Drakothrax
Drakothrax — The Encounter
The Flayed One, winged spirit of consuming wrath · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Drakothrax
In the grimoires of the old binders, Drakothrax is named among the spirits of consuming wrath, a fallen thing that shed its own skin so that nothing might shield it from the fire it carries within. It is written that he descended in an age of slaughter, drawn by the smell of opened wounds, and that he learned to peel the living as a man peels fruit, growing strong on each fresh agony. The flayed devil keeps no crown and rules no host willingly; he is sent, summoned, or loosed, and where he lands the ground blackens and the air tastes of iron. Conjurers who would treat with him are warned never to let the final circle break, for he does not bargain so much as wait, patient as a wound that will not close, until the chalk smudges and he may begin his work. Those few who have survived his passing speak only of red wings against a burning sky.
Run Drakothrax in Sixty Seconds
- Hold high. Drakothrax opens in the air with Hurl Flame, then dives so its first Multiattack lands on two targets and starts the DC 16 bleed.
- Kill-priority is the healer. Flense the Living gives Drakothrax advantage and self-healing against anyone already exhausted, so snowball one victim hard.
- Spend legendary actions every round. Rending Strike and Pyre Roar between turns are what let this boss out-act a four-PC party; never bank them.
- Punish movement and spells. Wrathful Recoil claws any adjacent creature that hits it, casts, or steps away, so melee can't safely disengage.
- When bloodied, scatter and burn. Use Beat of Wings to knock clustered PCs prone and fly off, then Pyre Roar the pile for fire damage and fear.
Drakothrax
Large fiend (demon), chaotic evil
CR 11 · 7,200 XP · GUIDELINEMagic Resistance. Drakothrax has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Flense the Living. Signature. When Drakothrax reduces a creature to 0 hit points with a claw, or scores a critical hit with a claw, it tears away a strip of living flesh. The target gains one level of exhaustion, and Drakothrax regains 10 hit points. While any creature within 60 feet is suffering exhaustion from this trait, Drakothrax has advantage on attack rolls against it.
Actions
Multiattack. Drakothrax makes three attacks: one with its Bite and two with its Claws. It can replace one attack with Hurl Flame.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d12+6) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) fire damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d8+6) slashing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or begin bleeding, taking 5 (1d10) slashing damage at the start of each of its turns until it or an ally uses an action to staunch the wound.
Hurl Flame. Ranged Spell Attack: +8 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (5d8) fire damage, and flammable objects that aren't worn or carried ignite.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Wrathful Recoil (Reaction). When a creature Drakothrax can see within 10 feet hits it with an attack, casts a spell, or moves out of its reach, Drakothrax makes one Claw attack against that creature.
Legendary Actions (3/Round)
Legendary Actions. Drakothrax 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. It regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Beat of Wings (Costs 1 Action). Drakothrax beats its wings. Each creature within 10 feet must succeed on a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or take 9 (2d8) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone. Drakothrax can then fly up to half its speed.
Rending Strike (Costs 2 Actions). Drakothrax makes one Claw attack.
Pyre Roar (Costs 2 Actions). Drakothrax unleashes a roar of flame. Each creature within 15 feet must make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw, taking 14 (4d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success. A creature that fails is also frightened until the end of its next turn.
A skinless winged horror of corded red muscle and curving horns, Drakothrax rears from a smoldering crag, vast bat-wings spread wide as it surveys the souls it intends to flay.
Drakothrax, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEPack of the Flayer (signature). While within 30 feet of an ally, the Drakothrax has advantage on melee attack rolls against any creature that is bleeding or frightened.
Actions
Searing Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) fire damage.
Reactions
Cinder Lunge. When a creature within 10 feet the Drakothrax can see is reduced to 0 hit points, it can move up to its speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
A charred mastiff of living coals that pads at the flayed one's heel, snapping at the heels of the wounded.
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 from the air with Hurl Flame on the softest target, then dive to flank with the Ember-Hound and rake one PC with claws to start the bleed. Kill-priority is whoever is already bleeding or frightened. Pair it with a brace of cultists or imps so the party can't simply gang the wings.
Stay aloft and alternate Hurl Flame with diving Multiattacks to spread bleed across the front line. Use Wrathful Recoil to punish casters who step or cast nearby. Pair it with a bigger threat or a swarm of minions so its single turn isn't outpaced by a full party.
This is the centerpiece: open with a flying Multiattack to stack bleed on two PCs, then spend legendary actions on Rending Strike and Pyre Roar to keep pressure between turns. Use Beat of Wings to scatter clustered melee and reposition. Kill-priority is the healer; lean on Flense the Living to snowball exhaustion and your own healing as the party drops below half.
Put Drakothrax 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 Drakothrax?
Drakothrax is built as a CR 11 (7,200 XP) flagship boss native to Tier 3 (levels 11-15). Because it carries a full action-economy kit (three legendary actions plus the Wrathful Recoil reaction), its sheet is pitched one band below raw CR-11 numbers so it plays up to a fair solo fight. Tier 1 and Tier 2 versions are provided for lower tables.
Can Drakothrax be a companion or ally?
Not directly — Drakothrax is a chaotic evil flayed devil and a centerpiece adversary, not a follower. The provided companion, the Ember-Hound, is the allied option: bind it as a charred war-beast that fights at a hero's side, or hand it to the boss as its hunting hound.
Does the bleed from its Claw stack?
Yes. Each failed Constitution save opens a separate wound, and each ticks for 1d10 at the start of the target's turn until staunched with an action, so a fully engaged Drakothrax can stack several bleeds on the front line fast. One action staunches all wounds on that creature at once.
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
Played Drakothrax at your table? Log in with your Obsidian Tavern account to leave a balance note, a war story, or a file issue — the sharpest reports get the block revised.
Log in to comment