Kodai Guard
Kodai Guard — The Encounter
Ancient sentinel-automaton wakened to ward forgotten ruins · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Kodai Guard
Long before the Monastery of the turtle-folk raised its first wall, the old order forged sentinels of living metal to keep their cloisters: the kodai, the "ancient ones." Each was poured around a single binding-word and set to a single duty — to ward a gate, a well, a tomb — and to do that duty forever. The kodai do not eat, sleep, or forget. They stand among the rubble of vanished courtyards, arms hanging long and patient, until something living crosses the threshold they were told to keep. Then the unblinking visor turns, the jointed limbs unfold, and the guard moves with terrible economy. It feels neither malice nor mercy; it knows only the boundary and what may not pass it. Travelers who blunder into a fallen monastery sometimes see the slumped golden shape and mistake it for statuary — until they step too close, and the long arm sweeps.
Run Kodai Guard in Sixty Seconds
- Reach first — its arms hit at 15 ft. and it gets an opportunity strike the instant anyone moves within 10 ft., so PCs take a hit just walking up. Front-liners can't close clean.
- Open with two Sweeping Fists on the lead melee, shoving them back 10 ft. to keep the chokepoint clear and reset their approach.
- Recharge watch — hold Seismic Stomp until two or more PCs are inside 15 ft., then prone the cluster; it's your one big tempo swing.
- When bloodied nothing changes — it's a construct with no fear and no plan B; it keeps warding the same threshold until destroyed.
- Three ways to run it: as a lair-door wall guarding one chokepoint; as a bodyguard glued to a caster boss; or as a pair flanking the entrance to a tomb.
Kodai Guard
Large construct, neutral
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEImmutable Form. The guard is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form.
Reach of the Long Arms. Signature. The guard's elongated limbs let it strike from afar. Its melee attacks have reach 15 ft., and creatures provoke an opportunity attack from it whenever they move within 10 ft. of it for the first time on a turn (not only when leaving its reach).
Sentinel's Vigil. The guard has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks and on saving throws against being blinded or deafened. It cannot be surprised while not incapacitated.
Actions
Multiattack. The guard makes two Sweeping Fist attacks.
Sweeping Fist. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (3d8+4) bludgeoning damage, and if the target is Large or smaller it is pushed up to 10 feet away from the guard.
Seismic Stomp (Recharge 5-6). The guard slams a foot down. Each creature within 15 feet must make a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw, taking 22 (4d10) bludgeoning damage and being knocked prone on a failed save, or half damage and not prone on a success.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Backhand. When a creature the guard can see hits it with a melee attack, the guard can use its reaction to swing a long arm back, making one Sweeping Fist attack against that creature.
A tall, narrow automaton of jointed golden plate, its blank visor-helm tilted as if listening. Its arms hang far past its knees, trailing across the broken brick of the ruin it has guarded since memory.
Kodai Guard, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEWarding Step (signature). While within 10 feet of you, the bound guard imposes disadvantage on the first attack each enemy makes against you each round, intercepting blows with its long arms.
Actions
Sweeping Fist. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+4) bludgeoning damage.
Reactions
Guardian's Reach. When an enemy moves within 10 feet of you, the guard can make a Sweeping Fist attack against it.
Re-keyed to a new binding-word, the old sentinel now numbers you among the things it must keep. It shadows your steps, long arms ready to sweep aside whatever comes too near.
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 by planting the guard on the chokepoint it 'guards' so its 15-ft. reach and move-in opportunity strikes punish anyone closing. If the party clusters, hold Seismic Stomp for the moment two or more are within 15 ft. Pair it with a caster boss or a swarm of minions — it is the wall, not the centerpiece.
Stand it astride the door, well, or tomb it wards; Reach of the Long Arms means melee PCs eat an opportunity strike just for approaching. Open with two Sweeping Fists to shove the front-liners back, then drop Seismic Stomp the instant the party bunches to break line. Kill-priority: it ignores low-HP skirmishers and focuses whoever crossed its threshold first. Best run as the guardian of a lair beside a bigger threat.
Field two or three guards flanking the gate they were set to keep, or pair one with a flagship caster so its Backhand reaction and reach lock down anyone who tries to push past. Open by shoving melee threats off the entrance, then Seismic Stomp to scatter the cluster. It is a defensive anchor in a lair, not a solo boss — give it a bigger threat to protect.
Put Kodai Guard 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 Kodai Guard?
Its home build is CR 6 (2,300 XP), tuned for level 5-10 parties: AC 16, 127 HP, +7 to hit, save DC 14. Scale it down to a CR 2-flavored T1 block or up to a CR 11-flavored T3 block using the tier table — traits stay identical, only the numbers move.
Can Kodai Guard be a companion or ally?
Yes. Re-keyed to a new binding-word it becomes a loyal bodyguard construct (AC 16, 76 HP) whose Warding Step gives nearby attackers disadvantage on their first swing at you and whose long reach lets it intercept anyone closing in.
Is Kodai Guard a good solo boss?
No — it has no legendary actions and only one reaction, so a four-PC party will out-act it. Run it as a defensive anchor: the wall guarding a chokepoint or the bodyguard of a bigger threat, never the lone 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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