Warhorse 5e: Stats, Mount Rules and Trampling Charge

A warhorse is a CR 1/2 Large beast with AC 11, 19 hit points, a 60-foot speed and a +6 Hooves attack. Its signature move is the charge: in the 2014 rules, Trampling Charge knocks a target prone on a failed DC 14 Strength save and gives the horse a bonus-action stomp; in the 2024 rules, a charging hit deals extra damage and knocks the target Prone with no save at all. A warhorse costs 400 gp in both editions. The catch: a controlled mount can only Dash, Disengage or Dodge, so a warhorse under a rider's control never uses its Hooves or its charge.

Table of Contents

• •Warhorse Stat Block (2014)
• •Warhorse in the 2024 Rules
• •Mount Rules: Controlled vs Independent
• •How Warhorses Fight
• •Running a Warhorse Encounter
• •How Players Beat Warhorses and Mounted Enemies
• •Warhorse Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Warhorse Stat Block (2014)

The SRD 5.1 warhorse, the same as the 2014 Monster Manual.

A warhorse is a riding horse built for battle. Compared to the 2014 riding horse (CR 1/4, AC 10, 13 HP, +5 Hooves for 8), it has more hit points, hits harder (+6 for 11) and adds Trampling Charge: if it moves at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with Hooves on the same turn, the target makes a DC 14 Strength saving throw or is knocked prone. If the target is prone, the horse can attack it with its Hooves again as a bonus action.

AC 11 is its weak point. A warhorse with no barding gets hit by almost everything.

Warhorse in the 2024 Rules

SRD 5.2.1 folds the charge into the attack itself.

The trade-offs at the table:

• •The 2024 charge always knocks down. No save means a charging 2024 warhorse knocks every Large or smaller creature it hits Prone. The 2014 version needs the target to fail DC 14, which a strong fighter often doesn't.
• •The 2014 charge can hit twice. If the target goes down, the 2014 horse stomps it again with Advantage (attacking a prone creature from 5 feet). The 2024 horse gets one hit that turn.
• •Huge creatures are safe in 2024. The 2024 charge doesn't work on anything bigger than Large. The 2014 Trampling Charge has no size limit.
• •Normal hits are weaker. Without a charge the 2024 Hooves average 9 instead of 11.

Mount Rules: Controlled vs Independent

The mounted combat rules are nearly the same in both editions.

Mounting. A willing creature at least one size larger than you, with the right anatomy, can be your mount. Mounting or dismounting costs half your speed (15 feet for a 30-foot speed), once during your move.

Controlled mount. You can control a mount only if it has been trained to accept a rider; domesticated horses have that training, and a warhorse is bred and trained for exactly this. When you mount it, its Initiative changes to match yours. It moves as you direct it, and it has only three action options: Dash, Disengage or Dodge. It can move and act on the turn you mount it.

Independent mount. It keeps its own place in the Initiative order and acts as it wishes. In 2014 the rules note it might flee, attack a wounded foe or act against your wishes. In 2024 an independent mount is defined as one that "lets you ride but ignores your control." Either way, the DM runs it, not you.

What that means for Trampling Charge. Hooves is an attack, and a controlled mount can't attack. So:

• •A player riding a controlled warhorse gets 60 feet of movement (120 with Dash) under their own control, but the horse never kicks anyone.
• •A warhorse that tramples is acting independently. In 2014 that's a horse the DM runs on its own turn. In 2024 it ignores the rider's control entirely.
• •If your table wants a player-directed trampling horse, that's a house rule. One option (a DM ruling, not the rules text) is to let a trained warhorse attack as a controlled mount; decide before the session.

Falling off. If an effect moves your mount against its will while you're on it, you make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall off and land Prone within 5 feet. You make the same save if you're knocked Prone while mounted, or (2024) if your mount is. In 2014, if your mount is knocked prone you can use your Reaction to land on your feet; otherwise you fall prone next to it. A military saddle gives Advantage on ability checks to stay mounted.

Opportunity attacks. A controlled warhorse that takes Disengage carries its rider out of reach without provoking: the horse disengaged, and the rider isn't using their own movement. In 2014, if the mount does provoke while you're on it, the attacker can target either you or the mount.

Find Steed. The 2014 Find Steed spell (2nd level, 10-minute casting time) can summon a spirit in warhorse form. It uses warhorse statistics, becomes a Celestial, Fey or Fiend, gets Intelligence 6 and understands one language you speak. While mounted, spells you cast that target only you can also target the steed. The 2024 Find Steed doesn't use the warhorse at all; it summons a creature that uses the separate Otherworldly Steed stat block, shares your Initiative and works as a controlled mount.

Buying and outfitting one. Both editions price a warhorse at 400 gp with a 60-foot speed and a 540 lb. carrying capacity. A military saddle is 20 gp. Barding is any armor at four times the cost and twice the weight: chain mail barding, for example, costs 300 gp, weighs 110 lb. and gives AC 16, which turns the warhorse's biggest weakness into a strength.

How Warhorses Fight

When the DM runs a warhorse on its own (wild, panicked, or as an independent mount for an enemy knight), it fights in charges.

Charge, stop, charge again. The charge needs 20 feet of straight movement right before the hit. With a 60-foot speed, the horse can back off 30 feet one turn and charge the next, or circle to a new 20-foot lane. A horse that ends its turn in melee has to leave (provoking opportunity attacks) to set up the next charge. Good battlefields for a warhorse are open: fields, roads, courtyards. In a cramped dungeon it's a 19-hit-point beast with one attack.

