Mansa
muzzled saw-blade ravager of the rhino-brute Battle Borta
Mansa — The Encounter
muzzled saw-blade ravager of the rhino-brute Battle Borta · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Mansa
The Battle Borta keep Mansa muzzled because he cannot be trusted to stop. The iron cage over his jaw is the warband's leash on a brute who, once swinging his enormous saw-sword, fights harder the more he bleeds. The rhinokin mercenaries unchain him only when a battle has turned grim and a wall of shields must be ground down; his serrated blade chews through plate and timber alike. Mansa understands little beyond the order to advance, but the warband needs no more from him than that. When Mwanga points the cage toward the enemy line, the other brutes simply make room and let Mansa eat his way through it.
Run Mansa in Sixty Seconds
- He's the grinder then aim Mansa at armored, shielded foes so Grinding Teeth bites harder.
- Bleeding is good then let him drop below half to trigger Caged Fury's advantage—don't pull him back.
- 10-foot saw then keep brutes close behind his reach to exploit the gap he tears open.
- No fear, no charm then ignore enemy control once he's bloodied; Caged Fury locks it out.
Mansa
Medium humanoid (rhinokin), chaotic neutral
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEGrinding Teeth. On a hit, Mansa's saw-sword deals an extra 5 (2d4) slashing damage to any creature wearing armor or carrying a shield.
Caged Fury. While below half its hit points, Mansa has advantage on melee attack rolls and is immune to being charmed or frightened.
Actions
Multiattack. Mansa makes two Saw-Sword attacks.
Saw-Sword. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d8+5) slashing damage.
A hulking rhino-brute, jaw locked in an iron muzzle-cage, dragging a giant saw-toothed greatsword.
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.
Aim Mansa at armored, shielded foes so Grinding Teeth adds its bonus. Don't fear letting him take hits—Caged Fury makes him deadlier as he drops, so the warband can pile in behind his reach.
Send Mansa at the enemy's armored front line and Multiattack; his saw chews shields and plate for extra damage. Let him drop into Caged Fury rather than retreating, and keep the other brutes close to exploit the wedge his reach tears open.
Run Mansa as the warband's shield-grinder, never solo. Unleash him at the heaviest armored knot, let Caged Fury build as he bleeds, and have Mwanga's brutes pour through the line he saws apart.
Put Mansa 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 Mansa?
Mansa is CR 6 (2,300 XP) at his native Tier 2. Rescale AC, HP, to-hit, and DC from the tier table for Tier 1 or Tier 3 play.
How does Mansa fight alongside the rest of the Battle Borta?
He is the warband's shield-grinder—unleashed at armored ranks, his saw-sword chews plate and shields while Caged Fury makes him stronger as he bleeds, opening a wedge for Mwanga's brutes.
Is Mansa a solo boss?
No. He is rank-and-file muscle with no legendary kit and poor judgment; he must be pointed and supported. Always field him inside the warband.
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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