Hello zoologists of all shapes and sizes! Welcome to my spellbook and thank you so much for checking out the 54th episode of our beast series. Today we have arguably one of the most majestic mounts. Maybe aside from things like the unicorn of celestial origins but still an incredibly majestic mountain store for us today.
And just a graceful creature in general unless of course you’re a hunter in which case this is going to be quite the treat for you both literally and figuratively. We’re talking about the Elk ladies and gentlemen. It is found in the basic rule set and considered to be a cr one quarter and provide 50 experience points on a kill. That being said, let’s take a quick look at its stats, we can address what we’re talking about.
Elk DnD 5E Stat Block
- Type: Large beast, unaligned
- Armor Class: 10
- Hit Points: 13 (2d10 + 2)
- Speed: 50 ft.
The elk is considered to be large beast that is unaligned. And it has an AC of 10, 13 hit points, calculated by rolling 2d10 and adding two and an impressive speed of 50 feet. Now let’s take a look at its actual stats here.
- STR: 16 (+3)
- DEX: 10 (+0)
- CON: 12 (+1)
- INT: 2 (-4)
- WIS: 10 (+0)
- CHA: 6 (-2)
- Senses: Passive Perception 10
- Languages: —
- Challenge: 1/4 (50 XP)
You’ll notice it’s quite strong. Has a decent constitution to it and it is actually one of the most charismatic beasts we’ve covered thus far. Taking a look at its senses you’ll only see a passive perception of 10 which isn’t terribly exciting. The elk much like a lot of the other potential mounts has access to the charge ability though.
- Charge: If the elk moves at least 20 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a ram attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 7 (2d6) damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Very cool stuff! Now let’s take a quick look at his actions. So elk actually has two actions that’s kind of based on circumstances.
Actions
- Ram: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) bludgeoning damage.
- Hooves: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one prone creature. Hit: 8 (2d4 + 3) bludgeoning damage.
The first is a melee weapon attack that provides a +5 to hit bonus which is very incredible. Reach of five feet, one target and deals six bludgeoning damage on a hit calculated by rolling one d6 and adding three.
The elk can also do a hoove attack. It is also a melee weapon attack, also +5 to hit, the target however must be a prone. Very interesting stuff and deals eight bludgeoning damage. Calculated by rolling 2d4 and adding three. So very cool stuff!
One can be done at any point in time and can trigger the charge effect and other can only be done to a prone creature. Which is very interesting i do like it.
That being said, in terms of ways to fold them in, i feel like to be pretty good in a kind of tracking, kind of scenario. This is especially good if you’re enforcing the food a kind of rule set which you should be anyways. So food starvation all that good stuff!
This is just a great way of making it a little it tricky you’re really taking advantage of that movement speed their passive perception isn’t super high either so assuming you’re a half-decent your stealth checks it should be a pretty easy encounter the only exception of that is if you get spotted and this thing becomes hostile or tries to run away.
This might be a little bit problematic, it does have a pretty decent hit pool for earlier adventurers so it all comes down to how they approach it, that’s most likely how i’d go about implementing this creature into my game or maybe providing it as a mount for some woold elves or something along that line.
Conclusion
That being siad, let me know how you would use it in your game down beneath in the comment section. Also be sure to tell me any questions, comments or concerns you may have in regards to the elk as well. Thank you so much guys, i really do appreciate it and that being said, i hope you all have a great day and as always happy research.