Mule
Medium Beast · · CR 1/8
- Beast
- Medium
- Tier 1
Mule, CR 1/8, fills the medium beast role with unaligned disposition. Encounter regions: desert, hill, and urban. Sourced from Monster Manual (5e 2014) and Monster Manual (5.5e 2024).
Stat Block
- Challenge Rating
- 1/8
- Type
- Beast
- Size
- Medium
- Alignment
- —
- Speed
- —
- Habitats
- Desert, Hill, Urban
- Sources
- Monster Manual (5e 2014), Monster Manual (5.5e 2024)
Ecology
Mules are the deliberately bred offspring of donkey stallions and mare horses, sterile but extraordinarily sturdy. They thrive across most settled regions, used as pack animals on roads too rough for wagons and trails too narrow for full-size horses. They eat coarser fodder than horses tolerate, drink less, and recover faster from long marches. Their value to overland trade is incalculable; many trade routes through mountainous country exist only because mules can manage what no other beast will.
Behaviour
Mules are famously stubborn, but stubbornness in mules is usually accurate judgment. A mule that refuses to cross a bridge has noticed something the handler has not. They are intelligent, cautious, and patient with handlers they trust, kicking surprisingly accurately at handlers they do not. They form bonds with specific people and tolerate strangers poorly, especially children who pull tails. They bray in distinctive patterns recognizable to other mules across long distances.
Origin
Mule breeding was developed by ancient agricultural civilizations who recognized the hybrid vigor of donkey-horse crosses. The practice spread quickly because mules outwork either parent species in difficult terrain. Some traditions treat the mule's sterility as a divine joke at the expense of meddling in nature; others see it as proof that the mule was designed by a practical god who did not want pack animals reproducing without human management. Either way, mules outnumber horses on many trade routes.
Related Monsters
Frequently Asked Questions about Mule
- What is the challenge rating of Mule?
- On the bestiary CR scale, Mule sits at 1/8. It works against low-level groups.
- What type of creature is Mule?
- The bestiary type for Mule is beast, medium size.
- Where does Mule live?
- You'll find Mule in Desert, Hill, Urban according to the bestiary entry.