Black Tortoise
Black Tortoise — The Encounter
Xuanwu, armored guardian of the northern dark and winter waters · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Black Tortoise
In the courts of the four directions, the North belongs to Xuanwu, the Dark Warrior, whose body is a tortoise and whose soul is a serpent. The grimoires of the celestial almanac name it lord of winter, of water, and of the long midnight when the year turns cold. Where the Azure Dragon stirs the spring and the Vermillion Bird kindles the summer, the Black Tortoise endures, drawing all heat into the stone of its shell. Sages carved its image on the northern walls of cities, trusting it to hold the gate against famine, flood, and the dead who walk in the dark season. It does not hunt or covet; it simply outlasts. Armies have broken upon its carapace as waves break upon a headland, and the serpent at its side strikes where the shell cannot reach. To meet it is to face patience made flesh, an enemy that has already decided it will be standing when you are gone.
Run Black Tortoise in Sixty Seconds
- Don't move it Shell Fortress only works when the tortoise stays put, so anchor it in a doorway or bridge and let the party come to you; a stationary tortoise has resistance AND a 1d10 cold thorn on every melee miss.
- Open with Slam Knock the front-liner prone, then Bite the prone target with advantage for big piercing; this is your reliable round when Winter's Breath is down.
- Breath on clusters Hold Winter's Breath until two or more PCs are in a 30-ft cone; the speed-halving means they can't disengage from the tortoise's 10-ft reach next turn.
- When bloodied, stop moving entirely, use Withdraw every reaction to soak the burst, and let the Black Serpent's Lash Out punish anyone closing in.
- Three ways to run it: a patient gate-guardian that simply will not fall, a tanky add beside a faster boss, or a pure terrain hazard the party must go around (and the snake makes 'around' dangerous).
Black Tortoise
Huge celestial, lawful neutral
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEShell Fortress. While the Black Tortoise has not moved on its last turn, it gains resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage and any creature that misses it with a melee attack takes 5 (1d10) cold damage as it strikes the frozen carapace.
Guardian of the North. The Black Tortoise has advantage on saving throws against being moved, knocked prone, or frightened. Allies within 10 ft. have advantage on saving throws against being frightened.
Actions
Multiattack. The Black Tortoise makes one Bite attack and one Slam attack.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 18 (3d8 + 5) piercing damage.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Winter's Breath (Recharge 5-6). The Black Tortoise exhales a 30-foot cone of freezing northern mist. Each creature in that area must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 27 (6d8) cold damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success. A creature that fails has its speed halved until the end of its next turn.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Withdraw (Reaction). When hit by an attack, the Black Tortoise can pull its head and limbs into its shell, gaining +3 AC against that attack. It cannot move or take reactions until the start of its next turn.
A mountain of frost-rimed shell on four dragon-clawed legs, its serpent-necked head crowned with horns, an old black snake coiled forever about its body in the union of tortoise and serpent.
Black Tortoise, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINETwined Defender (signature). While coiled within 5 ft. of the Black Tortoise, the serpent shares its master's resistance to cold and cannot be knocked prone.
Actions
Venomous Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) poison damage.
Reactions
Lash Out. When a creature the serpent can see moves within 10 ft. of the Black Tortoise, the serpent makes one Venomous Bite against it.
The old black snake that never leaves the shell, striking from beyond the reach of horn and claw.
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 by planting in a chokepoint and not moving, so Shell Fortress turns it into a wall the party must grind through. Hold Winter's Breath for when two or more PCs cluster in the cone. Pair it with a faster striker that punishes anyone who flanks around the shell.
Open stationary to bank Shell Fortress resistance, Slam to knock the front-line prone, then Bite the prone target. Save Winter's Breath for a cluster, halving their speed so they can't escape the tortoise's reach. This is the anchor piece, not the boss; pair it with a bigger northern threat (a frost spirit or a warlord) and let the snake punish anyone who tries to slip past.
Open by holding the line and refusing to be moved; high-level parties will try to teleport or shove it, and Guardian of the North denies them. Lead with Winter's Breath on recharge, then Multiattack the slowed survivors. Best run as the immovable wall in front of a true boss; pair it so casters must choose between killing the tortoise or the threat behind it.
Put Black Tortoise 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 Black Tortoise?
Native CR 6 (Tier 2, levels 5-10): AC 17, 142 HP, +7 to hit, save DC 15. Scaled stat blocks are provided for Tier 1 (levels 1-4) and Tier 3 (levels 11-15) in the tiers above; the traits and actions stay identical, only the numbers shift.
Can Black Tortoise be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a lawful celestial guardian of the North it makes an excellent defensive ally, holding a chokepoint or shielding a vulnerable charge while the party fights past it. Use the Black Serpent, Coiled companion block as its bound partner, or downscale the tortoise itself for a guardian-beast NPC.
Is the Black Tortoise a dragon or a turtle?
Both, by myth. Xuanwu is depicted as a tortoise entwined with a serpent, often with draconic horns and clawed legs as on this model. It is statted as a Huge celestial here to reflect its role as a directional guardian spirit rather than a beast; reflavor it as a dragon-type if your table prefers.
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 Black Tortoise 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