Chernobog
Chernobog — The Encounter
The Black God of Old, herald of unending winter and night · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Chernobog
Chernobog, the Black God, is named in the old Slavic chronicles as the bringer of misfortune, the dark half of the turning year against whom the white gods set their fires. The grimoires hold that he was never wholly slain, only buried beneath the world's roots, and that his return is sought by those who would trade the warm seasons for an eternal winter. It is written that a conclave of the dread powers — Marzanna of the killing cold, Bukavac of the drowned marshes, and Koschei the Deathless — once labored to wake him, hungering to drape the lands in unbroken night. Where his foot falls the rivers freeze and the crops rot black in the field; where his shadow passes, the brave forget their courage. He fights as a thing certain of his own resurrection, for he has died before and the dark always thaws him out again.
Run Chernobog in Sixty Seconds
- Hold the aura Chernobog's 20-foot frost mantle is his whole battlefield — it slows everyone in it 10 ft. and chips 2d6 cold each turn, so he wants the party standing in it. Don't let players forget it ticks at the START of their turn.
- Open with Pall of Night when two or more enemies are clustered: 6d8 necrotic plus blinded on a fail is a brutal first-round tempo swing. Then settle into two frostbrand swings a round.
- Kill-priority is the caster — use Step Through Shadow (bonus) or Veil of Darkness to reach the back line, blind them in darkness, and cut their reactions off with the frostbrand rider.
- When bloodied, teleport every round and lean on legendary Creeping Cold so the party is perpetually half-speed and can never gang up. Hold Black God's Resolve for the one save that matters.
- Three ways to run him: as a solo legendary boss (native tier 3), as a paired threat beside Marzanna for a winter-conclave fight, or scaled down as a doomed herald the party meets before the true god ever rises.
Chernobog
Large fiend (devil), neutral evil
CR 11 · 7,200 XP · GUIDELINEMantle of Endless Winter. Signature. A 20-foot aura of killing frost surrounds Chernobog. The area is difficult terrain for his enemies, and any creature that starts its turn there takes 7 (2d6) cold damage and has its speed reduced by 10 feet until the start of its next turn. Chernobog and creatures he chooses are unaffected.
Black God's Resolve. If Chernobog fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead. Once he uses this trait he cannot do so again until he finishes a short or long rest.
Magic Weapons. Chernobog's weapon attacks are magical.
Actions
Multiattack. Chernobog makes two Frostbrand Sword attacks. He can replace one attack with a use of Spellcasting.
Frostbrand Sword. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (3d8 + 6) slashing damage plus 9 (2d8) cold damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or be unable to take reactions until the start of its next turn.
Pall of Night. Chernobog exhales a 30-foot cone of devouring darkness. Each creature in the area takes 27 (6d8) necrotic damage and is blinded until the end of its next turn (DC 16 Constitution save halves the damage and negates the blindness). Once used, he cannot do so again until he finishes a short or long rest.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Step Through Shadow. (Bonus) Chernobog teleports up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space he can see that is in dim light or darkness.
Wrath of the Fallen God. (Reaction) When a creature within 10 feet hits Chernobog with a melee attack, he lashes out with a coil of black frost, dealing 11 (2d10) cold damage to that creature.
Legendary Actions (3/Round)
Frost Lash. Chernobog makes one Frostbrand Sword attack.
Creeping Cold (Costs 2 Actions). Chernobog points at a creature he can see within 60 feet. It must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or take 14 (4d6) cold damage and have its speed halved until the end of its next turn.
Veil of Darkness. Magical darkness spreads from Chernobog in a 15-foot radius until the start of his next turn, sliding with him. He sees through it normally.
A towering armored god rises from a shattering field of black rock and frost-iron, a serpent of green winter coiled at his shoulder and a frostbrand blade raised, while ribbons of stolen blood-magic spiral up around his feet.
Chernobog, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINECrown of Winter (signature). Allies within 15 feet of Chernobog have resistance to cold damage and cannot be charmed.
Actions
Icicle Spear. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) cold damage.
Reactions
Frozen Tears. When an ally within 30 feet drops to 0 hit points, Chernobog sheaths the nearest enemy in ice; that creature must succeed on a DC 15 Strength save or be restrained until the end of its next turn.
The winter goddess who first sought to wake the Black God, fighting at his side in a gown of frost and bone, hurling spears of unmelting ice.
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.
Run him as a doomed harbinger, not the full god: open with Pall of Night to blind the front line, then carve with the frostbrand. Kill-priority is whoever clusters in his frost aura. Pair him with a low-level winter horror so the party feels the cold before the real Chernobog ever wakes.
Open with Step Through Shadow into the casters, swing twice, then drop Pall of Night when two or more enemies bunch up. The frost aura punishes anyone who stays adjacent, so let melee fighters come to him and bleed. Pair him with Marzanna to lock down the party's mobility while he focuses kills.
Solo boss: open in his own darkness via Veil of Darkness, then full Multiattack on the highest-damage PC. Spend legendary actions on Creeping Cold to keep the party crawling through his frost aura, and save Black God's Resolve for the save that would end the fight. When bloodied, teleport away each turn and exhaust Wrath of the Fallen God reactions so melee can never pin him.
Put Chernobog 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 Chernobog?
His native build is CR 11 (7,200 XP), tuned for an 11th-to-15th-level party as a solo legendary boss. The tier table also gives CR-2-style and CR-6-style versions so you can drop him into a tier-1 or tier-2 game as a herald or a paired threat.
Can Chernobog be a companion or ally?
He is built as an adversary boss, not a follower — but his conclave-mate Marzanna, the bound winter goddess, is statted as a companion ally (AC 15, 117 HP) who shields allies from cold and locks down enemies when one of yours falls.
Is Chernobog public-domain safe?
Yes. He is the Black God of genuine Slavic folklore and medieval chronicle, alongside Marzanna, Bukavac, and Koschei the Deathless — all public-domain mythology. The record uses only generic SRD creature types and conditions, with no proprietary cosmology.
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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