Sprite 5e: Stats, Sleep Arrows and Heart Sight

A sprite is a CR 1/4 Tiny Fey with AC 15, a 40-foot fly speed, Stealth +8 and the ability to turn invisible. In the 2014 rules it has 2 hit points and a shortbow whose poison can knock a character unconscious. In the 2024 rules it has 10 hit points, a needle sword that hits for 6, and a bow that charms instead of poisoning. Both versions can touch (2014) or approach (2024) a creature and read its emotions with Heart Sight, which makes sprites better at judging the party than at fighting it.

Table of Contents

• •Sprite Stat Block (2014)
• •Sprite in the 2024 Rules
• •How Sprites Fight
• •Running a Sprite Encounter
• •Sprites as Familiars
• •How Players Beat Sprites
• •Sprite Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Sprite Stat Block (2014)

The 2014 sprite (SRD 5.1) has the most fragile body in the game paired with one nasty arrow.

The shortbow deals 1 piercing damage, which is irrelevant. The rider is the threat: the target makes a DC 10 Constitution save or is poisoned for 1 minute, and if the save result is 5 or lower it also falls unconscious for that minute. It wakes up if it takes damage or if someone uses an action to shake it awake.

Everything else on the block says "don't get hit". It has 2 hit points, a longsword that does 1 damage, and leather armor for AC 15. Its defense is not being found: Stealth +8, flight, and Invisibility that lasts until it attacks or casts a spell, or until its Concentration ends.

Sprite in the 2024 Rules

The 2024 sprite (SRD 5.2.1) trades the sleep poison for durability and a real melee attack.

What these changes do at the table:

• •It survives one hit. Five times the hit points means a stray Fire Bolt no longer removes it automatically. A 2024 sprite can take a cantrip and keep flying.
• •The bow became defensive. A charmed creature can't attack the charmer or target it with damaging magic. When a 2024 sprite hits the fighter, the fighter can't attack that sprite on their next turn. Four sprites shooting four different characters means each of those characters has to pick a different sprite to swing at. There's no save, so it only depends on the attack roll.
• •No more sleep. The 2024 sprite can't knock anyone out. If you want the old fairy-tale effect, use the 2014 block.
• •Heart Sight now has a save for emotions too. In 2014 the sprite always learned the target's emotional state and only needed a failed save for alignment. In 2024 a successful save hides both. Celestials, Fiends and Undead still fail automatically in both versions.

How Sprites Fight

Sprites fight like snipers who would rather not be there. Every tactic starts with staying invisible and out of reach.

The opening volley (2014). Sprites turn invisible before the party arrives, then shoot from 40 feet (normal range) or up to 160 feet with Disadvantage. Attacking ends Invisibility, but an invisible attacker has Advantage on that first shot. The table below ignores Advantage, so treat it as the floor (with Advantage, the hit chance against the wizard rises to about 94%):

Four sprites shooting the wizard knock it out about 56% of the time in one round. Then they should stop. Every arrow deals 1 damage, and damage wakes a sleeping target. A smart sprite band puts one creature to sleep, switches to the next target, and leaves the sleepers alone. Poisoned characters have Disadvantage on attack rolls, so even the "failed but awake" result cripples a party's archers.

Charm and stab (2024). The 2024 sprite plays closer. It shoots the character most likely to hurt it, which leaves that character unable to attack it, then dives in with the Needle Sword next turn. Against AC 16 the sword hits on a 10 (55%) for 6, about 3.3 damage a round per sprite. Four sprites deal about 13 a round. That's a real threat at level 1 and a nuisance by level 4.

Re-vanish when you can. 2024 Invisibility takes an action to cast and ends after the sprite makes an attack roll. A sprite that has been spotted should spend its turn going invisible again and flying 40 feet away. 2014 sprites do the same. With 10-foot walk speed and 40-foot flight, they should never touch the ground.

Heart Sight as a gate. Sprites are neutral good. Before any fight, a sprite flies close (2024) or touches a sleeping character (2014) and reads them. A party full of frightened, honest travelers might be helped. A party with a creature that automatically fails, like a disguised fiend or an undead companion, gets attacked.

