Calix
kneeling feather-winged sword-sentinel of the Death Reapers
Calix — The Encounter
kneeling feather-winged sword-sentinel of the Death Reapers · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Calix
Calix is the Death Reapers' kept watchman, the still figure that guards a grave, a banner, or the warband's heart while the rest go about the harvest. Folklore of the soul-harvest tells of the kneeling guardians who appear at rest, wings bowed, blade in the earth, and seem at first to be only a tomb-statue, until something disturbs the thing they keep. Within the Flock, Calix is the immovable point the others wheel around; it does not range, does not chase, but holds its post with terrible patience and answers every blow with a riposte. Grave-robbers tell of pale wings snapping open and a sword already swinging before they understood the statue had moved.
Run Calix in Sixty Seconds
- It guards a spot so it will not chase: bait it off its post and you neutralize half its threat.
- Vigil Stance gives attackers disadvantage while it stays put, so it is hardest to hit before it moves.
- Guarding Riposte means a missed melee attack earns a free swing back, so don't whiff in its reach.
- Undead Fortitude may keep it at 1 HP; radiant or a crit denies the save.
Calix
Medium undead, lawful evil
CR 5 · 1,800 XP · GUIDELINEVigil Stance. While Calix has not yet moved on its turn, attacks against it are made with disadvantage. It loses this benefit until the start of its next turn once it moves.
Undead Fortitude. If damage reduces Calix 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. Calix makes two greatsword attacks.
Greatsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d6+4) slashing damage plus 4 (1d8) necrotic damage.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Guarding Riposte (Reaction). When a creature within 5 ft. misses Calix with a melee attack, Calix makes one greatsword attack against it.
An armored sentinel knelt over a planted sword, feathered wings half-furled, that rises only when its charge is threatened.
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.
Use Calix as a lone tomb-guardian. It stays in Vigil Stance over what it protects and only rises when attacked, then riposte-punishes whoever swings at it. It will not leave its post.
Fight as the Flock's anchor: Calix guards the prize while gleaners harvest around it. Open by holding Vigil Stance (attackers have disadvantage), then riposte the first melee that misses. Never let it be lured off its ground.
Run several sentinels ringing whatever the warband defends, each in Vigil Stance and riposting. They stay rooted and let the flying members swarm anyone who tries to slip past. This is a defensive wall, not a solo.
Put Calix 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 Calix?
Native CR 5 (Tier 2). Use the tiers table to scale it to roughly CR 2 or CR 11.
How does Calix fight alongside the rest of the Death Reapers?
It is the warband's sentinel, holding the grave, banner, or prize while the flying gleaners harvest around it. It anchors the line and punishes anyone who attacks it, but it never leaves its post.
Why does it have disadvantage to be hit at first?
Vigil Stance: while it has not moved, it is a coiled guardian and attacks against it are at disadvantage. Force it to move and that protection drops.
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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