Tigris
Tigris — The Encounter
The Orange Knight, tiger-lord of the pride-courts · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Tigris
They name him Tigris, the Orange Knight, sworn blade of the pride-courts where tiger-lords keep an older law than any crown. Where the lion-kings rule by roar, Tigris rules by reach: a single haft worked at both ends, the hooked blade to drag a foe off his feet and the broad blade to finish what the hook began. He took his oath at the spring hunt, when a champion must run down quarry no spear can stop, and he has not broken stride since. Grimoires of the cat-warrens record him as a guardian rather than a conqueror, the knight who stands where the line bends and refuses to let it break. Soldiers who fight beside him say he moves to the fallen before the war-horn finishes sounding, dragging the wounded clear in the same lunge he uses to gut their killer. He hunts on instinct, fights by discipline, and has buried more of his own oathbrothers than he will ever admit.
Run Tigris in Sixty Seconds
- Pounce first. If Tigris can move 20+ feet straight at a target, do it — prone + bonus bite swings the whole exchange. Never open by standing still.
- Kill-priority: enemy healers and back-line casters. His 40-foot speed and reach 10 are built to reach them turn one; aim him like a missile, not a wall.
- Hold Parry for the spike. +3 AC as a reaction can turn the party's biggest hit into a miss — save it, don't burn it on a cantrip.
- When an ally drops, Tigris moves. Use Knight's Discipline to lunge to a fallen comrade free of opportunity attacks, then gut whoever felled them.
- Three ways to run him: lone elite that bodyguards a flagship, war-band captain leading pride-soldiers, or a rival champion in a one-on-one honor duel.
Tigris
Medium humanoid (beastfolk), lawful neutral
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEPounce. If Tigris moves at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a halberd attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is prone, Tigris can make one bite attack against it as a bonus action.
Knight's Discipline. Tigris has advantage on saving throws against being frightened or charmed. The first time each turn an ally he can see is reduced to 0 hit points, he can move up to half his speed toward them without provoking opportunity attacks.
Actions
Multiattack. Tigris makes two attacks with his twin-bladed halberd.
Twin-Bladed Halberd. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d10 + 4) slashing damage. On a hit against a creature within 5 feet, he may also rake with the hooked blade, dealing an extra 4 (1d8) slashing damage.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d10 + 4) piercing damage.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Parry (Reaction). Tigris adds 3 to his AC against one melee attack that would hit him. To do so, he must see the attacker and be wielding his halberd.
A tiger-headed knight in lacquered orange-and-gilt plate, balanced low over a haft tipped with a hooked scythe at one end and a broad spade-blade at the other, tail lashing the ruined ground.
Tigris, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEPack Sense (signature). Tigris and his bonded ally each have advantage on attack rolls against a creature if the other is within 5 feet of it.
Actions
Rending Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage.
Reactions
Cover the Flank. When a creature within 5 feet of Tigris is hit by an attack, Tigris can lunge between them, reducing the damage by 5 (1d8 + 1) and pulling the aggro onto himself until the start of his next turn.
A lean hunting-cat the size of a warhorse, scarred along the flank, that never strays more than a lunge from the knight it has chosen.
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 a 20-foot pounce to knock the squishiest melee target prone, then snap a bonus bite at them while they're down. If clustered, work the front line and drag wounded allies clear with Knight's Discipline. Pair him with archers; he holds the line while they pick targets.
Open by charging the back-line caster: pounce, knock prone, bonus bite, then Multiattack next turn with the hooked-blade rake. Kill-priority is whoever can heal the enemy frontline. Hold Parry for the party's biggest single hit. Pair Tigris with a lion-king flagship or a squad of pride-soldiers; he is a frontline elite, not a lone fight.
Run him as the captain of a war-band: pounce a key PC turn one, then anchor the center while minions flank. Kill-priority stays on enemy healers and summoners. Use Knight's Discipline to peel back to dropped allies and keep the band alive. Do not field him solo at this tier; pair him with a bigger threat or a full pride to keep the action economy honest.
Put Tigris 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 Tigris?
Natively CR 6 (Tier 2, XP 2,300), a frontline elite knight. Scale him down to a CR 2-ish skirmisher for levels 1-4 or up toward CR 11 as a war-band captain for levels 11-15 using the tier table — the traits and actions stay identical, only the numbers move.
Can Tigris be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a sworn knight he makes an excellent guardian NPC or a player's heavy-hitting ally — drop his hit points by roughly a third for a long-term companion so he doesn't outshine the party. Whisker, his bonded hunting-cat, can join as a lighter second ally.
Is Tigris a solo boss?
No. He has no legendary actions and only a single reaction, so a four-player party will out-act him alone. Field him alongside a flagship boss, a pride war-band, or a lair to make the action economy fair.
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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