Livyatan
Livyatan — The Encounter
Coiled prince of the Abyss, fan of living blades · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Livyatan
Among the eight Princes of Hell who fell burning into the Abyss, Livyatan struck last and deepest, and the impact split its angelic frame into the coiling, many-bladed horror it is now. Where the archangels' weapons once scored it, the wounds did not close but lengthened into spines, and the spines into wings, until the demon became a fan of living blades that opens and shuts with its hatred. It does not walk so much as pour itself forward, the serpent-coils of its lower body grinding the Abyssal rock to slag. Lesser devils call it the Drowned Crown, for Livyatan rules the flooded deeps of the inferno where the damned are pressed beneath weight and edge alike. To summon it is to invite a tide of razors: it answers, considers the binder with cold reptilian patience, and then decides whether the contract is worth more than the binder's blood. It rarely decides in the binder's favor.
Run Livyatan in Sixty Seconds
- Aura first. Fan of Blades hits anyone who ends their turn within 10 ft. (DC 16 Dex, 2d8 slashing) and anyone who walks out of reach. Melee parties will bleed just standing next to it.
- Kill-priority: the puller's victims. Spine drags a target 10 ft. toward Livyatan, then Bite finishes them. Protect your casters and healers; they are who it reaches for.
- Legendary lockdown. Between turns it spends legendary actions on extra Spines, a Constricting Coil grapple (DC 16, 2d8/turn), or Surge of the Abyss (4d8 to everyone within 10 ft.). Spread out.
- When bloodied (108 HP), it goes full AoE. It opens each round with Surge of the Abyss and lashes back with Retributive Lash on every melee hit. Switch to ranged and chip it down.
- Three ways to run it: a coil-and-crush solo boss with legendary actions; a lieutenant beside a bigger fiend (drop the band one tier); or an arena hazard whose Fan of Blades makes the whole center of the room lethal terrain.
Livyatan
Huge fiend (devil), lawful evil
CR 13 · 10,000 XP · GUIDELINEMagic Resistance. Livyatan has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Fan of Blades. Signature. Livyatan's radiating bladed spines threaten everything around it. When a creature it can see ends its turn within 10 feet of Livyatan, that creature must succeed on a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or take 9 (2d8) slashing damage as the living blades scissor shut. A creature that moves out of Livyatan's reach also provokes this damage once per turn.
Abyssal Coils. Livyatan's serpentine lower body ignores difficult terrain, and it has advantage on checks and saves to avoid being knocked prone or moved against its will.
Actions
Multiattack. Livyatan makes one Bite attack and two Spine attacks.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (3d8 + 7) piercing damage plus 9 (2d8) fire damage.
Spine. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d10 + 7) slashing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or be pulled 10 feet toward Livyatan.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Retributive Lash. Reaction. When a creature within 15 feet hits Livyatan with a melee attack, Livyatan whips a bladed spine at the attacker. The attacker takes 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing damage.
Legendary Actions (3/Round)
Spine (1 action). Livyatan makes one Spine attack.
Constricting Coil (1 action). One creature within 10 feet must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or be grappled (escape DC 16) and restrained until the grapple ends, the coil crushing for 9 (2d8) bludgeoning damage at the start of each of the target's turns.
Surge of the Abyss (2 actions). Livyatan flares its full fan of blades. Each creature within 10 feet must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw, taking 18 (4d8) slashing damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success.
A scarred prince of Hell coils from molten stone, its serpentine body crowned by a fan of enormous living blades that radiate like the rays of a black sun.
Livyatan, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEBladed Wake (signature). When the Tideling moves at least 15 feet in a straight line toward an enemy, its trailing spines tear the air; the first creature it passes within 5 feet of takes 7 (2d6) slashing damage.
Actions
Rending Spines. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing damage.
Reactions
Interpose. When an ally within 5 feet is hit by an attack, the Tideling rears its coils to shield them, reducing the damage by 7 (2d6) and taking that much itself.
A lesser splinter of Livyatan's fall, this coiling blade-serpent serves whoever holds the prince's mark, swimming through air and rubble alike to flank the chosen foe.
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 with the Bite on the frontline melee, then lash a Spine to drag the squishiest target into the Fan of Blades aura. Make whoever stands adjacent pay every round, and back off only if bloodied. Pair it with a couple of cultists so it is not surrounded and ground down.
Plant in the middle of the room and let the party come to it; Fan of Blades and Retributive Lash punish clustering and reckless melee. Spine-pull the healer or caster into reach, then Bite them. Kill-priority is anyone trying to flank; pair with skirmishers to cover the flanks it cannot.
Run it as a true boss: full Multiattack, then spend legendary actions on Constricting Coil to lock down the biggest damage dealer and Surge of the Abyss when two or more PCs cluster. Pull casters in with Spine and end them with the fire-Bite. When bloodied, lead with Surge of the Abyss every round it can to bleed the whole front line.
Put Livyatan 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 Livyatan?
Native CR 13 (10,000 XP), a Tier 3 (levels 11-15) solo boss. Because it has legendary actions and a strong reaction, its sheet already drops one band so it plays up against a full party. Scaled stat blocks for Tier 1 and Tier 2 are provided in the tiers array.
Can Livyatan be a companion or ally?
Livyatan itself is a Prince of Hell and almost never serves anyone, but the bound Abyssal Tideling (AC 14, 130 HP) is a splinter of its fall that fights for whoever holds the prince's mark. Use the companion block for a player ally, a summoned guardian, or a warlock patron's gift.
How do I keep the Fan of Blades from killing my low-level party?
At Tier 1 and Tier 2 the aura damage and save DC drop with the rest of the sheet (DC 13 / DC 15, still 2d8). Telegraph it once, encourage ranged play, and remember the aura only triggers on ending a turn within 10 ft. or leaving reach, so hit-and-run and reach weapons stay safe.
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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