Apedemak
Apedemak — The Encounter
Three-maned lion-lord of war and the desert sun · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Apedemak
In the red lands south of the cataracts, Apedemak is the lion who eats the spears of armies. The Kushite war-priests carved his three-maned face above every fort gate, for it is said the god looks to the dawn, the dusk, and the throat of the enemy all at once, and no ambush has ever caught him blind. He does not bless cowards; he comes only when the muster-drums beat, walking out of the desert heat-shimmer with a cloak of flayed banners and a chain whose iron link burns with the noonday sun. Where he sets foot the sand fuses to glass. Conjurers who bind his avatar learn quickly that he serves no master longer than the battle lasts, and that the bargain is paid in blood drawn first from the one who summoned him. When the killing is done he turns his three faces away and is gone, leaving only scorched ground and the smell of singed mane.
Run Apedemak in Sixty Seconds
- Reach first. The flame-chain hits at 15 ft. and pulls 10 ft. Open every fight by yanking the back-line caster into khopesh range before initiative settles into a wall.
- Stack the ignite. Multiattack lets both weapons strike one target; land both for the DC 14 Con save and a burning damage-over-time that costs the party an action to put out.
- Roar on the cluster. Hold Lion's Roar until two or more PCs are inside 30 ft., then frighten them all at once to blunt a coordinated alpha strike.
- Kill-priority for the party: remove its fire resistance or simply fly/teleport out of the 15-ft. chain. Three vigilant heads mean you can't surprise it, so don't bother trying.
- Three ways to run it: patron war-god leading a cultist horde (T1), formation-breaking lieutenant beside a flagship boss (T2), or the muscle escorting a true solo boss while lesser lions screen (T3).
Apedemak
Large fiend (yugoloth), neutral evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEThree Vigilant Heads. Apedemak's three lion heads each watch a different field of battle. It has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks and on saving throws against being blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, stunned, or knocked unconscious. While it has more than one head and is conscious, it can't be surprised.
Sun-Forged Weapons. Apedemak's weapon attacks are magical. When it hits with any weapon, the attack deals an extra 4 (1d8) fire damage (included below).
Actions
Multiattack. Apedemak makes two attacks: one with its khopesh and one with its flame-chain. If both hit the same target, that target must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or be ignited, taking 5 (1d10) fire damage at the start of each of its turns until it or an adjacent creature uses an action to douse the flames.
Khopesh. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+4) slashing damage plus 4 (1d8) fire damage.
Flame-Chain. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d10+4) bludgeoning damage plus 4 (1d8) fire damage, and the target is pulled up to 10 feet toward Apedemak.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Lion's Roar (Recharge 5-6). As a bonus action, Apedemak looses a tripled roar. Each creature of its choice within 30 feet that can hear it must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened of it until the end of its next turn.
A war-god's avatar prowls forward on three snarling lioness heads, ragged sun-cloak streaming, a notched khopesh in one fist and a chain that ends in living fire swinging from the other.
Apedemak, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEPack Sense (signature). Apedemak has advantage on attack rolls against a creature if at least one of Apedemak's allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated.
Actions
Rending Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) piercing damage, and a Large or smaller target must succeed on a DC 13 Strength save or be knocked prone.
Reactions
Guard the Master. When an ally within 5 feet is hit by an attack, Apedemak can impose disadvantage on that attack roll by lunging into the strike.
A great desert lioness, scarred and silent, that pads at the war-god's heel and will not leave a wounded ally behind.
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 the flame-chain to yank your squishiest player into khopesh reach, then bite down. If the party clusters, hold Lion's Roar for the moment two or three stand within 30 ft. Pair Apedemak with a low-level cultist mob so it reads as their war-god patron, not a lone bruiser.
Open by chain-pulling the back-line caster forward, then khopesh them and aim to land both hits for the ignite. Kill-priority is whoever can remove its fire resistance or fly out of reach. This is an add-on lieutenant: anchor it next to a flagship boss and let it punish anyone who breaks formation.
Same play, bigger numbers: chain-pull, khopesh, ignite, roar the cluster. At this tier give it a couple of lesser lion-avatars to bully the front line while it hunts the controller. Kill-priority is anyone shutting down its frightened or burning effects; pairs with a true solo boss as the muscle.
Put Apedemak 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 Apedemak?
CR 6 (2,300 XP) at its native Tier 2. Scale it down to roughly CR 2 for Tier 1 parties or up toward CR 11 for Tier 3 using the tier table; the traits and actions never change, only the numbers.
Can Apedemak be a companion or ally?
Not directly as written; it is neutral evil and serves no master longer than a battle. But its bound lioness Sehkmir, Pride-Bound makes a strong ally or escort companion (AC 13, 76 HP) for a party that wins or buys its loyalty.
Is Apedemak a solo boss?
No. It has no legendary actions and is built as an add-on lieutenant. Use it to apply pressure beside a flagship boss; running it alone against a full party will see it focus-fired before it lands its combos.
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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