Sphinx of Wonder 5e: The Tiny Sphinx, as Familiar and Foe

The Sphinx of Wonder is a CR 1 Tiny Celestial from the 2024 rules (SRD 5.2.1) with AC 13, 24 hit points, a 40-foot fly speed, Magic Resistance, and a claw attack that deals 12 damage on average, more than half of it radiant. Its signature feature is Burst of Ingenuity, a reaction it can use twice a day to add 2 to an ability check or saving throw made by itself or a creature within 30 feet. It has no 2014 version. Most players meet it as a warlock's familiar: the 2024 Pact of the Chain lists it as one of seven special familiar forms.

Table of Contents

• •Sphinx of Wonder Stat Block (2024)
• •Where It Fits Among the Sphinxes
• •The Sphinx of Wonder as a Familiar
• •How the Sphinx of Wonder Fights
• •Running a Sphinx of Wonder Encounter
• •How Players Beat a Sphinx of Wonder
• •Sphinx of Wonder Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Sphinx of Wonder Stat Block (2024)

The SRD 5.2.1 Sphinx of Wonder:

Read the numbers as a scout with a sharp claw, not a fighter. 24 hit points is a lot for something Tiny (a pseudodragon has 10), and resistance to necrotic, psychic and radiant damage plus Magic Resistance means the cantrips a cleric or warlock would reach for, like Sacred Flame (radiant) or Chill Touch (necrotic), deal half damage, and it saves against Sacred Flame with Advantage. Its weak points are physical: Strength 6, AC 13, and a walking speed of 20 feet.

Rend is +5 to hit for 5 slashing plus 7 radiant (1d4 + 3 and 2d6). Against AC 13 it hits on an 8 or higher, 65% of the time, for about 7.8 damage a turn. That is a real threat to a level 1 wizard and a nuisance to anyone in armor.

Its mental stats (Int 15, Arcana +4, Religion +4) and its languages (Celestial, Common) make it a lawful good creature that talks, knows things and has opinions.

Where It Fits Among the Sphinxes

The 2024 rules have three sphinxes. Two of them are renamed versions of the 2014 sphinxes, and the third is this one, which is new:

All three are Celestials in 2024 (the two 2014 sphinxes were Monstrosities). The Sphinx of Wonder shares none of the big sphinxes' signature traits. It has no Inscrutable, no roar, no truesight and no legendary actions. What it shares is the theme: a creature of knowledge (Arcana and Religion) that helps or tests others.

The Sphinx of Wonder as a Familiar

The SRD 5.2.1 Pact of the Chain invocation teaches a warlock Find Familiar and lets them pick one of seven special forms: Imp, Pseudodragon, Quasit, Skeleton, Sphinx of Wonder, Sprite or Venomous Snake. The plain Find Familiar spell (Bat, Cat, Owl and other CR 0 Beasts) doesn't offer it.

What makes it a good pick:

• •Durability. 24 HP is the second-highest of the seven forms (the quasit has 25 but can't fly; the imp has 21). Magic Resistance gives it Advantage on the save, so a stray Fireball usually deals it half damage (14 on average) and it lives; an owl dies either way.
• •Burst of Ingenuity is support you can use every adventuring day. Two uses per day of +2 on any ability check or saving throw within 30 feet. Used on a failed Wisdom save against Hold Person or a failed Constitution save to keep Concentration, +2 turns a near miss into a success. The text doesn't say whether the sphinx uses it before or after seeing the d20. DM ruling, not rules text: let it decide after the roll but before the DM says whether it worked, so the familiar's player isn't guessing.
• •It hits hard for a familiar. When the warlock takes the Attack action, Pact of the Chain lets them give up one of their own attacks so the familiar attacks with its Reaction. With the Level 5+ invocation Investment of the Chain Master, the warlock can instead use a Bonus Action to command the familiar to take the Attack action. Either way, Rend's 12 average damage is better than most of the other forms.

The catch is the Reaction. Burst of Ingenuity and the Pact of the Chain attack both use it, and a creature gets one Reaction per round. A sphinx that attacked on the warlock's turn can't save the cleric's Concentration on the next enemy's turn.

