Malacoda
Malacoda — The Encounter
Evil-Tail, captain of the barb-hooked demons of the pitch · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Malacoda
In the eighth circle of the great poem, where barrators boil eternally in a lake of black pitch, the hooked demons called the Malebranche stand guard with their grappling forks. Malacoda, whose name means "Evil-Tail," is their captain and their lying tongue. He greeted the two pilgrims with false courtesy, swore safe passage across the bridges, and gave a malicious signal to his squad with an unspeakable trumpet so that they might harry the travelers along the way. He is a creature of crooked oaths and cruel laughter, leading a band of barb-tailed tormentors who delight in dragging the dishonest back beneath the tar whenever they dare surface for air. Where Malacoda points, his demons swarm; where he brays his signal, the damned scatter in terror. Trust nothing he promises, for every road he names ends in a broken bridge above the boiling pitch.
Run Malacoda in Sixty Seconds
- He hooks, then he hits. Lead every turn by getting a Barbed Tail into the hero you most want pinned; the free tail attack from Twin Lashing Tails means there is no excuse to leave anyone un-hooked.
- Open from the air. Fly in and dump Hurl Pitch on the tightest cluster (8d6 fire, DC 15 Dex) before you ever land, then drop down to start chopping.
- Kill-priority: anyone who escapes a tail. If a hooked target breaks free, spend a legendary Tail Snap to grab them again and stop the kiting.
- When bloodied, get loud. Use Mocking Bray to frighten the back line, then carve frightened targets with advantage thanks to Captain of the Pitch.
- Three ways to run him: solo legendary boss for a tier-2 party; flanked by two Barbed Hounds that drag escapees back; or warlord of a full Malebranche squad he buffs and commands at tier 3.
Malacoda
Large fiend (demon), chaotic evil
CR 9 · 5,000 XP · GUIDELINETwin Lashing Tails. Malacoda has two long barbed tails. At the start of each of its turns, it may make one Barbed Tail attack against a creature it can reach for free, without spending an action. A target hit by a tail is hooked and cannot move farther from Malacoda until it ends its turn within reach or breaks free.
Captain of the Pitch. Allied fiends within 30 feet of Malacoda have advantage on saving throws against being frightened, and Malacoda has advantage on attack rolls against any creature that is frightened.
Magic Weapons. Malacoda's weapon attacks are magical.
Actions
Multiattack. Malacoda makes two Hooked Greatsword attacks. It can replace one with a use of Hurl Pitch if available.
Hooked Greatsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (3d8 + 5) slashing damage. On a hit against a creature already hooked by a tail, the target also takes 7 (2d6) fire damage from the searing pitch on the blade.
Barbed Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 5) piercing damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 16) and hooked (see Twin Lashing Tails).
Hurl Pitch (Recharge 5-6). Malacoda flings a gout of burning tar in a 30-foot cone. Each creature there makes a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 28 (8d6) fire damage on a failure, or half as much on a success. A creature that fails is coated in pitch and has disadvantage on its next attack roll.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Wing Buffet. When a creature within 10 feet hits Malacoda with a melee attack, Malacoda can beat its wings as a reaction: the attacker makes a DC 15 Strength saving throw or is pushed 10 feet and knocked prone.
Legendary Actions (3/Round)
Tail Snap. Malacoda makes one Barbed Tail attack.
Pursue (Costs 1 Action). Malacoda flies up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Mocking Bray (Costs 2 Actions). Malacoda lets out a braying signal. Each enemy within 30 feet that can hear it makes a DC 14 Wisdom save or is frightened of Malacoda until the end of its next turn.
A barrel-chested demon-captain crowned with sweeping horns, vast leathery wings spread wide, two serpentine tails coiling at its feet while it drives a pitch-blackened greatsword into the broken earth.
Malacoda, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEPack of the Pitch (signature). While within 10 feet of an ally, Malacoda has advantage on attack rolls against any creature it has hit since the start of its last turn.
Actions
Grappling Fork. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage, and on a hit against a Medium or smaller target it is dragged 5 feet toward Malacoda.
Reactions
Snag the Fleeing. When a creature within 10 feet leaves Malacoda's reach, it can make a Grappling Fork attack against that creature as a reaction.
A lean, scarred lesser demon of the Malebranche, jaws clamped on a hooked fork, ever eager to drag the escaping back into the tar.
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.
Way too lethal here at full strength, so run a lone Malacoda as the climactic threat after the party has earned a flagship fight. Open with Barbed Tail to hook the loudest hero, then drag and chop. At this scale drop Hurl Pitch to 4d6 and skip legendary actions so it does not erase a low-level party.
His home tier and a true centerpiece boss. Open by flying in and Hurling Pitch on the clustered casters, then land and hook the front-liner with a tail so it cannot retreat. Kill-priority is anyone who broke free of a tail; use legendary Tail Snap to re-hook them, and pair him with two Barbed Hounds to drag stragglers back.
Scale him up for a high-tier set piece by adding a Malebranche squad of 4-6 hooked demons he commands with Mocking Bray. Open with Hurl Pitch and a fear bray to scatter the line, then focus the cleric. Spend legendary actions every round to keep at least two heroes hooked so the squad can gang the rest.
Put Malacoda 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 Malacoda?
Natively CR 9 (5,000 XP), built as a tier-2 (levels 5-10) legendary boss. Because he has legendary actions and reactions he plays up a notch, so he holds his own as a solo centerpiece; scale the stat line down for tier 1 or up for tier 3 using the tiers table.
Can Malacoda be a companion or ally?
Not really himself, but his lieutenant Graffiacane the Barbed Hound (AC 14, 78 HP) makes a fine bound ally or summon, dragging fleeing foes back with its grappling fork. Malacoda is a liar and oath-breaker by nature, so any 'alliance' with him should turn on the party the moment it suits him.
Why is Malacoda public-domain and not a D&D devil?
Malacoda ('Evil-Tail') is a demon-captain straight from Dante Alighieri's 14th-century 'Inferno,' leader of the hook-tailed Malebranche who guard the boiling pitch of the barrators. He is classical literature in the public domain, framed here through that poem rather than any proprietary cosmology.
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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