Abyssal Terrorwing
Abyssal Terrorwing — The Encounter
Brazen-feathered dread-bird whose cry shatters courage · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Abyssal Terrorwing
The grimoires of the carrion-watchers name it terrorwing, though older shepherds simply call it the gallows-bird. It is said to nest where battles were lost and no banners were raised over the dead, feeding first on the courage of the living before ever it tastes flesh. Those who have survived its passing speak of the same thing: the eyes upon its wings, which do not blink, and which fix a soul in place as surely as a spear pins a moth. The bird does not hunt in packs, for it needs none. It stoops from the high dark with a cry that splits resolve like rotten wood, snatches a frozen victim from the line, and bears the screaming morsel up into the cloud. Crofters bind iron bells to their roofs against it, for it is held that the terrorwing cannot abide a sound braver than its own. Whether this is true, or merely a comfort told to children, none who tested it have returned to say.
Run Abyssal Terrorwing in Sixty Seconds
- Reveal it last. Keep the terrorwing hidden until you want Dread Plumage to land — the first time each PC sees it, they save vs frightened (and may be paralyzed). A surprise reveal can freeze half the party in one beat.
- Open from the sky. Stay airborne with fly 60 ft. and Flyby; lead with Shrieking Stoop down the tightest cluster, then stoop to grab and carry off an isolated target.
- Kill-priority: the brave one. Whoever hands out immunity to fear (paladin aura, calm emotions, brave/heroism effects) neuters its whole package — focus or grapple-remove that PC first.
- When bloodied, it flees and harries. Below half HP it stops trading blows: Wingbeat away from melee, recharge Shrieking Stoop, and pick off stragglers from range rather than committing.
- Three ways to run it: ambush terror that snatches and carries a PC off; aerial skirmisher orbiting a bigger boss; or a fear-engine that softens the line for its minions to finish.
Abyssal Terrorwing
Large monstrosity, neutral evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEDread Plumage. The terrorwing's wings bear two staring eye-spots that drink in courage. When the terrorwing first becomes visible to a creature within 60 feet on that creature's turn, the creature must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened until the end of its next turn. A creature that fails by 5 or more is also paralyzed while frightened this way.
Flyby. The terrorwing doesn't provoke opportunity attacks when it flies out of an enemy's reach.
Keen Sight. The terrorwing has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
Actions
Multiattack. The terrorwing makes one Beak attack and two Talon attacks. It can use Shrieking Stoop in place of all of these attacks.
Beak. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) piercing damage.
Talon. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8+4) slashing damage. If the target is a Medium or smaller creature, it is grappled (escape DC 14) and the terrorwing can fly away carrying it.
Shrieking Stoop (Recharge 5–6). The terrorwing dives in a screaming arc. Each creature in a 30-foot line that is 5 feet wide must make a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw, taking 22 (5d8) thunder damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success. A creature that fails is knocked prone.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Wingbeat. Reaction (recharges after a short or long rest): When a creature the terrorwing can see hits it with a melee attack, the terrorwing buffets the air, pushing that creature up to 10 feet away and then flying up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
A raptor the size of a warhorse, its scarlet and bruise-dark plumage streaked with corpse-light, two great eye-spots glaring from its wings. Its crest blazes like cold flame as it screams from the dead boughs of a gallows-tree.
Abyssal Terrorwing, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEEye-of-the-Brood (signature). Abyssal Terrorwing shares its master's dread-gaze in miniature. Once per turn, when a creature within 30 feet fails a saving throw against being frightened, Abyssal Terrorwing's handler gains advantage on the next attack roll against that creature before the start of its next turn.
Actions
Rending Beak. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8+3) piercing damage, and the target can't take reactions until the start of its next turn.
Reactions
Veering Flit. When a creature ends its turn within 5 feet of Abyssal Terrorwing, it flits 10 feet away without provoking opportunity attacks.
A wing-runt of the same brood, kept half-tame on a leather jess — loyal only so long as the meat keeps coming.
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 the air so Dread Plumage forces a save before anyone acts; the frightened won't dare approach. Snatch the lowest-HP caster in talons and carry it off, splitting the party. At this tier it is a terrifying centerpiece for a single fight — but pair it with a gallows-tree hazard, not as a true solo.
Reveal it dramatically so Dread Plumage frightens the front line, then Shrieking Stoop down the most clustered lane. Kill-priority is whoever can grant immunity to fear or fly after it; everyone else is grounded prey. Pair it with cultists or carrion-feeders below — it is an add-on terror, not a lone boss; a coordinated party out-acts a single bird.
Run it as a flying skirmisher above a bigger threat — a lich's roost, a giant's eyrie, a ritual circle. Use Flyby and Wingbeat to stay airborne and out of melee, raining Shrieking Stoop and grappling stragglers away from the healer. With minions or a lair it harries; alone at this tier the party will simply ground it, so always pair it with a larger centerpiece.
Put Abyssal Terrorwing 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 Abyssal Terrorwing?
Its home tier is CR 6 (Tier 2, levels 5–10): AC 15, 123 HP, +6 to hit, save DC 14. Scaled versions are provided for Tier 1 (levels 1–4) and Tier 3 (levels 11–15) using the same traits and actions with adjusted numbers.
Can Abyssal Terrorwing be a companion or ally?
Not the adult — it's a Large flying terror built to menace a party. But the bundled brood-runt companion, Mawling, Bound, can ride along with a handler, sharing a flicker of the dread-gaze and locking down enemy reactions with its beak.
How do I keep it from one-shotting my players' nerve?
Dread Plumage only triggers on first sight and can paralyze on a big failure, so telegraph it. Anything granting immunity to the frightened condition (a paladin's aura, calm emotions, heroism) shuts the gaze down — reward players who prep against fear rather than punishing a single failed roll.
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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