Cult Executioner
Cult Executioner — The Encounter
Hooded headsman of the plague-cult, axe in one hand and chains in the other · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Cult Executioner
Every cult of the plague-saints keeps a headsman, and the cult of the wrathful keeps the worst of them. The executioner is no soldier; it is an instrument of the cult's law, raised from birth or broken into the role, hooded so that the act is never personal and the dread is never diluted. Its work is theater. The spiked chain is for the catching, hauling a fleeing heretic off their feet and dragging them across the flags to the block, and the axe is for the verdict, a single descending stroke meant to be heard at the back of the crowd. It does not chase and it does not parley. It walks, slow and certain, because it has learned that fear does its running for it. On the battlefield it is used the same way: the cult floods the field with cultists to pin and prone the enemy, and the executioner follows behind to harvest the helpless. Take its chain away and it is merely a strong man with an axe; leave the chain in its hands and it will turn the ground into a scaffold.
Run Cult Executioner in Sixty Seconds
- Reach and reel the 15-ft. Spiked Chain pulls a target prone and drags it in, setting up the kill.
- Open by chaining the most exposed PC, then cleaving for Headsman's Verdict's extra 4d6 against the prone.
- Hard to answer Dreadful Reputation gives nearby foes disadvantage to hit it, so it wins the exchange.
- When bloodied it stops chasing and hooks whoever is closest to half HP to finish them with a single stroke.
- Three ways to run it a cult enforcer behind a screen of cultists, a dungeon jailer-executioner, or a grim chain-wielding ally.
Cult Executioner
Medium humanoid (human), lawful evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEHeadsman's Verdict. Signature. The executioner deals an extra 14 (4d6) damage when it hits a target that is prone, restrained, grappled, or that has fewer than half its hit points remaining. It needs only one good blow to finish what its chains begin.
Dreadful Reputation. A creature that starts its turn within 10 feet of the executioner and can see its hooded face must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or have disadvantage on attack rolls against it until the start of that creature's next turn.
Unhurried Menace. The executioner cannot be made to move faster than its speed by any effect, and it has advantage on saving throws against being frightened.
Actions
Multiattack. The executioner makes one Cleaving Axe attack and one Spiked Chain attack.
Cleaving Axe. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d12+5) slashing damage. On a critical hit, or against a target with fewer than half its hit points, add an extra 13 (2d12) slashing damage.
Spiked Chain. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8+5) piercing damage, and a Large or smaller target must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 10 feet toward the executioner and knocked prone.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Drag to the Block (Bonus Action). The executioner pulls a creature it has grappled or that is within reach of its chain up to 10 feet toward itself.
Beneath the tall pointed hood there is no face the condemned will remember, only the great axe in one fist and the spiked chain coiled in the other. The cult sends it when a sentence must be carried out where everyone can see.
Cult Executioner, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEGrim Resolve (signature). Allies within 10 feet of the headsman have advantage on saving throws against being frightened, steadied by a presence more terrifying than any foe.
Actions
Greataxe. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d12+4) slashing damage.
Reactions
Hook the Faller. When an enemy within 15 feet drops below half its hit points and tries to flee, the headsman may lash out with its chain, pulling the target 10 feet toward an ally.
A headsman who set aside the cult's hood, lending its grim steadiness and chain-work to a band that will have 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.
Chain a back-liner prone, drag them in, and chop with Headsman's Verdict damage. It is slow, so it relies on minions to pin foes. Pair it with cultists who set up its kills.
Open by chaining the squishiest PC, pulling them prone, then cleaving for the Verdict bonus. Dreadful Reputation makes it hard to hit back. Kill-priority for the party is killing it before it drags someone to the block; pair it with cultists who prone targets for it.
Hook a wounded or isolated target, drag them prone, and execute with the bonus damage. It punishes the helpless, so it shines amid a cult that does the controlling. Pair it with a plague-priest boss and let it harvest the pinned.
Put Cult Executioner 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 Cult Executioner?
Its native sheet is CR 6 (Tier 2): AC 16, 119 HP, +8 to hit, save DC 15. Tier 1 and Tier 3 versions are provided with the same traits and scaled numbers.
Can Cult Executioner be a companion or ally?
Yes. As The Headsman, Unhooded it lends grim steadiness and devastating chain-work to a band, hooking fleeing foes and warding allies against fear.
Is this a solo boss?
No. The executioner has no legendary kit and depends on allies to pin its prey; four players out-act it. Run it behind a screen of cultists who prone targets for its axe.
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.
Technical Specifications
32mm, 75mm
STL, Pre-supported STL
Standard or ABS-like resin, 0.05mm layer height
Yes — ready to print, optimized supports included
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