Clay Vajra
Clay Vajra — The Encounter
Thunderbolt-bearer who rides the storm-tiger of heaven · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Clay Vajra
In the mountain hymns this one is named the Vajra-bearer, born where the first storm split the clouds. The grimoires record that the heavenly smith forged his spear from the bones of a sacrificed seer and the unbreakable diamond of the sky, so that it could never be turned aside nor shattered. He rides no horse but a storm-tiger that pads silent until it roars thunder. The faithful pray to him before battle and before drought, for he is said to free the captive rains by hurling his bolt through the bellies of hoarding serpents. He is a chaotic helper, not a servant: he answers a worthy summoner once, smites whatever offends his sense of valor, and departs on the next gust. To meet him is to stand in the eye of a moving storm that has chosen, for a moment, to wear a man's shape.
Run Clay Vajra in Sixty Seconds
- Hold the bolt. Don't waste Hurl Thunderbolt on a single target; wait one round for the party to cluster, then drop the 60-ft. line for max value.
- Open with motion. Use Crashing Stride to crash through the front line, knock someone prone, and set up Storm-Charged's lightning leap between two adjacent enemies.
- Kill-priority: casters. Thunderstep and Roll of Thunder both deafen; chase concentration casters and verbal-spell users to shut them down before they act.
- When bloodied, he turns hit-and-run: dash in, Recharge permitting fling the bolt, and use Crashing Stride to leave melee rather than trade blows.
- Three ways to run him: as a mobile lightning skirmisher beside a boss; as a storm-cavalry duo with Stormpelt the tiger; or solo as a chaotic sky-spirit who tests one worthy challenger and vanishes.
Clay Vajra
Medium celestial, chaotic neutral
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEStorm-Charged. Signature. The first time each turn the Vajra hits a creature with a melee attack, lightning leaps from the strike: the target and one other creature it can see within 10 ft. of the target each take 7 (2d6) lightning damage.
Thunderstep. When the Vajra ends a dash within 5 ft. of a creature, that creature must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution save or be deafened until the end of its next turn.
Actions
Multiattack. The Vajra makes two attacks with its Thunderbolt Spear.
Thunderbolt Spear. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) thunder damage.
Hurl Thunderbolt (Recharge 5-6). The Vajra flings its spear in a 60-foot line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in the line must make a DC 14 Dexterity save, taking 28 (8d6) lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success. The spear flies back to its hand.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Crashing Stride. Bonus Action. The Vajra moves up to 20 ft. without provoking opportunity attacks; if it moves through a creature's space it must succeed on a DC 14 Strength save or be knocked prone.
A wild-haired storm-champion brandishes a forked thunderbolt spear overhead, one foot braced upon a snarling celestial tiger, ready to bring the sky down upon his foes.
Clay Vajra, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEThunder Pounce (signature). If Clay Vajra moves at least 20 ft. straight toward a creature and hits it with a Bite on the same turn, the target takes an extra 7 (2d6) thunder damage and must succeed on a DC 13 Strength save or be knocked prone.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d8+3) piercing damage.
Reactions
Roll of Thunder. When a creature within 5 ft. of Clay Vajra hits its bound rider, Clay Vajra roars; the attacker must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution save or be deafened until the end of its next turn.
A heavy-muscled celestial tiger whose stripes flicker like distant lightning, padding silent until it strikes with a thunderclap.
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 hurling the thunderbolt down the longest line of clustered heroes, then close with the spear. Kill-priority is the party's healer; he wants to deafen casters with Thunderstep before they can shout a spell. Pair him with a tougher flagship boss so this storm-skirmisher harries the flanks while the real threat anchors the front.
Save Hurl Thunderbolt for the moment three or more PCs bunch up, then dive in with Crashing Stride to knock the front-liner prone and let Storm-Charged chain lightning between paired targets. Kill-priority is whoever concentrates. He is the harrier piece, not the centerpiece, so deploy him alongside a bigger boss and let him punish clustered backlines.
Lead every round trying to line up Hurl Thunderbolt across two or more targets, and keep Crashing Stride free to reposition out of melee lockdown. Kill-priority is the lowest-AC blaster. As an add-on at this tier he is fragile alone, so pair him with a durable flagship and use him as the mobile lightning artillery.
Put Clay Vajra 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 Clay Vajra?
His home stat block is CR 6 (2,300 XP), tuned for a party of levels 5-10. Scaled versions for tiers 1 (CR ~2) and 3 (CR ~11) are provided so he fits any table without rebuilding him.
Can Clay Vajra be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a chaotic celestial he makes a striking summoned ally or temporary patron-sent champion. His storm-tiger Stormpelt also works as a standalone mount or beast companion if you want only the cavalry half of the pair.
Does his lightning damage bypass common resistances?
His Thunderbolt Spear deals both thunder and lightning, so few enemies resist all of it, and Storm-Charged spreads that damage to a second target each turn. Against lightning-immune foes, lean on the spear's piercing damage and his knockdown control instead.
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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