Jade Emperor
Jade Emperor — The Encounter
August Sovereign of Heaven, who rules the Ten Thousand Spirits · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Jade Emperor
Foremost among the deities of the eastern heavens sits the August Personage of Jade, sovereign over the Ten Thousand Spirits and arbiter of the celestial bureaucracy. The grimoires of the old dynasties record that he rose through countless ages of cultivation and selfless rule before ascending to the throne of heaven, where every god, ghost, and dragon answers to his ledger. He keeps the great registers of birth and death, appoints the seasons their officers, and dispatches the star-marshals to wars among mortals and immortals alike. To stand before him is to stand before law itself: his gaze weighs a soul's merits as plainly as a clerk reads a scroll, and his verdict, once pronounced, binds the very firmament. Petitioners burn paper and incense to reach his court; the wicked find their names struck from the registers entirely. He draws his blade only when the harmony of heaven and earth is threatened, and when he does, mountains are unmade and rebellious spirits are cast into prisons of unending light.
Run Jade Emperor in Sixty Seconds
- He is a solo boss at Tier 3 (CR 13) with legendary actions, truesight, and Mandate of Heaven that bends one nearby roll by 1d6 every turn. Treat him as the whole encounter, not a mook.
- Open with Decree of Sundering (Recharge 5-6) on the tightest cluster: 35 radiant in a 60-ft cone, and any humanoid or fiend it drops to 0 is banished outright. Then Command the biggest threat.
- Kill-priority is your counterspeller from his side, and your striker from theirs. Mandate plus Command can strip a turn from the party's best damage dealer every round.
- When bloodied (below 98), lean on legendary actions: Imperial Step out of melee, then Strike of the Sovereign at range of reach. Heavenly Rebuke blinds whoever hits him, so he punishes the front line for engaging.
- Three ways to run him: lone duelist judge (T1, untouchable, picks off one PC at a time), heaven's enforcer with a Star-Marshal (T2, lockdown plus banish), or full divine sovereign solo (T3, legendary actions and Command dominate the action economy).
Jade Emperor
Medium celestial, lawful good
CR 13 · 10,000 XP · GUIDELINEMandate of Heaven. Signature. The Jade Emperor's authority is law made manifest. When a creature he can see within 60 feet attempts an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, he may impose the weight of his decree, reducing or increasing the roll by 1d6 (no action, once per turn). Any creature that has taken damage from him this turn has disadvantage on attack rolls against any target other than him until the start of his next turn.
Celestial Resolve. The Jade Emperor has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects, and cannot be compelled to act against his will by enchantment.
Magic Weapons. The Jade Emperor's weapon attacks are magical.
Actions
Multiattack. The Jade Emperor makes two attacks with his Imperial Jian, or casts a spell and makes one attack.
Imperial Jian. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8+5) slashing damage plus 9 (2d8) radiant damage.
Decree of Sundering (Recharge 5-6). The Jade Emperor levels his blade and pronounces a verdict in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw, taking 35 (10d6) radiant damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success. A humanoid or fiend reduced to 0 hit points by this damage is banished to a distant prison of light, vanishing entirely.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Heavenly Rebuke (Reaction). When a creature the Jade Emperor can see hits him with an attack, he may answer with a flash of imperial radiance. The attacker must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or take 11 (2d10) radiant damage and be blinded until the end of its next turn.
Legendary Actions (3/Round)
Imperial Step. The Jade Emperor moves up to his speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Strike of the Sovereign. The Jade Emperor makes one Imperial Jian attack.
Command (Costs 2 Actions). The Jade Emperor utters a single word of dominion. One creature he can see within 60 feet must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or be incapacitated until the end of its next turn as it bows before his will.
An august sovereign crowned in a high ceremonial headdress, draped in jade-lacquered war regalia, drawing a long ornate jian as he stands judgment upon a shattered mountain peak.
Jade Emperor, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEHeaven's Vanguard (signature). While within 30 feet of the one it serves, the Jade Emperor has advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened, and any ally within 10 feet of it has resistance to radiant damage.
Actions
Celestial Halberd. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d10+5) slashing damage plus 7 (2d6) radiant damage.
Reactions
Interpose. When an ally within 5 feet is hit by an attack, the Jade Emperor swaps places with that ally and becomes the target instead, taking the attack in its stead.
An armored heavenly officer dispatched from the celestial host to guard the sovereign's person and enforce his decrees.
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 Mandate of Heaven to nudge a key save, then advance and trade Imperial Jian swings. Save Decree of Sundering for when three or more foes cluster in the cone. He plays as an untouchable judge here, so threaten one PC at a time and let Heavenly Rebuke punish the bravest attacker.
Lead with Command to lock down the party's striker, then open Decree of Sundering on the clustered casters. Use legendary Strikes of the Sovereign to keep pressure on whoever drops below half. Kill-priority is anyone who can negate his Mandate (counterspell, dispels).
He is a solo centerpiece: open with Decree of Sundering on the cluster, then Command (2 actions) the heaviest damage dealer each round. Spend legendary actions on Imperial Step to reposition and Strike of the Sovereign to finish bloodied foes. Pair with a Star-Marshal or two so the party cannot simply swarm him; Heavenly Rebuke blinds whoever lands the first hit.
Put Jade Emperor 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 Jade Emperor?
Natively CR 13 (Tier 3, levels 11-15) as a solo celestial boss with legendary actions. The tiers block also gives scaled-down builds at CR ~2 (Tier 1) and CR ~6 (Tier 2) so you can drop him into lower-level games; the traits stay identical and only the numbers move.
Can Jade Emperor be a companion or ally?
As a setpiece sovereign he is built to be the adversary, but his court can fight beside the party: use the included Star-Marshal, Bound (AC 17, 117 HP) as a heavenly ally, or run the Jade Emperor himself as a patron who dispatches that marshal rather than taking the field. If you want him as a temporary ally, reskin his Command and Mandate of Heaven as buffs that aid the party instead of binding them.
Is the Jade Emperor a fiend or a celestial?
A celestial. The render shows a divine sovereign in imperial regalia, not an infernal figure, so he uses celestial type with radiant damage, truesight, and immunity to being charmed or frightened, drawn straight from the lore of the August Sovereign of Heaven.
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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