Hafgarmr
Hafgarmr — The Encounter
The Sea-Hound, drowned omen wreathed in corpse-fire · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Hafgarmr
Sailors of the northern reaches name it Hafgarmr, the Sea-Hound, and to glimpse it is to read one's own death in the swell. It runs ahead of the storm that will swallow a vessel, a beast woven from drowned men and the cold hunger of deep water, its coat lit by the wandering corpse-lights that float above sunburied dead. Old verses hold that the Hafgarmr was once a faithful hound that swam after its drowning master and never reached him, and that its howl is the grief of that endless chase. It cannot be outrun on open water; it drives the doomed toward the waves and drags them under, that they might run beside it forever. Wise crews carry iron and fire, for though the brine that clings to the Sea-Hound turns aside common steel, the spark of a true flame and a blessed edge can sever the omen before it gathers the storm it heralds.
Run Hafgarmr in Sixty Seconds
- Read the omen first. Hit every PC with Drowned Omen the moment they see it; that dread debuff on the tank's first save can wreck the whole opening round.
- Fight near water. The Hafgarmr wants targets prone and dragged toward the surf, where it gains resistance to nonmagical weapons and advantage off Surge Back. Keep it dry and it loses half its kit.
- Kill-priority is whoever it grabbed. When the Bite+Claw combo drags a PC waterward, that hero is one Drowning Surge from going under; free them or focus the hound.
- When bloodied, it leans on Surge Back to reposition into water and saves Drowning Surge for a clustered finish; punish it with reach or ranged so it can't disengage cheaply.
- Three ways to run it: lone storm-herald that softens the party before the real boss; a paired hunt with a Drowned Whelp pincering one target; or a swarm omen where three Hafgarmrs drive a whole crew into the waves.
Hafgarmr
Large monstrosity, neutral evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEDrowned Omen. The Hafgarmr is an omen of disaster at sea. The first time a creature sees it each combat, that creature must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be afflicted with dread for 1 minute (disadvantage on the next attack roll or saving throw it makes).
Corpse-Fire Hide. The pale green fire that wreathes the Hafgarmr does not burn it. A creature that touches it or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 ft. takes 4 (1d8) fire damage.
Amphibious. The Hafgarmr can breathe air and water, and its movement is never slowed by deep water or rough surf.
Actions
Multiattack. The Hafgarmr makes one Bite attack and one Claw attack. If both hit the same target, the target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone and dragged 10 ft. toward the nearest water.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d10 + 5) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) fire damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) slashing damage.
Drowning Surge (Recharge 5-6). The Hafgarmr calls a wall of corpse-fire brine in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw, taking 21 (6d6) cold damage and being knocked prone on a failed save, or half as much damage and not knocked prone on a success.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Surge Back (Reaction). When a creature within 5 ft. misses the Hafgarmr with a melee attack, the Hafgarmr can move up to 10 ft. without provoking opportunity attacks. If it ends this move in water, it gains advantage on its next attack roll.
A drowned hound the size of a warhorse hauls itself from the surf, its waterlogged hide sheathed in pale green corpse-fire, jaws agape in a soundless drowning howl.
Hafgarmr, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEPack Omen (signature). While within 30 ft. of the Hafgarmr, the whelp has advantage on saving throws against being frightened and on attack rolls against a prone target.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d4 + 4) piercing damage, and the target's speed is reduced by 10 ft. until the end of its next turn.
Reactions
Drag Under. When an ally drags a creature toward water, the whelp can move up to its swim speed toward that creature and make one Bite attack against it.
A smaller drowned hound that paces its sire through the shallows, snapping at any who falter in the surf.
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 Drowned Omen as the party crests the dunes, then drive the weakest swimmer toward deep water. Pair it with a larger sea-tyrant or kraken-spawn boss; this is the herald, not the storm. Kill-priority for the party is the Hafgarmr only if it has someone prone in the surf.
Open with Drowned Omen, then Bite+Claw the front-liner to knock prone and drag toward water where it fights at advantage. Hold Drowning Surge for two or more clustered targets near the shore. Pair it with a bigger threat (a drowned giant or sea-witch); the Hafgarmr is the harrier that isolates and drags, so kill it before it gets a hero into the waves.
Open in surf for the resistance, lead with Drowned Omen, then Multiattack to prone-and-drag the squishiest target underwater. Recharge Drowning Surge into clustered casters. Still an add-on harrier at this tier; pair it with a true leviathan boss and let the party choose between freeing the dragged ally or focusing the bigger threat.
Put Hafgarmr 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 Hafgarmr?
Its home tier is CR 6 (2,300 XP) for levels 5-10: AC 16, 127 HP, +7 to hit, save DC 14. Scaled stat blocks are provided for tiers 1 and 3 if you need it as a low-level herald or a high-level harrier.
Can Hafgarmr be a companion or ally?
Not the adult, but the Drowned Whelp companion can run beside a sea-bound NPC or a darker-themed druid: AC 13, 76 HP, with a slowing Bite and a Drag Under reaction that lets it pile onto a target hauled toward water.
Is the Hafgarmr a solo boss?
No. It has no legendary actions and is built as an add-on harrier, not a centerpiece. Pair it with a larger sea-monster boss; its job is to isolate, prone, and drag a single hero into the water while the bigger threat dominates the field.
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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