Samyaza
Samyaza — The Encounter
Crowned leader of the fallen, oathbreaker on burning wings · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Samyaza
In the elder reckoning, Samyaza led two hundred Watchers down from the high vaults, swearing them each to a binding oath upon the slopes of the mountain so none could recant. For that descent the heavens named him first of the fallen, and the oath he forged became a chain about his own throat. He taught what should not be taught and crowned himself captain of a host that no longer answers to any throne but his. The grimoires hold that his sword still burns with the light he was cast from, neither wholly holy nor wholly damned, and that the souls he led astray writhe beneath his feet as the very cloud he stands upon. To bargain with Samyaza is to bargain with the one who proved that even the radiant can break their word; he keeps every promise he makes now, for he learned in falling exactly what an oath is worth.
Run Samyaza in Sixty Seconds
- He is a solo boss with legendary actions and flight 90 ft. — keep him airborne, never let the party pin him in melee, and use Take Wing every round to reset distance.
- Open with Sundering Word the first time two or more PCs are within a 60-ft cone: 36 psychic plus prone sets up your whole next turn.
- Kill-priority is anyone who can reach him in the air or remove prone — flyers, ranged nukers, and the party's mobility caster die first.
- When bloodied, Oathbreaker's Banner flips from a team aura to a once-per-turn +5 to a single ally's attack, so keep one add alive to abuse it.
- Three ways to run him: as a weakened captured menace (T1), as an airborne skirmish-boss with fiend adds (T2), or as a full legendary solo leader of the fallen (T3).
Samyaza
Medium celestial (fallen), lawful evil
CR 11 · 7,200 XP · GUIDELINEMagic Resistance. Samyaza has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Oathbreaker's Banner. Signature. Samyaza is the rallying point of the rebellion. Each fiend or fallen celestial of his choosing within 30 feet of him has advantage on attack rolls and ignores being frightened. While Samyaza is below half his hit points, this aura instead grants a +5 bonus to a single allied attack roll once per turn, as desperation sharpens the host.
Watcher's Sight. Samyaza can see invisible creatures and through magical darkness within 120 feet, and he cannot be surprised while conscious.
Actions
Multiattack. Samyaza makes three attacks with Oathfire Greatsword, or two attacks if he also uses Sundering Word.
Oathfire Greatsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+5) slashing damage plus 9 (2d8) radiant damage.
Sundering Word (Recharge 5-6). Samyaza speaks the name that broke heaven in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in the area must make a DC 17 Charisma saving throw, taking 36 (8d8) psychic damage and being knocked prone on a failed save, or half as much damage and not knocked prone on a success.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Skyfall (Bonus Action). Samyaza flies up to 30 feet without provoking opportunity attacks. If he ends this movement adjacent to a creature, that creature must succeed on a DC 17 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Wing Parry (Reaction). When Samyaza is hit by an attack, he can interpose a feathered wing to add 3 to his AC against that attack, possibly causing it to miss.
Legendary Actions (3/Round)
Strike. Samyaza makes one Oathfire Greatsword attack.
Take Wing (Costs 1 Action). Samyaza flies up to half his fly speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Condemn (Costs 2 Actions). Samyaza points at one creature he can see within 60 feet. That creature must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or take 18 (4d8) radiant damage and have disadvantage on attack rolls until the end of its next turn.
A crowned, golden-winged warrior hovers above a coiling cloud of the damned, a great two-handed sword leveled like a verdict, every feather edged as if for war.
Samyaza, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINESworn Wingmate (signature). While within 30 feet of Samyaza, Samyaza adds 1d6 radiant damage to the first attack it hits with each turn, honoring the oath that binds them.
Actions
Falling Glaive. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d10+6) slashing damage.
Reactions
Shield the Captain. When Samyaza takes damage while within 5 feet, Samyaza can take half of that damage instead, throwing itself between its leader and the blow.
A lesser Watcher who never broke its vow to follow, Samyaza fights and dies at Samyaza's shoulder without a word of complaint.
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 in the air with Skyfall to knock a front-liner prone, then carve with the greatsword. If the party clusters, save Sundering Word for the cone; kill-priority is whoever can fly or heal. At this tier run him as a captured, weakened menace rather than the full leader of the fallen.
Stay airborne and dive, using Wing Parry to shrug off the burst rounds. Drop Sundering Word the instant two or more PCs bunch up, then focus the prone targets. Pairs well with a couple of fiend adds so Oathbreaker's Banner has something to buff.
Run him as the solo boss: open from 90 feet of flight, lead with Sundering Word, then full Multiattack on the prone cluster. Spend legendary actions on Take Wing to stay out of melee reach and Condemn the party's heaviest hitter. When bloodied his aura turns from a buff into a +5 sniper bonus, so keep a single ally alive to capitalize.
Put Samyaza 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 Samyaza?
Natively CR 11 (Tier 3, levels 11-15) with XP 7,200. He is solo_capable: his legendary actions and reactions let him carry an encounter alone against a party of four, and his sheet is already dropped one band to account for that. Scale him to CR ~2 (T1) or CR ~6 (T2) using the tier table if you want him as a lesser threat.
Can Samyaza be a companion or ally?
Yes, but only as a campaign-defining patron, never a balanced party member. As the crowned leader of the fallen he commands hosts and exacts oaths; if PCs strike a bargain, use his telepathy and Oathbreaker's Banner to make him a force multiplier for an army, not a member of the marching order. For an ally that actually fights at the table, use Asbeel, Bound.
How do I keep a flying solo boss from feeling cheap?
Give the map verticality, ledges, or flying mounts so martials have answers, and let Samyaza land to Multiattack when he is winning. Telegraph Sundering Word's recharge so players can spread out, and use Wing Parry sparingly so it reads as a defining trick rather than an invulnerability button.
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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