Araqiel
the Grave Reckoner — who read the signs of the earth and the reckoning of graves.
Araqiel — The Encounter
the Grave Reckoner — who read the signs of the earth and the reckoning of graves. · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Araqiel
Araqiel taught the signs of the earth — geomancy, the reckoning of graves, the counting of the dead the soil holds. He fights as the hungry earth itself: burying the living, raising the newly dead, and drinking the deaths around him to heal.
Run Araqiel in Sixty Seconds
- Overpowered boss CR 18 fallen angel — legendary actions + Legendary Resistance.
- Magic Resistance advantage on saves vs. spells; plan your control.
- Swallowing Earth its recharge AoE is the wipe threat — spread out.
- Immune to radiant, poison, fear, charm and resists most damage types.
- Part of the Grigori host deadliest fielded alongside the other Watchers and Semjaza.
Araqiel
Huge celestial (fallen watcher), neutral evil
CR 18 · 20,000 XP · GUIDELINELegendary Resistance (3/Day). If Araqiel fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Magic Resistance. Araqiel has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Reckoning of Graves. When a creature dies within 60 feet of Araqiel, Araqiel regains 20 hit points and the corpse rises at the start of Araqiel's next turn as a hostile shadow (use the stats of a specter) under Araqiel's control, up to a maximum of five.
Actions
Multiattack. Araqiel makes two Grave-Iron Fist attacks and uses Swallowing Earth if available.
Grave-Iron Fist. Melee Weapon Attack: +13 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d8 + 8) bludgeoning damage plus 13 (3d8) necrotic damage, and the target's speed is halved until the end of its next turn as the earth grips it.
Swallowing Earth (Recharge 5–6). The ground erupts in a 30-foot radius. Each creature there makes a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw, taking 45 (10d8) bludgeoning damage and being restrained (buried) on a failure, or half as much and not restrained on a success. A buried creature can free itself with a DC 19 Strength check.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Sinking Ward (Reaction). When Araqiel is hit by a melee attack, it can sink partly into the earth; it takes half the damage and the attacker is pulled 10 feet toward Araqiel.
Legendary Actions (3/Round)
Strike (Costs 1 Action). Araqiel makes one Grave-Iron Fist attack.
Tremor (Costs 2 Actions). Each creature within 20 feet must succeed on a DC 19 Strength save or be knocked prone; the area becomes difficult terrain until the end of Araqiel's next turn.
A body of grave-dirt and root and bone, wings of shattered headstones. Araqiel taught men to read the earth, and the earth remembers every grave it has ever taken.
Araqiel, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINELegendary Resistance (3/Day) (signature). If Araqiel fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Actions
Grave-Iron Fist. Melee Weapon Attack: +13 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d8 + 8) bludgeoning damage plus 13 (3d8) necrotic damage, and the target's speed is halved until the end of its next turn as the earth grips it.
Reactions
Sinking Ward (Reaction). When Araqiel is hit by a melee attack, it can sink partly into the earth; it takes half the damage and the attacker is pulled 10 feet toward Araqiel.
The same Huge celestial, bound as a lesser ally and set to guard whoever summoned it.
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.
A vastly diminished echo of Araqiel for a mid-level party — same role, far softer numbers. It is the host's attrition engine — it buries the party, raises their fallen against them, and heals off every death on the field. A grinding war of position that punishes clustered parties.
A weakened Araqiel, still a serious boss. It is the host's attrition engine — it buries the party, raises their fallen against them, and heals off every death on the field. A grinding war of position that punishes clustered parties.
It is the host's attrition engine — it buries the party, raises their fallen against them, and heals off every death on the field. A grinding war of position that punishes clustered parties. This is its true, overpowered form — a legendary-tier fight.
Put Araqiel 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 Araqiel?
At its native tier Araqiel is CR 18 — a deliberately overpowered fallen-angel boss. Scale the AC, HP, to-hit, and save DC to the tier line matching your party's level.
How does Araqiel fight?
It is the host's attrition engine — it buries the party, raises their fallen against them, and heals off every death on the field. A grinding war of position that punishes clustered parties.
How do you fight the Grave Reckoner without feeding it?
Deny it deaths near itself — it heals 20 and raises a specter every time something dies within 60 feet, including your own summons and minions. Keep the killing away from it, and clear its risen shadows fast before the swarm snowballs.
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.
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