Haste
first out of the gate — the pounce you hear only after it lands.
Haste — The Encounter
first out of the gate — the pounce you hear only after it lands. · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Haste
Haste is the first of Prince Seere's four heralds to reach a fight, and usually the first thing the party feels rather than sees. It exists to open combat on the court's terms: pounce out of nowhere, put the front rank on the floor, and slip away before anyone can answer. It never trades blows standing still.
Run Haste in Sixty Seconds
- Open with Pounce charge 20+ ft. in a straight line for the prone knockdown.
- Two talons Multiattack for 1d12+3 slashing each.
- Surge Dash as a bonus action to reach the softest target.
- Slipstream leaves melee without provoking — hit and vanish.
- Never let it stand still it is a skirmisher, not a wall.
Haste
Medium fiend (herald of Seere), neutral evil
CR 4 · 1,100 XP · GUIDELINEPounce. If Haste moves at least 20 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a talon attack on the same turn, the hit deals an extra 7 (2d6) damage and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Actions
Multiattack. Haste makes two Talons attacks.
Talons. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d12 + 3) slashing damage.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Surge (Bonus Action). Haste takes the Dash action.
Slipstream (Reaction). When Haste leaves a creature's reach, it provokes no opportunity attacks for the rest of the turn.
It moves like a laugh cut short: a blur of pale limbs, a grin that arrives a half-second before the rest of it. The talons are longer than they should be. Everything about Haste is longer than it should be.
Haste, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEPounce (signature). If Haste moves at least 20 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a talon attack on the same turn, the hit deals an extra 7 (2d6) damage and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Actions
Talons. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d12 + 3) slashing damage.
Reactions
Slipstream (Reaction). When Haste leaves a creature's reach, it provokes no opportunity attacks for the rest of the turn.
The same Medium fiend, bound as a lesser ally and set to guard whoever summoned it.
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.
A scaled-down Haste for a low-level party — keep its role identical, just softer numbers. It is the opening skirmisher — it pounces the frontline prone from maximum distance, then Slipstreams back out of reach before the party can retaliate, setting up the rest of the court.
It is the opening skirmisher — it pounces the frontline prone from maximum distance, then Slipstreams back out of reach before the party can retaliate, setting up the rest of the court.
Haste at full court strength. It is the opening skirmisher — it pounces the frontline prone from maximum distance, then Slipstreams back out of reach before the party can retaliate, setting up the rest of the court. Field it alongside the rest of the Court of Seere to raise the stakes.
Put Haste 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 Haste?
At its native tier Haste is CR 4. Scale the AC, HP, to-hit, and save DC to the tier line that matches your party's level.
How does Haste fight in the Court of Seere?
It is the opening skirmisher — it pounces the frontline prone from maximum distance, then Slipstreams back out of reach before the party can retaliate, setting up the rest of the court.
Should Haste ever hold its ground?
No. Haste is a hit-and-run pouncer; if it is standing in melee at the end of its turn you are running it wrong. Open every fight with Pounce from range, drop a target prone, and use Surge and Slipstream to leave clean.
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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