Erik Ironbark
Erik Ironbark — The Encounter
Horn-Bearer of the North, bile-blooded berserker who rallies the warband · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Erik Ironbark
In the bile-soaked sagas of the far north, Erik Ironbark is named the Horn-Bearer, the man whose voice the trickster could not silence. They say he drank from a poisoned spring and lived, his blood turning the colour of moss and old iron, so that wounds close on him like bark over a wound in oak. He runs at the front of the warband, half-naked to the killing cold, and the note he blows from his bull-skull horn carries farther than any drum. Cowards straighten their spines when they hear it; brave men feel their arms grow strong. Skalds warn that to drop Erik in battle is to break the heart of an entire host, for the horn's voice is the only law these wild raiders obey. He fights without shield or care, trusting that the spilled poison in his veins will outlast any blade, and that his horn will outlast even him.
Run Erik Ironbark in Sixty Seconds
- He is a rally piece, not a boss. Erik buffs allies with Rallying Horn (+CHA damage, no fear) — never run him alone; pair him behind a bigger flagship threat.
- Open with the horn. Lead the fight with Sounding Blast on a clustered party, then Berserk Charge into the nearest soft target.
- Kill-priority is HIM. When the party drops Erik, the horn goes silent and his allies must save or be frightened — smart parties will focus him; let them feel that pay off.
- When bloodied, go Reckless every turn. He trades defense for advantage and pure aggression — he expects to die on his feet, swinging.
- Three ways to run him: (1) front-line rally engine in a raider warband, (2) a rage-blind duelist who charges the strongest PC, or (3) a fleeing morale-anchor the party must chase down to scatter the host.
Erik Ironbark
Medium humanoid (human), chaotic neutral
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEReckless. At the start of his turn, Erik can gain advantage on all melee weapon attack rolls during that turn, but attack rolls against him have advantage until the start of his next turn.
Rallying Horn. Signature. Erik carries a great war horn cut from a bull's skull. While Erik can be seen, allied creatures within 30 feet that can hear the horn cannot be frightened and add Erik's Charisma modifier (+1) to their melee weapon damage rolls. If Erik falls, this effect ends and allies must succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom save or be frightened until the end of their next turn.
Actions
Multiattack. Erik makes two Cleaving Axe attacks.
Cleaving Axe. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+4) slashing damage. If the target is a creature, it has disadvantage on the next saving throw it makes against being frightened before the end of Erik's next turn.
Sounding Blast (Recharge 5-6). Erik winds his horn in a thunderous note. Each creature of his choice within 30 feet that can hear must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw, taking 18 (4d8) thunder damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success. Allies are unaffected and instead gain 5 temporary hit points.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Berserk Charge (Bonus Action). Erik moves up to his speed toward a hostile creature he can see. If he ends this movement within reach of an enemy, his next Cleaving Axe this turn deals an extra 4 (1d8) slashing damage.
A bare-chested giant of a man with a storm-grey beard and a leather harness across his scarred torso, Erik throws back his head to wind a bull-skull horn while a wicked cleaving axe hangs ready in his fist.
Erik Ironbark, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEPack Fury (signature). Erik Ironbark has advantage on attack rolls against a creature if at least one of Erik Ironbark's allies is within 5 feet of the creature and isn't incapacitated.
Actions
Festering Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d4+4) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) poison damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 12 Strength save or be knocked prone.
Reactions
Guard the Horn. When a creature Erik Ironbark can see attacks Erik while Erik Ironbark is within 5 feet of Erik, Erik Ironbark imposes disadvantage on that attack roll.
A shaggy, foam-jawed war-hound whose teeth weep the same green poison that runs in its master's veins, never more than a leap from Erik's heel.
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 the horn (Sounding Blast) to soften a clustered party, then Berserk Charge into the squishiest target. He is the rally piece, so kill him first to drop his allies' morale; pair him with a stronger raider boss who benefits from Rallying Horn.
Open by winding the horn so the whole warband fights buffed, then go Reckless and Multiattack the front-liner. Make him the warband's heart, not the boss: parties should learn to focus him to silence Rallying Horn. Pairs perfectly behind a bigger flagship threat.
Lead a horde: blast with the horn on round one, then Reckless-charge to anchor the line while lesser raiders swarm. He is still a lieutenant, not a solo, so set him beside a true boss; kill-priority for the party is the horn, because his death breaks the host.
Put Erik Ironbark 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 Erik Ironbark?
Erik's home tier is CR 6 (Tier 2, levels 5-10): AC 15, 120 HP, +7 to hit, save DC 14. The stat block also gives scaled-down Tier 1 (~CR 2) and scaled-up Tier 3 (~CR 11) numbers so you can drop him into any party. Traits and actions stay identical across tiers — only the numbers move.
Can Erik Ironbark be a companion or ally?
Yes. His Rallying Horn was built to buff a side, so he makes a natural warband captain the players can recruit, or a stubborn ally NPC who refuses to flee while his horn still sounds. As a friendly NPC, point Sounding Blast and the +damage aura at the PCs' enemies instead.
Is Erik a solo boss?
No — he is an add-on, not a centerpiece. He has no legendary actions and is designed to amplify a warband, so he plays best beside a stronger flagship boss. Run him solo and a focused party will shut down his horn in a round or two.
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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