Pascal
twin-bladed crow-skirmisher of the Grim Flock
Pascal — The Encounter
twin-bladed crow-skirmisher of the Grim Flock · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Pascal
Among the Grim Flock, Pascal is the blade that comes second, after the carrion-stink draws the wounded into the open. The old grimoires name the Flock as a murder of carrion-spirits who took human shape to harvest the dying from battlefields too vast for any single scavenger. Pascal learned the duelist's art from a fallen mercenary it picked clean, and now mirrors that stolen grace with two curved knives that never rest. It does not lead and does not boast; it circles wide of the screeching front rank, waiting for a flank to open, then drops from the dark to gut whatever the flock has already broken. Where Pascal lands, the rest of the murder is never far behind.
Run Pascal in Sixty Seconds
- Kill priority: Pascal hunts the already-wounded — Carrion Sense and Carrion Dive both reward striking a bloodied PC, so protect your low-HP allies first.
- Open with: a Carrion Dive to a flank, then two Curved Blades on one target to trigger Twin-Blade Flurry (extra 2d6 plus a DC 15 Con save or speed halved).
- Flock Tactics: Pascal gets advantage whenever an ally stands within 5 ft. of its target — break up the murder's pairings to shut this off.
- Feather Parry: save the +2 AC reaction for your hardest hitter; a near-miss on Pascal probably became a miss.
- When bloodied: it does NOT flee — it dives onto the most wounded enemy in reach, so finish it fast or screen your casters.
Pascal
Medium humanoid (corvine), neutral evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINECarrion Sense. Pascal can pinpoint, by scent, the location of any bloodied or wounded creature within 60 feet.
Twin-Blade Flurry. When Pascal hits the same target with both blades on its turn, the target takes an extra 7 (2d6) slashing damage and must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or have its speed halved until the end of its next turn. This is Pascal's signature trait.
Flock Tactics. Pascal has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of Pascal's allies is within 5 feet of the creature and that ally isn't incapacitated.
Actions
Multiattack. Pascal makes two Curved Blade attacks. If both hit one target, it may apply Twin-Blade Flurry.
Curved Blade. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) slashing damage.
Razor Pinion. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d4+4) slashing damage as Pascal hurls a hardened wing-feather.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Carrion Dive (Bonus Action). Pascal flies up to half its fly speed without provoking opportunity attacks. If it ends this movement within 5 feet of a bloodied creature, its next Curved Blade attack this turn is made with advantage.
Feather Parry (Reaction). When a creature Pascal can see makes a melee attack against it, Pascal flares its wings to add 2 to its AC against that attack.
A cloaked crow-thing perched on a corpse-strewn cairn, twin curved blades spread wide and red eyes burning beneath a tattered hood.
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.
Run Pascal as one skirmisher in a small murder of crow-things. Have it hang back a round, then dive on the first wounded PC while a feathered ally pins them. If alone and bloodied, it flies off to rejoin the flock rather than trading blows.
Open by using Carrion Dive to reach a flank, then full Multiattack to land Twin-Blade Flurry and slow the target. Keep an ally adjacent for Flock Tactics advantage and save Feather Parry for the biggest incoming swing. When bloodied, dive on the nearest wounded enemy instead of retreating, trusting the rest of the Flock to swarm in.
Field Pascal as the lead flanker of a full warband flight, never solo. It hops target to target with Carrion Dive, opening each with Twin-Blade Flurry to stack slows across the party. Let the screeching rank tie up the front line while Pascal carves the backline; it only leaves a target once they drop.
Put Pascal 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 Pascal?
Pascal is built as a Challenge Rating 6 elite skirmisher (2,300 XP) at its native Tier 2. The stat block scales to a CR ~2 version for Tier 1 parties and a CR ~11 version for Tier 3 parties — same traits and actions, only the numbers move.
How does Pascal fight alongside the rest of the Grim Flock?
Pascal is a flanker, not a frontliner. It circles wide while the louder members of the Flock tie down the party, then uses Carrion Dive and Flock Tactics to drop on whoever is already bloodied and isolated. It is strongest when an ally is adjacent to its target and weakest when separated from the murder.
Is Pascal meant to be a solo boss?
No. Pascal is rank-and-file elite and is not solo-capable — it has no legendary actions. Run it as one member of a Grim Flock warband; on its own it is a fast, slippery duelist but lacks the action economy to anchor an encounter alone.
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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