Mortisbane Moonmorphs
Mortisbane Moonmorphs — The Encounter
The pale witch who weds the moon to ruin · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Mortisbane Moonmorphs
They name her Mortisbane, the pale celebrant who weds the dead moon to living ruin. Folklore holds that on the year's blackest night she walks the high moors with a golden staff shaped like a crescent crown, and that the horned, teal-skinned brutes loping at her heels were once shepherds, soldiers, and faithless lovers. Under her lunar rite their bones soften like wax and re-set into beasts: this is the moonmorph, a curse of the changing moon that strips a person of their face and leaves only obedience. The witch herself bleeds no allegiance to any infernal court; she serves the moon's hunger and her own. Where she passes, livestock are found turned inside their hides and children wake with claws. Hunters say she cannot be frightened nor charmed, for she long ago traded those parts of herself to the moon, and that to strike her is to wound the pack, for she pours her hurts into the bound things that love her.
Run Mortisbane Moonmorphs in Sixty Seconds
- Hold and open right. Don't lead with the staff. Open with Witchfire Bolt on the enemy healer so they can't undo your damage, then Moonstep to safety.
- Kill-priority is the witch. She is the leash; drop her and the pack loses Moonbound Aegis, Blood Tithe, and the Howl the Bound legendary action.
- Mind the soak. Blood Tithe and Borrowed Hurt let her shunt damage into bound moonmorphs, so she lives longer than her HP suggests, focus-fire her, don't chip.
- When bloodied, she Moonsteps to range, leans on Lunar Surge for burst, and feeds her wounds to the pack to drag the fight out.
- Three ways to run her: a lone terror with two moonmorphs (Tier 1), a coven hunt with a full pack (Tier 2-3), or a mid-fight escalation where she Moonsteps in once the party is already bloodied.
Mortisbane Moonmorphs
Medium humanoid (spellcaster), neutral evil
CR 11 · 7,200 XP · GUIDELINEMoonbound Aegis. While the witch is conscious, any beast or fiend she has bound (her moonmorphs) within 30 feet of her has advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened and adds 5 temporary hit points the first time it is reduced below half its maximum each turn.
Lunar Surge. (Recharge 5-6). Once on her turn, when the witch casts a spell of 1st level or higher, she may channel cold moonlight to add 10 (3d6) cold damage to one target the spell affects.
Actions
Multiattack. The witch makes two Lunar Lash attacks, or casts one spell and makes one Lunar Lash attack.
Lunar Lash (staff). Melee or Ranged Spell Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft. or range 60 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (4d8 + 4) cold damage, and the target's speed is reduced by 10 feet until the end of its next turn.
Witchfire Bolt. Ranged Spell Attack: +9 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 27 (5d8 + 4) necrotic damage. On a hit, the target must succeed on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw or be unable to regain hit points until the end of its next turn.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Blood Tithe. Reaction: When a creature within 30 feet that the witch can see takes damage, she may force one moonmorph she has bound within 30 feet to take half that damage in her place, drawing on its borrowed life.
Legendary Actions (3/Round)
Moonstep. The witch teleports up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space she can see.
Lash (costs 1 action). The witch makes one Lunar Lash attack.
Howl the Bound (costs 2 actions). Each bound moonmorph within 60 feet of the witch can immediately move up to its speed and make one melee attack as a reaction.
A pale-haired witch in silvered ceremonial robes stands amid a snarling pack of teal, many-horned beast-fiends, her golden moon-staff leashing them to her will. Each monster was once mortal, reshaped under her cold lunar rites into a loyal moonmorph.
Mortisbane Moonmorphs, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEPack-Bound (signature). While within 30 feet of the creature that bound it, the moonmorph has advantage on attack rolls against any target also being attacked by an ally.
Actions
Goring Horns. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (3d6 + 4) piercing damage, and a Large or smaller target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength save or be knocked prone.
Reactions
Borrowed Hurt. Reaction: When its binder would take damage within 30 feet, the moonmorph may take half that damage instead.
A re-shaped mortal, all horns and teal hide, that fights without fear so long as its maker still draws breath.
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 Witchfire Bolt on the party's healer to lock down healing, then Moonstep behind a wall. Keep one moonmorph adjacent so Blood Tithe can soak the first big hit. Pair her with one or two beasts only at this tier or the party will be overwhelmed.
Lead with Lunar Surge + Witchfire Bolt on the squishiest caster to deny their healing. Use Moonstep to stay out of melee and let the pack screen for her. When bloodied, dump damage onto bound moonmorphs via Blood Tithe and Borrowed Hurt to stretch the fight.
She is a true boss: open with Witchfire Bolt (no-heal) on the cleric, then spend legendary actions on Howl the Bound so her pack acts off-turn. Kill-priority is the witch herself, but Blood Tithe means she must be focused down faster than her moonmorphs can soak. When bloodied she Moonsteps to high ground and lashes from range while the pack closes.
Put Mortisbane Moonmorphs 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 Mortisbane Moonmorphs?
The witch herself is built at CR 11 (7,200 XP) as a Tier 3 solo boss. Scaled-down Tier 1 (~CR 2) and Tier 2 (~CR 6) versions are provided so she fits levels 1 through 15; her bound moonmorphs are separate add-on creatures.
Can Mortisbane Moonmorphs be a companion or ally?
The witch is an adversary, but a single Moonmorph, Bound (AC 14, 95 HP) makes a strong NPC ally or summoned guardian using the companion block, it fights fearlessly and can soak hits for its master.
Is she affiliated with any infernal court?
No. Frame her as a folkloric moon-witch, she serves the moon's hunger, not any devil or demon hierarchy. Despite knowing Abyssal and Infernal, she answers to no one but the changing moon.
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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