Phantasmagora
winged terror with rending clawed gauntlets
Phantasmagora — The Encounter
winged terror with rending clawed gauntlets · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Phantasmagora
Phantasmagora is the dread that goes ahead of the Dreadblood Maulers, a winged reaver whose face alone scatters a village's nerve before the swarm even lands. The Lesser Key warns of spirits that wear fear like a weapon, the slain who learned in undeath that a screaming crowd is easier to harvest than a steady line. It does not break shields; it breaks morale, gliding low so its visage empties watchtowers and shatters the will of militia. Once the defenders waver, the grounded reavers pour through the gap, and Phantasmagora feeds on whatever fear has already crippled.
Run Phantasmagora in Sixty Seconds
- Lead with fear then Dread Visage frightens everyone who starts a turn within 10 feet.
- Kill-priority is the frightened then clawed gauntlets add necrotic to terror-struck foes.
- When bloodied then glide between groups spreading panic, don't commit.
- It's a flight, not solo then let grounded reavers exploit the broken nerve.
Phantasmagora
Large undead, chaotic evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEDread Visage. Each creature that starts its turn within 10 ft. of Phantasmagora and can see it must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom save or be frightened until the start of its next turn.
Undead Fortitude. If damage reduces Phantasmagora 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. Phantasmagora makes two clawed-gauntlet attacks.
Clawed Gauntlet. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+4) slashing damage; a frightened target also takes 4 (1d8) necrotic damage.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Swoop (Bonus Action). Phantasmagora flies up to half its fly speed without provoking opportunity attacks and may land adjacent to a different creature.
A winged horror whose mere nearness curdles courage, raking the terror-struck with spiked gauntlets.
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.
Fly Phantasmagora over the front to spread fear, then claw whoever failed the save. Keep it airborne and let grounded reavers exploit panicked PCs. Never let it stand and trade alone.
Open by swooping into the cluster of melee PCs so Dread Visage frightens them, then rake a frightened target for bonus necrotic. When bloodied, fly between groups spreading fear rather than committing. Hunts as part of the winged flight, never solo.
Three ways to run it: a morale-breaker that softens the line before the swarm lands, an aerial harasser pinning casters with fear, or a paired terror with another winged reaver. Fight as a flight, never the boss.
Put Phantasmagora 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 Phantasmagora?
Phantasmagora is CR 6 at its native Tier 2 (AC 16, 119 HP). Tier 1 (~CR 2) and Tier 3 (~CR 11) blocks let you scale it.
How does Phantasmagora fight alongside the rest of the Dreadblood Maulers?
It is the warband's terror, not a leader. Phantasmagora flies ahead to break morale with Dread Visage so grounded reavers can pour through panicked defenders. Run it as part of the winged flight.
How do players resist its fear?
Dread Visage is a DC 14 Wisdom save each turn within 10 ft.; effects that grant immunity to the frightened condition or advantage on Wisdom saves shut it down, and staying beyond 10 ft. avoids the trigger entirely.
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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