A hippogriff is a monster found on MM 52. It is also one of the three standard flying mounts, the other two being griffons and pegasi.
Hippogriffs have a carry load of 4000/6000.1)
Eggs hatch in 5 months (if found in lair, roll d5). There is a 1% chance for a twin birth from a single egg. The born hippogriff is a fledgling for 6 months after birth (if found in lair, roll d5 to determine months remaining). At 6 months of age, a period of intensive training must begin if the hippogriff is to be trained as a flying mount.
A hippogriff must rest 1 hour for every 3 hours flown, during which period it eats as if famished.
Upkeep is 250-500 gp/month, or half that during the fledgling stage. The exact amount is determined by the proportion of max hit points the hippogriff has compared to its possible minimum and max hit points. This pays for grooms, keepers, food, and special quarters.
Since the HP range of a hippogriff is 6-27, the following formula is used to determine monthly upkeep: HP * 12 + 178, rounding the result to the nearest 5 gp.
There are basically two components to raising a hippogriff: bonding and training. They occur simultaneously, though bonding may finish before training does. Both bonding and training must begin within 2 weeks of the hippogriff leaving the “fledgling” stage (at age 6 months).
Only one character can be advancing with a particular hippogriff at a time, whether training, bonding, or both.
Bonding takes d3+3 months. During this time, the training character must spend at least two hours a day training with it. If bonding is broken for more than 2 days, the hippogriff's wild nature asserts itself and all progress is lost. After the bonding period has passed, the owner can be away from the hippogriff for extended periods of time.
The owner of the hippogriff might employ certain characters to take care of the hippogriff while the owner is away in order to avoid breaking the 2 day absence limit. When one of these characters is caring for the hippogriff, bonding progress will not be lost. They are as follows:
| Character | Maximum period | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Druid | 4 weeks | Negotiable |
| Expert animal handler (expert hireling) | 3 weeks | 25 gp/week |
| Ranger | 2 weeks | Negotiable |
| A character with the animal husbandry secondary skill | 1 week | Negotiable |
Training occurs alongside bonding. If the character is away for an extended period of time and the hippogriff is being watched by one of the character types listed in the “Bonding” section above, the DM may extend the required training time, since this training time should be with the actual owner of the hippogriff.
After 2 months of training, the hippogriff can be flown, but not fought from.
After 4 months of training, the hippogriff can be fought from in melee. At this point, the owner has gained the ability to fight from flying mounts in general, meaning they have gained an ability which is “transferable” to other flying mounts like griffons and pegasai.
After 6 months of training, missile weapons can be fired while mounted on the flying hippogriff. Similarly to the flying mount melee combat ability above, this ability is transferable to other flying mounts.
The egg value is 1,000 gp, and the fledgling value is 2,000 - 3,000 gp.2)
To determine fledgling value, d12*100 gp can be rolled, re-rolling 12s.
Alternatively, the DM can assign a value 2,000 - 3,000 gp with 50% of the value based on the hippogriff's rolled HP (HD 3 + 3) with relation to its minimum and maximum possible HP, and 50% of the value being based on how far along the fledgling is in its 6 month fledgling state (farther along being more valuable).Ex
If the egg or fledgling is kept, XP awarded is 1/5th the GP value.