Pegasus: Riding the Skies

Behold, the pegasus. It can outrace a dragon in the open sky, and only the best among us can ever hope to ride one. A fitting emblem for our great house, don’t you think?

Tyllenvane d’Orien, dragonmarked scion arguing to change the symbol of House Orien from the unicorn to the pegasus

Man wanted to change the symbol of his house from one gay icon to another. Respect.

Lore: An Infallible Friend

As beautiful as they are easily startled, pegasi are among the noblest creatures in the world. They’re highly prized as mounts, although they are intelligent enough that they cannot be tamed like an ordinary beast. One must earn the animal’s trust and respect to ride upon it, making it a life-long companion.

Pegasi do not dwell on the Material Plane naturally. Instead, they reside within the Olympian Glades of Arborea, serving the Seldarine, the elven gods. When those gods need to send aid to mortals, they send a pegasus.

Oh yeah, they also mate for life and make babies young. So… they’re the kids you knew in high school who got married in their senior year.

This lore is… fine. It isn’t terrible, but there’s not a whole lot you can actually do with it. Not unless you’ve got a Ranger in the party and you’re a fool who wants to give them the godly power of flight. The narrative potential of this creature is extremely limited.

Design: A Heavenly Steed

Yup. That’s just about what I expected.

There’s really not a whole lot to talk about with this. It’s exactly what you’d expect out of a pegasus. It tells you exactly what it’s about at a glance because basically everyone knows what this creature is.

It’s flat, it’s ordinary, and it’s predictable. Next.

Stats: That’s a Horse… That Flies

Yup. There’s nothing to talk about here. It can hit you with its hooves. That’s it. There’s literally nothing else.

Boring. Let’s wrap this up.

Placement

There really isn’t much to talk about with this entry. Sure, its lore isn’t bad, per say. But the design is flat and uninteresting and the stats are even more so. This is one of the weakest monsters we’ve covered in a long time.

With all that in mind, the Pegasus is going to #160 on the Best of the Bestiary!

1. Beholder
2. Death Tyrant
3. Mind Flayer
4. Dragon Turtle
5. Mummy/Mummy Lord
6. Nagas (all three of ’em)
7. Green Dragons
8. Red Dragons
9. Blue Dragons
10. Black Dragons
11. White Dragons
12. Silver Dragons
13. Couatl
14. Behir
15. Aboleth
16. Sea Hag
17. Lamia
18. Bronze Dragons
19. Brass Dragons
20. Copper Dragons
21. Gold Dragons
22. Chuul
23. Kuo-Toa
24. Gibbering Mouther
25. Kraken
26. Intellect Devourer
27. Chimera
28. Death Knight
29. Fomorian
30. Bone Devil
31. Dracolich
32. Faerie Dragon
33. Gelatinous Cube
34. Lich
35. Orcs (all four of ’em)
36. Magmin
37. Kobold
38. Kenku
39. Hobgoblins
40. Night Hag
41. Green Hag
42. Black Pudding
43. Ankheg
44. Hook Horror
45. Oni
46. Storm Giant
47. Hill Giant
48. Empyrean
49. Efreeti
50. Grimlock
51. Minotaur
52. Dao
53. Cloud Giant
54. Manticore
55. Drow (all four of ’em)
56. Shadow Demon
57. Modrons (all five of ’em)
58. Marilith
59. Drider
60. Aarackockra
61. Azer
62. Demilich
63. Spectator
64. Gray Ooze
65. Ochre Jelly
66. Hydra
67. Marid
68. Harpy
69. Werejackal
70. Otyugh
71. Half-Dragon
72. Cambion
73. Fire Giant
74. Nothic
75. Animated Armor
76. Banshee
77. Basilisk
78. Yochlol
79. Bulette
80. Cloaker
81. Darkmantle
82. Doppelganger
83. Ghoul and Ghast
84. Ettin
85. Medusa
86. Pit Fiend
87. Erinyes
88. Chain Devil
89. Bearded Devil
90. Barbed Devil
91. Spined Devil
92. Ice Devil
93. Mimic
94. Djinni
95. Merrow
96. Nalfeshnee
97. Glabrezu
98. Chasme
99. Grell
100. Barlgura
101. Horned Devil
102. Balor
103. Shadow Dragon
104. Myconids (all four of ’em)
105. Werebear
106. Lizardfolk
107. Vrock
108. Dretch
109. Gnolls (all three)
110. Goristro
111. Hezrou
112. Manes
113. Frost Giant
114. Weretiger
115. Werewolf
116. Duergar
117. Quasit
118. Dryad
119. Flumph
120. Goblin
121. Nightmare
122. Wereboar
123. Wererat
124. Githyanki
125. Owlbear
126. Planetar
127. Imp
128. Ogres/Half-ogres
129. Clay Golem
130. Flameskull
131. Displacer Beast
132. Carrion Crawler
133. Githzerai
134. Grick
135. Invisible Stalker
136. Rug of Smothering
137. Bugbear Chief
138. Bugbear
139. Flesh Golem
140. Vine Blight
141. Twig Blight
142. Needle Blight
143. Mephits (all six of ’em)
144. Bullywug
145. Hellhound
146. Ettercap
147. Gas Spore
148. Cockatrice
149. Lemure
150. Homonculus
151. Merfolk
152. Solar
153. Deva
154. Gorgon
155. Hippogriff
156. Griffon
157. Cyclops
158. Centaur
159. Ghost
160. Pegasus <——————-
161. Fire Elemental
162. Water Elemental
163. Air Elemental
164. Stone Giant
165. Deep Gnome
166. Dinosaurs (All six of them)
167. Iron Golem
168. Stone Golem
169. Earth Elemental
170. Galeb Duhr
171. Helmed Horror
172. Flying Sword
173. Crawling Claw
174. Violet Fungus
175. Shrieker
176. Gargoyle