Shinobi
Shinobi — The Encounter
Shadow-walker of the chain and the spirit-dragon · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Shinobi
She is counted among the kage no mono, the shadow-folk who trade name and face for the quiet of the rafters and the patience of still water. Trained from childhood in the arts of the kusarigama and the silent footstep, she learned to bind a yokai serpent-spirit to her chain so that every strike carries the breath of the storm. The old scrolls warn that such a one leaves no tracks but a thread of smoke, that she can be standing beside you and gone before the lantern gutters. When she at last commits to the kill, the spirit-dragon coils from her weapon and the air itself turns against the warded and the watchful. Lords hire her to settle what courts cannot; rivals fear her for the same. She owes loyalty to no banner, only to the contract, the code of her unseen house, and the spirit that hunts at her side.
Run Shinobi in Sixty Seconds
- Hold from hiding — she should never start visible. Open with a Hidden shuriken volley (advantage, poison rider) on the softest target, then close on your second turn.
- Kill-priority is the backline — point the spirit-dragon strike and chain-grapple (DC 15) at the caster or healer to yank them out of the formation and cut them off from rescue.
- When bloodied — lean on the escape kit: Smoke Step on the first hit each round, Cunning Action Disengage, and let Evasion eat the party's area burst while she repositions.
- Three ways to run her — (1) lone duelist who fights from the shadows and refuses a stand-up brawl; (2) ambush lieutenant flanking a heavy brute; (3) silent assassin sent to drop one named PC and vanish, fighting only as long as the contract lasts.
- Remember the chain — Weighted Chain knocks prone (DC 15 Str), which sets up the Smoke-Hound's bonus prone damage and the dog's Guard reaction; chain a prone, then carve.
Shinobi
Medium humanoid (human), neutral
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEEvasion. When the shinobi is subjected to an effect that allows a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, she instead takes no damage on a success and half damage on a failure.
Smoke Step. The shinobi has advantage on Stealth checks. When she is hit by an attack she can see, once per turn she may vanish in a burst of smoke and reappear within 15 feet in an unoccupied space she can see (this movement does not provoke opportunity attacks).
Spirit of the Whirling Dragon. A bound serpent-spirit coils about the shinobi's chain. The first time on each of her turns that she hits a creature with a melee attack, the spirit lashes out: the target takes an extra 9 (2d8) force damage and the shinobi can choose to grapple it (escape DC 15) with the chain at range.
Actions
Multiattack. The shinobi makes two attacks: one with her Kusarigama Blade and one with her Weighted Chain, or two with thrown shuriken.
Kusarigama Blade. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) slashing damage.
Weighted Chain. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Shuriken. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 30/60 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d6 + 5) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) poison damage.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Cunning Action (Bonus Action). The shinobi takes the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action.
Deflect Missile (Reaction). When struck by a ranged weapon attack, the shinobi reduces the damage by 12 (2d6 + 5). If this reduces the damage to 0 and the missile is small enough to hold, she may immediately hurl it back at the attacker as part of this reaction: +7 to hit, range 20/60 ft., 8 (1d6 + 5) damage of the missile's type.
A lithe assassin frozen mid-vault, one curved blade trailing a length of weighted chain while a great spirit-dragon of smoke and water erupts from her weapon and a ring of conjured wind howls around her base.
Shinobi, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEPack Vanish (signature). While within 30 feet of the shinobi, Shinobi has advantage on Stealth checks and can take the Hide action as a bonus action even when only lightly obscured.
Actions
Throat Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) piercing damage, and if the target is prone the attack deals an extra 5 (2d4) damage.
Reactions
Guard the Master. When a creature the hound can see hits the shinobi while she is within 5 feet, Shinobi may move up to its speed toward the attacker; the attacker must then succeed on a DC 13 Strength save or be knocked prone.
A wisp-furred spirit-hound born of the same smoke that hides her, it ghosts at her heel and brings the proud low so her blade finds the mark.
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 from hiding with shuriken, then close and use Smoke Step to bleed in and out of melee so the party never pins her down. Kill-priority is whoever spotted her or can lock her in place (counterspellers, grapplers). Pair her with a knot of minions to soak attacks while she picks off the squishiest target.
Open by Hiding (Cunning Action), then strike the backline caster so the spirit-dragon's force damage and chain-grapple isolate it from rescue. When hit, Smoke Step away and let Evasion and Deflect Missile waste the party's burst. Use her as the ambush element flanking a heavier frontline brute or alongside a small strike team, never as the lone threat.
Run her as the assassin lieutenant in a lair or with minions: open from concealment, drag a key target out of position with the chain, then vanish before the retaliation lands. Focus the healer or the controller and let the dog keep them prone. Pair her with a bigger threat (an ogre-mage, a yokai war-leader, or a vengeful spirit) so the party must split attention between the wall and the knife.
Put Shinobi 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 Shinobi?
Her home build is CR 6 (2,300 XP) for a party of levels 5-10. Scaled stat lines are provided for Tier 1 (levels 1-4) and Tier 3 (levels 11-15) if you want her to threaten a different party.
Can Shinobi be a companion or ally?
Yes. She works as a sellsword, a contact, or a reluctant guide; her stat block and the Smoke-Hound companion run cleanly as an allied NPC strike pair. Just drop her hostile tactics and have her fight beside the party instead.
She's an assassin, not a boss — how do I use her?
Treat her as an elite skirmisher, not a centerpiece. She lacks legendary actions, so a full party will out-act her in a straight fight; use her in ambushes, alongside minions, or as a lieutenant to a larger threat, leaning on Stealth, Smoke Step, and Evasion to hit and fade.
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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