Dennis
low-stance staff-master of the shell-monastery
Dennis — The Encounter
low-stance staff-master of the shell-monastery · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Dennis
Dennis keeps the low stance the monastery calls root-and-river: rooted enough to take a charge, fluid enough to sweep three foes off their feet. His staff has the longest reach in the warband, and he uses it to hold a doorway or a bridge while the heavier monks form up behind him. He bats aside arrows almost absently, watching the line the way a fisher watches water. In the flight he is the keeper of spacing, knocking chargers prone for Vincent to crush and clearing room for Eugene's leaps.
Run Dennis in Sixty Seconds
- Open at 10-ft. reach then double-hit a charger to knock it prone.
- Hold the chokepoint then let prone foes pile up for Vincent's slams.
- Against archers then stay standing so Deflecting Stance gives them disadvantage.
- Keep the spacing then open lanes for Eugene to leap through.
Dennis
Medium humanoid (turtle-folk), lawful neutral
CR 5 · 1,800 XP · GUIDELINESweeping Reach. Dennis's staff has reach 10 ft. on its attacks.
Deflecting Stance. While Dennis is not prone and can see an attacker, ranged weapon attacks against him are made with disadvantage.
Actions
Multiattack. Dennis makes two staff attacks. If both hit one creature, it must succeed on a DC 14 Dexterity save or be knocked prone.
Quarterstaff. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6+3) bludgeoning damage.
A spinning length of hardwood that keeps a whole front rank at arm's length.
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.
At T1 Dennis holds a chokepoint: his 10-ft. reach and prone-on-double-hit keep a doorway shut. Pair him with one heavy monk.
At T2 (native) he controls spacing for the warband, sweeping chargers prone for Vincent and deflecting arrows aimed at Gunta.
At T3 he is the line-keeper of a full flight, trip-locking the front rank so the pack flanks; he holds ground, never charges alone.
Put Dennis 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 Dennis?
His native tier is 2, about CR 5 (1,800 XP); scale via the T1/T3 columns.
How does Dennis fight alongside the rest of the Kukurikapu?
He is the spacing-keeper. His long staff holds chokepoints and trips chargers prone so Vincent finishes them and Eugene gets clean leaping lanes, while he swats arrows away from Gunta.
Should Dennis fight alone?
No. With no legendary kit he is a control specialist; keep him in formation holding ground for the warband.
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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