Hippogriff

Rochester Bestiary miniature detail of griffins. — Griffin, Rochester Bestiary, Royal MS 12 F XIII / Wikimedia Commons.

Armor Class: 5 [14]
Hit Dice: 3+1
Attacks: Claws
Special: Flight
Move: 12/36 (when flying)
HDE/XP: 3/60

Description

The hippogriff is similar to a griffon, having the head, foreclaws, and wings of an eagle, but instead of the body of a lion, it has the body of a horse. The poem Orlando Furioso (written in 1516) suggests that the hippogriff is the offspring of a griffon and a horse—but they are apparently an independent breed, for folkloric tradition holds that griffons frequently attack hippogriffs. Hippogriffs are not as hard to train as griffons—again, from Orlando Furioso: “Drawn by enchantment from his distant lair, The wizard thought but how to tame the foal; And, in a month,instructed him to bear Saddle and bit, and gallop to the goal; And execute on earth or in mid air, All shifts of manege, course and caracole…”