Anubis
Anubis — The Encounter
Jackal-headed warden who weighs the souls of the slain · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Anubis
Before the first king was wrapped in linen, the jackal already waited at the threshold where breath ends and the long dark begins. Anubis is no mere mourner; he is the keeper of the scales, the one who lays each heart against the feather and pronounces what the dead have earned. The grimoires name him psychopomp, embalmer, and warden of the necropolis, and they warn that he plays no favorites: kings and beggars are weighed by the same cold hand. His scythe does not reap grain but severs the thread that binds spirit to corpse, and where its light passes, no false resurrection takes root. Cultists summon him to guard a tomb or to drag an oath-breaker before judgment, yet he answers only his own law. To bargain with Anubis is to bargain with the inevitable. He cannot be frightened, flattered, or poisoned, and he remembers every debt unpaid to the underworld.
Run Anubis in Sixty Seconds
- Hold his bonus action for Step Through the Veil: he should always be standing next to whoever heals or revives, not whoever swings hardest.
- Open with Soul-Sever the first round three or more PCs bunch up; the cone plus prone sets up your whole turn order.
- Kill-priority is healing Weigh the Heart shuts off hit-point regain, so park his attacks on the cleric or anyone trying to stabilize.
- When bloodied lean on Toll of the Scales and farm temp HP by setting low-HP foes to 1 instead of dropping them; he can grind back up.
- Three ways to run him tomb sentinel (defends a relic, never leaves a room), relentless judge (chases one marked oath-breaker), or escort enforcer beside a flagship boss.
Anubis
Medium celestial (psychopomp), lawful neutral
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEMagic Weapon. Anubis's staff-scythe attacks are magical, and they ignore resistance to necrotic damage.
Weigh the Heart. Signature. Anubis senses the moral weight of every creature within 60 feet, learning whether each is below half its hit points. Once per turn, when Anubis reduces a creature to 0 hit points, he may instead set its hit points to 1 and impose a Judgment: the creature can't regain hit points until the end of its next turn, and Anubis gains 10 temporary hit points.
Actions
Multiattack. Anubis makes two attacks with his Underworld Scythe, or casts a spell and makes one Underworld Scythe attack.
Underworld Scythe. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6+4) slashing damage plus 9 (2d8) necrotic damage.
Soul-Sever (Recharge 5-6). Anubis traces a glyph of passage at a point he can see within 60 feet. Each creature in a 30-foot cone must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw, taking 27 (6d8) necrotic damage and being knocked prone on a failed save, or half as much damage on a success.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Step Through the Veil (Bonus Action). Anubis teleports up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space he can see, leaving a swirl of grave-dust at his origin.
Toll of the Scales (Reaction). When a creature within 10 feet that is below half its hit points hits Anubis, he reduces the damage by 7 (2d6) and the attacker takes that much necrotic damage.
A blue-fleshed, jackal-headed warden in gilded lion pauldrons and a pharaoh's collar, gripping a tall scythe-staff whose haft burns with cold underworld light. He stands braced over broken ground, jaws parted in a silent judgment.
Anubis, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEScent of the Dead (signature). Anubis has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell and always knows the direction of the nearest corpse or undead within 120 feet.
Actions
Grave-Touched Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8+4) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) necrotic damage, and the target's speed is reduced by 10 feet until the start of its next turn.
Reactions
Pull to the Threshold. When an ally within 30 feet is reduced to 0 hit points, Anubis howls; that ally drops to 1 hit point instead, once per long rest.
A lean shade-hound of black smoke and gold collars that pads at the warden's heel, ears pricked for the scent of the newly dead.
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 Underworld Scythe on the most wounded target and use Weigh the Heart to deny healing. Step Through the Veil to reach a backline healer or caster. Pair him with a stronger tomb-guardian; at this tier he is the elite jackal that escorts a bigger threat.
Lead with Soul-Sever the moment three or more foes cluster, then Multiattack the lowest-HP target to trigger Judgment and farm temp HP. Kill-priority is whoever can resurrect or heal. Use Step Through the Veil and Toll of the Scales to punish bloodied attackers who close in. He is an add-on enforcer next to a flagship pharaoh or lich.
Front-load Soul-Sever on the cluster, then split attacks across two wounded foes to stack Judgments and stay topped up on temp HP. Teleport to lock down the party's healer first. Run him as the captain of a tomb-guard pack, not a true solo, so legendary-tier bosses keep the spotlight.
Put Anubis 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 Anubis?
Natively CR 6 (Tier 2, ~levels 5-10): AC 16, HP 127, +7 to hit, save DC 15. The tiers block also gives a CR 2-flavored build for levels 1-4 and a CR 11-flavored build for levels 11-15 using the same traits and actions with scaled numbers.
Can Anubis be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a lawful-neutral psychopomp he makes a striking patron or temporary ally when the party serves the underworld's law, and his jackal-shade Khenti can join a player as a loyal companion (AC 14, HP 76) with a once-per-long-rest save against a downed ally.
Is Anubis a solo boss?
No. He has no legendary actions, so he is built as an add-on enforcer rather than a centerpiece. Pair him with a flagship boss such as a pharaoh-lich or a greater mummy lord and let him play the relentless judge who locks down healers.
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.
The Legend
In Your Campaign
Source Mythology: Anubis draws from ancient mythological traditions, bringing legendary power to your tabletop.
Encounter Design: Use Anubis as a divine patron, a mythic boss encounter, or the centerpiece of a mythology-themed campaign arc. The model's dynamic pose creates immediate dramatic tension at the table.
Campaign Hooks: An ancient temple awakens. A prophecy names Anubis as either savior or destroyer. A cult seeks to summon or bind this mythological power for mortal purposes.
Technical Specifications
32mm, 75mm
STL, Pre-supported STL
Standard or ABS-like resin, 0.05mm layer height
Yes — ready to print, optimized supports included
From the Same Collection
Frequently Asked Questions
What scale is the Anubis miniature available in?
Anubis is available in 32mm (tabletop standard) and 75mm (display/collector scale). Both scale files are included with presupported and unsupported STL options.
Is the Anubis STL file presupported?
Yes. Every Clay Cyanide miniature includes presupported STL files optimized for resin printing at 0.05mm layer height, plus unsupported files for custom support placement.
Can I use Anubis in my D&D or tabletop RPG campaign?
Absolutely. Anubis is designed for tabletop gaming at 32mm scale, fitting standard grid-based combat systems. The dynamic pose and detailed sculpt create memorable encounters and character moments.
Played Anubis at your table? Log in with your Obsidian Tavern account to leave a balance note, a war story, or a file issue — the sharpest reports get the block revised.
Log in to comment