The warhorse skeleton is a CR 1/2 Large undead (100 XP) with AC 13 from scraps of old barding, 22 hit points and a 60-foot speed, twice that of most characters. Its only attack is a hooves strike: 11 damage in 2014, or 7 in 2024 plus a charge that knocks the target prone. It's vulnerable to bludgeoning and immune to poison and exhaustion. It is at its best carrying a rider.
Large undead, lawful evil
The living warhorse has a Trampling Charge. The 2014 skeleton doesn't. It trades that, and AC 11 for AC 13, for undead immunities. Its +6 hooves hit AC 16 on a 10 or better (55%), about 6 damage a turn.
Large Undead, Lawful Evil
The 2024 hooves deal 7 (1d6 + 4) instead of 11, but if the skeleton moved 20 or more feet straight toward a Large or smaller target right before the hit, that target is knocked prone with no save. Everything else (AC, HP, speed, CR) is unchanged.
Ride it. Under the mounted combat rules, a controlled mount can only Dash, Disengage or Dodge. An independent mount keeps its own initiative and attacks as it likes. DM ruling, not rules text: treat a warhorse skeleton as an independent mount that obeys its rider's intent, so both the skeleton on its back and the horse attack each turn.
Charge, then stab (2024). A 20-foot run drops the target prone. The rider is now within 5 feet of a prone creature, so its shortsword attack has advantage. Don't have the rider use its bow on that target: ranged attacks against a prone creature more than 5 feet away have disadvantage.
Use the speed. Sixty feet gets it to the back line in one move. It can't attack and Disengage on the same turn, so when it leaves it takes the opportunity attacks on its 22 HP.
For four characters (2014 column: 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines, used by our encounter calculator):
| Party level | Encounter | 2024 budget result | 2014 guidelines |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 warhorse skeletons | Low | Easy |
| 3 | 2 warhorse skeletons + 2 skeleton riders | Low | Medium |
| 4 | 4 warhorse skeletons + 4 skeleton riders | Low | Hard |
Riders and mounts count as separate creatures, so a cavalry patrol of four pairs is eight creatures under the 2014 multiplier.
The night patrol. Four skeleton riders still ride the border road of a kingdom that fell a century ago, challenging travelers in a language no one speaks anymore. They attack anyone who doesn't stop.
The hitching post. A necromancer's tower keeps a stable of warhorse skeletons. Stealing one is possible, if someone can control an undead horse that doesn't eat, sleep or tire.
The warhorse skeleton is CR 1/2 and worth 100 XP in both editions.
The rules don't say it is trained to accept a rider. DM ruling, not rules text: one made by a necromancer to carry riders can be ridden by whoever controls it. As a controlled mount it can only Dash, Disengage or Dodge.
Yes. Bludgeoning damage is doubled against it in both editions, and it is immune to poison and exhaustion.
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.
This page includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Loreify is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.
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