Dante
Dante — The Encounter
The Pilgrim Poet Who Walked the Circles of the Damned · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Dante
Dante Alighieri set down, in his fourteenth-century vision, an account of one living man led through the nine descending circles of the damned, the climbing slopes of the penitent, and the turning spheres of the blessed. In the grimoires that copy his journey, he appears not as warrior but as witness: a poet armed only with verse, conscience, and a borrowed blade, who walked where no breathing thing should walk and returned to speak of it. The damned recognize him on sight and despise him, for his very presence proves that judgment is recorded and remembered. Conjurers and exorcists invoke his name as a ward, scrawling his lines at the lintels of haunted houses, trusting that a man who stared into the frozen heart of Hell and named every sinner there cannot be cowed by lesser shadows. Where Dante stands, the frightened find their feet, and the path through darkness becomes, briefly, walkable.
Run Dante in Sixty Seconds
- He is a buff anchor, not a brawler. Park Dante next to the squishiest hero so the Unflinching Witness aura shuts down fear for everyone within 10 feet; that alone earns his slot.
- Open by marking a fiend or undead. His first hit each turn carries 1d8 radiant from Chronicler of the Damned, so point his longsword at the demon or the wraith, never the goblin.
- Hold one reaction for the swing turn. Steady the Faltering's +3 is best spent on a death save, a dominate save, or a fireball save, not the first roll you see.
- When bloodied, fall back and recharge Verse of Passage. The 2d6 temp HP plus free movement lets the whole front line disengage and reset without taking opportunity attacks.
- Three ways to run him: wartime guide NPC who escorts the party through a haunted descent, a stoic ally summoned to a graveyard fight against undead, or a captured witness the party must protect while he reads the names of the damned.
Dante
Medium humanoid (human), lawful good
CR 2 · 450 XP · GUIDELINEUnflinching Witness. Dante has advantage on saving throws against being frightened. While he is not frightened, allies within 10 feet of him also have advantage on saving throws against being frightened. He has looked upon the deepest pit and did not look away.
Chronicler of the Damned. Once per turn, when Dante hits a fiend or undead with a weapon attack, the target takes an extra 4 (1d8) radiant damage as the verse he speaks names its sins aloud.
Actions
Multiattack. Dante makes two attacks with his longsword.
Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d10+2) slashing damage, or 8 (1d12+2) if wielded in two hands.
Verse of Passage (Recharge 5-6). Dante recites a guiding verse. He and each ally within 15 feet gain 7 (2d6) temporary hit points and may immediately move up to half their speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Steady the Faltering. Reaction: When an ally Dante can see within 15 feet fails a saving throw, Dante may grant them a +3 bonus to the roll, potentially turning the failure into a success.
A mortal pilgrim in studded armor and a wind-caught cloak, longsword shouldered, standing at the threshold of a ruined tower-gate that descends into the underworld. He is no monster, but a living witness walking among the dead.
Dante, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEVoice from the Pages (signature). Dante is incorporeal and cannot be the target of opportunity attacks. Allies within 10 feet of him add 1d4 to History and Religion checks as the old poet murmurs the names of every road through the dark.
Actions
Searing Rebuke. Ranged Spell Attack: +4 to hit, range 30 ft., one creature. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) radiant damage; if the target is a fiend or undead it must succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom save or be unable to take reactions until the end of its next turn.
Reactions
Lead On. When Dante is reduced to 0 hit points within 30 feet, Dante's shade grants him a death saving throw success and 5 temporary hit points, refusing to let his charge fall in the dark.
The pale shade of an elder poet who knows every turning of the descent, walking a pace ahead and never letting Dante stray from the path.
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 placing Dante between the party and the scariest enemy so his Unflinching Witness aura cancels fear effects. Have him mark a fiend or undead each turn for the radiant Chronicler rider, and hold Steady the Faltering for the moment an ally blows a key save. Pair him with a heavier hitter; Dante is the rallying NPC, not the kill threat.
Run him as a veteran guide escorting the party through hostile territory. Lead with Verse of Passage to hand out temp HP and free repositioning before the line breaks, then anchor the formation. Kill-priority for enemies should be the casters; Dante himself simply refuses to die and keeps allies un-frightened.
A legendary chronicler who has walked the underworld and come back unbroken. Keep him beside the most fear-vulnerable hero, spend the fear-immunity aura aggressively against terror-casters, and use Steady the Faltering on the round's most lethal incoming save. Best fielded alongside a flagship celestial or paladin who does the real damage.
Put Dante 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 Dante?
CR 2 (450 XP) at his native tier 1, built for level 1-4 parties as a support ally. Scaled blocks are provided for tier 2 (level 5-10) and tier 3 (level 11-15); his traits never change, only the numbers move.
Can Dante be a companion or ally?
Yes, and that is his intended role. Dante is not solo-capable and is not a boss; he is a fear-canceling, save-boosting NPC ally meant to stand beside the party. He pairs naturally with his bound companion Virgil, the Guiding Shade.
Why is Dante a humanoid and not a fiend, given the Inferno theme?
The render is plainly a living mortal in studded leather and a cloak, sword shouldered at the gate of the underworld. Dante is the breathing pilgrim who walks through Hell, not a denizen of it, so he is statted as a Medium humanoid (human) of lawful good alignment.
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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