Ashura
Ashura — The Encounter
Crimson Warlord enthroned at the gate between worlds · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Ashura
Where the mortal road of Yamato thins into mist, the Gate of Ashura stands, and upon its stone throne sits the warlord who will not be moved. They name him oni, fiend, devil-king — yet he keeps a soldier's oath older than the temples: nothing crosses into the spirit realm save by his leave. His axe was forged from a fallen sun and a slain god's jaw, and it burns gold even in the deepest fog. Generals once knelt to him; now only the dead garrison the gate, and Ashura wars on alone, regenerating each wound the way mountains shrug off rain. He suffers no negotiation he did not begin and no trespass he did not sanction. Those who reach his throne find him almost courteous — until they refuse to turn back. Then the courtesy ends, the aura of divine dread tightens, and the Crimson Warlord rises to teach why the gate has never once been breached.
Run Ashura in Sixty Seconds
- Read the room first. While Ashura is above half HP his Wrath aura gives every enemy within 10 ft. disadvantage on their first save each turn — keep him in melee to weaponize it, and warn players their save isn't safe.
- Open with Conqueror's Roar only when 3+ heroes are clustered: 8d8 thunder, prone, and a shove sets up his Multiattack on whoever's now flat-footed and adjacent.
- Kill-priority for the party is radiant. Any radiant damage switches off his 10-HP-a-turn Regeneration for a round — if no one has it, this is a grind, so telegraph that to keep the table honest.
- When bloodied, the gloves come off: he crits on a 19, gets a third axe swing every turn, and his aura is gone — he stops zoning and starts executing. Send him at the lowest-HP target.
- Three ways to run him: lone legendary boss (T3, as written); warlord-plus-guards by adding the twin Komainu; or a scripted gatekeeper who only fights if the party refuses to turn back — letting players talk, then choose violence.
Ashura
Large fiend (oni), lawful evil
CR 11 · 7,200 XP · GUIDELINEMagic Weapons. Ashura's weapon attacks are magical, and his golden axe deals an extra 9 (2d8) fire damage (included below).
Wrath of the Gate. Signature. While Ashura is at or above half his hit points he is wreathed in divine menace: each enemy that starts its turn within 10 ft. of him has disadvantage on the first saving throw it makes that turn. The moment he drops below half (is bloodied), this aura collapses into open fury — instead, his melee attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20, and he can make one extra Crescent Axe attack as part of each Multiattack until the end of the encounter.
Regeneration. Ashura regains 10 hit points at the start of his turn if he has at least 1 hit point and has not taken radiant damage since his last turn.
Actions
Multiattack. Ashura makes two attacks with his Crescent Axe.
Crescent Axe. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (2d12 + 5) slashing damage plus 9 (2d8) fire damage.
Conqueror's Roar (Recharge 5-6). Ashura looses a world-shaking roar in a 30-foot cone. Each creature there must make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw, taking 36 (8d8) thunder damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success. A creature that fails is also pushed 10 ft. and knocked prone.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Warlord's Riposte (Reaction). When a creature Ashura can see hits him with a melee attack, he can make one Crescent Axe attack against that creature.
Legendary Actions (3/Round)
Legendary Actions. Ashura can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. He regains spent actions at the start of his turn.
Stride. Ashura moves up to his speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Crescent Sweep (Costs 1 Action). Ashura makes one Crescent Axe attack.
Gate's Judgment (Costs 2 Actions). Ashura points his axe at one creature he can see within 30 ft.; it must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or take 13 (3d8) fire damage and have disadvantage on attack rolls until the end of its next turn.
A mountainous red oni in tarnished gold warplate sits upon a throne beneath a fog-shrouded pagoda gate, a gilded crescent axe taller than a man resting across his knee.
Ashura, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEGate-Sworn (signature). While within 30 ft. of the creature it guards, the Ashura has advantage on saving throws against being frightened or charmed, and any ally it can see within 10 ft. has resistance to fire damage.
Actions
Stone Maw. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (3d8 + 4) piercing damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 15) if it is Large or smaller.
Reactions
Guardian's Lunge. When an ally within 10 ft. is hit by an attack, the Ashura can move up to half its speed toward that ally; if it ends adjacent, the attacker has disadvantage on its next attack this turn.
A carved lion-dog brought to roaring stone life, one of the twin guardians flanking the Gate of Ashura.
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.
Drop to this band only if the party is low level; even then run him as a dreaded scene-ender, not a wave fight. Open with Conqueror's Roar to scatter the front line, then chase the lowest-HP striker. Keep him as the single threat — at this tier he is a campaign villain, not an add.
Open with the Wrath aura up so the party eats disadvantage on their first key save, then Multiattack the squishiest caster. Save Conqueror's Roar for when 3+ heroes cluster. Kill-priority: anyone who can deal radiant damage, since it shuts off his Regeneration.
Run him solo with legendary actions: Stride to stay on the backline caster, Crescent Sweep between turns, Gate's Judgment to blind a heavy hitter. Lead with the aura; when bloodied, lean into the extra crit-19 axe swing. Pair the twin Komainu only if you want a true gate-siege finale.
Put Ashura 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 Ashura?
Native CR 11 (7,200 XP) at his home Tier 3, built as a solo-capable boss with legendary actions and a strong reaction. The provided Tier 1 and Tier 2 lines drop his AC, HP, to-hit, and save DC into those bands if you need to field him earlier — but he is always meant to be the centerpiece, never a mob add.
Can Ashura be a companion or ally?
Ashura himself is a warlord boss, not a follower — he answers to no one. But the encounter ships with the Komainu, Bound: a stone lion-dog guardian (AC 15, HP 110) that can grapple intruders, lend allies fire resistance, and lunge to defend them. Hand the Komainu to a player or run it beside any defender who guards a threshold.
How do I keep the fight from becoming a slog?
His Regeneration is the dial. If the party has no radiant damage, soften his HP toward the Tier 2 line or simply rule that crossing the gate ends the fight. If they do have radiant, lean in — encourage them to spend it to shut off the 10 HP/turn and reward the tactic with a faster, more cinematic kill.
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
Played Ashura 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.
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