Shem
forked-staff shrine-keeper of the shell-monastery
Shem — The Encounter
forked-staff shrine-keeper of the shell-monastery · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Shem
Shem tends Kukurikapu's shrine-fire and carries its forked standard into battle, where his chant hangs over the warband like a held breath. He is no front-liner; he stands behind Vincent and Alfred, mending their wounds and calling down a line of shrine-light when the enemy bunches. The younger monks fight harder within sound of his voice, and they know the day Shem falls silent is the day the formation breaks. Paired with Gunta he is the warband's resolve made audible, healing where the abbot only rebukes.
Run Shem in Sixty Seconds
- Keep the chant up then your whole warband saves better just by standing near him.
- When a monk is hurt then spend Mending Light to keep the front intact.
- When enemies bunch then Searing Word the line for radiant damage.
- Stay behind Vincent and Alfred then never let Shem be the closest target.
Shem
Medium humanoid (turtle-folk), lawful neutral
CR 5 · 1,800 XP · GUIDELINEWarding Chant. Allies within 20 ft. of Shem add +1 to their saving throws while Shem is conscious.
Actions
Multiattack. Shem makes two forked-staff attacks.
Forked Staff. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) bludgeoning damage.
Mending Light (3/Day). Shem touches a creature within 5 ft.; it regains 14 (4d6) hit points.
Searing Word (Recharge 5-6). A 30-ft. line of radiant force; each creature in it makes a DC 15 Dexterity save, taking 21 (6d6) radiant damage on a failure, or half on a success.
The keeper of the shrine-flame, whose chant steadies a faltering line.
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 Shem is your support: keep him behind the line, mend the hurt monk, and Searing Word when foes cluster. Guard him well.
At T2 (native) he sustains the warband from the rear, Warding Chant up, mending Vincent and Alfred and burning grouped enemies with the light.
At T3 he is the prayer-anchor of a full flight, healing and zoning for the pack; protect him, he never fights at the front alone.
Put Shem 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 Shem?
His native tier is 2, about CR 5 (1,800 XP); rescale via the T1/T3 columns.
How does Shem fight alongside the rest of the Kukurikapu?
He is the support and shrine-keeper. From the rear he keeps Warding Chant over the warband, mends Vincent and Alfred, and burns clustered foes with Searing Word; Alfred and Gunta keep him shielded.
Is Shem a solo caster?
No. He has no legendary actions and little staying power up front; run him protected at the back of 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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