Water Leaper
Water Leaper — The Encounter
Llamhigyn y Dwr, the leaping terror of Welsh meres · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Water Leaper
The Welsh name it Llamhigyn y Dwr, the Water Leaper, and shepherds along the upland lakes know it as a thief of lines and a drowner of dogs. It haunts still meres and slow river-pools, where it severs an angler's line with a snap of its toad-jaws, then leaps upon whatever the startled fisher fumbles. By night it sets up a shrill froglike shriek that carries across the water and curdles the courage of any who hear it. Its true hunger is for the living: it lashes its barbed tail about a wading sheep or an unwary swimmer, drags them beneath the surface, and holds them under until the thrashing stops. No spear seems to find purchase on its slick warty hide, and it dives faster than a man can follow. Folk who must cross its waters carry iron and salt, keep their dogs leashed, and never answer the screaming that calls from the reeds.
Run Water Leaper in Sixty Seconds
- It owns the water. Surface Tension lets it stand on ponds; treat any pool as solid ground for the leaper and as a death-trap for everyone else.
- Open with the grab. Lead with a leap, then Stinger Tail into Drowning Hold to pull a low-STR PC into the water and start suffocation, the whole point of the encounter.
- Kill-priority is the drowned target. Whoever is grappled underwater is on a clock; the rest of the party must choose between rescue and damage.
- Three ways to run it: a lone line-thieving menace harrying anglers, a marsh-witch's bound pet (use the companion block), or one of a pack hopping in from every reed-bed at once.
- When bloodied, it stops trading blows: Sudden Leap to deep water each turn, drag-and-dive, and use Recoiling Shriek to frighten pursuers off the bank.
Water Leaper
Medium monstrosity, neutral evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEAmphibious. The water leaper can breathe air and water.
Surface Tension. While on the surface of a body of water, the water leaper is treated as standing on solid ground. It does not provoke opportunity attacks when it leaves the water, and difficult terrain made of water does not cost it extra movement.
Drowning Hold (signature). When the water leaper hits a Large or smaller creature with its Stinger Tail, it can attempt to drag the target into water: the target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 15 feet toward the nearest body of water and grappled (escape DC 14). While grappling a creature underwater, that creature begins to suffocate if it cannot breathe water, and the leaper has advantage on attack rolls against it.
Actions
Multiattack. The water leaper makes one Bite attack and one Stinger Tail attack. If both hit the same target, the target takes an extra 7 (2d6) poison damage.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+4) piercing damage.
Stinger Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or take 7 (2d6) poison damage and be poisoned until the end of its next turn.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Sudden Leap. Bonus Action. The water leaper springs up to 30 feet horizontally or 15 feet vertically toward a point it can see. This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks.
Recoiling Shriek. Reaction, when a creature within 10 feet hits the water leaper with a melee attack. The leaper looses a piercing froglike screech; the attacker must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened of the leaper until the end of its next turn.
A bloated toad the size of a hunting dog, its forelegs replaced by leathery bat wings and its body trailing into a long barbed tail. It crouches half-submerged in a still mere, watching anglers with a wet, unblinking eye.
Water Leaper, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEPondskin Ambusher (signature). While Water Leaper is within 5 feet of water, attack rolls against it from creatures that cannot see into the water are made with disadvantage, and it has advantage on Stealth checks made while partly submerged.
Actions
Barbed Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d4+4) piercing damage, and a Large or smaller target must succeed on a DC 13 Strength save or be pulled 10 feet toward Water Leaper.
Reactions
Slip Away. When a creature ends its turn within 5 feet of Water Leaper, it can swim up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
A young leaper raised from a clutch of eggs, loyal to the marsh-witch who fed it kidneys and warm milk. It fights only at the water's edge and bolts for the deep the moment its keeper falls.
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 waterline with Sudden Leap into the rear-most squishy target, then Stinger Tail to start a Drowning Hold. Kill-priority is anyone standing in or beside the water. Pair it with a marsh hag or a pack of giant frogs so the party cannot simply back away from the shore.
Open by hopping onto the water's surface and tail-grappling the lowest-Strength PC, then drag them under and hold to start suffocation. Spend Sudden Leap to reposition every round so melee can never pin it; use Recoiling Shriek to peel off whoever lands the hardest hit. Kill-priority is the grappled drowning target; pair it with a bog lair (difficult terrain, fog) and a bigger flagship threat to anchor the fight.
Run it as a hit-and-run drowner amid minions, never alone. Open with a leap-grab on an isolated caster, drag to deep water, and let lesser swamp creatures wall off the rescue. Kill-priority stays the grappled PC; pair it with a larger boss so the leaper's snatch-and-flee punishes anyone who strays from the group.
Put Water Leaper 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 Water Leaper?
Its home tier is a CR 6 monstrosity (Tier 2, levels 5-10): AC 15, HP 123, +6 to hit, save DC 14. Scaled stat blocks for Tier 1 (levels 1-4) and Tier 3 (levels 11-15) are provided, with the traits identical and only the numbers shifting.
Can Water Leaper be a companion or ally?
Yes. The companion block 'Llygad, Bound' is a weaker juvenile (AC 14, HP 74) suited as a marsh-witch's pet or a ranger's amphibious mount. It excels at tail-grappling foes toward the water but flees to the deep if its keeper drops.
Is the Water Leaper safe to use in my own published setting?
Yes. The Llamhigyn y Dwr is genuine Welsh folklore in the public domain, and this stat block uses only generic SRD 5.1 creature types, conditions, and rules, so it carries no proprietary IP.
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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