Leshy
Leshy — The Encounter
Antlered shepherd of the old wood, who counts every tree · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Leshy
Where the old wood grows thickest there walks the Leshy, the lord and herdsman of the forest, who is at once as tall as the oldest pine and as small as the lowest blade of grass. He wears his trees as a man wears a coat, and counts them each by name; should a poacher fell one unbidden, the whole grove turns against the offender. Travellers say he leads the careless in circles until dusk, swapping their left boot for their right, turning their coat inside out, so the path home is lost. He is not cruel by nature, only jealous of what is his. Leave him bread and salt at the forest's edge, walk his paths with courtesy, and he will see you safely through; mock him, hunt without thanks, or carve your name in his bark, and you will wander his green halls until the antlered shepherd decides you have been counted long enough.
Run Leshy in Sixty Seconds
- Stage it in trees — among woods the Leshy has resistance to nonmagical non-cold-iron weapons and free Slam attacks every turn, so fight it on its own ground unless the party brought cold iron or fire.
- Open with Snaring Roots on the most clustered group; restrained casters can't kite, and that sets up your Antler-Branch prone combos.
- Kill-priority is fire and cold iron — those bypass its resistance and felling counted trees enrages it, so anyone carrying an axe or torch is the real threat.
- When bloodied, lean on Way Astray and Snaring Roots to trap the party in the wood and let the animated trees and the Mossling whittle them down.
- Three ways to run it: a jealous neutral guardian that only wants trespassers gone, a vengeful warden enraged by loggers, or the muscle beside a darker fey lord who points it at the party.
Leshy
Large fey, neutral
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEForest Stride. The Leshy ignores difficult terrain made of plants, and it can move through living wood and brush as if they were open ground. It has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made in any forest or wooded place.
Warden of the Counted Trees. Signature. The Leshy knows the exact number and location of every tree within 1 mile and is never surprised while it stands among them. As a bonus action, it animates two trees within 60 feet; each functions as a grasping limb that makes one Slam attack on the Leshy's turn (+6 to hit, reach 10 ft., 9 (2d6+2) bludgeoning damage). Felling a tree it has counted enrages it: until the end of its next turn it has advantage on all attack rolls.
Actions
Multiattack. The Leshy makes two Antler-Branch attacks.
Antler-Branch. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d10+4) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Snaring Roots (Recharge 5-6). Roots erupt from the ground in a 20-foot square within 60 feet. Each creature in the area must make a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw, taking 18 (4d8) bludgeoning damage and being restrained on a failure, or half damage and not restrained on a success. A restrained creature can use an action to make a DC 14 Strength check, freeing itself on a success.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Way Astray. Reaction, recharges after a short or long rest. When a creature the Leshy can see within 60 feet tries to move out of the wood or toward an exit, the Leshy twists the paths; the creature must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or its movement that turn carries it in a random direction of the Leshy's choice instead.
A towering figure of weathered bark and antlered driftwood, its stag-skull face split into a grim grin, root-toes gripping the loam as a mossy sprout clings to its flank.
Leshy, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINERooted Vigor (signature). While within 30 feet of the Leshy, the Leshy regains 5 hit points at the start of each of its turns and cannot be frightened.
Actions
Spore Lash. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the end of its next turn.
Reactions
Bursting Spores. When the Leshy drops to 0 hit points, it bursts; each creature within 5 feet takes 7 (2d6) poison damage (DC 13 Constitution save for half).
A knee-high tangle of moss, fungus, and quickwood that scuttles at the Leshy's heel, swelling with borrowed life from the great spirit beside it.
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 Snaring Roots on the tightest cluster, then wade in with Antler-Branch to knock the front-liner prone. Kill-priority is whoever carries fire or an axe. Pair it with a smaller pack of woodland beasts so it plays as the brute anchor of the grove.
Animate two trees on turn one with Warden of the Counted Trees, then Snaring Roots the casters and lock them down. Use Way Astray to deny the party's retreat. This is the X-piece for a flagship fey or forest-tyrant boss, not a solo: keep it among trees and it never runs out of free Slams.
Lead with Snaring Roots to restrain the back line, then Multiattack the prone target into the dirt. Animate trees every round so the Leshy threatens the whole battlefield. Kill-priority is whoever can clear the restrained condition; pair it with a bigger flagship and let it grind the front rank.
Put Leshy 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 Leshy?
Its home tier is CR 6 (Tier 2, ~levels 5-10): AC 16, 127 HP, +7 to hit, save DC 14. Scaled stat lines for Tier 1 (CR ~2) and Tier 3 (CR ~11) are included, with traits identical across all three tiers and only the numbers moving.
Can Leshy be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a neutral forest guardian the Leshy makes a natural patron or guide for parties who respect its wood, leading them safely through hostile forest or lending its Snaring Roots against shared enemies. It comes paired with the Mossling, Sprouted, a hardy spore-bursting helper that thrives in the great spirit's presence.
Is Leshy solo-ready?
No. It has no legendary actions, so a full party will action-economy it down if it fights alone. Run it as the centerpiece add-on beside a flagship boss or a pack of woodland creatures, and keep it standing among its counted trees where its free Slams and resistance make it relentless.
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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