The math against a typical target. Take a level 1 fighter with AC 16 and Strength save +5 (Strength 16, proficient). The warhorse's +6 hits AC 16 on a 10 or higher, 55% of the time.

Against a weaker target like a 2014 goblin (AC 15, Strength save −1), the 2014 Trampling Charge knocks it down 70% of the time on a hit, and the expected turn rises to about 10.5. The 2014 horse is the better charger against weak-limbed foes; the 2024 horse is the more reliable one against strong ones.

Knocking riders off. A 2024 charge that knocks an enemy's mount Prone forces that mount's rider to save or fall. Two cavalry units charging each other is a sequence of DC 10 Dexterity saves.

Breaking and fleeing. An unridden warhorse that drops to around half its hit points should bolt. It has Intelligence 2; it fights because it was trained to, not out of loyalty to anyone.

Running a Warhorse Encounter

A warhorse is usually under someone, but its 100 XP still counts when you build the fight.

Using the 2024 SRD budget for four characters (level 1: 200 Low, 300 Moderate, 400 High; level 3: 600, 900, 1,600):

The 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (used by our encounter calculator) treat two warhorses as 300 XP after the ×1.5 group multiplier, a Hard fight for four level 1 characters. A rider and mount count as two creatures for the multiplier too.

An enemy knight on a controlled warhorse attacks while the horse only moves or Dodges. Make the horse independent and it attacks too, on its own Initiative: about 6 to 8 extra damage a round, and a mounted enemy that feels like two threats.

How Players Beat Warhorses and Mounted Enemies

• •Hit the horse. AC 11 and 19 hit points. A level 1 character with +5 to hit lands 75% of attacks against it. A mounted enemy whose horse dies is just an enemy on foot, Prone if they fail the DC 10 save.
• •Deny the straight line. The charge needs 20 straight feet right before the hit. Fight in a doorway, a forest, among wagons, or anywhere the horse can't line up. Difficult terrain doesn't cancel the charge, but it eats the movement the horse needs to get 20 feet away and back.
• •Knock the rider off. Shove a rider Prone and they make the DC 10 Dexterity save or fall. Thunderwave pushes a Large creature 10 feet on a failed save, which is an effect moving the mount against its will: the rider saves or falls off.
• •Spook it. Fear effects work on a Beast, and the 2024 Command ("Flee") sends a horse running on a failed Wisdom save. The 2014 Command does nothing to a creature that doesn't understand your language, which rules out a horse. The 2014 warhorse saves at Wisdom +1; the 2024 one is proficient at +3.
• •Calm it instead. It's a Beast with Intelligence 2. Animal Friendship charms it on a failed Wisdom save, and Speak with Animals lets a character talk to a horse that isn't being ridden into battle.

Warhorse Encounter Ideas

The riderless charger. A saddled warhorse in blood-stained barding gallops into the village square at dusk, wild-eyed, and kicks anyone who grabs the reins. It's a knight's horse, and its rider is lying wounded on the road three miles back. Calming it (Animal Handling, Animal Friendship or just food and patience) and following it back is the adventure. Fighting it is a CR 1/2 brawl that leaves the knight to die.

The jousting yard. A noble hosts a tournament with a rich purse. The party's fighter can enter, and the noble lends warhorses. The problem: the rival's squire has drugged one horse so it bolts and becomes an independent mount mid-joust. Run the charge rules straight, then let the poisoned horse ignore its rider's control at the worst moment.

Highway cavalry. Four mounted raiders on warhorses hit a caravan on an open road, charging past the wagons to knock guards Prone, then wheeling out of reach. The players learn fast that the open road is the raiders' ground. Pulling the wagons into a tight square takes away the straight-line lanes and turns the fight around.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a warhorse in 5e?

A warhorse is CR 1/2 and worth 100 XP in both the 2014 and 2024 rules. It has AC 11, 19 hit points and a 60-foot speed.

How much does a warhorse cost in 5e?

400 gp in both the 2014 and 2024 rules, with a 60-foot speed and a 540 lb. carrying capacity. A riding horse costs 75 gp.

Can a warhorse attack if I'm riding it?

Not as a controlled mount. A controlled mount can only take the Dash, Disengage or Dodge action. An independent mount can attack, but it acts on its own Initiative and the DM decides what it does.

How does Trampling Charge work?

In 2014, if the warhorse moves at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and hits it with Hooves that turn, the target makes a DC 14 Strength save or falls prone, and the horse can make a bonus-action Hooves attack against it. In 2024 there's no save: a Large or smaller target hit after a 20-foot straight approach takes an extra 5 (2d4) damage and has the Prone condition, with no bonus attack.

Can a paladin's Find Steed be a warhorse?

In the 2014 rules, yes: warhorse is one of the listed forms, and the steed becomes a Celestial, Fey or Fiend with Intelligence 6. In the 2024 rules, Find Steed summons a creature that uses the Otherworldly Steed stat block and can look like a horse, but it doesn't use the warhorse stat block.

What's the difference between a warhorse and a warhorse skeleton?

A warhorse skeleton is the undead version at the same CR 1/2: AC 13 and 22 hit points, with the same 60-foot speed. It's what a necromancer's cavalry rides. The living horse is easier to hit but can be calmed, charmed or spoken to. Planning a campaign with a lot of horseback travel? Loreify records each session and keeps track of which NPC owns which horse.

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.