Boar Cannoneer
big-bellied gun-hauler lobbing iron shot for the boar-host
Boar Cannoneer — The Encounter
big-bellied gun-hauler lobbing iron shot for the boar-host · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Boar Cannoneer
The Cannoneer is the boar-host's answer to walls and formations that will not break to a charge. Too heavy to run and too valuable to risk up front, it plants itself on high ground behind the line and lobs iron shot into the enemy's densest ranks, softening them for the wedge. The gun is a crude thing, slow to feed and prone to burst, and a Cannoneer's scarred hide and singed bristles tell the tale of every misfire it has survived. It cannot defend itself well at close range, so it fights ringed by Fighters and Defenders who know that one good shot from the fat gunner is worth their whole turn. When the enemy closes, it dumps grapeshot and swings the empty gun like a club.
Run Boar Cannoneer in Sixty Seconds
- It fires every OTHER turn reload turns it can only Cannon-Butt, so track the cadence.
- Brace for advantage if it holds still it shoots with advantage and ignores half cover.
- One shot splashes the target is knocked prone and neighbors take 2d8 ricochet.
- Grapeshot in melee a 15-ft cone when two or more foes crowd it, then the gun is empty.
- It is helpless up close so it hides behind Fighters and Defenders; flank it to shut it down.
Boar Cannoneer
Large humanoid (boarfolk), neutral
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEBraced Artillery. If the Cannoneer does not move on its turn, its Hand Cannon attacks are made with advantage and it ignores half cover on its target.
Slow Reload. The Cannoneer can fire its Hand Cannon only on alternating turns; on the turn between shots it rams a fresh ball home and may only make a Cannon-Butt attack.
Actions
Multiattack. The Cannoneer fires its Hand Cannon (if loaded), or makes two Cannon-Butt attacks while reloading.
Hand Cannon. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 80/240 ft., one target. Hit: 27 (5d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 15 Strength save or be knocked prone. Each creature within 5 feet of the target takes 9 (2d8) bludgeoning damage from the ricochet.
Cannon-Butt. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Grapeshot (Reaction, Recharge 6). When two or more enemies are within 15 feet, the Cannoneer discharges scrap-shot in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in the cone makes a DC 15 Dexterity save, taking 14 (4d6) piercing damage on a failure, half on a success. This expends its loaded shot.
A pot-bellied boarfolk shoulders a stubby iron hand cannon, a fresh ball ready in its off hand and more piled at its hooves.
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 dialed-down gunner: park it behind the line, fire every other turn at the densest cluster, and reload between shots. Keep bodies between it and the party; it is helpless if flanked.
Set it on high ground and have it Brace for advantage, then lob a shot into the party's tightest formation to knock a target prone and splash the neighbors. Ring it with Fighters. On reload turns it Cannon-Butts; dump Grapeshot the moment melee reaches it. It never stands alone.
Run it as the host's artillery anchor, screened by Defenders and the Paladin. It punishes clustered parties and forces them to spread out into the waiting wedge. Kill-priority for the party, but it is buried behind the warband, not out in the open.
Put Boar Cannoneer 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 Boar Cannoneer?
At its native Tier 2 it is CR 6 (2,300 XP). Scale the AC, HP, to-hit, and save DC to the Tier 1 or Tier 3 line to fit a weaker or stronger encounter.
How does Boar Cannoneer fight alongside the rest of the Army of Caledonian Boar?
It is rear-line artillery. It sits on high ground behind Fighters and Defenders and lobs shot into the party's formation to soften and scatter them, setting up the charge. It cannot protect itself, so it depends entirely on the warband's screen.
Why can the Boar Cannoneer only fire every other turn?
Its Slow Reload trait models ramming a fresh ball down the crude gun. Big damage, but only on alternating turns, which keeps its sustained output inside the Tier 2 band and gives melee a window to close in.
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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