Jennifer
Jennifer — The Encounter
The Black Witch who calls serpents of shadow · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Jennifer
In the old Slavic tellings she is named only Jennifer the Black Witch, and the villages of the marshlands speak of her in the low voice reserved for the unburied dead. She learned her craft in the wet woods where Baba Yaga keeps her walking hut, and she paid for it in years and in name. They say she does not cast spells so much as bargain with the dark between the trees, and that the dark answers in the shape of serpents — coils of violet shadow that rise from nothing to wind about her like loyal hounds. Travelers who meet her on the forest road describe the cold first, then the hiss, then the hands of mist closing on their ankles. She trades in curses laid and curses lifted, but the price is never the price she names aloud. The black witch keeps her own counsel, her own grudges, and the long memory of everyone who ever wronged her kin.
Run Jennifer in Sixty Seconds
- Aura first. Her Shadow-Serpent Conjuration auto-pings any creature within 15 ft. for 2d6 necrotic at the start of her turn — melee PCs bleed just for standing next to her.
- Open with Serpent Nest if it is charged and two or more PCs are clustered — 8d6 plus restrained sets up your whole turn.
- Kill priority is the enemy healer/caster. Multiattack pours necrotic into the back line; Witch's Curse rewards every kill with temp HP and an advantage spell.
- When bloodied she loses the cover from her serpents, so the party can finally pin her — push her then and don't let her Slither Aside off the hook.
- Three ways to run her: a roadside ambush witch with Shadowcoil; the curse-dealer of a Slavic-myth lair; or the ranged artillery standing behind a bigger flagship boss.
Jennifer
Medium humanoid (human, spellcaster), neutral evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEShadow-Serpent Conjuration. Signature. Jennifer is wreathed in coiling tendrils of conjured shadow. At the start of each of her turns she may have one serpent strike a creature within 15 ft. of her: that creature takes 7 (2d6) necrotic damage. The serpents also grant her three-quarters cover from ranged attacks while she has not been bloodied.
Witch's Curse. When Jennifer reduces a creature to 0 hit points, or when a creature dies within 30 ft. of her, she gains temporary hit points equal to her Charisma modifier and her next spell attack is made with advantage.
Actions
Multiattack. Jennifer makes two Coiling Lash attacks, or makes one Coiling Lash attack and casts a spell.
Coiling Lash. Melee Spell Attack: +7 to hit, reach 15 ft. (shadow serpent), one target. Hit: 16 (3d8 + 3) necrotic damage, and the target's speed is reduced by 10 ft. until the end of its next turn.
Hex Bolt. Ranged Spell Attack: +7 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (3d6 + 4) necrotic damage. On a hit, the target must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or have disadvantage on its next attack roll.
Serpent Nest (Recharge 5-6). Jennifer unleashes a writhing knot of shadow serpents in a 20-foot radius centered on a point she can see within 60 ft. Each creature in the area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 28 (8d6) necrotic damage on a failed save and being restrained until the end of its next turn, or half damage and no restraint on a success.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Slither Aside (Reaction). When a creature Jennifer can see hits her with an attack, the shadow serpents drag her aside; she halves the damage and may move up to 10 ft. without provoking opportunity attacks.
A black-clad witch poised on a shard of frozen earth, ribbons trailing as twin torrents of violet shadow rear up around her like vast hungry serpents.
Jennifer, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEDevouring Dark (signature). Jennifer is a serpent of living shadow. A creature that ends its turn within 5 ft. of it takes 5 (2d4) necrotic damage and cannot regain hit points until the start of its next turn.
Actions
Constrict. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) necrotic damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 14).
Reactions
Recoil to Mistress. When the witch who bound it takes damage while within 30 ft., Jennifer may move up to its speed toward her and impose disadvantage on the triggering attacker's next attack.
The largest of her serpents given a name and a leash — a tower of coiling violet murk that guards the ground its mistress stands on.
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 Hex Bolt from max range and let the serpent aura punish anyone who closes. Save Serpent Nest for two or more clustered PCs. Keep her behind a frontline ally — she is fragile alone, so pair her with a heavier threat.
Open Serpent Nest on the tightest cluster, then Multiattack the squishiest caster or healer — that is your kill priority. Slither Aside whenever a big hit lands, and feed on any death for temp HP. Run her as the witch behind the line of a bigger boss or her minions, never standing in the open.
Lead with Serpent Nest to restrain the cluster, then lash and curse the lowest-AC target. Hold Slither Aside for the inevitable nova turn. Field her with a lair of shadow serpents or alongside a flagship boss — she is a force-multiplier, not a solo centerpiece.
Put Jennifer 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 Jennifer?
Her home build is CR 6 (2,300 XP), tuned for a party of levels 5-10. Scaled stat lines are provided for tiers 1-4 and 11-15 so she fits CR 2 through roughly CR 11 — only the numbers move, the traits and tactics stay the same.
Can Jennifer be a companion or ally?
Yes. Used as an NPC ally she is a potent ranged curse-caster, and her bound serpent Shadowcoil (the companion block) makes a fine guardian. As a villain she works best as an add-on alongside a bigger threat rather than a lone boss.
Is Jennifer a solo boss?
No — she has no legendary actions and is built as an add-on adversary. Pair her with minions, a shadow-serpent lair, or a flagship boss; a full party will out-act her in a straight one-on-four fight.
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
Played Jennifer at your table? Log in with your Obsidian Tavern account to leave a balance note, a war story, or a file issue — the sharpest reports get the block revised.
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