Goblin Assassin
Goblin Assassin — The Encounter
Throat-cutter of the warren who kills before the alarm sounds · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Goblin Assassin
Warrens that survive the seasons learn to settle their quarrels quietly, and the quiet is kept by goblins like this one. Marked young for small size and steady hands, the assassin is raised apart from the rabble, fed the chief's leavings and taught to read a sleeping camp the way a scholar reads a page. It favors the hour before dawn, when sentries nod and fires gutter, and it carries no banner, no horn, no pride that a victim might hear coming. Rival chieftains hire it; so do the chief's own enemies within the warren, for loyalty is only the price not yet outbid. It coats blade and bolt alike in a sap brewed from cave-fungus and adder gall, so that even a glancing cut buys it time to vanish. When a great goblin dies in his sleep with the guards still standing, the survivors do not ask who. They simply add another lock to the chief's door and pray.
Run Goblin Assassin in Sixty Seconds
- Hold its turn until it can strike a target that hasn't acted yet — Assassinate turns that hit into an automatic crit.
- Open from stealth against the lowest-HP backliner; the poison rider stacks on top of the crit.
- Kill-priority is healers and casters — this thing exists to delete a support before the fight begins.
- When bloodied it stops trading blows: Nimble Escape to hide, then pick off stragglers from the dark.
- Three ways to run it: ambush opener in a dungeon, a hired killer stalking the party between fights, or a rival warren's silencer pairing with goblin packs.
Goblin Assassin
Small humanoid (goblinoid), neutral evil
CR 2 · 450 XP · GUIDELINEAssassinate. During its first turn, the assassin has advantage on attack rolls against any creature that hasn't taken a turn. Any hit it scores against a surprised creature is a critical hit.
Nimble Escape. The assassin can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of its turns.
Actions
Multiattack. The assassin makes two attacks with its poisoned blade, or one attack with its hand crossbow and one with its blade.
Poisoned Blade. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6+3) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) poison damage.
Hand Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6+3) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) poison damage.
A wiry goblin in dark leathers and a wound scarf, leveling a hand crossbow with unnerving calm. The other blade is already wet.
Goblin Assassin, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINESpotter (signature). While Goblin Assassin can see a creature within 30 feet, allies have advantage on Stealth checks made to approach that creature unseen.
Actions
Throwing Knife. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4+3) piercing damage.
Reactions
Cover the Exit. When an enemy within 30 feet tries to flee or shout an alarm, Goblin Assassin makes a Throwing Knife attack against it.
A scrawny apprentice cutpurse who watches the windows while the assassin works the door.
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.
Open from hiding for the Assassinate crit on a squishy target, then Nimble Escape away as a bonus action. Prioritize the party's healer or spellcaster. Pair it with goblin minions so the party can't focus it down.
Same play, bigger numbers: surprise-crit the backline, disengage, repeat. With a lair full of choke-points it can re-hide every round. Pair it with a bigger threat that holds the front while it knifes the rear.
Use it as the assassin lurking in a warlord's lair, not a solo boss. Hit-and-fade on the most fragile PC each round. Pair it with minions or a flagship boss; alone, a four-PC party will run it down.
Put Goblin Assassin 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 Goblin Assassin?
Its native build is CR 2 (450 XP) — a Tier 1 striker. The stat sheet also gives Tier 2 and Tier 3 numbers so you can drop the same assassin into a level 5-10 or 11-15 game without rebuilding it.
Can Goblin Assassin be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a hired blade it makes a fine rogue NPC ally or patron-sent scout, though its loyalty lasts exactly as long as the coin. It also ships with its own bound companion, Snuff, the lookout.
Is it a solo boss?
No. It has no legendary actions and only hit-and-run tools, so a full party out-acts it quickly. Run it as an add-on to goblin minions or behind a heavier flagship threat.
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.
Technical Specifications
32mm, 75mm
STL, Pre-supported STL
Standard or ABS-like resin, 0.05mm layer height
Yes — ready to print, optimized supports included
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