Kjell Darkscar
Kjell Darkscar — The Encounter
Jotun-blooded berserker, his scars the trickster's brand · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Kjell Darkscar
Of him the saga-keepers whisper that Kjell was got upon a thrall by the loins of a jotun, and that the trickster-god marked the child for sport. Each scar across his hide was cut by the god's own laughter, and where the wounds knit they left a cold fire burning beneath the skin. Cast out from the steadings of men for the slaughters he could not stop, Kjell took to the frost-bitten wastes, gathering to himself the outcast and the oath-broken. He wars not for plunder but to feel the old wounds open anew, for in pain the divine mischief in his blood sings loudest. They say a clever word can turn him from one foe to another, the trickster's nature surfacing even in battle-madness. Where his maul falls, shield-walls splinter and the proud are laid low in the churned snow, and the survivors name him Darkscar and bar their doors against the dark.
Run Kjell Darkscar in Sixty Seconds
- Open Reckless and charge the back line. He wants advantage so his maul lands and the Strength save lands a PC prone.
- Prone-lock combo: first Spiked Maul to knock down, second swing on the downed target. Make the party spend movement and actions standing back up.
- Shield Bash on cluster: the instant two or more PCs stand in a 15-ft cone, recharge-permitting, blast them for 4d6 and shove them off the wounded ally.
- When bloodied Darkscar Frenzy adds 2d6 per hit and Bloodied Surge lets him dash free to the casters. The fight gets HARDER at half HP, not easier.
- Three ways to run him: snowbound shield-breaker leading raiders; the boss's bodyguard who guards the caster; or a roadside terror who can be talked onto a different foe (the trickster blood makes him fickle).
Kjell Darkscar
Large giant, chaotic evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEReckless. At the start of its turn, Kjell can gain advantage on all melee weapon attack rolls during that turn, but attack rolls against it have advantage until the start of its next turn.
Darkscar Frenzy. Signature. While Kjell has half its hit points or fewer, its weapon attacks deal an extra 7 (2d6) damage and it has advantage on saving throws against being frightened or charmed. The pain only sharpens the trickster's gift in his blood.
Actions
Multiattack. Kjell makes two Spiked Maul attacks.
Spiked Maul. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d10 + 5) bludgeoning damage, and if the target is a creature it must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Shield Bash (Recharge 5-6). Kjell slams forward with his spiked pauldron-shield. Each creature in a 15-foot cone must make a DC 15 Strength saving throw, taking 14 (4d6) bludgeoning damage and being pushed 10 feet on a failed save, or half as much damage and no push on a success.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Bloodied Surge. When Kjell is reduced to half its hit points or fewer for the first time, it can immediately move up to its speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
A towering green-hided brute strapped in scavenged spiked plate, Kjell drags a maul tipped with a spiked iron head, his face and arms latticed with old scars that glow faintly in the dark.
Kjell Darkscar, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEPack Howl (signature). While Kjell Darkscar is within 30 feet of Kjell, both have advantage on saving throws against being frightened, and Kjell Darkscar's first hit each turn deals an extra 4 (1d8) damage.
Actions
Notched Axe. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage.
Reactions
Shield the Scarred. When Kjell takes damage while within 5 feet, Kjell Darkscar can step in and take half that damage instead.
A wiry oath-bound raider who shadows Kjell's heels, eager to bleed in his master's name.
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 Spiked Maul on the squishiest front-liner and try to knock it prone, then stomp it down. Save Shield Bash for when two or more PCs cluster in front. Kill-priority is the healer; pair Kjell with a caster boss so someone can punish the prone targets he makes.
Open Reckless and charge the back line; lead with Spiked Maul to drop a PC prone, then the second swing while they're down. Fire Shield Bash the instant two or more bunch up to scatter and bludgeon them. When bloodied he gets faster and hits harder, so expect him to surge to the casters; he is the heavy-hitter ADD-ON, pair him with a flagship boss.
Run him as the boss's bruiser bodyguard: Reckless every turn, Multiattack the squishiest in reach, Shield Bash on recharge to break clusters. Bloodied Frenzy makes the back half of the fight far deadlier, so save the surge for the casters. Kill-priority for the party is shutting down his prone-lock before the boss capitalizes.
Put Kjell Darkscar 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 Kjell Darkscar?
Natively CR 6 (Tier 2, ~levels 5-10): AC 16, 138 HP, +8 to hit, save DC 15. The sheet also scales down to a CR 2-ish Tier 1 version and up to a CR 11-ish Tier 3 version using the same traits and actions.
Can Kjell Darkscar be a companion or ally?
He is built as an adversary, but a chaotic party could turn his trickster-blooded fickleness to their side for a fight, or take Skraeling, Bound as a guardian NPC. Kjell himself works best as the muscle ADD-ON to a bigger flagship boss rather than a solo threat.
Is Kjell solo-capable?
No. He has no legendary actions, so action economy buries him against a full party. Run him paired with a caster or warlord boss whose spells punish the prone, scattered targets his maul and Shield Bash set up.
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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