Ahrgul
skull-decked bruiser of the troll warband
Ahrgul — The Encounter
skull-decked bruiser of the troll warband · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Ahrgul
Ahrgul is the biggest of the War Trolls, a slab of armored muscle hung with the skulls of everything that ever tried to get past it. It is the warband's bulwark, the troll that stands at the front and simply refuses to be moved, dragging foes into a bone-cracking embrace. The march-grimoires call it the wall that bleeds and heals, for spears snap against it and the wounds close before the splinters fall. Among the horde it shields the others with its own body, soaking blows meant for the lighter killers behind it. Fire and acid are the only things that finally bring the wall down.
Run Ahrgul in Sixty Seconds
- Fire or acid then its regeneration stops and the wall finally falls.
- It grabbed you then Trophy Smash auto-hits the grappled target — break free fast.
- Don't waste hits on it then route damage to the killers it's shielding instead.
- Forced movement fails then Bulwark gives advantage against shove, prone, and grapple.
- It guards the horde then expect Bodyguard to eat your strike on another troll.
Ahrgul
Large giant (troll), chaotic evil
CR 11 · 7,200 XP · GUIDELINERegeneration. Ahrgul regains 15 hit points at the start of its turn. If it takes acid or fire damage, this trait doesn't function at the start of its next turn. Ahrgul dies only if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and doesn't regenerate.
Bulwark. Ahrgul's mass and armor make it hard to move. It has advantage on saving throws against being moved, knocked prone, or grappled, and any creature ending its turn within 5 ft. of Ahrgul has disadvantage on attacks against other War Trolls until its next turn.
Crushing Grip. When Ahrgul hits one creature with both fist attacks in a turn, the target is grappled (escape DC 16) and takes 9 (2d8) bludgeoning damage from the squeeze.
Actions
Multiattack. Ahrgul makes two fist attacks.
Massive Fist. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (3d8+6) bludgeoning damage.
Trophy Smash. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (3d6+6) bludgeoning damage, and a creature it is grappling takes this damage automatically without an attack roll.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Bodyguard (Reaction). When another War Troll within 5 ft. is hit by an attack, Ahrgul can intercept, taking the damage in its stead.
A towering troll, armor crusted with skulls, plants itself like a wall between you and the rest of the horde.
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 wall in front of a small troll mob. Ahrgul plants itself, grabs the nearest PC with Crushing Grip, and squeezes while the rest of the trolls work around its bulk.
It is the warband's bulwark. Keep it forward so Bulwark hampers attacks on the other trolls, and use Bodyguard to soak a key hit. Grapple and Trophy Smash lock down the party's front-liner.
Run it as the warband's shield, never solo. Front-line it, grapple a target, auto-crush with Trophy Smash, and bodyguard hits aimed at the killers behind it. Acid or fire is the only way to stop the regeneration holding the wall up.
Put Ahrgul 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 Ahrgul?
Natively CR 11 (7,200 XP) at Tier 3. Scale to CR 2 or CR 6 using the tier table.
How does Ahrgul fight alongside the rest of the War Trolls?
It is the warband's bulwark. Ahrgul plants itself at the front, hampers attacks on the lighter trolls, and uses Bodyguard to soak blows meant for the horde's killers, all while grappling whoever comes close.
Is Ahrgul a solo boss?
No. It has no legendary actions and is built as a defensive elite. Run it with the War Trolls as their shielding wall.
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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