Arischev
hooded bat-winged scythe-bearer of the Death Reapers
Arischev — The Encounter
hooded bat-winged scythe-bearer of the Death Reapers · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Arischev
Among the Death Reapers, Arischev is a stooping hunter who works the edges of a battle where the wounded crawl. Folklore of the soul-harvest names such creatures the gleaners: they do not slay the strong but glide above the broken, taking what the front line leaves behind. Bound to the same grim charter as the rest of the Flock, Arischev never fights alone for glory; it circles, marks the bloodied, and dives to cut their thread, then climbs again before any blade can answer. Villagers who have seen the leathery wings unfold against a grey sky say the gleaner takes no trophies, only the last breath, carrying each stolen exhalation back to the warband's silent muster.
Run Arischev in Sixty Seconds
- It flies so keep it honest: ready ranged attacks for when it dives into reach.
- Diving Harvest means a 20-ft. straight dive adds 2d8 necrotic to its hit, so it will always charge from above.
- Wingbeat lets it leave melee for free each turn, so block the air or it never stops kiting.
- Undead Fortitude can keep it up at 1 HP; finish it with radiant or a crit to be sure.
Arischev
Medium undead, lawful evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEDiving Harvest. If Arischev flies at least 20 ft. straight toward a creature and hits it with a scythe attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 9 (2d8) necrotic damage.
Undead Fortitude. If damage reduces Arischev to 0 HP, it makes a Con save (DC 5 + the damage taken) unless the damage is radiant or from a critical hit; on a success it drops to 1 HP instead.
Actions
Multiattack. Arischev makes two scythe attacks.
Reaping Scythe. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+3) slashing damage plus 4 (1d8) necrotic damage.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Wingbeat (Bonus Action). Arischev beats its wings and flies up to half its fly speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
A wing-mantled harvester that swoops out of the dusk, scythe leading, to reap the dying before their souls can flee.
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.
Run Arischev as a lone gleaner harrying a low-level party from the air. It dives on the most wounded PC, then uses Wingbeat to retreat out of reach. Keep it above melee whenever it can.
Fight as part of the Flock: Arischev kites high and dives on whoever the warband has bloodied. Open by Diving Harvest on a hurt target, then Wingbeat back up. Never trade blows on the ground if the sky is open.
Use several gleaners as a wing-pack, each diving on a different bloodied hero. They concentrate dives on one downed target to deny healing, then scatter. This is a flight, never a solo duel.
Put Arischev 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 Arischev?
Native CR 6 (Tier 2). Scale it to CR 2 for Tier 1 parties or roughly CR 11 for a Tier 3 wing-pack using the numbers in the tiers table.
How does Arischev fight alongside the rest of the Death Reapers?
It is the Flock's gleaner, working the air above the line and diving on whoever the warband has already bloodied. It never holds ground; it harvests the broken and climbs away.
Is Arischev a boss?
No. It is an aerial elite, not a solo. Field it with other Death Reapers; alone it is a hit-and-run nuisance rather than a climactic foe.
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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