Bulgu
Bulgu — The Encounter
The Flayed Devourer of Aksum's Highland Nights · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Bulgu
In the old highland tales told around Aksumite hearths, the Bulgu is the hunger that walks after dusk, a thing skinned alive by some ancient curse and made deathless by it. The grimoires of the trade-road monks name it a punishment given flesh: a soul so greedy for the meat of others that the heavens stripped its own from its bones and set it loose to feed forever, never sated. Shepherds know to bring the flock in before the obelisks throw long shadows, for the Bulgu hunts by scent of the living, padding silent on raw feet until it pounces. Where it has fed, only gnawed bone and a strip of skin remain, and survivors waste away as though some essential part of them was carried off in its jaws. The faithful mark their lintels and keep fire burning, for the Bulgu fears light and the warmth of crowded living, and slinks back to the cold hills before dawn.
Run Bulgu in Sixty Seconds
- What it is: a flayed, deathless flesh-eater with two claws, a goring horn, and a barbed grappling tail. Native to Tier 2 (CR 6); it is an ADD-ON enforcer, not a solo boss.
- Open with: scent the lowest-HP PC, Pounce into reach, then Multiattack to land both claws for Flense, healing itself and shrinking their max HP.
- Kill-priority: hit whoever already has a reduced hit point maximum, then casters, since the Bulgu and Korma both feed harder on weakened prey.
- When bloodied: it does not flinch unless it meets fire or bright light; play it as relentless, chasing wounded prey with Pounce every round.
- Three ways to run it: (1) lone nighttime stalker that picks off stragglers; (2) paired with Korma as a coursing hunting pair; (3) a pack of two or three flanking a stronger commander boss.
Bulgu
Large monstrosity, chaotic evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEScent of Living Flesh. The Bulgu has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell, and it always knows the direction of any creature that is not a construct or undead within 60 feet of it, even through walls.
Flense. Signature. When the Bulgu hits a creature with both claws on the same turn, it tears away a strip of living flesh: the target's hit point maximum is reduced by 5 until it finishes a long rest, and the Bulgu regains 5 hit points. A creature reduced to 0 hit point maximum this way is devoured.
Actions
Multiattack. The Bulgu makes two Claw attacks and one Gore attack. It can replace the Gore with a Lashing Tail attack.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) slashing damage.
Gore. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+4) piercing damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature, it must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Lashing Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d10+4) slashing damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 15) as the barbed tail hooks into it.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Pounce. Reaction (1/turn), when a creature within 10 feet of the Bulgu moves away from it: the Bulgu moves up to its speed toward that creature without provoking opportunity attacks and makes one Claw attack against it.
Skinned to the muscle yet unkilled, the Bulgu stalks upright on raw clawed legs, sinew glistening white over wet red, horns curling back and a barbed tail dragging behind like a butcher's hook hunting for meat.
Bulgu, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEPack Scent (signature). While within 30 feet of the Bulgu, Bulgu has advantage on attack rolls against any creature whose hit point maximum has been reduced by the Bulgu's Flense.
Actions
Rending Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d8+3) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Reactions
Cut Off the Kill. When a creature Bulgu can see within 5 feet tries to move away: Bulgu makes one Rending Bite against it.
A leaner cursed cousin, half-flayed and ever-starving, that drives prey toward the Bulgu's claws.
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 Gore to knock a frontliner prone, then rip with claws to land Flense and shrink the party's healthiest target. Pounce on the first runner. Pair it with a captor caster or a den of lesser beasts; alone at this tier it is a brutal mini-boss, so give the party an escape route or torch supply (it dreads fire and light).
Open by scenting the squishiest PC and Pouncing into reach, then full Multiattack to stack two claws for Flense and self-heal. Kill-priority is whoever has lost hit point maximum, since Korma gets advantage on them. This is an ADD-ON enforcer: pair it with a controller boss so it can chase the backline while the party is locked down.
Run it as the flanking beast at a flayed-warband fight. Open with a Pounce, Flense the healer to deny their max HP and self-sustain, and use Lashing Tail to drag a fleeing PC back into the melee. Kill-priority: isolated casters. It is not a solo boss here, so deploy two or three alongside a stronger commander.
Put Bulgu 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 Bulgu?
Native Challenge Rating 6 (2,300 XP) at Tier 2. The stat block scales to CR 2 for Tier 1 parties and roughly CR 11 for Tier 3; the traits and actions are identical at every tier, only the numbers move.
Can Bulgu be a companion or ally?
Not really. The Bulgu is a mindless cursed devourer that hunts all living flesh, so it cannot be reasoned with or recruited. If you want an allied flesh-hunter on the table, use Korma, the Whetted Hound instead, or have the Bulgu temporarily leashed by a stronger villain.
Is Bulgu a solo boss?
No. It has no legendary actions and is built as an add-on enforcer that excels at chasing and savaging an exposed backline. Pair it with a controller or commander boss; a lone Bulgu only works as a tense mini-boss for low-tier parties with an escape route.
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 Bulgu 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