Shaka
gauntlet-and-pick brawler of the rhino-brute Battle Borta
Shaka — The Encounter
gauntlet-and-pick brawler of the rhino-brute Battle Borta · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Shaka
Shaka is the Battle Borta's can-opener, the brute the warband shoves forward whenever the enemy hides behind plate or a barred door. His war pick punches through what axes only dent, and his armored fist finishes whatever the pick leaves reeling. Among the rhinokin mercenaries he is famously hard to move—shoving Shaka is like shoving a standing stone—so the warband uses him to hold a breach once it is made. He has little use for Mwanga's banner-talk and less for Sundiata's theater; Shaka simply finds the toughest shell on the field and cracks it so the rest of the Battle Borta can pour in.
Run Shaka in Sixty Seconds
- He's the can-opener then send Shaka at the most armored foe so Armor-Splitter punches through.
- Hold the breach then plant him in a chokepoint where Stubborn Bulk makes him impossible to shove.
- Crit drops AC then have allies pile onto a target Shaka just critically struck.
- Crack, don't chase then keep him on the toughest shell while the warband flows through behind.
Shaka
Medium humanoid (rhinokin), neutral
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEArmor-Splitter. Shaka's war pick ignores resistance to piercing damage, and on a critical hit the target's AC is reduced by 2 until the end of its next turn.
Stubborn Bulk. Shaka has advantage on saving throws and ability checks made to resist being grappled, shoved, or knocked prone.
Actions
Multiattack. Shaka makes one War Pick attack and one Gauntlet attack.
War Pick. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8+5) piercing damage.
Gauntlet. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6+5) bludgeoning damage.
A blocky rhino-brute with a heavy war pick and an oversized armored gauntlet, set low and braced to brawl.
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.
Point Shaka at the most heavily armored foe and let Armor-Splitter do the work. Park him in a doorway or breach where Stubborn Bulk keeps him from being shoved aside while the warband forms up.
Open on the tankiest enemy to shred its defenses, then hold the breach so the rest of the Battle Borta funnel through behind him. Let allies exploit the AC drop on a crit; Shaka's job is to crack the shell, not chase kills.
Use Shaka as the warband's immovable plug—never solo. Wedge him into the chokepoint where Stubborn Bulk keeps him rooted, split the enemy champion's armor, and let Mwanga's brutes pour past the opening he holds.
Put Shaka 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 Shaka?
Shaka 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 play.
How does Shaka fight alongside the rest of the Battle Borta?
He is the warband's breach-holder and armor-cracker—he splits the toughest enemy's defenses and plugs a chokepoint with Stubborn Bulk so brutes like Tutu and Sundiata can pour through.
Can Shaka headline a fight alone?
No. He is rank-and-file muscle with no legendary kit; his value is cracking armor and holding ground for the pack. 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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