Cotton
small gong-drummer and war-cadence keeper of the warren
Cotton — The Encounter
small gong-drummer and war-cadence keeper of the warren · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Cotton
Cotton is the cadence-keeper of the Lunar Cottontails, the small hare who sets the rhythm every warband marches and fights to. Perched beneath a portable festival arch with a dragon-stamped war-gong, Cotton drums the moon-cadences that tell the skirmishers when to leap, when to swarm, and when to scatter. The warren believes the right beat under a full moon can quicken a hare's heart past fear, and Cotton's drumming does exactly that, lending allies sudden speed and steadier aim. Cotton wields the drumsticks as clubs in a pinch, but the true weapon is the gong, whose thunderous blast scatters foes who press too close. Silence Cotton, and the whole warren loses its step.
Run Cotton in Sixty Seconds
- Silence the drum then killing Cotton strips the warband's buffs and mobility.
- Buff every round then War Cadence hands a nearby cottontail a 1d4 on its attack or save.
- Reposition the pack then Quickening Beat lets an ally slide into a flank without opportunity attacks.
- Mind the gong then on a recharge a 15-foot cone deals thunder damage and deafens.
- It hides behind the line then break the screen before you can reach the drummer.
Cotton
Small humanoid (rabbitfolk), lawful neutral
CR 2 · 450 XP · GUIDELINEWar Cadence. At the start of each of Cotton's turns, one allied Lunar Cottontail within 30 ft. that can hear the drum may add 1d4 to its next attack roll or saving throw before the start of Cotton's next turn.
Actions
Multiattack. Cotton makes two Drumstick Strike attacks.
Drumstick Strike. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8+2) bludgeoning damage.
Gong Blast (Recharge 5-6). Cotton strikes the war-gong in a thunderous 15-foot cone. Each creature in the area must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw, taking 10 (3d6) thunder damage and being deafened until the end of its next turn on a failure, or half as much damage and no deafening on a success.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Quickening Beat (Bonus Action, 1/turn). Cotton speeds the cadence; one ally within 30 ft. that can hear it may use its reaction to move up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
A small rabbit-drummer seated beneath a red gateway-arch, twin drumsticks raised over a dragon-faced war-gong.
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.
Cotton drums from just behind the line, handing out War Cadence dice and Quickening Beat moves to reposition the swarm. Save Gong Blast for when foes cluster near. Deafen the drum or kill it to break the warband's rhythm. It never fights alone.
Run Cotton as the warband's tempo: buff the best attacker each round, dash allies into flanks, and gong-blast clustered enemies on recharge. Keep it screened. It empowers the flight, never solos.
Cotton becomes the warband's force multiplier, accelerating champions and shattering formations with gong-blasts. Let the swarm wall it off. It fights as part of the warren, never alone.
Put Cotton 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 Cotton?
Cotton is a Challenge Rating 2 support drummer (450 XP) at its native Tier 1. Tier 2 (~CR 6) and Tier 3 (~CR 11) bands are provided so its buffs scale alongside a tougher warband.
How does Cotton fight alongside the rest of the Lunar Cottontails?
Cotton is the warband's tempo-keeper. From behind the line it buffs allies' attacks and saves with War Cadence, slides them into position with Quickening Beat, and scatters massed foes with its war-gong. Silence Cotton and the warren loses its coordination.
Can Cotton run a fight solo?
No. Cotton is rank-and-file support whose abilities only matter with allies to empower. Field it behind a screen of cottontails and let it conduct the swarm.
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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