Female Rider
Female Rider — The Encounter
Courier-skirmisher horsed on a great running fowl · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Female Rider
In the highland holdings of the turtle-folk monasteries, word travels faster on feathers than on hoof. The riders are couriers first and lancers second, girls raised from the egg alongside the great running fowl they will one day mount. Their birds cannot fly, but on open ground they outpace any horse, and a charging fowl will bowl a shield-wall flat before the rider's spear ever falls. She wears no plate, only oiled leather and a scarf against the dust, for speed is her only armor and her bird's snapping beak her surest guard. To unhorse her is the only way to fight her, and she has spent her whole life learning never to be unhorsed. Where she rides, the monastery's orders ride with her, and a single rider arriving at a gate has turned more battles than a company arriving late.
Run Female Rider in Sixty Seconds
- She is a charger, not a brawler - every turn should be move-strike-move. If she ends a turn standing in melee, you are running her wrong.
- Open with a straight-line charge to trigger Skirmisher's Wind: extra 2d8 on the hit and a prone save. Aim it at a clustered caster or healer.
- Kill-priority for the party is the mount or her mobility - web, hold person, grapples, or difficult terrain neuter her. Smart PCs will try to unhorse her; Bonded Mount lets her land safely once.
- When the mount drops, she fights on foot at half speed and loses her charge - she will Disengage and look for a new opening rather than trade blows.
- Three ways to run her: lone courier ambushing on a road; harrying outrider beside a stationary boss; or one of a cavalry wing of riders sweeping the flank in a lair fight.
Female Rider
Medium humanoid (human), neutral good
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEBonded Mount. While the rider is mounted on her bird, the mount obeys her without an Animal Handling check, never acts independently, and shares her initiative. If the rider is knocked off, she may use a reaction to land on her feet, taking no falling damage.
Skirmisher's Wind. (signature) If the rider and her mount move at least 20 ft. in a straight line toward a target before she attacks, the first hit on that turn deals an extra 9 (2d8) damage and the target must succeed on a DC 15 Strength save or be knocked prone by the charging bird.
Actions
Multiattack. The rider makes two attacks with her riding-spear.
Riding-Spear. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (1d10 + 4) piercing damage, or 12 (1d12 + 4) piercing damage if used in two hands.
Hand Axe (Thrown). Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d6 + 4) slashing damage. She hurls it overhand while wheeling past.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Wheel Away (Bonus Action). The rider commands her mount to Disengage and Dash, then moves up to the mount's speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Beak Snap (Reaction). When a creature ends its turn within 5 ft. of the mount, the rider can have the bird snap at it: +6 to hit, 8 (1d8 + 4) piercing damage.
A lithe courier in cap and scarf rides bareback-saddled atop a towering flightless fowl, reins in one fist and a hand-axe raised mid-wheel, the great bird's clawed legs churning the ground beneath them.
Female Rider, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINETrample Charge (signature). If the fowl moves at least 20 ft. straight toward a creature and hits with its talons, the target makes a DC 14 Strength save or is knocked prone and the fowl may make a beak attack against it as a bonus action.
Actions
Talons. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage.
Reactions
Bolt. When its rider is reduced to 0 hit points, the fowl moves up to its full speed away from danger, carrying her body to safety.
A flightless bird the size of an ox, all drumstick muscle and fanned tail, fearless under a rider it has known since hatching.
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.
Open with a charging pass so Skirmisher's Wind knocks the front-liner prone, then Wheel Away before they can swing back. Never let her stand still in melee. Pair her with a slower brute that punishes the prone targets she leaves behind.
Charge in straight, land Skirmisher's Wind on a clustered caster, then Wheel Away out of reach every round. Kill-priority is anyone who can root or grapple her mount. Run her as the harrying outrider for a stationary boss, picking off the party's backline while the boss holds the front.
Hit-and-run a charge each turn, knocking targets prone, then Beak Snap anyone who closes. Focus down whoever can stop the mount (web, hold person, grappler). Field her in a pack of two or three riders, or as the cavalry wing of a larger lair fight - never alone, a single rider gives a high-level party too few targets.
Put Female Rider 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 Female Rider?
Her home tier is CR 6 (2,300 XP), a Tier 2 mounted skirmisher built for parties of levels 5-10. Scaled rows are provided for Tier 1 (levels 1-4) and Tier 3 (levels 11-15); the traits stay identical and only the numbers move.
Can Female Rider be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a neutral good courier she makes a natural ally or hireling - a scout who can carry an unconscious PC out of a fight and outrun pursuit. Her bonded fowl is also statted as a standalone companion if you want the mount without the rider.
Is she a boss or an add-on?
An add-on. She has no legendary actions and a four-PC party will out-act her if she stands and fights, so run her as the mobile harasser beside a heavier threat or as one of several riders, never as a solo centerpiece.
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.
Technical Specifications
32mm, 75mm
STL, Pre-supported STL
Standard or ABS-like resin, 0.05mm layer height
Yes — ready to print, optimized supports included
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