Martikhoras
Martikhoras — The Encounter
Man-eater of the old roads, tail bristling with iron · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Martikhoras
Travelers of the old caravan roads speak its name in a whisper: the martikhoras, the man-eater. It wears the body of a great lion, the wings of a leathery night-thing, and a tail like a scorpion's whose barbs it spends as a quiver of iron spikes, loosed at a coward's back across a hundred paces. Cleverest and cruelest of the road-beasts, it understands the tongues of men and uses them only to lure, calling for help in a child's voice from the dark of a ravine, then falling upon those who answer. It leaves nothing behind, neither bone nor cloth nor weapon, so that the vanished are simply gone, and the road earns a haunted name no merchant will speak aloud. To meet its grin upon the high passes is to learn why the mountain villages bar their doors before dusk.
Run Martikhoras in Sixty Seconds
- It flies. Open in the air, out of melee reach, and lead with three Tail Spikes (+6, 100 ft.) at whoever has the lowest AC or HP.
- Kill-priority is the back line. Once a caster or archer is bloodied, dive: move 20+ ft., Claw to trigger Pounce (DC 14 Str or prone), then bonus-action Bite the downed target.
- When bloodied, stop trading on the ground. Take off, regain distance, and go back to spike volleys; it is a hit-and-run mauler, not a brawler.
- Three ways to run it: a lone road-ambush man-eater calling for help in a stolen voice; a hunting pair circling a mountain pass; or the air-cavalry of a larger flagship boss, harassing the party's back ranks while the boss holds the front.
Martikhoras
Large monstrosity, lawful evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEPounce. If the martikhoras moves at least 20 ft. straight toward a creature and then hits it with a claw attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is prone, the martikhoras can make one bite attack against it as a bonus action.
Tail Quiver. Signature. The barbs of the martikhoras's scorpion tail regrow between fights, holding a fresh volley of iron spikes. While it has spikes remaining (3 volleys), it can launch them as a ranged attack; once empty, the tail can still stab in melee.
Actions
Multiattack. The martikhoras makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws, or three with its tail spikes.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) piercing damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8+4) slashing damage.
Tail Spike. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 100/200 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8+3) piercing damage.
A lion-bodied man-eater crouched on a bone-strewn ridge, two leathery bat wings flung wide and a segmented scorpion tail arched over its mane, the iron barbs at its tip glinting blue. Its almost-human face grins with rows of fangs.
Martikhoras, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINESpotter's Eye (signature). When the bound martikhoras can see an enemy within 100 ft. of an ally, that ally gains a +2 bonus to their first ranged attack roll against that enemy on their turn.
Actions
Tail Spike. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 100/200 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8+2) piercing damage.
Reactions
Covering Barbs. When an ally within 30 ft. is hit by a creature the martikhoras can see, it loosens a spike at the attacker, dealing 4 (1d8) piercing damage.
Half-tamed and never trusted, it answers to a single low whistle and watches the ridgelines for both of you.
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 with a volley of tail spikes to bloody the softest target before anyone closes. If the party clusters in the open, dive and Pounce the back-line caster to knock them prone, then bite. Pair it with a flagship beast or a pack of road-bandits; this is a flanker, not a lone boss.
Stay airborne and rain three tail spikes until a spellcaster or archer is bloodied, then dive-Pounce that kill-priority target prone and finish with a bonus bite. Break off and circle when low rather than trading blows on the ground. Run it with minions or alongside a bigger lair threat, never alone, so the party must split fire between flyer and floor.
As a high-tier add-on, treat it as the boss's air-superiority piece: harass casters with spike volleys and Pounce anyone who strays from cover. Kill-priority is whoever can ground it. Pair it with a bigger threat and a lair full of choke points; with allies driving the front line, its flight and ranged barbs punish the back ranks endlessly.
Put Martikhoras 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 Martikhoras?
Its home stat block is CR 6 (2,300 XP), tuned for a party of levels 5-10. Scaled versions are provided for tiers 1 (levels 1-4) and 3 (levels 11-15); the traits and actions are identical at every tier, only the numbers move.
Can Martikhoras be a companion or ally?
Yes. The included "Martikhoras, Bound" profile is a half-tamed road-beast that scouts ridgelines, spots targets for an ally's ranged attacks, and looses covering spikes as a reaction. It is roughly 60% of the adversary's durability and is built to support, not to solo.
Why isn't Martikhoras a solo boss?
It is a hit-and-run flyer with strong mobility but no legendary actions or punishing reactions, so a full party simply out-acts it over a round. Run it as an add-on flanker beside a larger flagship threat, with minions, a lair, or choke points to make its flight and spike volleys count.
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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