KING ZAGAN
KING ZAGAN — The Encounter
Transmuter-King who turns wine to water and metal to coin · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is KING ZAGAN
Zagan answers as both King and President, ruling thirty-three legions beneath a crown of sweeping horns. His gift is alteration: wine to water and water to wine, lead to coin, fool to wit and wit to fool. Conjurers who treat with him learn that nothing he touches keeps its nature, least of all a bargain. He appears first as a winged bull, then unfolds into this princely shape, a transmuter who reshapes matter and destiny in the same gesture. The blue orb at his palm is not a weapon so much as a question put to creation: what would you rather be? Steel softens to slag, flesh to ore, certainty to doubt. He prizes alchemists and counterfeiters, and despises those who believe a thing is fixed. To strike a deal with Zagan is to wager that what you are will survive what he can make of you.
Run KING ZAGAN in Sixty Seconds
- Caster, not bruiser. Zagan stays at range and works the Orb of Transmutation. Keep him behind a frontliner; he folds fast in melee.
- Open with the Orb on the resistant target. Alchemist's Decree changes the damage type AND ignores resistance once per turn, so aim it at whoever feels safe from elements.
- Kill-priority: reaction-users. The Orb's Wisdom save strips reactions, so neuter Shield casters, counterspellers, and Sentinel fighters first.
- When bloodied, bank Transmute Affliction. Hold his reaction for the next fireball or lightning bolt to convert damage into temp HP and buy a round.
- Three ways to run him: elemental sniper (rotate Orb damage types), control-king (Trident speed-halving + reaction lock), or amends-broker (he offers a transmuting bargain mid-fight).
KING ZAGAN
Medium fiend (devil), lawful evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEMagic Resistance. The king has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Alchemist's Decree. Signature. Once on each of his turns, when the king deals damage with the Orb of Transmutation, he chooses to change its damage type to acid, cold, fire, or lightning, and the target's resistance to that type is ignored until the start of the king's next turn. A creature reduced to 0 hit points this way crumbles into worthless dross or pooled coin.
Actions
Multiattack. The king makes two attacks: one with the Trident of Office and one with the Orb of Transmutation.
Trident of Office. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 3) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or have its speed halved until the end of its next turn as base metals creep across its joints.
Orb of Transmutation. Ranged Spell Attack: +7 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 18 (4d6 + 4) force damage (see Alchemist's Decree). On a hit, the king may force the target to make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be unable to take reactions until the start of its next turn.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Transmute Affliction (Reaction). When the king takes acid, cold, fire, or lightning damage, he can convert it: he takes half the damage and gains temporary hit points equal to the amount reduced (max 20).
A horned demon-king in gilded scale and a billowing dark cape, one hand cradling a churning sapphire orb of raw transmutation, the other planted on a tall ceremonial trident.
KING ZAGAN, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINECatalytic Aura (signature). Allies within 10 feet of the familiar deal an extra 2 (1d4) acid damage on a hit, as Zagan's transmuting heat clings to their weapons.
Actions
Molten Lash. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) acid damage.
Reactions
Transmute Ward. When an adjacent ally would take damage, the familiar may take half that damage instead, dissolving into slag and reforming next turn.
A homunculus of bubbling metal and glasswork, forever distilling the king's experiments and lending their heat to his soldiers.
Guideline numbers — formula-tuned and read from the miniature's design, not yet table-proven. Tell us how it ran in the comments.
How It Fights — by Tier
Same creature, scaled threat. The traits never change; only the numbers move.
Open at range with the Orb and pick off the squishiest caster, switching its damage type to whatever they resist. If the party clusters, lean on the speed-halving Trident to keep them off him. Pair him with a frontline brute; Zagan is the artillery piece, not the wall.
Lead with the Orb on the enemy with the strongest elemental resistance and erase it via Alchemist's Decree. Kill-priority is healers and reaction-users (the Orb's Wisdom save locks reactions). Hold Transmute Affliction for the first big elemental nuke; pair Zagan with a tank to soak melee while he transmutes the backline.
Open by transmuting the party's best resistance into a kill, then spread Orb hits across reaction-dependent characters to shut them down. Keep moving so melee can't pin him; let his minions screen. He still wants a true boss alongside him to anchor the fight while he reshapes the field.
Put KING ZAGAN on the table
Download the presupported STL and run the fight tonight — the model, and the encounter that comes with it.
Get the STL on MyMiniFactory →Clay Cyanide Companion Rules v1
How a bound creature acts
- A companion acts on its owner's initiative, immediately after the owner.
- It uses the Companion block above — roughly ×0.6 HP and damage, no recharge abilities, and at most one reaction trait.
- It moves freely; it takes its Action only while its owner is conscious.
- At 0 HP a companion is broken, not dead — restored on a long rest unless your table rules otherwise.
Original Clay Cyanide material © Clay Cyanide LLC — explicitly not the non-SRD official sidekick rules.
Questions, Asked at the Table
What CR is KING ZAGAN?
Natively CR 6 (Tier 2, levels 5-10): AC 16, 123 HP, +7 to hit, save DC 15. Scale him down to CR 2 for Tier 1 or up to roughly CR 11 for Tier 3 using the tier table; traits and actions stay identical, only the numbers move.
Can KING ZAGAN be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a lawful-evil power broker he makes a natural patron or temporary ally bound by a transmuting bargain. For player-side play, lean on his Crucible Familiar companion and have Zagan grant boons rather than fight, since his kit is built to dismantle PCs.
Is Zagan a boss on his own?
No, he is an add-on, not a solo. He has no legendary actions, so run him as the artillery and control piece beside a tankier flagship boss. A frontline brute soaks melee while Zagan transmutes the backline from range.
Tell Us How It Ran
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 ("SRD 5.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
Clay Cyanide Miniatures is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC. This content is compatible with the fifth edition of the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game. Companion rules, lore, names, and original mechanics © Clay Cyanide LLC.
Technical Specifications
32mm, 75mm
STL, Pre-supported STL
Standard or ABS-like resin, 0.05mm layer height
Yes — ready to print, optimized supports included
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