Franklin
robed crow-conjurer of the Grim Flock, bearer of the bleeding orb
Franklin — The Encounter
robed crow-conjurer of the Grim Flock, bearer of the bleeding orb · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Franklin
They call him Franklin, though no living tongue gave him that name; the Grim Flock keep him for the words he carries. Where the warband's cutthroats and stranglers do the killing, Franklin walks behind, reading aloud from a grimoire bound in rope and skin, and the bleeding orb upon his staff drinks the last light of the dying. He is no captain. He is the voice that tells a thousand crows where the carrion lies, and the Flock obeys, wheeling down upon whatever he marks. Soldiers who break the murderers find the spellbook-bearer worse, for he never closes the distance and his spectral birds find every gap in a shield wall. Slay the cutters and Franklin simply summons more wings.
Run Franklin in Sixty Seconds
- Never solo then keep Franklin behind the Grim Flock's killers; he is a caster, not a brawler.
- Open ranged then lead with Bleeding Orb on the enemy's own spellcaster or archer.
- Mark the wounded then use Carrion Sight to flag a bloodied target so the warband descends on it.
- Cone on clusters then save Murder of Talons (Recharge 5-6) for two or more bunched foes.
- Hide behind feathers then trigger Flock's Veil by staying within 10 ft. of another Flock member.
Franklin
Medium humanoid (any race), neutral evil
CR 2 · 450 XP · GUIDELINESpellbook Focus. Franklin reads incantations from the open grimoire it carries and channels them through the bleeding orb atop its staff. If it loses hold of both the book and the staff, it casts its leveled spells at disadvantage on attack rolls until it recovers one.
Carrion Sight. Franklin has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight and can pinpoint the nearest bloodied creature within 60 feet, marking it for the rest of the Flock to descend upon.
Actions
Multiattack. Franklin makes one Staff attack and casts one cantrip, or casts one leveled spell from its repertoire.
Bleeding Orb (Cantrip). Ranged Spell Attack: +5 to hit, range 60 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d8) necrotic damage as a lash of black power leaps from the red orb.
Staff. Melee Weapon Attack: +1 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage.
Murder of Talons (Recharge 5-6). Franklin hurls the orb's light into a 15-foot cone of shrieking spectral crows. Each creature in the cone makes a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 14 (4d6) slashing damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Flock's Veil (Reaction). When a creature Franklin can see hits it with an attack, Franklin scatters a burst of feathers and imposes disadvantage on that attack roll if it has another Grim Flock member within 10 feet to shield it.
A stooped figure in grey robes, its hood hiding a raven's head, raising a staff crowned with a weeping crimson orb while reciting from an open grimoire.
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 Franklin behind the Grim Flock's killers and open with Bleeding Orb on a spellcaster or archer. Save Murder of Talons for when two or more heroes bunch up, then mark the most wounded target with Carrion Sight so the warband piles on. He never charges; if cornered, fall back toward another Flock member to trigger Flock's Veil.
Run Franklin as the Flock's caster anchor: cantrip every round, Murder of Talons on recharge into clustered foes. Stack him with two or three rank-and-file crow-cutters so Flock's Veil stays online, and have him mark a bloodied healer for the pack. Fight as a flight, never alone.
At this scale Franklin is the conductor of a full murder of crows. Hammer the front line with Murder of Talons, paint the kill-priority with Carrion Sight, and let the elite cutters and stranglers do the closing. He survives only as long as the warband screens him, so fight as a Flock and pull him back the instant the screen breaks.
Put Franklin 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 Franklin?
Franklin is natively CR 2 (450 XP), a Tier 1 rank-and-file conjurer. The stat block also gives scaled Tier 2 and Tier 3 numbers so you can field him beside higher-level Grim Flock encounters without rewriting his traits.
How does Franklin fight alongside the rest of the Grim Flock?
He is the warband's caster and spotter, not a front-liner. Franklin stays screened behind the crow-cutters and stranglers, uses Carrion Sight to mark the most wounded foe as the Flock's kill-priority, and leans on Flock's Veil to survive only while other members are near. Break the screen and he is exposed.
Is Franklin meant to be a solo boss?
No. Franklin is solo_capable = false. He carries no legendary actions and crumbles without his warband; run him as one threatening piece of a Grim Flock flight, never as a lone encounter.
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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