Jormungandr
Jormungandr — The Encounter
The World Serpent that swallows the sea and its own tail · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Jormungandr
Of the great serpent that girdles Midgard, the sagas speak with dread. Cast into the encircling sea while still small, it grew until its body ringed all the lands of men and it bit upon its own tail, holding the world together through sheer stubbornness. So long as the serpent keeps its grip, the seas stay in their bounds; the day Jormungandr releases that tail, the waters will boil over the shore and the doom of the gods begins. It is no mere snake but a predator of the abyssal deep, breath gone to poison and tide. The skalds tell that the thunder-god alone dared face it, and that he slew it — yet took nine steps from its venom before falling dead himself. To raise this serpent in a campaign is to raise the end of an age: a beast that does not negotiate, does not flee, and remembers being thrown into the cold.
Run Jormungandr in Sixty Seconds
- It owns the water. Anything within 15 ft. risks being knocked prone by Tide-Bound Coils every turn, so the battlefield wants to be a deck, a shore, or shallows — set the scene before initiative.
- Open with Drowning Surge if it's charged: prone the front line in the cone, then Multiattack the two prone targets at advantage.
- Constrict is the win condition. Grapple the most dangerous melee striker or the healer and use Coil Crush each round — kill-priority is whoever is in the coils.
- When bloodied, the venom aura turns on. 2d6 poison to anyone ending their turn within 10 ft. — let melee come to it and bleed them while you Lurk away from casters.
- Three ways to run it: a juvenile ambush at a fishing village (T1), a ship-wrecking coastal hunt (T2), or the literal opening blow of the end of the world with full legendary actions (T3 solo).
Jormungandr
Gargantuan dragon, neutral evil
CR 13 · 10,000 XP · GUIDELINETide-Bound Coils. (signature) Jormungandr's body fills the battlefield. The first time a creature enters a space within 15 ft. of the serpent on its turn, or starts its turn there, that creature must succeed on a DC 17 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone by surging coils and seawater. The serpent's own movement does not provoke opportunity attacks.
Venom-Glutted. When Jormungandr is reduced to half its hit points or fewer, poison drips from its fangs and the air around it grows toxic. While bloodied, any creature that ends its turn within 10 ft. of the serpent takes 7 (2d6) poison damage.
Actions
Multiattack. Jormungandr makes one Bite attack and one Constrict attack, or it uses Drowning Surge if available.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +13 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (3d8 + 8) piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) poison damage.
Constrict. Melee Weapon Attack: +13 to hit, reach 10 ft., one Large or smaller target. Hit: 19 (3d6 + 8) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 18). Until the grapple ends, the target is restrained and the serpent can't constrict another target.
Drowning Surge (Recharge 5-6). Jormungandr heaves a wall of brine in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw, taking 36 (8d8) 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
Tail Sweep (Reaction). When a creature the serpent can see moves within 15 ft. of it, Jormungandr makes a Constrict attack against that creature.
Legendary Actions (3/Round)
Lurk. Jormungandr swims or burrows up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Bite (Costs 2 Actions). Jormungandr makes one Bite attack.
Coil Crush. Jormungandr targets one creature grappled by it. That creature takes 13 (2d6 + 6) bludgeoning damage and must succeed on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw or have disadvantage on its next attack roll as the coils squeeze the breath from it.
A deep-ocean leviathan of muscle and barnacled scale erupts from boiling surf, its head large enough to use a longship as a toothpick, jaws still wet with the brine of a drowned world.
Jormungandr, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEBrine-Slick (signature). The Jormungandr ignores difficult terrain made of water, ice, or mud, and can't be knocked prone while in contact with such terrain.
Actions
Fang. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) poison damage.
Reactions
Recoil. When hit by a melee attack, the Jormungandr slides up to 10 ft. away without provoking opportunity attacks.
A lesser sea-serpent calved from the World Serpent's wake, all hunger and no patience, sent ahead to bleed the brave before the great coils arrive.
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 it as a juvenile sea-wyrm: open with Bite from the water's edge so the party can't easily reach it. If they cluster on a dock or ship, save Drowning Surge to sweep them into the sea. Kill-priority is whoever is grappled — finish them before allies free them.
A coastal terror, not yet the world-ender. Open from full cover underwater, surface for Multiattack, then submerge with Lurk. Grapple the squishiest target and drag them off the deck; the rest of the party must choose between the rescue and the fight. Pairs well with a Coil-Spawn or a giant raider warband.
The true World Serpent and a solo boss. Open with Drowning Surge to prone the line, grapple a key striker with Constrict, then spend legendary actions on Bite and Coil Crush to grind them down. When bloodied, the venom aura punishes melee — kill-priority is the healer, since you'll out-damage their incoming heals. Use Lurk to break line of sight against casters.
Put Jormungandr 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 Jormungandr?
At its native Tier 3 it is CR 13 (10,000 XP), tuned as a solo boss whose legendary actions and reaction let it stand alone against an 11th-15th level party. The Tier 1 and Tier 2 sheets rescale it to a juvenile sea-wyrm (~CR 2) and a coastal terror (~CR 6) using the same traits and actions.
Can Jormungandr be a companion or ally?
The World Serpent itself never serves — it is a force of doom, not a pet. For a serpent on the party's side, use the included Coil-Spawn, Bound (AC 14, 60 HP): a calved lesser sea-serpent that fights ahead of the great coils and slides away when struck.
Why is it a dragon and not a monstrosity or beast?
The dragon type best captures its scale, legendary-action boss design, blindsight, and elemental breath (Drowning Surge), and it keeps the creature SRD-safe as a generic Gargantuan dragon rather than any branded sea creature. Treat it as a primordial serpent-wyrm of the abyssal deep.
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.
The Legend
In Your Campaign
CR Range: 25+ (world-ending threat)
Encounter Design: Jörmungandr is an environmental hazard as much as a monster. Its coils reshape the battlefield. Its poison fills the air. Fighting it directly is suicide — the party needs a plan involving divine artifacts, ancient rituals, or the help of other gods. Best used as the climax of an entire campaign arc.
Campaign Hooks: The serpent stirs and coastal cities are hit by impossible tides. A cult seeks to release its tail. A fragment of its shed skin contains enough venom to kill a god — and someone wants it.
Technical Specifications
32mm, 75mm
STL, Pre-supported STL
Standard or ABS-like resin, 0.05mm layer height
Yes — ready to print, optimized supports included
From the Same Collection
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Jörmungandr compare in size to other Clay Cyanide models?
Jörmungandr is one of the largest sculpts in the catalog. At 75mm scale, the coiled body creates a dramatic display piece spanning several inches in diameter.
Can Jörmungandr be used in a Norse-themed D&D campaign?
It is the definitive Norse sea monster miniature. Use it as the ultimate end-boss for a Ragnarök-themed campaign, or as a world-shaking event that drives an entire story arc.
Is Jörmungandr a multi-part print?
Yes. Large serpentine models are split into printable sections with keyed joints for easy assembly. All parts are presupported for resin printing.
Played Jormungandr 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