How the Sphinx of Wonder Fights

As an enemy:

1. •Stay in the air. With fly 40 and walk 20, it never wants to land. It dives, rends and climbs back out of reach. Melee characters without reach or flight get one opportunity attack at best.
2. •Pick the soft target. Rend's 7 radiant damage ignores the armor that matters. It goes after the robed spellcaster (AC 12 or 13) rather than the fighter in plate.
3. •Use Burst of Ingenuity defensively. Its saving throws run from −2 (Strength) to +3 (Dexterity), with no proficiencies. Against a spell, Magic Resistance gives it Advantage, and Burst adds 2 more, so the first control spell thrown at it often fails.
4. •Hide when it's losing. Stealth +5 and Tiny size let it vanish into rafters, foliage or a crowd of statues. It retreats and tries talking again rather than dying for nothing.

Because it is lawful good, the more interesting use is as an ally of the opposition rather than a monster: it might defend a temple from looters it believes are thieves, or help an NPC rival on a skill check the party is racing to win.

Running a Sphinx of Wonder Encounter

Under the 2024 SRD budget, a single Sphinx of Wonder (200 XP) is a Low-difficulty fight for four level 1 characters (Low budget 200 XP). Three of them (600 XP) are a Moderate fight for four level 2 characters. A single one against four level 3 characters spends a third of the 600 XP Low budget, so use it there as a guide or a guardian you talk to, not a battle.

The encounter calculator uses the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide thresholds and group multiplier. By that math one sphinx is Medium for four level 1 characters.

A good mixed fight: one Sphinx of Wonder supporting two or three guardians you build yourself (the stat block generator is quick for this). The sphinx sits back and spends Burst of Ingenuity on its allies' saves, which makes your party's control spells fail at the worst moment.

How Players Beat a Sphinx of Wonder

• •Use physical damage. It resists necrotic, psychic and radiant, so a warlock's Eldritch Blast (force) or a ranger's arrows are the efficient answers. Avoid spending a cleric's radiant cantrips on it.
• •Ready actions for the dive. It has to come within 5 feet to use Rend. A character who Readies an attack for "when the sphinx comes in reach" gets a swing at AC 13 every round instead of chasing it.
• •Bait its two Bursts. It can add +2 only twice a day, and it can't tell which spell matters most. Lead with cheaper save spells before the one you need to land.
• •Talk. It speaks Celestial and Common. Charm spells face its Magic Resistance; an honest explanation of why the party is there costs nothing.

Sphinx of Wonder Encounter Ideas

The examiner at the library door. A Sphinx of Wonder guards the reading room of a temple archive. It doesn't ask riddles. It asks each visitor to correctly answer one question about the god the temple serves (a Religion check, DC 13). If someone fails, it uses Burst of Ingenuity on their second attempt, because it wants them to pass. It only fights people who try to force the door.

The familiar that left. A warlock NPC's Sphinx of Wonder familiar has abandoned them and is now helping the party, uninvited, adding +2 to their saves. It has its reasons: it saw what its old master did, and it wants the party to find out.

The rigged contest. At a festival tournament, a rival competitor keeps passing impossible checks. A Tiny sphinx is hidden in the rigging (Stealth +5) spending Burst of Ingenuity on every roll. Catching it is a Perception contest; proving it is a social one.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is the Sphinx of Wonder in 5e?

The Sphinx of Wonder is CR 1 (200 XP, proficiency bonus +2). It is a Tiny Celestial with AC 13 and 24 hit points, and it exists only in the 2024 rules (SRD 5.2.1).

Can a warlock get a Sphinx of Wonder familiar?

Yes, in the 2024 rules. The Pact of the Chain invocation lists the Sphinx of Wonder as one of seven special familiar forms, alongside the Imp, Pseudodragon, Quasit, Skeleton, Sprite and Venomous Snake. The normal Find Familiar spell can't summon one.

What does Burst of Ingenuity do?

It is a reaction the sphinx can use twice per day. When the sphinx or another creature within 30 feet makes an ability check or a saving throw, the sphinx adds 2 to the roll. It shares the sphinx's one Reaction per round with any Pact of the Chain attack.

Is the Sphinx of Wonder in the 2014 rules?

No. The 2014 SRD has only the Androsphinx and Gynosphinx. The 2024 rules renamed those to the Sphinx of Valor and Sphinx of Lore and added the Sphinx of Wonder as a new, low-level sphinx.

What damage is the Sphinx of Wonder resistant to?

It resists necrotic, psychic and radiant damage, and it has Advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. Bludgeoning, piercing, slashing, force and the elemental damage types hit it normally.

Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.