Wizard
Wizard — The Encounter
Hoary archmage girdled in living flame and conjured fire · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Wizard
They name him the Ember-Father, last of an order of fire-singers who learned to make the flame answer not as servant but as second skin. Where lesser mages must reach out to summon fire, his never leaves him: it coils about his shoulders, ribbons from his sleeves, and rises in a hungry crown from the scorched ground beneath his feet. Travellers who have crossed his road tell of a frail old man leaning on a smoldering staff, kindly of face until the moment a blade is drawn, whereupon the whole hillside ignites. He keeps to high passes and burned-over heaths, places where his fire can find nothing more to take. Scholars who sought him for the secret of his craft returned with singed beards and a single warning: do not bargain with one who can teleport through his own pyre, for he is gone before the smoke clears, and the fire he leaves behind is patient.
Run Wizard in Sixty Seconds
- Hold the boss at range. He wants distance; do not let him be a melee piece. Open with Scorching Ray on the party's own caster, then chip with spells and staff.
- Open against clusters: a single fire burst plus Conjure Cinders on a knot of PCs is his whole opening play. Make them spread out or pay for bunching.
- Kill-priority is squishy casters and anyone who already has counterspell up; he saves his own counterspell for the party's most painful slot.
- When bloodied, spend two legendary actions on Step Through Flame to break away from melee, leave a parting burn, and reset to firing range.
- Three ways to run him: lone duelist who kites and teleports; lair boss in a burning hall behind a wall of fire; or warlord leading fire-elemental minions and Ashling.
Wizard
Medium humanoid (human), any alignment
CR 9 · 5,000 XP · GUIDELINEWreath of Flame. The archmage is sheathed in conjured fire. A creature that touches him or hits him with a melee attack while within 5 feet takes 7 (2d6) fire damage. While the wreath burns he has resistance to fire (already reflected above).
Spellcasting. The archmage is a 12th-level spellcaster (Intelligence; spell save DC 15, +7 to hit). He may cast fireball, scorching ray, misty step, counterspell, mage armor, fire shield, and wall of fire, plus fire bolt at will.
Actions
Multiattack. The archmage makes two Firebrand Staff attacks, or casts one spell and makes one Firebrand Staff attack.
Firebrand Staff. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (3d8 + 3) fire damage.
Scorching Ray (Recharge 4-6). The archmage hurls three rays of fire. Ranged Spell Attack: +7 to hit, range 120 ft., up to three targets. Hit: 7 (2d6) fire damage per ray.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Lash of Flame (Reaction). When a creature the archmage can see moves within 10 feet of him or hits him with an attack, he lashes out with a whip of conjured fire. That creature must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 11 (2d10) fire damage and be pushed 10 feet away.
Legendary Actions (3/Round)
Fire Bolt. The archmage makes one ranged spell attack with fire bolt (+7 to hit, range 120 ft., 11 (2d10) fire damage).
Conjure Cinders (Costs 2 Actions). A 10-foot-radius burst of embers erupts at a point the archmage can see within 60 feet. Each creature there must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 10 (3d6) fire damage on a failure, or half as much on a success. The ground there becomes lightly obscured by smoke until the end of the archmage's next turn.
Step Through Flame (Costs 2 Actions). The archmage teleports up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space he can see. Each creature within 5 feet of the space he leaves takes 7 (2d6) fire damage.
A white-bearded sorcerer in robe and wide-brimmed hat strides forward inside a cyclone of his own conjured fire, a flame-crowned staff blazing in one hand and a fistful of living flame in the other.
Wizard, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINELiving Ember (signature). Wizard is a knee-high elemental of cinder and coal bound to the archmage's wreath. A creature that ends its turn within 5 feet of Wizard takes 3 (1d6) fire damage.
Actions
Searing Touch. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) fire damage.
Reactions
Flare Up. When the archmage casts a fire spell, Wizard flares; the next creature to hit it before the start of its next turn takes 5 (2d4) fire damage.
A small, gleeful elemental scraped together from the master's own conjured fire, scampering at his heels and igniting anything it brushes.
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 range with Firebrand Staff and Lash of Flame to keep melee off him. If the party clusters, drop a single burst on the knot and split them with the fire. He is a fragile glass cannon here, so screen him with minions or pair him with a tougher front-line threat.
Open with Scorching Ray on the squishiest caster, then alternate spells and staff strikes. When a melee PC closes, punish with Lash of Flame and spend legendary actions on Conjure Cinders into the cluster. Bloodied, Step Through Flame across the room and reset to range; this is a true solo boss with a full legendary kit.
Lead with a burst on the densest cluster, then teleport away from melee each round and rain fire. Hold legendary actions to react to spellcasters with Fire Bolt. Bloodied, blanket the choke with cinders and kite; run him as the lair's centerpiece with a wreath of summoned fire-elementals.
Put Wizard 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 Wizard?
His home tier is 2 (about CR 9, 5,000 XP) built as a true solo boss with three legendary actions and the Lash of Flame reaction, so the band is dropped one step to let him play up against a four-person party. Scale him down to Tier 1 (~CR 4) or up to Tier 3 (~CR 13) using the table; the kit stays identical, only the numbers move.
Can Wizard be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a hireable archmage he makes a deadly back-line ally who fries clustered foes and screens the party with walls of fire; just remember his own fire does not discriminate, so keep melee allies clear of his bursts. His bound elemental Ashling tags along as a second smaller ally.
Is his fire wreath dangerous to approach in melee?
Very. Anyone striking him in melee or touching him takes automatic fire damage from the Wreath of Flame, and closing in can also trigger Lash of Flame for a Dexterity save and a shove. Ranged attackers, fire resistance, and forcing him out of his conjured fire are the safest answers.
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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