Astaroth Cultist
a hollow-eyed mourner who trades their grief for a little borrowed power.
Astaroth Cultist — The Encounter
a hollow-eyed mourner who trades their grief for a little borrowed power. · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Astaroth Cultist
Astaroth's cult is built from the bereaved. Individually a cultist is barely a threat, but they fight in mourning-choruses, propping each other up and feeding the fallen to their mistress. They are the chaff a party wades through to reach the Duke.
Run Astaroth Cultist in Sixty Seconds
- Numbers piece field 4–8; weak alone, steady in a group.
- Shared Grief advantage vs. fear near another cultist.
- Necrotic dagger a little extra bite on the stab.
- Wail of Woe once-per-day debuff on a key attacker.
- Feeds Astaroth their deaths swell the throne of souls.
Astaroth Cultist
Medium humanoid (cultist), neutral evil
CR 1 · 200 XP · GUIDELINEShared Grief. While within 10 feet of another Astaroth cultist, this cultist has advantage on saving throws against being frightened.
Actions
Ceremonial Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage plus 3 (1d6) necrotic damage.
Wail of Woe (1/Day). The cultist screams; one creature within 30 feet must succeed on a DC 11 Wisdom saving throw or have disadvantage on its next attack roll.
Their eyes are wet and empty at once. They gave their grief to the Duke and got a knife and a purpose back — a poor trade they will defend to the death.
Astaroth Cultist, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEShared Grief (signature). While within 10 feet of another Astaroth cultist, this cultist has advantage on saving throws against being frightened.
Actions
Ceremonial Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage plus 3 (1d6) necrotic damage.
Reactions
Interpose (Reaction). When its owner is hit by an attack the companion can see, it interposes; if it is the nearer target, the attacker strikes it instead.
The same Medium humanoid, 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 scaled-down Astaroth Cultist for a low-level party — same role, softer numbers. It is the legion's chaff — weak cultists that fight in propped-up choruses, screen the elites, and are sacrificed to swell Astaroth's throne.
It is the legion's chaff — weak cultists that fight in propped-up choruses, screen the elites, and are sacrificed to swell Astaroth's throne.
Astaroth Cultist at full legion strength. It is the legion's chaff — weak cultists that fight in propped-up choruses, screen the elites, and are sacrificed to swell Astaroth's throne. Field it alongside the rest of the legion to raise the stakes.
Put Astaroth Cultist 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 Astaroth Cultist?
At its native tier Astaroth Cultist is CR 1. Scale the AC, HP, to-hit, and save DC to the tier line matching your party's level.
How does Astaroth Cultist fight in its legion?
It is the legion's chaff — weak cultists that fight in propped-up choruses, screen the elites, and are sacrificed to swell Astaroth's throne.
How many cultists should I field?
They are meant for numbers — four to eight per encounter. Shared Grief makes a clustered mob steadier than the sum of its parts, so break them up with area effects.
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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