Ogres in 5e: Stat Block, Encounter Suggestions and More  

Stat Block 

Ogres in 5e

Large Giant, Chaotic Evil

Armor Class: 11 (hide armor)

Hit Points: 59 (7d10 + 21)

Speed: 40 ft.

STR 19 (+4) DEX 8 (-1) CON 16 (+3) INT 5 (-3) WIS 7 (-2) CHA 7 (-2)

Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 8

Languages: Common, Giant

Challenge: 2 (450 XP)

Proficiency Bonus: +2

Actions

Greatclub. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage.

Javelin. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage.

Suggested Ogre Encounters 

• Suggested Party Size: 4-5
• Suggested Party Level: 2-4

Ogre Quick Tactics 

• Brute force, up close and personal 
• Nocturnal ambush predator
• Arrogance and bravado 

Ogres in 5e are brutes in the truest sense of the word. They are mean, dimwitted, and prone to fits of rage. That makes it really easy to portray and run them in combat, but it doesn’t necessarily make them interesting. Likewise, outside of combat, it can be hard to portray an Ogre in a way that seems natural if all they do is laze around gnawing on bones and belching. 

We’ll get into this in more detail later, but what’s important to realize when running an Ogre is that, when left to its own devices, an Ogre has more in common with a grizzly bear than a Goblin or Orc. 

Ogres have great darkvision (60 feet) and a land speed well above that of your average medium-sized creature (40 feet). That means that in the daytime, Ogres should stay in their lairs; they’re not stealthy, and they certainly aren’t hard to spot. At night, they use their excellent night vision and bursts of speed to close the distance between themselves and their prey at which point they club or beat them to death with extreme prejudice. 

When fighting as part of a larger group, the Ogre will either be in charge by dint of its overwhelming strength — in which case it hurls its underlings into battle, perhaps even literally, before rushing in itself — or is under the command of someone else, like a Goblin boss or a Hobgoblin warlord. In this case, the Ogre follows commands from its handler as well as possible, but if it sees an easy target or takes damage and isn’t directed to attack in melee, it should have to make a DC 8 (+ damage taken) wisdom saving throw to avoid charging into battle by the most direct route possible. 

Unless their foe is obviously larger and more physically capable than it is, there’s nothing that can convince an Ogre that they’re not the strongest creature in the room, and they will act accordingly. 

What are Ogres in DnD 5e? 

Ogres are vicious, hulking giants that stand between 9 and 10 feet tall. These dimwitted giants either live solitary lives as nomadic predators on the fringes of civilization or serve other monsters like Hobgoblins as shock troops and siege engines in their war parties. 

The classic Ogre from the Monster Manual has a Challenge Rating of 2, a sizable pool of hit points, and a punishing club attack, although its ranged javelin is somewhat underwhelming, and it can easily fall prey to a larger party of adventurers thanks to its lack of a multiattack property. 

There are three variant Ogres in 5e included in the Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse, which include the ranged combat-focused Ogre Bolt Launcher, the Ogre Chain Brute that specializes in crowd control and stunning attacks, and the Ogre Battering Ram — a terrifying siege weapon that deals double damage to structures and can actually attack more than once per round. 

Brutish, dimwitted, and prone to outbursts of sudden violence, Ogres have spelled doom for more than a few low-level adventuring parties and, as part of a larger force of monsters, can even spell trouble for a more experienced group. 

Ogre Behavior in Depth 

Ogres are as dumb as they are big and strong. And, well… boy are they big, and howdy are they strong. Your average Ogre is probably about as intelligent as a human three- or four-year-old. Now, give that child an irrepressibly violent temper and the strength to rip a horse in half with its bare hands (not to be confused with an owlbear’s Bear Hands), and you start to understand just how scary these big dumb brutes should feel. 

Imagine if that kid in first grade who liked to pull the wings off flies, enjoyed melting ants with a magnifying glass, and was rumored to have been expelled from their last school for eating the class hamster on a dare was, like, twice the size of Shaq and ate people. Ogres are terrifying. 

However, I think that’s why they make such good low-level encounters. Sure, mechanically, they’re basically grizzly bears with a ranged attack, but the fact that they’re both smart enough to speak common and dumb enough to occasionally eat rocks because they mistake them for food means that they’re really fun to roleplay. Ogres should be credulous, easily distracted, messed with, and confused. 

Tricking an Ogre into eating its friends, bribing it to come over to your side, and generally playing up the childish mind of this murderous mountain of meat makes for excellent encounters where, with any luck, your players will get to feel smart as they frantically work to outwit the gigantic club-wielding psychopath who wants to have them for dinner. Just be careful, however, as ogres apparently also have a very low threshold for things they can’t understand and people they think are talking down to them, and they are very likely to give up on a slightly complex thought in favor of its go-to approach of hyper-violence. 

“Ogres break things they don’t understand,” according to the Monster Manual, and they understand so very little. 

What it all boils down to for an Ogre is securing a food supply and then pleasure. An Ogre with a great big haunch of meat and a warm place to sleep is probably going to be about as dangerous as a big dog. Just don’t poke it, annoy it, or let it go hungry. 

In combat, an ogre will likely follow the commands of its boss as best it can, although anything more complicated than “go there,” “kill that,” or “break this” might overload the poor creature’s brain — prompting it to default to the classic “kill that” option. An Ogre is easily baited and enraged thanks to its famously short temper, and forcing an Ogre to break ranks and charge across open ground is probably as easy as making a rude face across the battlefield. 

It really is as simple as see enemy, splat enemy, rinse, and repeat. 

Ogre Variants 

There are three variant types of Ogre in 5e that can be found right now in Monsters of the Multiverse (Bring back the Ogre Howdah, WotC! What is wrong with you?!) that can add a surprising amount of depth to a very straightforward monster. 

The Ogre Bolt Launcher takes the Ogre’s measly javelin attack and replaces it with an eye-wateringly powerful 3d10 crossbow that can hit enemies up to 480 feet away, making several of them into a surprisingly effective compromise between heavy infantry and an artillery battery. Any goblin warboss worth their salt should be happy with a handful of these big boys on hand the next time they attack a fortified human settlement. 

Just keep in mind that no matter how patiently someone has taught an Ogre how to use a ballista, if an enemy gets too close or the ogre becomes too enraged, there should definitely be a chance that it throws its weapon aside and rushes in to use a fist attack. 

The Ogre Chain Brute is probably my favorite Ogre variant. This hulking monstrosity uses a huge length of chain to knock down enemies in its immediate vicinity and, assuming the ability isn’t recharging, can stun them for multiple rounds with a chain smash. I would use this crowd-controlling brute to sow chaos in large groups of enemies, leading with the sweep and following up with the smash. 

Lastly, the Ogre Battering Ram finally introduces multiattack to the Ogre, giving it two punches per round. These deal double damage to structures, making the Ogre into an excellent siege weapon if the PCs have fortified their positions.