Methushael
lunging tongue-lashing pouncer of the serpent-brood
Methushael — The Encounter
lunging tongue-lashing pouncer of the serpent-brood · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Methushael
Methushael is a pouncer of the Seeds of the Serpent, the cursed brood that wears the old wyrm's scales over fallen mortal flesh. Where the heavier Seeds hold the line, Methushael circles wide and climbs, dropping on the prey that thinks itself safe behind the wall. The grimoires note its tongue tastes fear on the air and guides each leap to the weakest heartbeat. Its tail constricts while its claws and venomed bite finish the work, and once it pins a victim it does not let go until the brood arrives. It is no duelist - it is an ambusher that turns a battle's soft edges into a killing pen.
Run Methushael in Sixty Seconds
- Pounce then a 20-foot charge knocks you prone and earns a free Bite - watch the open lanes to your back line.
- Constricting Tail then once grappled you bleed every turn; ready an escape or a teammate to break the grab.
- Climb 30 then it reaches roofs and ledges to drop on casters - there is no safe rear.
- It hunts soft targets then it ignores the tank for the healer - position to body-block the leap.
- It is a hook, not a wall then it pins prey for the brood; kill or free the captured ally fast.
Methushael
Medium humanoid (serpentfolk), neutral evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEPounce. If Methushael moves at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a Claw attack on the same turn, the target must succeed on a DC 15 Strength save or be knocked prone. If prone, Methushael can make one Bite attack against it as a bonus action.
Constricting Tail. A creature grappled by Methushael's tail takes 7 (2d6) bludgeoning damage at the start of each of Methushael's turns.
Actions
Multiattack. Methushael makes two Claw attacks and one Tail attack.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d10 + 4) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 15) if it is Large or smaller.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) poison damage.
A serpent-warrior springs mid-lunge, claws spread and tongue lashing, engraved plates flexing over coiled muscle. It hunts the back line, not the front.
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.
Send Methushael wide while the brood pins the front; pounce a caster or archer, knock it prone, and bite. Constrict and hold the victim until packmates close - it is the warband's hook, not its hammer.
Use climb and Stealth to reach the squishy back line, Pounce to knock prone, then bonus-action Bite. Grapple with the tail and drag the target away from its healer so the brood can swarm it down.
Run it as the brood's flanking ambusher in a pack of Seeds. It pounces and constricts a key target while the heavier Seeds wall off rescue; never let it fight as a lone duelist.
Put Methushael 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 Methushael?
Natively CR 6 (Tier 2, 2,300 XP). Scale to CR 2 or CR 11 with the tier table as needed.
How does Methushael fight alongside the rest of the Seeds of the Serpent?
It flanks wide and ambushes the party's back line, pouncing and constricting a soft target while the heavier Seeds hold the front and block rescue. It is the warband's hook that drags prey into the brood's reach.
Can Methushael solo a party?
No. It is an ambush skirmisher whose grapple-and-hold only pays off with a warband to swarm the pinned target. Run it with other Seeds.
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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