Gloomglimmer
Gloomglimmer — The Encounter
Bloated Bile-Giant of the Loki-blight, censer-bells tolling rot · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Gloomglimmer
They say the giant Loki, bound and dripping, let his venom seep into the deep marsh-springs, and where it pooled the bog-things grew sick and swelled. Gloomglimmer was such a thing, a marsh-troll glutted on tainted water until its body could no longer hold its own corruption. Now the bells and pipes hammered into its hide ring with every step, and the sound is the first warning a village receives, for the toll carries on the wind before the stench does. It does not hunt so much as wander, leaking blight into wells and barrows, and what it touches festers. Cunning folk leave it offerings of carrion at the edge of the fens, hoping the bloated thing will gorge and turn back rather than wade in among the houses. It rarely does. The censer-smoke clings to its passage for days, and crops downwind of its trail wither black before the next moon.
Run Gloomglimmer in Sixty Seconds
- Aura first: Censer Reek triggers on Gloomglimmer's turn, not the players', so anyone who ends adjacent eats 2d6 poison automatically. Make positioning matter and call the save before its attacks.
- Open by clustering: drive it into the tightest group of PCs on round one so the aura hits the most targets, then swing the Cleaver at the lowest-HP body in reach.
- Kill-priority: it goes for whoever can drag, shove, or wall it out of melee range, then grapples a martial with Slam to lock them inside the reek.
- When bloodied: it stops repositioning and stands its ground, daring melee PCs to finish it, because Bilebloated detonates 4d6 poison on everyone within 10 feet the moment it dies.
- Three ways to run it: a lone roaming pestilence (T1 chase), the brute centerpiece of a plague-warband (T2 as written), or the slow anchor of a higher-tier horde paired with a controller (T3) - never solo against a full party.
Gloomglimmer
Large giant, neutral evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINECenser Reek. Signature. The bells and pipes lashed to Gloomglimmer's back vent corruption constantly. At the start of each of its turns, every creature within 10 feet of it must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or take 7 (2d6) poison damage. A creature that fails by 5 or more is also poisoned until the end of its next turn.
Bilebloated. When Gloomglimmer drops to 0 hit points, its swollen body bursts: each creature within 10 feet takes 14 (4d6) poison damage, or half on a successful DC 14 Constitution save.
Actions
Multiattack. Gloomglimmer makes two attacks: one with its Cleaver and one Slam, or two Cleaver attacks.
Cleaver. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (3d8 + 4) slashing damage plus 4 (1d8) poison damage.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 15) if it is Medium or smaller.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Pestilent Spray. Reaction (recharge 5-6): When a creature Gloomglimmer can see hits it with a melee attack from within 5 feet, Gloomglimmer answers with a gout of bile. The attacker must make a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw, taking 10 (3d6) poison damage on a failure or half as much on a success.
A mountain of lime-green, pus-weeping flesh hauls itself forward on stunted legs, a leather bellows-harness strapped to its belly and a thicket of bells and censer-pipes lashed across its back, each one tolling and venting a wet, glowing rot. In one swollen fist it drags a notched cleaver longer than a man.
Gloomglimmer, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEBlight-Bonded (signature). Gloomglimmer is immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition. While within 10 feet of an ally, it has advantage on saving throws against being frightened.
Actions
Filth-Hook. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d4 + 4) piercing damage plus 3 (1d6) poison damage.
Reactions
Cover the Master. When an ally within 5 feet is hit by an attack, Gloomglimmer can move into the path and become the target instead, taking the damage in its place.
A lean, hunched marsh-thing that scuttles in the giant's reeking shadow, lapping at the bile that drips from its master and growing strong on the poison that kills everything else.
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 by wading into the densest knot of PCs so Censer Reek tags the most bodies, then Cleaver the squishiest target in reach. If clustered, that aura grinds them down for free, so make them choose between fighting it and fleeing the cloud. Pair it with a couple of skirmishers so the party can't simply kite the slow giant.
Open by closing on the cluster and letting Censer Reek poison everyone within 10 feet; hold Pestilent Spray for the first melee hit you take. Kill-priority is whoever can move it or escape the cloud, then grapple a martial with Slam to pin them in the reek. When bloodied it stops maneuvering and just stands in the party, banking on Bilebloated to punish anyone still adjacent when it dies, so let melee PCs sweat the choice to keep hitting it.
Run it as the anchor of a plague-warband, not a lone threat, since a high-tier party out-acts a single bruiser. Wade in among melee PCs to maximize Censer Reek, grapple a frontliner with Slam, and use minions to body-block ranged escapes. Pair it with a caster or controller that can hold the party inside the poison cloud while the giant grinds.
Put Gloomglimmer 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 Gloomglimmer?
Natively CR 6 (Tier 2, levels 5-10): AC 15, 138 HP, +7 to hit, save DC 14. The Tier 1 and Tier 3 lines on the sheet rescale the same kit to roughly CR 2 and CR 11 without changing how it plays.
Can Gloomglimmer be a companion or ally?
Not really - it is a mindless, leaking pestilence that poisons everything near it, allies included. If you want a friendly version, use the bound companion Murk-Tick, the poison-immune marsh-thing that thrives in its master's reek. Gloomglimmer itself works best as an environmental hazard or warband anchor.
How do I stop the poison aura from wrecking my martials?
Censer Reek only reaches 10 feet, so reward hit-and-run: strike and step out, or use forced movement to peel PCs free of the cloud. Poison resistance, lesser restoration, and ranged damage all blunt it. Just keep everyone clear when it drops, because Bilebloated bursts for 4d6 on death.
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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