kicks them 10 feet away with Hooves, which puts them out of reach, then walks off. Because the target is no longer within reach, leaving doesn't provoke an opportunity attack.

Use terrain the satyr knows. A satyr in its own woods knows where the river bank drops, where the bramble patches are and which stones are loose. Pushing a character into difficult terrain or water slows the party's chase while the satyr keeps its 40-foot pace on the path.

Give up early and make a deal. A satyr at half hit points stops fighting and starts talking. It offers a drink, a story, a song or directions, anything but a fight to the death. Performance +6 and Charisma 14 make it a good bargainer, and it speaks Common, Elvish and Sylvan, so any character who speaks one of those languages can bargain with it.

Satyr Pipes: What the SRD Has

Panpipes that charm, frighten or put listeners to sleep are part of the satyr's popular image. They are not in the satyr stat block in SRD 5.1 or SRD 5.2.1. The 2014 Monster Manual prints them as an optional "Variant: Panpipes" for the satyr; that variant is not in the SRD, so we don't reproduce its rules here.

If you want pipe magic using only SRD material, the closest option is a magic item:

• •Pipes of Haunting (uncommon wondrous item, in both SRDs). They have 3 charges and regain 1d3 each dawn. Playing them as an action (2014) or Magic action (2024) forces creatures within 30 feet to make a DC 15 Wisdom save or be Frightened for 1 minute, repeating the save at the end of each turn. A creature that succeeds is immune to those pipes for 24 hours.
• •Rule difference: the 2014 pipes require proficiency with wind instruments. The SRD satyr has Performance +6 but no listed instrument proficiency, so under the 2014 rules you'd need to grant it one. The 2024 pipes have no proficiency requirement.

A satyr with Pipes of Haunting is a much nastier fight. DC 15 is three points higher than its own Mockery, and Frightened characters have Disadvantage on attacks while they can see the satyr and can't move toward it, which pairs naturally with a satyr that wants to keep its distance. If you add the pipes, consider using the satyr as a CR 1 creature when you budget the encounter. That's a judgment call, not an SRD rule.

How Many Satyrs for Your Party?

A satyr is worth 100 XP. With the 2024 SRD 5.2.1 budget for four characters:

The dryad is CR 1 (200 XP) in both editions. Under the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (which our encounter difficulty calculator uses), two satyrs are 200 XP times 1.5, or 300, a Hard fight for four level 1 characters (Hard 300, Deadly 400). Three satyrs double to 600, past Deadly.

In practice satyrs fight under their CR for damage and above it for duration. Two satyrs won't kill a level 1 party, but with 31 hit points each and a willingness to run, they can make the fight drag on for six or seven rounds. If you need the encounter to resolve quickly, use fewer satyrs and give them a reason to talk.

How Players Beat Satyrs

• •Skip the enchantments. Satyrs are Fey in both editions. Charm Person and Hold Person only target Humanoids, so they can't target a satyr at all. Save-based spells face Magic Resistance, which gives Advantage on the save.
• •Use spells with no save. Magic Missile (10.5 force, no attack roll, no save) ignores both AC and Magic Resistance. Guiding Bolt is a spell attack, not a save, so Magic Resistance doesn't apply to it.
• •Sleep, by edition. The 2014 Sleep spell has no save; it compares hit points. 5d8 (average 22.5) rarely beats an unhurt satyr's 31 hit points, but a wounded satyr drops easily. The 2024 Sleep spell uses a Wisdom save, which the satyr makes with Advantage.
• •Hit it with weapons. It has no damage resistances, no immunities and AC 13 or 14. Martial characters are the reliable answer.
• •Catch it. A satyr's whole plan depends on speed. A grapple, difficult terrain, a readied attack or a mounted character takes that away. A grappled satyr's Speed is 0, and it escapes with Strength (+1) or Dexterity (+3), nothing special.
• •Ward the wise. Mockery targets Wisdom. Put the cleric or druid out front and the low-Wisdom fighter behind cover. Protection from Evil and Good covers Fey: satyrs have Disadvantage on attack rolls against the warded creature, which blunts Hooves but not Mockery, because Mockery is a save.
• •Talk. A satyr is chaotic neutral, not evil. Wine, music, a contest or a good joke often ends a satyr encounter faster than swords.

Satyr Encounter Ideas

The toll of the song. A footbridge through a fey wood is held by three satyrs who let travelers cross only after they perform. A good Performance check (DC 13 is a fair bar) earns passage and a warning about what lies ahead. A bad one earns mockery, literally, and a chase if the party tries to cross anyway. Using the 2024 stat block, Mockery from 90 feet away while the party crosses a narrow bridge is unpleasant.

The wedding crashers. A village wedding is invaded by four satyrs who heard there would be wine. They aren't hostile; they're loud, they're drinking everything, and one has stolen the ring as a joke. The party has to recover the ring without starting a brawl that the satyrs will cheerfully escalate. Hooves pushing guests into the cake table is fair.

The lost pipes. A satyr comes to the party in a panic: its pipes (Pipes of Haunting, if you use them) were stolen by a hag who wants them for something worse. It offers its help, its song and its knowledge of the forest paths in return. The satyr is an annoying ally and an excellent guide, and it will leave the moment the fighting starts unless the party has made it laugh.

Recurring fey troublemakers are easy to forget between sessions. Loreify records the session and keeps your campaign notes, including which satyr owes the party a favor.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a satyr in 5e?

A satyr is CR 1/2 (100 XP) in both the 2014 and 2024 rules. It has 31 hit points, with AC 14 in the 2014 rules and AC 13 in the 2024 rules.

Does a satyr have Magic Resistance?

Yes, in both editions. It has Advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

What is the satyr's Mockery?

Mockery is a 2024 action: one creature the satyr can see within 90 feet makes a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or takes 5 (1d6 + 2) psychic damage. There's no attack roll and no effect on a successful save. The 2014 satyr doesn't have it.

Do satyrs have pipes in 5e?

Not in the SRD. Neither the SRD 5.1 nor the SRD 5.2.1 satyr stat block includes panpipes. The 2014 Monster Manual offers them as an optional variant. If you want SRD-only pipe magic, give the satyr Pipes of Haunting, an uncommon magic item in both SRDs.

Is a satyr a Fey or a Humanoid?

A satyr is a Medium Fey in both the 2014 and 2024 rules. Spells that only affect Humanoids, like Charm Person and Hold Person, can't target it.

Can a satyr be a player character?

The SRD satyr page is the monster stat block. Neither SRD includes a playable satyr species, so a satyr player character needs a source outside the SRD.

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.