Menelik
serrated-cleaver skirmisher of the rhino-brute Battle Borta
Menelik — The Encounter
serrated-cleaver skirmisher of the rhino-brute Battle Borta · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Menelik
Menelik is the fastest brute in the Battle Borta, the one the warband sends loping ahead to harry and bleed before the heavy line arrives. His saw-toothed cleaver leaves wounds that will not close, so by the time Tutu and Samori reach the foe, Menelik has already marked the targets that cannot be healed back into the fight. The rhinokin mercenaries keep him on the flanks, where his lunging reach lets him snap at archers and healers from outside their guard. He cares nothing for Mwanga's banner; he simply enjoys the chase, and the warband is glad to let him run.
Run Menelik in Sixty Seconds
- He's the outrider then run Menelik wide to harry the enemy's healers and casters.
- Cuts stop healing then mark key foes with Ragged Wounds before the heavy brutes arrive.
- Lunge for the bonus then move 15+ feet in before striking to add the extra 2d4 slashing.
- Skirmish, don't slug then pull back if focused; his job is denial, not standing in the line.
Menelik
Medium humanoid (rhinokin), chaotic neutral
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINERagged Wounds. A creature struck by Menelik's serrated cleaver can't regain hit points until the start of Menelik's next turn.
Lunging Reach. Menelik's cleaver attacks have 10-foot reach. If he moves at least 15 feet before attacking, he deals an extra 5 (2d4) slashing damage on a hit.
Actions
Multiattack. Menelik makes one Serrated Cleaver attack and one Horn attack.
Serrated Cleaver. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8+4) slashing damage.
Horn. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) piercing damage.
A lean, lunging rhino-brute dragging a long saw-toothed cleaver low and ready to strike.
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.
Send Menelik wide to harass healers and casters with his 10-foot reach. Mark soft targets with Ragged Wounds so the slower brutes finish them before they can be patched up.
Run Menelik on the flank to bleed the enemy's support line, lunging in for the +2d4 bonus and applying Ragged Wounds to anyone the healers want back. Pull back if focused; his job is to deny healing while the heavy brutes close, not to trade blows toe-to-toe.
Use Menelik as the warband's outrider, never solo. Lunge at the enemy healer to lock down healing, then peel back to the pack so Mwanga's brutes can grind down foes that can no longer be mended.
Put Menelik 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 Menelik?
Menelik is CR 6 (2,300 XP) at his native Tier 2. Use the tier table to rescale AC, HP, to-hit, and DC for Tier 1 or Tier 3.
How does Menelik fight alongside the rest of the Battle Borta?
He is the warband's skirmisher—a fast, long-reach flanker who bleeds the enemy's healers and casters and applies Ragged Wounds so brutes like Tutu and Samori can finish foes that can't be patched up.
Can Menelik fight as a solo threat?
No. He is a hit-and-run elite, fragile if focused and built around denying healing for the pack. Always field him within the warband and pull him back when targeted.
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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