Goblin Drummer
Goblin Drummer — The Encounter
War-drummer whose beat drives the warren into frenzy · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Goblin Drummer
Before the spears, before the screaming, there is the drum. The warren's drummer is no warrior — it is a heartbeat made flesh, the thing that turns a frightened rabble into a single charging animal. It learns the cadences as a whelp, beaten into rhythm by the old drummer's mallet, until the patterns live in its hands deeper than thought: the slow march, the quick-step, the frenzy-tattoo that empties a goblin's skull of everything but the urge to run forward and bite. In the dark of the deep tunnels the drum carries for miles, and caravans have learned to fear the sound long before they see a single green face — that low, building thunder that means the warren has woken and is coming, faster than men can run, faster than reason. Silence the drum and the charge stutters; the goblins remember they are afraid. So the drummer keeps it beating, even bleeding, even dying, because the beat is the only god the warren truly serves.
Run Goblin Drummer in Sixty Seconds
- Keep the beat going — War-Drum Cadence gives every nearby goblin +10 speed and a bonus Dash; that's the whole reason it's here.
- Open by hanging back mid-pack while the cadence rushes the warband into melee.
- Kill-priority (for the players): silence the drummer and the goblin charge falls apart.
- When bloodied it Nimble-Escapes to safety but never stops drumming if it can help it.
- Three ways to run it: a tempo engine inside a goblin warband, a control piece that debuffs with the Frenzy Tattoo, or a morale anchor paired with a bigger boss.
Goblin Drummer
Small humanoid (goblinoid), neutral evil
CR 1 · 200 XP · GUIDELINEWar-Drum Cadence. Signature. While the drummer beats its drum (no action required on its turn) and is conscious, friendly goblinoids within 30 feet that can hear it gain a +10-foot bonus to speed and can use the Dash action as a bonus action. If the drummer is incapacitated or stops, the effect ends until it resumes.
Nimble Escape. The drummer can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of its turns.
Actions
Multiattack. The drummer makes two attacks with its mallet, or one mallet attack and beats the Frenzy Tattoo.
Bone Mallet. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8+2) bludgeoning damage.
Frenzy Tattoo (Recharge 5-6). The drummer hammers a maddening rhythm. Each friendly goblinoid within 30 feet that can hear it can immediately use its reaction to move up to its speed and make one melee attack. Each enemy within 15 feet must succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom save or have disadvantage on attack rolls until the end of its next turn from the pounding din.
A wild-eyed goblin straddling a looted war-drum, mallet raised mid-strike and a dagger jammed in its belt, mouth open in a howling chant.
Goblin Drummer, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINESecond Beat (signature). While Goblin Drummer is within 10 feet of the drummer, War-Drum Cadence's range increases to 40 feet and stutters on for one extra round if the drummer is dropped.
Actions
Hand Drum Strike. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4+2) bludgeoning damage.
Reactions
Keep the Rhythm. When the drummer would be reduced to 0 hit points, Goblin Drummer picks up the beat; the Cadence effect does not end until the start of the drummer's next turn.
An apprentice drummer who keeps a second beat going so the rhythm never fully dies.
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 it mid-pack and alive — its beat hands the whole warband speed and a bonus Dash. Open by softening the party with the Frenzy Tattoo (disadvantage) while goblins close. Kill-priority for the PARTY is the drummer. Pair it with any goblin force as a tempo engine.
A mobility and control anchor for a bigger horde. Keep it ringed by minions, beat the Frenzy Tattoo to blunt the party's accuracy. Pair it with a heavier threat; it has thin offense alone.
Field it as the warband's drummer in a lair, never solo. Use Cadence to swarm the party fast and the Tattoo to debuff. Pair it with a flagship boss and let it set the tempo.
Put Goblin Drummer 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 Drummer?
Its native build is CR 1 (200 XP), a Tier 1 support unit. The sheet also lists Tier 2 and Tier 3 numbers so the same drummer scales into higher-level goblin armies.
Can Goblin Drummer be a companion or ally?
Yes — its Cadence buffs the movement of any allied force, making it a great support ally. It also ships with its own bound companion, Tatter, an apprentice drummer who keeps the beat alive.
Is it a solo boss?
No. Its value is the aura and the debuff tattoo, not raw offense, and it has no legendary actions. Always run it inside a goblin pack or beside a 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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