Penemue
the Bitter Pen — who taught the writing of ink and paper, the bitter and the sweet.
Penemue — The Encounter
the Bitter Pen — who taught the writing of ink and paper, the bitter and the sweet. · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Penemue
Penemue taught humankind the writing of ink and paper, the bitter secret and the sweet — knowledge never meant to be fixed in letters. It fights as the power of the word: silencing casters, erasing spells, and unmaking those it kills so thoroughly they cannot be raised.
Run Penemue in Sixty Seconds
- Overpowered boss CR 18 fallen angel — legendary actions + Legendary Resistance.
- Magic Resistance advantage on saves vs. spells; plan your control.
- Rewrite the Flesh its recharge AoE is the wipe threat — spread out.
- Immune to radiant, poison, fear, charm and resists most damage types.
- Part of the Grigori host deadliest fielded alongside the other Watchers and Semjaza.
Penemue
Large celestial (fallen watcher), neutral evil
CR 18 · 20,000 XP · GUIDELINELegendary Resistance (3/Day). If Penemue fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Magic Resistance. Penemue has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
The Written Word. Penemue speaks unmaking. When it reduces a creature to 0 hit points, that creature's name is struck from the world: it can be restored only by true resurrection or a wish. Additionally, spells that require a verbal or written component cast within 30 feet of Penemue require a DC 19 Constitution check or fail (spell and slot wasted).
Actions
Multiattack. Penemue makes two Bitter Stylus attacks and uses Rewrite the Flesh if available.
Bitter Stylus. Melee Spell Attack: +15 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (3d8 + 7) psychic damage plus 18 (4d8) acid damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 19 Intelligence saving throw or forget its most recently used ability, spell, or feature until the end of its next turn.
Rewrite the Flesh (Recharge 5–6). Penemue rewrites a 30-foot cube within 60 feet. Each creature there makes a DC 19 Charisma saving throw, taking 45 (10d8) psychic damage on a failure and being unwritten (blinded and unable to speak) until the end of its next turn, or half damage and not unwritten on a success.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Erase (Reaction). When a creature within 30 feet casts a spell, Penemue can force a DC 19 Constitution save; on a failure the spell is countered as if by counterspell.
Legendary Actions (3/Round)
Strike (Costs 1 Action). Penemue makes one Bitter Stylus attack.
Bitter Verse (Costs 2 Actions). One creature within 30 feet must succeed on a DC 19 Wisdom save or take 27 (6d8) psychic damage and have disadvantage on all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma checks and saves until the end of its next turn.
A gaunt angel whose every feather is a page and whose blood is ink, forever writing on its own skin. Penemue taught the bitter and the sweet of the pen, and what it writes, the world becomes; what it strikes out, the world forgets.
Penemue, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINELegendary Resistance (3/Day) (signature). If Penemue fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Actions
Bitter Stylus. Melee Spell Attack: +15 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (3d8 + 7) psychic damage plus 18 (4d8) acid damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 19 Intelligence saving throw or forget its most recently used ability, spell, or feature until the end of its next turn.
Reactions
Erase (Reaction). When a creature within 30 feet casts a spell, Penemue can force a DC 19 Constitution save; on a failure the spell is countered as if by counterspell.
The same Large celestial, 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 vastly diminished echo of Penemue for a mid-level party — same role, far softer numbers. It is the host's anti-caster and unmaker — it silences and counters spells at range, erases abilities, and permanently kills. A nightmare for a spell-heavy party.
A weakened Penemue, still a serious boss. It is the host's anti-caster and unmaker — it silences and counters spells at range, erases abilities, and permanently kills. A nightmare for a spell-heavy party.
It is the host's anti-caster and unmaker — it silences and counters spells at range, erases abilities, and permanently kills. A nightmare for a spell-heavy party. This is its true, overpowered form — a legendary-tier fight.
Put Penemue 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 Penemue?
At its native tier Penemue is CR 18 — a deliberately overpowered fallen-angel boss. Scale the AC, HP, to-hit, and save DC to the tier line matching your party's level.
How does Penemue fight?
It is the host's anti-caster and unmaker — it silences and counters spells at range, erases abilities, and permanently kills. A nightmare for a spell-heavy party.
Why do casters fear Penemue most?
It shuts down magic: verbal/written spells near it can fizzle, it counters spells as a reaction, and it makes casters forget what they just used. Worse, anything it kills needs true resurrection or wish to return. Bring martial pressure and kill it before it erases your spellcasters.
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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