Kruschev
heavy-plated double-scythe bruiser of the Death Reapers
Kruschev — The Encounter
heavy-plated double-scythe bruiser of the Death Reapers · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Kruschev
Kruschev is the Death Reapers' wader, the heavy that steps into the thickest of a fight where the gleaners cannot dive. Where the flying members harvest the edges, Kruschev breaks the center, planting itself amid a knot of foes and spinning its twin-bladed scythe through anything that crowds it. World-lore of the soul-harvest names such figures the threshing-men, those who do not choose a soul but reap whole rows at once. Within the Flock it is the press-breaker, the body that the wing-pack leaves the cornered to, knowing none will escape its reach. Those who have stood in a shield-wall against it tell of a great sweeping blade and ranks falling two and three at a time.
Run Kruschev in Sixty Seconds
- It wades the center so don't bunch up: Whirling Glaive-Scythe lets it hit everyone within 10 ft.
- Double Scythe has 10-ft. reach, so stepping back one square doesn't get you clear.
- No fly speed here: kite it with ranged attacks and it can't follow like the winged members.
- Undead Fortitude may save it at 1 HP; radiant damage or a crit shuts that off.
Kruschev
Medium undead, lawful evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEWhirling Glaive-Scythe. Kruschev's double-bladed scythe sweeps wide; on its turn it can choose to make its scythe attacks against any creatures within 10 ft. that it can reach, but each such attack is made at +5 to hit.
Undead Fortitude. If damage reduces Kruschev 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. Kruschev makes two scythe attacks.
Double Scythe. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8+4) slashing damage plus 4 (1d8) necrotic damage.
A plate-clad reaper shouldering a twin-bladed scythe, wading into a press to cut down everything within sweep.
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 Kruschev as a lone bruiser that wades into the party's cluster. It uses Whirling Glaive-Scythe to hit two PCs at once whenever they bunch up. Spread out to deny it the sweep.
Fight with the Flock as the press-breaker: Kruschev plants in the center while gleaners dive the edges. Open by wading into the tightest cluster and using Whirling Glaive-Scythe to sweep two or more at once. Let it hold the middle; do not run it off alone.
Use a couple of waders to crush the party's center while the wing-pack harvests fleers. Each sweeps clustered targets and refuses to be pulled to the flanks. This is the warband's anvil, never a solo.
Put Kruschev 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 Kruschev?
Native CR 6 (Tier 2). Use the tiers table to scale toward CR 2 or CR 11.
How does Kruschev fight alongside the rest of the Death Reapers?
It is the Flock's press-breaker. While the winged gleaners harvest the edges, Kruschev wades into the center and threshes clustered foes, holding the anvil the wing-pack drives prey onto.
Can it really hit several of us at once?
Yes, with Whirling Glaive-Scythe, but those swings are at a reduced +5 to hit. Stay spread out and the sweep loses most of its value.
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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