Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd — The Encounter
The Demon Barber, who attends to a final shave · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Sweeney Todd
They say the chair tips back so gently a man scarce feels it move, and that the barber's hand is so kind upon the brow that no soul fears the razor until it has already passed. Sweeney Todd keeps his shop spotless and his manner soft, the better to draw in the lonely traveller and the well-pursed gentleman alike. None who sit for the close shave are seen to leave by the front door. His leg was taken from him long ago, and he has replaced it with cold machinery; some whisper that grief replaced the rest of him in the same fashion. He bears a grudge against the whole bright world and balances his ledger one throat at a time, working swiftly, silently, and with a craftsman's terrible pride. Where his trophies pile and the floors run, he is happiest of all.
Run Sweeney Todd in Sixty Seconds
- Hold for surprise. Don't waste him in the open — open from hiding so Assassinate turns the first hit into a guaranteed critical, ideally on a caster.
- Silence first. Lead with Sudden Shave on a spellcaster: the Con save (DC 12) shuts off verbal spells for a round and stacks bleed on top.
- Kill-priority: backline. He ignores the tanks and goes for healers and casters every turn. Don't let him get distracted swinging at the fighter.
- When bloodied, he stops trading blows — Step Off the Chair to Disengage into dim light, then resurface next round for a fresh hidden strike.
- Three ways to run him: back-alley ambush with thugs, a parlour trap built around Mrs. Lovett's Distract, or a clockwork-shop lair beside a bigger boss.
Sweeney Todd
Medium humanoid (human), neutral evil
CR 2 · 450 XP · GUIDELINEAssassinate. During the first round of combat, Sweeney Todd has advantage on attack rolls against any creature that hasn't taken a turn. Any hit he scores against a surprised creature is a critical hit.
Sudden Shave. Signature. When Sweeney Todd hits a creature he is hidden from, or that he has grappled or restrained, the razor finds the throat: the target takes an extra 7 (2d6) slashing damage and must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution save or be unable to speak or cast spells with verbal components until the end of its next turn.
Actions
Multiattack. Sweeney Todd makes two Straight Razor attacks.
Straight Razor. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6+3) slashing damage, and the target can't regain hit points until the start of Sweeney Todd's next turn as the wound bleeds.
Flung Shears. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4+3) piercing damage.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Step Off the Chair (Bonus Action). Sweeney Todd takes the Hide or Disengage action. If he ends this movement behind cover or in dim light, he is considered hidden for his next Sudden Shave.
Throat-Cut Riposte (Reaction). When a creature within 5 ft. misses Sweeney Todd with a melee attack, he makes one Straight Razor attack against it.
A gaunt barber poised atop his clockwork chair, one trouser-leg ending in a brass piston peg, an over-long razor lifted in triumph while a customer's pale head lolls against the upholstery. He is all courtesy until the blade comes down.
Sweeney Todd, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEDistract the Mark (signature). As a bonus action, Sweeney Todd offers a smile and a meat-pie to one creature within 30 ft. that can see and hear her. Until the start of her next turn, that creature has disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks and the next attack made against it by an ally has advantage.
Actions
Cleaver. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6+2) slashing damage.
Reactions
Mind the Step. When an ally she can see within 30 ft. is hit by an attack, Sweeney Todd can cry out; the attacker must reroll the damage and use the lower total.
A brisk, doting baker with flour on her hands and pies in the window — and an unblinking willingness to make those pies from whatever the barber leaves her.
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 or surprise so Assassinate auto-crits and Sudden Shave silences a caster on turn one. Kill-priority is the party's spellcaster or healer; stick to it, use Step Off the Chair each round to vanish into dim light, then re-emerge for another crit. Pair him with Mrs. Lovett or a knot of thugs — he is an assassin, not a wall, and folds fast in the open.
Run him as a recurring slasher among minions: open on the backline caster, silence it with Sudden Shave, then peel away with Disengage so the front line can't pin him. Throat-Cut Riposte punishes anyone who chases. Feed him cannon-fodder so he always has cover to Hide behind, and pair him with a bigger threat to hold the party's attention.
A lair-bound horror in a clockwork shop full of trap-chairs and trick floors. Use the lair and minions as cover so he is always hidden for the next auto-crit Sudden Shave, hunting the softest target while the chaff swarms the front line. He is an executioner, not a centerpiece — pair him with a heavier flagship boss and let him pick off whoever the party leaves alone.
Put Sweeney Todd 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 Sweeney Todd?
His home tier is CR 2 (450 XP), a Tier 1 ambush assassin. The stat record also gives scaled Tier 2 and Tier 3 numbers (roughly CR 6 and CR 11) so you can drop him into a higher-level game; the traits and tactics stay identical, only the numbers move.
Can Sweeney Todd be a companion or ally?
He's built as an adversary, but a morally grey or vengeance-driven party could absolutely recruit the Demon Barber as a hireling assassin. His Assassinate and Sudden Shave make him a deadly opener for an allied strike — just don't sit in his chair, and watch who he 'attends to' between fights.
Is Sweeney Todd a solo boss?
No. He's a glass-cannon striker with no legendary actions and a fragile body, so a four-player party will out-act him quickly in a straight fight. Run him as an add-on threat — paired with Mrs. Lovett, a gang of cutthroats, or a heavier flagship boss whose minions give him cover to keep ambushing.
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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