Leif
leaping glaive-runner of the frost-bound dead host
Leif — The Encounter
leaping glaive-runner of the frost-bound dead host · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Leif
Leif was a vaulting raider in life, and death only freed him from the limits of breath and aching joints. He springs over the bodies the White Runners leave behind, glaive raised, landing among the living to knock them flat for the dead crowding close behind. The host uses him as a breaker: where a shield wall holds firm, Leif simply leaps it, scattering ranks so slower runners can pour through the gap. Survivors describe the sound first, a whistle of wind over a long blade, then the pale shape dropping from the snow-glare with no warning and no mercy, already gone to the next leap before they hit the ground.
Run Leif in Sixty Seconds
- Kill priority then leap Leif over the front line onto a caster or archer.
- Open with a 15-foot leap then a Glaive hit forces a DC 14 save or knocks prone.
- Follow up then have the pack swarm the prone target for Pack Hunter advantage.
- When bloodied then Bounding Step away safely and reset for the next leap, never standing solo.
Leif
Medium undead, lawful evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEPouncing Leap. If Leif moves at least 15 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a Glaive attack on the same turn, the target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength save or be knocked prone.
Pack Hunter. Leif 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. Leif makes two Glaive attacks.
Glaive. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) slashing damage.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Bounding Step (Bonus Action). Leif takes the Dash action; if he ends this movement at least 15 feet from where he started, he doesn't provoke opportunity attacks until the start of his next turn.
A long glaive arcs overhead as the frost-runner leaps the fallen and crashes down upon the next victim.
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.
Use Leif to leap a line and knock a key foe prone, then let the pack swarm the downed target. He never lands alone among enemies; the warband follows his leap in.
Open by leaping 15+ feet onto a back-rank caster or archer to trigger Pouncing Leap prone, then Pack Hunter with the dead that follow. When bloodied, Bounding Step out, reset, and leap a fresh target. Always fight as the tip of the flight, not solo.
In a full warband, Leif is the wall-breaker: leap the enemy front to flatten a priority target and crack their formation for the host. He never holds ground alone, vaulting back behind heavier dead whenever surrounded.
Put Leif 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 Leif?
Leif 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; traits are identical across tiers and only the numbers shift.
How does Leif fight alongside the rest of the White Runners?
He is the host's wall-breaker, leaping enemy lines to knock priority targets prone so the dead behind him swarm in. He depends on the warband following his leap, which Pack Hunter rewards.
Is Leif a boss?
No. He is an elite breaker, not solo_capable. Use him to crack a formation, then commit the warband; he is dangerous as a vanguard, never as a lone fighter.
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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