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Breadcrumb

Minotaur

Challenge
str
18
dex
10
con
16
int
10
wis
16
cha
10

AC 14 (natural armor)

HP 76 (9d10 + 27; bloodied 38)

Speed 40 ft.


Proficiency +2; Maneuver DC 14

Skills Perception +5 (+1d6)

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 18

Languages Abyssal, Undercommon


Labyrinthine Recall. The minotaur can perfectly recall any route it has traveled.


ACTIONS

Greataxe. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d12 + 4) slashing damage. The minotaur can choose to make the attack with advantage . If it does so, attacks against it have advantage until the start of its next turn.

Gore. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage. If the minotaur moves at least 10 feet straight towards the target before the attack, the attack deals an extra 9 (2d8) damage, and the target makes a DC 16 Strength saving throw , being pushed up to 10 feet away and falling prone on a failure.


BONUS ACTIONS

Roar of Triumph. If the minotaur reduced a living creature to 0 hit points since the end of its last turn, it roars and gains 10 (3d6) temporary hit points.

Combat

The minotaur gores if it can charge without incurring an opportunity attack. Otherwise it attacks with its greataxe. The minotaur retreats if it is bloodied and it can’t reach a foe on its turn.


Names

Asterion, Bellowroar, Clover, Lask, Minos, Tur


Legends and Lore

With an Arcana or Religion check, characters can learn the following:

DC 10 A minotaur is a monster with the body of a humanoid and the head of a bull. A minotaur perfectly remembers everywhere it’s ever been and never gets lost.

DC 15 Every time a minotaur kills, it grows larger and more fearsome.

DC 20 The largest minotaurs are behemoths more akin to fiends than mortal creatures, capable of speech but too savage to be reasoned with.

Description

Unlike humans, elves, and other peoples, minotaurs are not the creations of the gods. Rather, an ancient demon lord bred minotaurs millennia ago to be a blight upon the Material Plane. Although demonic in origin, the half-humanoid, half-bull minotaurs have spread throughout the mortal world, championing chaos or patrolling the lairs of dark and twisted masters.

Stronger with Every Kill. Carnage is a minotaur’s literal lifeblood. A young minotaur that has yet to kill may stand no taller than an adult human. Every time a minotaur defeats a foe, however, it grows larger and more savage. The rush of power a minotaur feels when it kills leads many to seek out violence wherever they can. A minotaur whose rampages go unchecked may grow to twice its original size or larger.

 Conquered Beasts. An evil master who wishes to bend a minotaur’s rage to their own purpose might trap the creature inside a labyrinth or other maze-like structure. So long as its thirst for violence is occasionally slaked, such a minotaur can serve as a fearsome, if half-tamed, guardian.

A New Path. Some minotaurs learn to overcome their savage impulses. These minotaurs forswear violence, or at least channel their anger towards ends more noble than simple bloodshed. Though they must always struggle to contain their inner rage, such minotaurs can live alongside humanoids or form communities of their own.

Behavior

1 Sniffing the air, searching for intruders

2 Resting in its lair

3 Bellows and attacks on sight

4 An exile

5 Praying to a horned god

6 Following a sacred path known only to it; if it strays, it'll have to return to its starting place

Signs

1 An abandoned ball of yarn or spool of thread

2 Bull-like snorts, followed by a ferocious roar

3 Humanoid bones strewn about

4 Cloven footprints

Encounters

Minotaurs make their lairs in dungeons and dark caverns.

CR 3–4 minotaur

Treasure 170 gp, copper jewelry box (25 gp) containing a gold bull figurine (125 gp)

CR 5–10 2 minotaurs ; minotaur with 1 to 3 ogres ; minotaur with gorgon

Treasure 200 gp, 5 garnets (100 gp each), 2 electrum bracelets (125 gp each), 1 greataxe named Labrys; its bearer is immune to the maze spell and can always find north

CR 11–16 3 or 4 minotaurs ; 2 minotaurs with cult fanatic and 2d10 cultists ; minotaur champion

Treasure 500 gp, 1,000 sp, 3 gold ewers (750 gp each), berserker axe (greataxe), horn of Valhalla (bronze)

Monster Type Description

Monstrosities are magical beings usually native to the Material Plane. Some monstrosities combine the features of beasts and humanoids, like centaurs . Others have bizarre or unnatural appearances, like many-tentacled ropers . Monstrosities could only arise in a world suffused with magic.