Harpy
Medium Monstrosity · · CR 1
- Monstrosity
- Medium
- Tier 1
Ranges across coastal, forest, hill, and mountain; Harpy lists at CR 1 as a medium monstrosity (chaotic evil). Sourced from Monster Manual (5e 2014) and Monster Manual (5.5e 2024).
Stat Block
- Challenge Rating
- 1
- Type
- Monstrosity
- Size
- Medium
- Alignment
- —
- Speed
- —
- Habitats
- Coastal, Forest, Hill, Mountain
- Sources
- Monster Manual (5e 2014), Monster Manual (5.5e 2024), Flee, Mortals!
Ecology
Harpies haunt cliffs near shipping lanes, mountain passes, and coastal headlands where prey passes regularly. They are scavengers as much as hunters, picking over wrecks and battlefields, dragging trinkets back to filthy nests built from rope, sailcloth, and bone. Their luring song calls victims into the kill zone, and what they cannot eat they hoard. Harpies live in small flocks with shifting hierarchies, fighting bitterly over rank and food but cooperating against larger threats.
Behaviour
Harpies are cruel, vain, and prone to mockery. They taunt their victims as they kill them and decorate themselves with stolen jewelry and ribbons in grotesque parody of beauty. Their song is hauntingly lovely, but their speech is shrill and ugly, and they laugh constantly, especially at suffering. They mate rarely and reluctantly; harpy chicks are violent from the moment they hatch, and many flocks lose more young to siblings than to predators.
Origin
Most traditions claim harpies were once beautiful women cursed by a god they offended, transformed into bird-bodied mockeries of song. Other myths blame archfey punishment, demonic interference, or self-inflicted vanity ritual. The curse story persists because every harpy seems to know it and resent it. Some druids claim the curse can be broken with the right ritual, but no successful case has ever been reliably documented.
Related Monsters
Frequently Asked Questions about Harpy
- What is the challenge rating of Harpy?
- Harpy's challenge rating is 1. A party in this band suits an early or mid tier-1 group.
- What type of creature is Harpy?
- Harpy is classified as a monstrosity in D&D 5e, medium size.
- Where does Harpy live?
- In the bestiary, Harpy appears in Coastal, Forest, Hill, Mountain.