Running a Sprite Encounter

Each sprite is 50 XP. Using the 2024 budget for four characters:

The 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines are harsher. Six sprites are 300 XP, doubled to 600 by the group multiplier, which is Medium for four level 3 characters. Use our encounter calculator to try other counts.

Numbers on paper undersell the 2014 sprite. A sleeping character for a full minute is effectively out of the fight unless someone spends an action. Run four 2014 sprites at a level 1 party only if you're comfortable with a near-wipe, or if the sprites want prisoners rather than corpses.

Sprites as Familiars

A warlock with Pact of the Chain can choose a sprite as a special familiar form. In 2014 that's the 3rd-level pact boon, and in 2024 it's an Eldritch Invocation. Familiars from Find Familiar can't attack, but Pact of the Chain lets the warlock give up one of their own attacks so the familiar attacks with its Reaction.

• •A 2014 sprite familiar brings the sleep arrow. It also has only 2 hit points, so it's resummoned often.
• •A 2024 sprite familiar has 10 hit points and its Needle Sword, which is a better use of the Reaction attack than its bow most of the time.
• •In both editions it can use Heart Sight and turn invisible, because those aren't attacks. An invisible flying scout that reads emotions is the real reason to pick it.

How Players Beat Sprites

• •Light them up. Faerie Fire outlines invisible creatures in the area and denies them the benefit of being invisible. It's the single best spell against sprites.
• •Area damage. A 2014 sprite dies to almost anything; even half damage from Thunderwave usually kills it. A 2024 sprite has 10 HP. On a failed save, Thunderwave (2d8) kills it 44% of the time and Burning Hands (3d6) 63% of the time. Thunderwave is the better pick: it targets Constitution (+0), while Burning Hands targets Dexterity (+4).
• •Keep a waker. In 2014 fights, assign one character to slap sleepers awake. It costs an action, which is cheaper than losing a character for 10 rounds.
• •Talk. Sprites are neutral good and speak Common. A party with nothing to hide can often end the encounter by explaining itself, especially if the sprites have already used Heart Sight.
• •Don't count on Charm Person or Hold Person. Sprites are Fey, not Humanoids, so neither spell can target them in either edition.

Sprite Encounter Ideas

The toll of honesty. A footpath through a fey wood is watched by a sprite patrol. Each traveler is touched while they rest at a waystone. Those whose emotions read as hostile wake up an hour later, poisoned, with their boots tied together and their weapons hung in a tree. The party needs this path. One of them has something to hide.

The silent alarm. Bandits have been hitting caravans with unnerving accuracy. Their informant is a Pact of the Chain warlock whose invisible sprite familiar rides on wagons and reports back. Catching it requires Faerie Fire, a trap, or a cat.

Wrong side of a war. A green hag has caged a sprite band's leader. The rest will shoot anyone near her hut, including the party coming to kill her, until someone gets a message to them. Keep track of which sprites the party spared in your campaign notes; they make good recurring allies.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a sprite in 5e?

A sprite is CR 1/4 (50 XP) in both the 2014 and 2024 rules. It has AC 15, a 40-foot fly speed and Stealth +8. It has 2 hit points in 2014 and 10 in 2024.

How does the sprite's poison arrow work?

In the 2014 rules, a creature hit by a sprite's shortbow makes a DC 10 Constitution save or is poisoned for 1 minute. If the save result is 5 or lower, it is also unconscious for that minute, until it takes damage or another creature uses an action to wake it. The 2024 sprite's Enchanting Bow charms the target until the start of the sprite's next turn instead.

What does Heart Sight do?

Heart Sight lets a sprite learn a creature's emotional state, and its alignment if the creature fails a DC 10 Charisma save. The 2014 version needs a touch and always reveals emotions; the 2024 version works within 5 feet, and a successful save hides both. Celestials, Fiends and Undead fail automatically.

Can a sprite be a familiar?

Yes, for a warlock with Pact of the Chain in both editions. It can't attack unless the warlock gives up one of their own attacks so the sprite can attack with its Reaction.

Is a sprite the same as a pixie?

No. The sprite has a stat block in the SRD; the pixie doesn't. If you want a pixie-style trickster, reskin the sprite and replace the bow with a few harmless illusions, or build it with our stat block generator.

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.