Ganesha
Ganesha — The Encounter
Elephant-headed remover of obstacles, breaker of paths, keeper of beginnings · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Ganesha
The scribes of the old temples name him first among the called, for no rite begins until his tusk has blessed it. Born of the mountain-mother's will and given the head of an elephant when his own was lost, Ganesha became the warden of thresholds and the breaker of every barred way. He carries the parashu to sever attachments that bind the soul and the goad to drive the faithful toward truth; his broken tusk he wields as a stylus, having snapped it to inscribe the great epics without pause. Serpents girdle him as a living belt, and the radiant disc at his back is the sun of clear understanding. Petitioners leave sweet offerings at his plinth, for he is generous to the humble and immovable to the proud. To begin any undertaking in his sight is to begin well; to obstruct one he favors is to find every road suddenly closed.
Run Ganesha in Sixty Seconds
- He is a controller, not a damage racer. Ganesha wins by enabling allies and disabling threats. Open by Goading the enemy's biggest threat to give your side advantage, then Parashu to lock its reactions.
- Kill-priority: enemy casters and controllers. Sever the Path (reaction) and Wisdom of the Tusk (legendary stun) shut down spellcasters before they land their big turn.
- When bloodied, lean on Sacred Lotus. Recharge lets it heal your allies for 4d6 just as often as it blasts foes for 8d8 radiant. Use it to swing a stalling fight back.
- Three ways to run him: (1) solo temple-boss at T3 with full legendary actions; (2) the healer-buffer behind a fiend or giant flagship at T2; (3) a serene shrine-warden the party must out-think, not out-hit, at T1.
- Remember Remover of Obstacles every turn. Free an ally from a condition or prone at the start of your turn, and your side ignores difficult terrain near him, this rules-light trait keeps the party mobile without thought.
Ganesha
Large celestial, lawful good
CR 11 · 7,200 XP · GUIDELINERemover of Obstacles. Signature. At the start of each of Ganesha's turns, one ally he can see within 60 ft. may end one condition affecting it (blinded, deafened, frightened, paralyzed, restrained, or stunned) or stand up from prone without using movement. Difficult terrain within 60 ft. of Ganesha does not cost his allies extra movement.
Divine Wisdom. Ganesha has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects, and cannot be compelled to act against his nature.
Magic Weapons. Ganesha's weapon attacks are magical.
Actions
Multiattack. Ganesha makes two attacks: one with his Parashu (axe) and one with his Goad. He can replace one attack with a use of Sacred Lotus (if available).
Parashu (Axe). Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 24 (4d8 + 6) slashing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or be unable to take reactions until the start of Ganesha's next turn as the path before it is severed.
Goad. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (3d8 + 6) piercing damage, and the target is pushed 10 ft. and must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or be guided onto a true path: the next attack roll against it before the start of Ganesha's next turn has advantage.
Sacred Lotus (Recharge 5-6). Ganesha raises the white lotus and radiant truth blossoms in a 30-foot radius. Each creature of his choice in that area must make a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw, taking 36 (8d8) radiant damage and being blinded until the end of its next turn on a failure, or half as much damage and no blindness on a success. Allies in the area instead regain 14 (4d6) hit points.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Sever the Path (Reaction). When a creature Ganesha can see within 60 ft. casts a spell or makes an attack against one of his allies, Ganesha may impose disadvantage on that roll or force a successful spell attack to be rerolled.
Legendary Actions (3/Round)
Goad Strike. Ganesha makes one Goad attack.
Clear the Way (Costs 2 Actions). Ganesha ends one condition on himself or an ally within 60 ft., and that creature may move up to its speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Wisdom of the Tusk (Costs 2 Actions). Ganesha targets one creature within 60 ft. that he can see. It must succeed on a DC 16 Intelligence saving throw or be stunned until the end of its next turn as its mind is overwhelmed with revelation.
Seated in serene lotus before a blazing solar mandala, the elephant-headed god cradles an axe to cut away obstacles and a white lotus of pure mind, while sacred serpents coil about his many arms.
Ganesha, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEThrough Any Gap (signature). The sacred mouse-mount can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing and ignores difficult terrain. It can carry a Medium rider despite its size.
Actions
Gnaw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or have its speed halved until the end of its next turn.
Reactions
Scurry Aside. When targeted by an attack, Ganesha moves up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks; if this moves it out of reach or line of sight, the attack misses.
A divinely enlarged mouse, humble yet swift, that carries the god where no road runs and gnaws through every restraint.
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 serene temple-guardian, not a brawler: open with Sacred Lotus to scatter and blind clustered attackers, then heal an ally each round. Kill-priority is anyone who flees or hides, since Sever the Path locks them down. At this tier he anchors a shrine fight, pair him with naga warriors as the line.
Lead with Goad to grant your allies advantage on the toughest enemy, then Parashu to strip its reactions. Save Sacred Lotus for when foes cluster around your front line. Kill-priority is enemy casters; Sever the Path on their attacks. Pair him with a fiend or giant boss as the support enabler.
As a solo god, spread legendary actions to stun the deadliest PC with Wisdom of the Tusk and free pinned allies with Clear the Way. Open with Goad + Parashu on the front-line tank, recharge Sacred Lotus to punish clustering. Kill-priority is the controller PC; his immunities mean charm and fear cannot stop him. Runs as a true centerpiece boss.
Put Ganesha 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 Ganesha?
Native CR 11 (Tier 3, ~level 11-15), with stat lines provided for Tier 1 (~CR 2) and Tier 2 (~CR 6). As a solo-capable boss with legendary actions, his Tier 3 sheet is built to play up a band, so treat CR 11 as a hard centerpiece rather than a side threat.
Can Ganesha be a companion or ally?
Yes. He is fundamentally a support divinity: Remover of Obstacles, Goad, Sacred Lotus healing, and Sever the Path all buff and protect allies. Drop him to the Tier 1 or Tier 2 line and he makes an excellent patron, shrine-ally, or quest-granting NPC fighting beside the party rather than against it.
Does he have to be a boss?
No. Only his Tier 3 sheet is the solo god; at Tier 1 and Tier 2 he is an add-on or ally with the same traits and smaller numbers. Pair the lower tiers with a stronger flagship adversary, or field him as a benevolent NPC, his kit shines in either role.
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
Played Ganesha at your table? Log in with your Obsidian Tavern account to leave a balance note, a war story, or a file issue — the sharpest reports get the block revised.
Log in to comment