CR 5 monsters

Building encounters with CR 5 monsters

Challenge Rating summarizes the threat a monster poses to a group of four player characters. The SRD's rough guideline: a single CR 5 monster is a low-difficulty fight for four level 5 characters. By the XP Budget per Character table alone, one of these monsters on its own (1,800 XP) lands between the Low and High budgets of four characters at level 4; above that, it falls under the Low budget and works better with minions or a second monster.

Creature types at this CR: Elemental (6), Beast (3), Aberration (2), Construct (2), Fiend (2), Giant (2), Monstrosity (2), Undead (2), Celestial (1), Dragon (1), Humanoid (1), Plant (1). 1 of them has Legendary Actions, which let a single monster act right after other creatures' turns. If a monster has a feature that lower-level characters can't easily overcome, the SRD suggests not using it against characters whose level is lower than its CR.