Malzyrath
Malzyrath — The Encounter
Winged flamecaster of a dragon-blooded war creed · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Malzyrath
He was hatched of the Heartstar Thuban, the burning jewel from which the dragon-creed claims descent, and where lesser scions inherited only scale, Malzyrath inherited fire that thinks. The war-clerics named him Flamecaster and bound to his hand a staff of drake-bone, that he might speak the old combustion-words and the air itself would answer in heat. He does not fight as a soldier fights. He hovers above the line on wings the color of a forge's mouth, choosing which rank will burn, and the chosen rank burns to cinders that scatter on the wind so that nothing remains to be buried. Those who have faced the creed warn that the swordsmen are merely the anvil; Malzyrath is the hammer-fall of light that comes after, and he answers to a greater flame still smoldering at the heart of his legion. He will not return, they say. He was forged to advance.
Run Malzyrath in Sixty Seconds
- He is artillery, not a duelist. Keep him airborne and 60+ ft. back; he should almost never be in melee reach by choice.
- Open with Pyre Breath. Throw the 30-ft. cone (DC 15, 8d6 fire) at the tightest cluster on turn one, then Multiattack with staff-and-bolt every round while it recharges.
- Kill-priority: soft casters and archers. Searing Bolt the lowest-AC backline target; Heartstar Ember reduces a downed creature to cinders, so use that to demoralize the table.
- When bloodied, gain altitude. Use Ember Step every turn to fly out of reach and hold Pyre Breath for the next clump rather than trading hits.
- Three ways to run him: skirmishing air-artillery harassing from above; the burn-half of a duo with a front-line bruiser; or a lair-fight arsonist who ignites cover to funnel the party into his cone.
Malzyrath
Medium humanoid (dragonborn sorcerer), lawful evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEHeartstar Ember (signature). Malzyrath carries a mote of the burning Heartstar from which his bloodline was forged. When he casts a spell that deals fire damage, he adds his Charisma modifier (+4) to one fire damage roll of that spell. A creature reduced to 0 hit points by his fire is consumed in cinders, leaving only scorched ground.
Winged Caster. Malzyrath's membranous wings let him hover and reposition freely; he ignores difficult terrain on the ground and his fly speed does not provoke opportunity attacks while he is concentrating on a spell.
Actions
Multiattack. Malzyrath makes one Drake-Headed Staff attack and uses Searing Bolt, or he casts one spell.
Drake-Headed Staff. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8+5) bludgeoning damage plus 7 (2d6) fire damage.
Searing Bolt. Ranged Spell Attack: +7 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (3d8+3) fire damage. On a hit, the target sheds dim light in a 5-foot radius until the start of Malzyrath's next turn.
Pyre Breath (Recharge 5-6). Malzyrath channels his bloodline and exhales a 30-foot cone of dragonfire. Each creature in the cone makes a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 28 (8d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success. Flammable objects in the area that aren't being worn or carried ignite.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Ember Step. Bonus Action. Malzyrath beats his wings and flies up to 15 feet without provoking opportunity attacks, trailing sparks that leave the space he left smoldering until the end of his turn.
A lean dragon-blooded warrior with broad orange membrane wings and a spiked draconic crest, leveling a long bronze staff crowned by a snarling drake's skull. Embers drift from the ruined ground beneath his clawed feet.
Malzyrath, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEEmber-Bonded (signature). Malzyrath is a lesser drake-scion sworn to the flamecaster's creed. While within 30 feet of an ally, it has resistance to fire damage and advantage on saving throws against being frightened.
Actions
Searing Talons. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10+3) slashing damage plus 4 (1d8) fire damage.
Reactions
Cinder Ward. When an ally within 10 feet takes fire damage, Malzyrath can spread its wings and reduce that damage by 1d10 by absorbing the flame into its own scales.
A half-grown drake-scion, scales banked like coals, that pads at the flamecaster's heel and throws itself between its master and any answering fire.
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 Pyre Breath on any clustered pair, then hover out of melee with Ember Step and pick off the softest target with Searing Bolt. Kill-priority is healers and anyone in light armor; he will not trade blows on the ground. Pair him with a melee bruiser who holds the front while he burns from the air.
Lead with Pyre Breath into the tightest cluster, then alternate staff-and-bolt Multiattacks while flying 15 ft. each turn so melee can never pin him. Focus fire the lowest-AC caster or archer; when bloodied he climbs out of reach and saves Pyre Breath for the next clump. Pair him with a heavier front-line dragon-kin so the party can't ignore the ground to chase him.
Run him as the artillery half of a duo, never alone: he hovers high, opens with Pyre Breath, and rains Searing Bolts while a flagship melee threat (a war mount or scythe-champion) locks the party down. Burn concentration-casters and clothies first. With minions or a lair full of flammable cover, he ignites the battlefield itself to funnel the party into his cone.
Put Malzyrath 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 Malzyrath?
His home stat block is CR 6 (Tier 2, 2,300 XP) — a fair fight as a featured threat for a party of four 5th-to-8th-level characters, or as elite support in a larger battle. The record also provides scaled Tier 1 (~CR 2) and Tier 3 (~CR 11) versions so you can drop him into almost any party level.
Can Malzyrath be a companion or ally?
Yes. As an ally he is superb air-artillery: he hovers behind the party and rains fire on whatever the front line points him at, and his bonded drake-scion Ashling can shield allies from flame. Played fairly he is lawful evil and serves a dragon-creed, so an alliance is uneasy and conditional — useful for a temporary truce, a hired-sellsword arc, or a 'my enemy's enemy' campaign beat.
Why is he flying and casting instead of fighting in melee?
By design. Malzyrath's whole kit punishes a party that ignores positioning: Winged Caster and Ember Step let him keep his fly speed without provoking, so a DM who keeps him 60+ ft. up and back forces the party to spend resources reaching him while Pyre Breath and Searing Bolt chew the backline. If your table has no way to reach the air, pair him with a grounded bruiser so he isn't free-firing unopposed.
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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