Valkyros
Valkyros — The Encounter
Scale-Sworn Bulwark of the Ember Brood · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Valkyros
Among the Ember Brood, the scale-sworn are raised not to fly but to hold. Valkyros took the warden's oath in the molten foundries beneath the cinder-peaks, where hatchlings are taught that a single drake planted before a doorway is worth a flight of raiders behind it. His weapon, the Cleftfang, is a greatcleaver forged from a fallen sibling's jaw-plates, its asymmetrical fang-blades meant less to slay than to break a charge and shove the bold to their knees. He speaks little; brutality and patience are his only fluent tongues. Where other dragonkin hoard gold, Valkyros hoards ground, refusing to yield a step while any ally still draws breath behind his guard. Brigands who have crashed against his stance describe the same thing: a wall of armor and fire that simply does not move, and a roar that turns their own torches against them. He is a bodyguard, a doorman of the deep forges, and the last thing many siege-breakers ever see.
Run Valkyros in Sixty Seconds
- Brace, don't chase. Valkyros's whole kit is Bulwark Stance - keep him stationary in a doorway or chokepoint so he and the ally beside him get +2 AC. The instant he moves, that aura drops.
- Covering Cleave is the threat. Every time a PC swings at an ally near him, he reaction-strikes them. Players learn fast to attack HIM instead - which is exactly the point.
- Open clustered, save the roar. Searing Roar (Recharge 5-6) is a 15-ft cone - fire it when 2+ PCs bunch to flank, otherwise hold it.
- When bloodied, he refuses to retreat - tighten the stance, keep the cleave reactions firing, and bait melee onto his high AC while allies behind him do the killing.
- Three ways to run him: (1) doorway bouncer guarding a boss, (2) front rank of a brood shield-wall with minions braced beside him, (3) a duel-the-champion set piece where he shoves and prones a lone melee PC. He is an ADD-ON, not a solo.
Valkyros
Medium dragon, lawful neutral
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEBulwark Stance. Valkyros plants his great cleaver as a shield wall. While he has not moved on his last turn, he and any ally within 5 feet of him gain a +2 bonus to AC (already factored into his own AC while braced).
Fire Within. When Valkyros takes fire damage, he instead takes none and the next melee attack he makes before the end of his next turn deals an extra 7 (2d6) fire damage.
Actions
Multiattack. Valkyros makes two attacks with his Cleftfang Greatcleaver.
Cleftfang Greatcleaver. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (3d8 + 4) slashing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be pushed 5 feet and knocked prone.
Searing Roar (Recharge 5-6). Valkyros breathes ember-laced fury in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 24 (7d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Covering Cleave. Reaction: When a creature Valkyros can see within 10 feet hits an ally with an attack, Valkyros makes one Cleftfang Greatcleaver attack against that creature.
A broad-shouldered drake-kin sheathed in dented plate, Valkyros sets his fang-bladed cleaver like a wall and dares the line to break against him. Ember-orange scales glow at the seams of his armor where the brood-fire still burns.
Valkyros, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEAsh Veil (signature). Once per turn as a bonus action, Valkyros belches a screen of ash in a 10-foot cube within 20 feet. The area is lightly obscured until the start of its next turn, giving its bound warden cover from ranged attacks through it.
Actions
Raking Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 3) piercing damage plus 3 (1d6) fire damage.
Reactions
Interpose. When its warden is hit by an attack while Valkyros is within 5 feet, Valkyros can halve the damage dealt to the warden, taking the other half itself.
A squat, soot-blackened young drake that pads at Valkyros's heel, snorting cinders and refusing to leave his shadow even when ordered.
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 by planting in a chokepoint so Bulwark Stance walls off the party's frontline. Hold the door and let Covering Cleave punish anyone who swings at your softer allies; save Searing Roar for when two or more PCs cluster to flank. Pair him with a bigger threat - he buys the boss time, he is not the boss.
Brace turn one in the doorway; the +2 AC aura makes him and a flanking minion miserable to dig out. Kill-priority for the party is the squishy caster behind him, so Covering Cleave should snap onto whoever threatens that line. Open clustered fights with Searing Roar, then grind. Best run beside a stronger flagship he is protecting.
Field him as the anchor of a wall - two or three brood-kin braced beside him under Bulwark Stance turn a corridor into a meat grinder. Reserve Searing Roar to break a focused-fire push, and let Covering Cleave guard your real centerpiece. Pair him with a flying drake or a caster boss; alone, four high-tier PCs simply walk around the wall.
Put Valkyros 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 Valkyros?
His home build is CR 6 (2,300 XP) for a 5th-10th level party. The sheet also scales down to roughly CR 2 for tier 1 and up to about CR 11 for tier 3 - same traits and actions, only the numbers move.
Can Valkyros be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a lawful, oath-bound warden he makes a natural bodyguard NPC or a player's sworn protector. Drop his Covering Cleave reaction onto the party instead and he becomes a living shield wall - and Cinderwhelp, his bound whelp, can tag along as a second ally.
Is Valkyros a solo boss?
No. He has no legendary actions and only a single reaction, so a full party will out-act him. Use him as the unmovable front rank protecting a stronger flagship threat or a caster boss - that is where his Bulwark Stance and Covering Cleave shine.
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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