Griffon: An Alliance Player’s Old Friend

I still remember first getting one of these back in the glory days of WoW. Made my life so much easier. Remember when getting a flying mount in World of Warcraft was cool? Remember when WoW was cool?

I’m bumming myself out, let’s talk about the monster now.

Lore: The Sky Predator

Unfortunately, the ‘lore’ for the griffon basically doesn’t exist. It’s just seven paragraphs describing how they live and how they hunt and how they can be domesticated. It’s more a pet owner’s guide than a bit of fantasy history. While it does help set up for an encounter, it does little for story telling opportunities.

Not to say that it’s worthless. You could make a fun little side story for a player as they raise a baby griffon to eventually become a powerful mount. Or you could simply use a flying pride of them as a nice little set piece to make the world seem more magical.

It isn’t much. But it’s something!

Design: You Know

Come on. We all know what a griffon looks like. And if you don’t… have you ever read fantasy before?

Sadly, this design doesn’t do anything unique with the griffon. It is exactly what you’d expect: an eagle with a lion’s body. Is it badass? Oh, absolutely! But is it original? Far from it.

I don’t hate this design. Griffons have always been among my favorite fantasy monsters. Still, I do wish that they did something to help this one stand out a little more.

Stats: A Low-Level Flying Truck

Wow. There is just… nothing here, is there?

In terms of defenses, this isn’t a very bulky monster. Its AC is very low and its HP, while decent for a low-level creature, isn’t impressive. But it does have Keen Sight! So… it’s perceptive!

The rest is very straight-forward. It can peck you with its beak or slash you with its claws or do one of each per turn. Both do fair damage for a low-level monster, but it’s definitely on the lower-end of the spectrum. It can mess you up, but it’s hardly frightening.

And… that’s all. It’s a very straight-forward and somewhat boring fight. All it will really boil down to is the two parties bashing against each other until one dies. And in reality, it’ll more than likely be the griffon that goes down.

Placement

The griffon is an iconic monster for fantasy, but not an especially strong monster for Dungeons and Dragons. The lore is just a pet-owner’s guide, the design is iconic but unoriginal, and the stats make for a boring battle. Definitely one of the weaker monsters in the Monster Manual.

With all that in mind, let’s put the Griffon on the Best of the Bestiary!

1. Beholder
2. Death Tyrant
3. Dragon Turtle
4. Green Dragons
5. Red Dragons
6. Blue Dragons
7. Black Dragons
8. White Dragons
9. Silver Dragons
10. Couatl
11. Behir
12. Aboleth
13. Bronze Dragons
14. Brass Dragons
15. Copper Dragons
16. Gold Dragons
17. Chuul
18. Gibbering Mouther
19. Chimera
20. Death Knight
21. Fomorian
22. Bone Devil
23. Dracolich
24. Faerie Dragon
25. Ankheg
26. Storm Giant
27. Hill Giant
28. Empyrean
29. Efreeti
30. Dao
31. Cloud Giant
32. Drow (all four of ’em)
33. Shadow Demon
34. Marilith
35. Drider
36. Aarackockra
37. Azer
38. Demilich
39. Spectator
40. Marid
41. Cambion
42. Fire Giant
43. Animated Armor
44. Banshee
45. Basilisk
46. Yochlol
47. Bulette
48. Cloaker
49. Darkmantle
50. Doppelganger
51. Ghoul and Ghast
52. Ettin
53. Pit Fiend
54. Erinyes
55. Chain Devil
56. Bearded Devil
57. Barbed Devil
58. Spined Devil
59. Ice Devil
60. Djinni
61. Nalfeshnee
62. Glabrezu
63. Chasme
64. Grell
65. Barlgura
66. Horned Devil
67. Balor
68. Shadow Dragon
69. Vrock
70. Dretch
71. Gnolls (all three)
72. Goristro
73. Hezrou
74. Manes
75. Frost Giant
76. Duergar
77. Quasit
78. Dryad
79. Flumph
80. Goblin
81. Githyanki
82. Planetar
83. Imp
84. Clay Golem
85. Flameskull
86. Displacer Beast
87. Carrion Crawler
88. Githzerai
89. Grick
90. Rug of Smothering
91. Bugbear Chief
92. Bugbear
93. Flesh Golem
94. Vine Blight
95. Twig Blight
96. Needle Blight
97. Bullywug
98. Ettercap
99. Gas Spore
100. Cockatrice
101. Lemure
102. Solar
103. Deva
104. Gorgon
105. Griffon <————————
106. Cyclops
107. Centaur
108. Ghost
109. Fire Elemental
110. Water Elemental
111. Air Elemental
112. Stone Giant
113. Deep Gnome
114. Dinosaurs (All six of them)
115. Iron Golem
116. Stone Golem
117. Earth Elemental
118. Galeb Duhr
119. Flying Sword
120. Crawling Claw
121. Violet Fungus
122. Shrieker
123. Gargoyle