Black Dragon of Plague
Black Dragon of Plague — The Encounter
The pestilent wyrm whose breath rots flesh and fen alike · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Black Dragon of Plague
They call it the Rotbringer, and where its shadow falls the wells turn brackish and cattle bloat in the field. Old fenland prayers name it a wyrm born of stagnant water and unburied dead, a thing that drank deep of every pestilence the land could brew and learned to breathe it back out. It does not hoard gold so much as ruin; its lairs are middens of bone half-sunk in acid pools, and the air above them shimmers with flies that never land. Plague-cults seek it out, mistaking its sickness for a kind of grim mercy, and it suffers them as one suffers carrion birds. Scholars who survived its passing wrote that the dragon hunts not from hunger but from contempt for clean things, salting villages with rot the way a farmer salts a field. To slay it is to bury it deep, for even its corpse breeds fever, and the wise burn the ground it died upon for three days and three nights.
Run Black Dragon of Plague in Sixty Seconds
- Open from the sky. First round, fly over the tightest cluster and unload Pestilent Breath (60-ft line, DC 17, 14d6 acid + poisoned). Big AoE first, melee second.
- Kill-priority: casters and healers. Use Multiattack and Tail Attack to reach the back line. The poisoned condition shuts down concentration and shoves down their to-hit.
- Mind the Miasma. 5 poison/round to anything within 10 ft, and downed PCs can't be healed inside it — so the dragon WANTS bodies near it. Stand on the fallen.
- When bloodied (104 HP), go mobile. Spend Wing Buffet to knock melee prone and drag the rot onto the squishies; bank Legendary Resistance for the save that would end the fight.
- Three ways to run it: raw boss with legendary actions (T3 solo); lair fight in acid fens with Brackwing flanking; or downscale to a young drake terror (T1/T2) leading a plague-cult.
Black Dragon of Plague
Huge dragon, chaotic evil
CR 11 · 7,200 XP · GUIDELINEAmphibious. The dragon can breathe air and water.
Miasma of Rot. Signature. The dragon is wreathed in a corrupting haze. At the start of each of the dragon's turns, every creature within 10 feet that is not immune to poison takes 5 poison damage. A creature reduced to 0 hit points within this miasma cannot regain hit points until the start of its next turn, and corpses there decay within seconds.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Actions
Multiattack. The dragon makes three attacks: one with its Bite and two with its Claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d10+6) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) acid damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d6+6) slashing damage.
Pestilent Breath (Recharge 5-6). The dragon exhales a torrent of caustic, disease-laden bile in a 60-foot line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in that line must make a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw, taking 49 (14d6) acid damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success. A creature that fails is also poisoned until the end of its next turn.
Legendary Actions (3/Round)
Legendary Actions (3/round). The dragon can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The dragon regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Detect. The dragon makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.
Tail Attack. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d8+6) bludgeoning damage.
Wing Buffet (Costs 2 Actions). The dragon beats its plague-soaked wings. Each creature within 10 feet must succeed on a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw or take 13 (2d6+6) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone. The dragon can then fly up to half its speed, spreading its miasma as it moves.
A Huge wyrm of black, oily scales rears from a fouled outcrop, wings spread wide and jaws cracked open to vent a sickly green haze. Where it roosts, the marsh blackens and the dead do not rest clean.
Black Dragon of Plague, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEPlaguebearer's Ward (signature). Black Dragon of Plague and allies within 10 feet have resistance to poison damage and advantage on saving throws against disease.
Actions
Rending Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8+5) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) acid damage.
Reactions
Fevered Lunge. When an enemy within 10 feet drops an ally to 0 hit points, Black Dragon of Plague moves up to its speed toward that enemy and makes one Rending Bite against it.
A lesser plague-drake yoked to the wyrm's will, its hide weeping the same green ichor, ever circling to shield its master's flank.
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.
Run it as a young plague-drake terror, not a true wyrm. Open with Pestilent Breath the moment two or more PCs cluster, then snap at the weakest with Bite. Keep the Miasma trait but tick it down to 2 poison; let the party feel dread without a wipe, and pair it with a swarm of diseased rats for flavor.
An adult-scale threat that anchors a mid-tier set piece. Open from the air, drop Pestilent Breath down the party line, then land and Multiattack the squishiest caster. When bloodied, retreat to its acid pools where the Miasma punishes pursuit. Pair it with Brackwing or cultist handlers so the party can't simply gang the dragon.
Native home: a centerpiece boss. Open by flying overhead and breathing down the cluster, then use Wing Buffet to scatter melee and reposition the Miasma onto the casters. Spend Tail Attack legendaries to pin the ranger; save Legendary Resistance for the fight-ending save. Kill-priority is the party's mobility, not its HP — keep them in the rot.
Put Black Dragon of Plague 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 Black Dragon of Plague?
Its native build is CR 11 (Tier 3, levels 11-15) and it is solo-capable thanks to three legendary actions and the Miasma of Rot reaction-pressure trait. Scale it down using the Tier 1 (CR ~2) or Tier 2 (CR ~6) rows for lower-level parties; the traits stay identical and only the numbers change.
Can Black Dragon of Plague be a companion or ally?
As a flagship boss the full wyrm is meant to be fought, but the bound plague-drake Brackwing is built as an allied companion (AC 14, 124 HP) that wards nearby allies against poison and disease and lunges to avenge fallen friends. Use Brackwing if you want a plague-themed dragon on the players' side.
How do I keep the plague theme from just being a save-or-die slog?
Lean on the poisoned condition and the no-healing Miasma rather than raw damage. The dread comes from players being unable to stabilize the downed and unable to concentrate on buffs while standing in the haze — give them clear lines of retreat out of the 10-ft aura so smart play is rewarded.
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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