Paladin
Paladin — The Encounter
Oath-sworn champion, shield wreathed in righteous fire · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Paladin
They call him the Brand-Bearer, last of an order sworn at a burning altar to stand where lesser men flee. His shield is no mere wall of steel: at his vow it kindles with a fire that does not consume wood or cloth, only wickedness, and by that light the frightened find their courage again. The flail at his side is older than his order, its chain forged from the broken manacles of those he freed. He does not seek glory. He goes where the desperate send word, breaks the siege, mends the wounded with hands that still smell of smoke, and moves on before the songs are sung. Fiends and the restless dead know his brand best of all, for under that radiance their stolen vitality refuses to return. He has buried more comrades than he can name. He carries each one into the next fight, and the next, until the oath at last lets him rest.
Run Paladin in Sixty Seconds
- Hold his aura in mind any ally within 10 ft. of him resists fear and charm, so position the rest of his band tight around him and break that cluster to crack their morale.
- Open with Brand of the Oath mark your scariest target first; that 2d8 radiant stacks every round and shuts off self-healing for fiends and undead in the party.
- Kill-priority is the squire, not the knight Aldric's Hold the Line eats the paladin's killing blow and gives him +1 AC, so drop the squire before you commit to the boss.
- When bloodied, he turtles he spends Lay on Hands for 30 HP on himself and retreats to a doorway to choke your melee; bring ranged or a caster to dig him out.
- Three ways to run him lone duelist who baits Sworn Riposte beside an ally, anvil who holds a chokepoint while archers fire past him, or elite captain guarding a bigger threat.
Paladin
Medium humanoid (human), lawful good
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEAura of Devotion. Friendly creatures within 10 ft. of the paladin have advantage on saving throws against being frightened or charmed. The paladin himself cannot be frightened while he holds his shield.
Brand of the Oath. Signature. The first time on each of the paladin's turns that he hits a creature with a melee attack, sacred fire flares from his shield and the target takes an extra 9 (2d8) radiant damage. A fiend or undead so struck must also succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or be unable to regain hit points until the end of the paladin's next turn.
Spellcasting. The paladin is a 9th-level spellcaster (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). He has the following paladin spells prepared: 1st level (4 slots): bless, cure wounds, shield of faith; 2nd level (3 slots): lesser restoration, aid; 3rd level (2 slots): dispel magic, revivify.
Actions
Multiattack. The paladin makes two attacks: one with his flail and one with his shield bash.
Spiked Flail. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d10+4) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Shield Bash. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6+4) bludgeoning damage plus 4 (1d8) radiant damage.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Sworn Riposte (Reaction). When a creature the paladin can see hits an ally within 5 ft. of him with a melee attack, the paladin makes one shield bash against the attacker.
Lay on Hands (1/Day). The paladin touches a creature within 5 ft. (or himself) and restores 30 hit points, or ends one disease or one effect causing poisoned, blinded, or deafened.
A grey-bearded knight in dented plate plants one boot on a fallen foe, his great shield ablaze with sacred fire while a spiked flail swings ready on its chain. Every line of him says the oath was kept and the price was paid.
Paladin, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEHold the Line (signature). While Paladin is within 5 ft. of the paladin, both gain a +1 bonus to AC. If the paladin would be reduced to 0 hit points while Paladin is adjacent, Paladin may use his reaction to drop to 0 instead and shove the paladin clear (once per day).
Actions
Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8+3) slashing damage, or 9 (1d10+3) if used two-handed.
Reactions
Shield Wall. When an ally within 5 ft. is hit by an attack, Paladin adds 2 to that ally's AC against the triggering attack, possibly causing it to miss.
A young oath-pledge who follows the Brand-Bearer to learn the cost of the vow, and would die before letting his master fall.
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 the flail to knock a clustered front-liner prone, then shield bash the spellcaster behind them. Kill-priority is his Aura: pull your party out of its 10 ft. so it stops shoring up his minion morale. Pair him with town guards or zealots so he can shield-wall the chokepoint.
Open by Branding the most dangerous target so radiant adds up and any fiend/undead in the party can't self-heal. He plants beside an ally to bait Sworn Riposte, so kill the supporting bruiser first or spread out to deny him the reaction. When bloodied he burns Lay on Hands on himself and falls back to a doorway; run him as the anvil while archers or a caster hammer from behind him, not as a lone threat.
At this tier run him as the elite captain of a war-band or temple guard, not the main event. Lead with Brand to lock down enemy healing, knock the front rank prone with the flail, and use Sworn Riposte to punish anyone who dives his casters. Pair him with a bigger threat (a fiend or a relic-priest) so his aura and shield wall protect the real boss.
Put Paladin 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 Paladin?
He is built at CR 6 (2,300 XP) in his native Tier 2 band, a sturdy frontline champion for a 5-PC party of levels 5-10. The stat record also gives drop-in Tier 1 (levels 1-4) and Tier 3 (levels 11-15) numbers so you can scale him without rebuilding the block.
Can Paladin be a companion or ally?
Yes. He makes an excellent NPC ally or party guardian: his Aura of Devotion props up allied morale against fear and charm, Lay on Hands and his prepared spells (cure wounds, lesser restoration, revivify) keep the party standing, and Sworn Riposte punishes anyone who attacks his charges. Drop his to-hit and Brand damage to the Tier 1 line if he's joining a low-level group.
Why is Paladin not solo-capable?
He has a punishing reaction and strong support kit, but only one reaction trigger and no legendary actions, so a full party simply out-acts him over a round. He shines as an add-on: pair him with a relic-priest, a fiend, or a unit of guards and let his aura and shield-wall buy the real boss its turns.
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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