Kokoro
Kokoro — The Encounter
The Beaming Tanuki Who Carries the Sun-Flower · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Kokoro
Among the turtle-folk monks of the mountain monastery, Kokoro is the spirit of the unguarded heart — a tanuki blessed (or cursed) with the inability to feel sorrow for long. Folklore holds that it was once an ordinary forest beast that wept so hard at a temple's loneliness that the resident kami took pity and filled its chest with a tiny sun. Ever after, Kokoro wanders blossoming groves carrying a daisy taller than itself, the petals catching that inner light and scattering pollen that makes the weary laugh and the cruel sneeze. Travelers who share their lunch with the round little spirit find the road shorter and bandits strangely reluctant to follow. Those who mock it learn that a heart full of joy is also a heart that does not flinch, and the sun-flower, swung in earnest, lands like a temple bell. The monks say to lose to Kokoro is to leave smiling.
Run Kokoro in Sixty Seconds
- Not a boss — Kokoro is a morale-and-control add. Drop it beside a flagship oni, abbot, or yokai; it makes their fight harder, it does not carry one alone.
- Open with Pollen Cloud on the tightest cluster — radiant AoE plus the poisoned-sneeze rider softens the party before melee even starts.
- Kill-priority: whatever is trying to lock down or silence Kokoro. Its Brimming Heart and Cheer are what keep the whole encounter's saves honest.
- When bloodied, lean on Trickster's Step every turn — Disengage as a bonus action, blind a key target with Sun-Flower Bash, then vanish to cover.
- Three ways to run it: (1) festival guardian who only fights mockers, (2) reluctant ally the party can befriend with food, (3) the cheerful heart of a yokai warband that refuses to break.
Kokoro
Small fey, Chaotic Good
CR 2 · 450 XP · GUIDELINEBrimming Heart. Kokoro's name means 'heart,' and its joy is contagious. Each ally within 20 feet of Kokoro that can see its sunny grin gains a +2 bonus to saving throws against being frightened. Kokoro itself cannot be frightened while it holds its sun-flower.
Trickster's Step. Kokoro can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of its turns, and difficult terrain made of plants or leaves does not cost it extra movement.
Actions
Multiattack. Kokoro makes two attacks: one with its Sun-Flower Bash and one with its Claws.
Sun-Flower Bash. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8+3) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be blinded by a burst of glittering pollen until the end of its next turn.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6+3) slashing damage.
Pollen Cloud (Recharge 5-6). Kokoro shakes its giant daisy, scattering a 15-foot cube of shimmering pollen centered on a point within 30 feet. Each creature in the area must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw, taking 14 (4d6) radiant damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success. A creature that fails is also poisoned until the end of its next turn as it sneezes uncontrollably.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Cheer (1/Turn). When an ally Kokoro can see within 20 feet fails a saving throw, Kokoro can use its reaction to let that ally reroll, giving a hearty laugh of encouragement.
A round-bellied tanuki spirit balanced impossibly on its hind paws, hoisting a daisy nearly as large as itself like a sunshade and a banner both. Its toothy grin and squinting eyes radiate uncomplicated delight, as though the whole forest were one long festival.
Kokoro, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEPurring Ward (signature). While Kokoro is within 10 feet of its bonded ally, that ally gains a +1 bonus to AC and saving throws against being charmed.
Actions
Pounce. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8+3) slashing damage, and if the target is Medium or smaller it must succeed on a DC 12 Strength save or be knocked prone.
Reactions
Nine Lives Dodge. When Kokoro is hit by an attack, it can use its reaction to halve the damage and leap up to 10 feet to an unoccupied space it can see.
A bright-eyed riding-cat the size of a pony, loyal to whoever first scratched it behind the ears.
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 lobbing Pollen Cloud into the tightest cluster of foes, then wade in swinging the Sun-Flower Bash to blind whoever guards the spellcasters. Keep Kokoro near its allies so Brimming Heart and Cheer steady the party's nerves; spend the bonus action to Disengage if focused. Pair it with a folkloric flagship like an oni or a turtle-monk abbot — Kokoro is the morale-and-control add, not the closer.
Lead with Pollen Cloud on the back line, then bash the front-liner to blind it before it can swing. Use Trickster's Step every turn to slip free and reposition behind cover, keeping Cheer up for whoever the boss is bullying. Kill-priority is anyone trying to silence or grapple it; run it as the lair's heart-warming wildcard beside a bigger threat, never alone.
Treat Kokoro as a control-and-support skirmisher inside a larger fight: open Pollen Cloud on the densest knot, blind the deadliest melee threat with Sun-Flower Bash, and dance away with Trickster's Step every round. Keep it within 20 feet of the flagship boss so Brimming Heart and Cheer blunt the party's save-or-suck answers. Pair it with a true centerpiece — it amplifies a boss, it does not headline.
Put Kokoro 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 Kokoro?
Kokoro's home tier is Tier 1 at CR 2 (450 XP): AC 13, 45 HP, +5 to hit, save DC 13. Scaled stat blocks for Tier 2 (levels 5-10) and Tier 3 (levels 11-15) are provided in the tiers table — the traits and actions stay identical, only the numbers move up.
Can Kokoro be a companion or ally?
Absolutely — Kokoro is built to be befriended. Its Brimming Heart aura, Cheer reaction, and non-lethal whimsy make it a natural party morale-buffer rather than a foe. The easiest hook: share a meal with it and it adopts the party for the day. Its bonded riding-cat Meowride is provided as a smaller companion stat block.
Is Kokoro solo-capable?
No. Kokoro has no legendary actions and only a single defensive reaction, so a four-person party would out-act it instantly. Use it as an add-on to a larger flagship threat — an oni, a yokai war-leader, or a turtle-monk abbot — where its control AoE and morale support amplify the 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
Played Kokoro 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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