Madugas
horned trophy-taker who carries the heads of the slain
Madugas — The Encounter
horned trophy-taker who carries the heads of the slain · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Madugas
Among the brood that gathers to the old watcher-lord, Madugas is the keeper of grim accounts. He was born of a union the heavens never sanctioned, and the rot in his blood has left him with a hunger for proof of every kill. He clutches the severed head of his last victim as both standard and threat, raising it so his fallen kin take heart and his prey lose theirs. In the warband he is the morale-breaker, plunging from the sky to gut a champion and lifting the trophy before the body has cooled. He never holds a line alone; he dives, he reaps, and he climbs again, feeding the host's courage with each new ruin he makes.
Run Madugas in Sixty Seconds
- Dive every turn then fly 20+ ft. straight in before a Talon for the extra 2d6.
- Hunt the support then send him at the enemy healer or commander first.
- Feed the flock then claim a kill so Grim Tribute hands 5 temp HP to every Fallen Watcher within 30 ft.
- Frighten from range then Skull Hurl anyone he cannot reach to break their nerve.
- Never land in the open then climb back up between strikes so foes cannot pin him.
Madugas
Medium fiend, neutral evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEGrim Tribute (Signature). Madugas carries the severed head of a fallen foe. While he holds it, he has advantage on Intimidation checks and, the first time each turn he reduces a creature to 0 hit points, every Fallen Watcher within 30 feet gains 5 temporary hit points.
Dive Bomber. If Madugas flies at least 20 feet straight toward a target before a melee attack, that attack deals an extra 7 (2d6) damage on a hit.
Actions
Multiattack. Madugas makes two Talon attacks.
Talon. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8+4) slashing damage plus 5 (2d4) necrotic damage.
Skull Hurl. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6+4) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution save or be frightened until the end of its next turn.
He keeps a head for every village he has emptied, and he speaks to them still. The newest trophy is always raised high so the rest of the host can see the work is good.
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 Madugas as the diving terror of a small fallen raiding party. Have him swoop on the most fragile target with Dive Bomber, drop it, and feed temp HP to nearby kin. Keep him airborne between strikes rather than standing in the line.
His native tier; run him as the morale engine of a flight of Fallen Watchers. Dive Bomber a healer or commander each round, claim the kill to hand out temp HP, and use Skull Hurl to frighten anyone he cannot reach. Always fight as part of the wheeling host.
Pair him with a larger fallen warband as the kill-finisher. Let the front-line kin pin foes, then have Madugas dive, execute, and refresh the whole flight's temp HP. He hunts priority targets, never duels solo.
Put Madugas 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 Madugas?
Madugas is CR 6 (2,300 XP) at his native Tier 2, with Tier 1 (~CR 2) and Tier 3 (~CR 11) lines so he can slot into weaker or stronger Fallen Watcher warbands.
How does Madugas fight alongside the rest of the Fallen Watchers?
He is the host's morale engine. While the heavier kin pin the enemy, Madugas dives on priority targets, executes them, and his Grim Tribute showers nearby Watchers with temporary hit points, keeping the whole flight aggressive.
Can Madugas operate on his own?
No. He is a strike-and-climb skirmisher, not a boss, with no legendary actions. His Grim Tribute payoff only matters with kin nearby, so he should always fight inside the warband.
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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