BX Monsters A to Z: Hippogriff

 Next up, another creature with firm roots in the fertile soil of real world mythology: the hippogriff.

The Classical world certainly did love its animal hybrids. The hippogriff, a beast with the front parts and wings of an eagle and the hind parts of a horse, is a prime example. The entry in the Expert Rules is one of the shortest in all of B/X, and by extension, in all of D&D, at a mere four sentences. The first describes the creature's appearance, the second notes that it can be tamed and ridden, the third briefly expounds on its natural enemy relationship with the pegasus, and the fourth states that it nests in rocky crags. That's the full extent of it. 

Stats-wise, the hippogriff is a moderately formidable opponent. Its AC of 5 and 3+1 Hit Dice are fairly stout, a little better than the average war horse. It is a swift flyer, at a movement rate of 360' (120') and somehow it manages to run almost as fast as a good horse on its eagle-talon forelegs. It's able to deal out a very respectable amount of damage with two 1-6 point claw attacks and a 1-10 point bite, for a potential maximum of 22 points per round. Its morale is a solid 8, and it appears in numbers up to 16 at a time, a pretty fearsome flock. 

It isn't stated what the hippogriff eats. It might be assumed to be carnivorous, based on its eagle's head, but that isn't an entirely foolproof conclusion, since the part containing its digestive tract is that of an herbivore. At least the griffon avoids this contradiction, consisting of two obvious carnivores. Nonetheless, it's far easier to imagine the hippogriff swooping down upon prey than it is to envision it grazing in a field or munching leaves from trees. The carnivore role does suit a more threatening role, with flocks of hippogriffs menacing travelers by circling high above them on the mountain updrafts. 

Its relationship to the griffon is also left unexplored; one could easily imagine the much more powerful griffon, with its fondness for horseflesh, preying upon the half-horse hippogriff as well. Also left unspecified is the hippogriff's form of reproduction. Does it hatch from eggs, or is it born directly from its dam as a beaky foal? I suppose that's up to the DM's discretion. 

The details of capturing and training hippogriffs are likewise left to the individual DM. Perhaps they can be subdued like dragons, or captured very young before their predatory temperaments have time to fully develop. As for training, ordinary animal trainers probably focus on, well, ordinary animals. The training of fantastic beasts like hippogriffs might well require a more expensive specialist. Nonetheless, a party of mid- to high-Expert levels would find hippogriff mounts for every member invaluable for quickly traversing large distances and hostile terrain. 

The hippogriff is a reasonably well-built monster. I might quibble with the incongruency of its damage relative to similar monsters (1d6 damage per front eagle claw vs. the griffon's d4 for each lion claw seems a little... weird) but overall it's hardly worth losing sleep over. 

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