Grindall
ragged greatsword skirmisher of the frost-bound dead host
Grindall — The Encounter
ragged greatsword skirmisher of the frost-bound dead host · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Grindall
Grindall was a wild swordhand even before the frost claimed him, and death loosed him entirely. Wrapped in frozen rags that stream behind him as he runs, he wields a greatsword nearly his own length, sweeping it through the press so a single cut bites more than one foe. The White Runners send him where the living are bunched tight, trusting his reckless lunges to scatter them and his wide blade to reap the gaps. Folk who survived the host recall the long pale arc above the snowline and the way two of their kin would fall to one swing, the wrapped shape already turning, rags hissing, toward the next knot of the living.
Run Grindall in Sixty Seconds
- Kill priority then drive Grindall into the tightest cluster so Sweeping Edge hits two.
- Open with Reckless Lunge then swing with advantage while packmates absorb the return fire.
- Chain the blade then each Greatsword hit carries 1d10 to a second adjacent foe.
- When bloodied then stay buried in the pack, never lunging out where he can be focused down alone.
Grindall
Medium undead, chaotic evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINESweeping Edge. When Grindall hits a creature with his Greatsword, he can deal 5 (1d10) slashing damage to a second creature within 5 feet of the first. The cold blade carries through.
Pack Hunter. Grindall has advantage on attack rolls against a creature if at least one of his allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated.
Actions
Multiattack. Grindall makes two Greatsword attacks.
Greatsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing damage.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Reckless Lunge (Bonus Action). Grindall can move up to 15 feet toward an enemy he can see. If he does, his Greatsword attacks have advantage this turn, but attacks against him have advantage until his next turn.
A great pale blade scythes through the snow, its edge dragging across two foes in a single frost-rimed arc.
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.
Aim Grindall at clustered foes so Sweeping Edge catches two. Use Reckless Lunge to crash in when packmates are near to soak the return hits. He thrives in the press of the warband, not alone.
Send Grindall into the densest cluster; every hit chains Sweeping Edge to a neighbor. Use Reckless Lunge when other dead are adjacent to share the heat from the advantage you give the enemy. When bloodied, stay in the crowd of packmates so he isn't focused down alone.
In a full warband, Grindall is the cleaver for packed lines. Lunge into clusters, let Sweeping Edge multiply his hits, and rely on Harald's aura or packmates to offset his recklessness. He fights amid the flight, never solo.
Put Grindall 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 Grindall?
Grindall is CR 6 at his native Tier 2 (about 2,300 XP). Scale toward CR 2 for Tier 1 or about CR 11 for Tier 3 with the tier table; his blade traits are identical across tiers, only the numbers shift.
How does Grindall fight alongside the rest of the White Runners?
He is the cleaver for packed enemies, chaining Sweeping Edge through clusters while the flight surrounds them. Reckless Lunge makes him hit hard but vulnerable, so he leans on Harald's protection and adjacent packmates.
Is Grindall a boss?
No. He is a reckless elite, not solo_capable. His Reckless Lunge makes him fragile if isolated; he belongs in the thick of a warband where his sweeps and the pack's numbers cover each other.
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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