Erlang Shen
Erlang Shen — The Encounter
The Three-Eyed General Who Hunts the Untruth · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Erlang Shen
Of the divine generals set to ward the mortal world, none is named with more dread by shapeshifters than the Three-Eyed Lord. Nephew to the high powers of heaven by a mother who loved a mortal man, he rose by his own discipline rather than by favor, and so serves heaven yet bows to it only when he chooses. The eye sealed in his brow opens upon untruth: no painted illusion, borrowed face, or invisible thing escapes it, and a fox-spirit wearing a maiden's smile is undone the instant his gaze crosses the room. He patrols the river-courses with his hound at heel and his glaive across his shoulder, hunting the seventy-two transformations of every cunning beast. Bandit-kings and demon-foxes have learned the same lesson: one may flee a hundred forms, but the general counts them all, and his blade arrives at the hundred-and-first.
Run Erlang Shen in Sixty Seconds
- He is a hunter, not a tank. Erlang Shen wants to move and strike, never trade blows in place. Use Warrior's Step and Heavenly Reposition to skirmish, and hold Parry for the single scariest hit.
- Kill-priority is anything wearing a false face. Truesight plus the Third Eye give advantage on attacks against shapechangers, invisible foes, and illusions — he ignores those tricks and chases the deceiver first.
- Open with Heaven-Splitting Throw. The 30-foot line softens a clustered party and prones them; follow up next turn while they're down with glaive attacks and legendary sweeps.
- When bloodied, kite. Spend legendary actions on Heavenly Reposition: hit and withdraw so casters waste turns repositioning instead of nuking him.
- Three ways to run him: a lone duelist boss with the sky-hound (solo), a captain leading celestial soldiers, or a relentless pursuer in a chase scene where escape by illusion simply fails.
Erlang Shen
Medium celestial, lawful neutral
CR 9 · 5,000 XP · GUIDELINEThird Eye of Truth. Signature. Erlang Shen sees through all deceit. He automatically perceives shapechangers, invisible creatures, and illusions within 60 feet, and has advantage on attack rolls against any creature in a form not its own. A creature he can see cannot benefit from total cover against his attacks while within 30 feet.
Disciplined Stance. Erlang Shen has advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened (he is immune to both), and against spells and other magical effects.
Actions
Multiattack. Erlang Shen makes two attacks with his three-pointed glaive.
Three-Pointed Glaive. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d10 + 4) slashing damage, and if the target is a fiend, fey, or shapechanger it takes an extra 7 (2d6) radiant damage.
Heaven-Splitting Throw (Recharge 5-6). Erlang Shen hurls a crescent of force in a 30-foot line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in the line must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 27 (6d8) force damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success. Creatures that fail are knocked prone.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Warrior's Step. Bonus Action. Erlang Shen moves up to half his speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Parry. Reaction. When a creature Erlang Shen can see hits him with a melee attack, he adds 3 to his AC against that attack, potentially causing it to miss.
Legendary Actions (3/Round)
Glaive Sweep. Erlang Shen makes one Three-Pointed Glaive attack.
Piercing Sight. Until the start of his next turn, Erlang Shen's next attack against a creature in an altered or hidden form deals an extra 9 (2d8) radiant damage.
Heavenly Reposition (Costs 2 Actions). Erlang Shen moves up to his speed without provoking opportunity attacks and may make one Three-Pointed Glaive attack at the end of the move.
A broad-shouldered general in a white travelling robe drawn over dark lamellar, balancing a long three-pointed glaive across his palm; a tiger's face glares from his belt and a third eye sits closed in his brow, ready to open on liars and demons alike.
Erlang Shen, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEScent of the False (signature). The hound has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell and can pinpoint shapechangers and invisible creatures within 30 feet, sharing what it finds with Erlang Shen.
Actions
Crushing Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength save or be knocked prone.
Reactions
Run It Down. When a creature within 30 feet the hound can see takes the Disengage action or tries to flee, the hound may move up to its speed toward that creature.
A lean celestial hound the color of storm-clouds, ever a stride ahead of its master, baying when it catches the reek of a hidden lie.
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 throwing the Heaven-Splitting line down a corridor to scatter a clustered party, then close to glaive reach. Kill-priority is anyone disguised or invisible — his Third Eye gives advantage and he will hunt them first. Use Warrior's Step to stay on the squishiest target; at this tier run him without legendary actions.
Open with Piercing Sight on any shapechanger, then Multiattack the marked enemy down. When bloodied, spend legendary actions on Heavenly Reposition to skirmish — strike and leave, never standing still for focused fire, with Parry held for the biggest hit. As a solo, the sky-hound runs flankers down so he never gets kited.
Lead each round with a recharged Heaven-Splitting Throw to prone the line, then Glaive Sweep legendary actions punish the prone. Kill-priority is the party's controller or any illusion-caster — truesight makes their tricks worthless. Pair him with lesser celestial soldiers and let him be the unkillable duelist they orbit.
Put Erlang Shen 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 Erlang Shen?
His native tier-2 sheet is built around CR 9 (5,000 XP) for a party of levels 5-10. Because he is solo_capable with legendary actions, that block already plays up a band, so he holds the spotlight against a full party. The included tier-1 and tier-3 columns re-band him to roughly CR 3 and CR 13 — just swap AC, HP, to-hit, and DC.
Can Erlang Shen be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a lawful celestial general he makes a striking patron or temporary ally — a divine duelist who joins the party to hunt a specific demon or shapechanger. Drop his legendary actions and run him at the tier-1 numbers so he supports rather than overshadows the players, and bring the Roaring Sky-Hound along to sniff out hidden enemies.
Is the Third Eye of Truth overpowered against stealth parties?
It is meant to be decisive against deceit, but it is not omniscience. The eye only pierces forms and illusions within 60 feet and grants advantage, not auto-hits — a rogue can still break line of sight beyond that range, use cover outside 30 feet, or simply out-mobility him. Treat it as a hard counter to shapechangers and illusionists, the very prey he was made to hunt.
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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