Grimgloom
winged blood-herald wielding a wicked trident-stave
Grimgloom — The Encounter
winged blood-herald wielding a wicked trident-stave · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Grimgloom
Grimgloom is the herald that keeps the Dreadblood Maulers swarming as one, a winged reaver whose raised stave tells the rest where blood already flows. The Lesser Key describes such spirits as standard-bearers of the hungering dead, not commanders but beacons, drawing the pack toward weakness. Grimgloom rarely closes to kill; it hovers at the swarm's edge, hurls withering power at anyone trying to rally, and lets its presence sharpen every reaver around it. Cut down the herald and the Maulers do not scatter, but they lose the cruel coordination that turns a mob of dead into a tide.
Run Grimgloom in Sixty Seconds
- Mark the wounded then Blood Beacon gives nearby kin advantage on hurt foes.
- Open with Withering Bolt then cap the healer's hit point maximum.
- Stay in range then hover within 30 feet of the reavers it buffs.
- It's a herald, not solo then killing it strips the swarm's coordination.
Grimgloom
Large undead, chaotic evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEBlood Beacon. As long as Grimgloom is conscious, undead allies of the Dreadblood Maulers within 30 ft. of it have advantage on attack rolls against any creature missing hit points.
Undead Fortitude. If damage reduces Grimgloom to 0 hit points, it makes a Constitution save (DC 5 + the damage taken, radiant or a critical hit auto-fails). On a success, it drops to 1 hit point instead.
Actions
Multiattack. Grimgloom makes two trident-stave attacks.
Trident-Stave. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) necrotic damage.
Withering Bolt (Recharge 5-6). Grimgloom hurls dark power from its stave at one creature within 60 ft. The target makes a DC 15 Constitution save, taking 18 (4d8) necrotic damage on a failure, or half on a success. On a failure its hit point maximum is reduced by that amount until it finishes a long rest.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Wing Drift (Bonus Action). Grimgloom flies up to half its fly speed without provoking opportunity attacks, staying within 30 ft. of its kin to keep the Blood Beacon active.
A winged herald who lifts its trident-stave to mark the wounded, and the swarm answers, falling on the marked with redoubled hunger.
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.
Keep Grimgloom near its kin so Blood Beacon buffs them, and lob Withering Bolt at whoever tries to heal or rally. Don't let it fight alone; it's a force multiplier for the swarm.
Open with Withering Bolt on the party's healer to cap their hit point maximum, then hover within 30 ft. of the reavers so they get advantage on wounded PCs. When bloodied, drift back but stay in beacon range. Supports the warband, never solo.
Three ways to run it: a beacon anchoring a full reaver swarm, an artillery piece withering the back line, or a paired herald keeping two flights coordinated. It is a support, never the boss.
Put Grimgloom 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 Grimgloom?
Grimgloom is CR 6 at its native Tier 2 (AC 15, 114 HP). Tier 1 (~CR 2) and Tier 3 (~CR 11) blocks let you scale it to your party.
How does Grimgloom fight alongside the rest of the Dreadblood Maulers?
It is the swarm's herald and force multiplier, not a front-line killer. Grimgloom hovers among its kin so Blood Beacon sharpens their attacks while it withers anyone trying to rally. Kill it to break the warband's coordination.
Does the trident-stave make Grimgloom a true spellcaster?
No. It channels dark power through the stave as innate undead malice (Withering Bolt), not as prepared SRD spells, so counterspell and similar effects do not apply.
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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