Nergal
Nergal — The Encounter
Babylonian lord of plague, war, and the noonday sun · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Nergal
In the clay tablets of Babylon, Nergal is named the burner, the lord who walks at noon when the sun's heat slays as surely as the sword. He is plague and battle wedded in one frame: a god who descended into the land of the dead and, refusing to bow, seized its throne beside Ereshkigal to rule the silent realm. Where his shadow falls, wells turn brackish and the strong take to their beds with fever. The shrines raised to him were not built in thanks but in dread, that he might pass the household by. Worshippers heaped offerings at his feet and begged him to hold his withering breath. To name Nergal is to invite his gaze; to meet his gaze is to feel the marrow heat in your bones. He does not bargain. He merely arrives, and the dying begins, slow and patient, as the noonday sun crosses an empty sky over a city already counting its graves.
Run Nergal in Sixty Seconds
- Hold the aura in mind Aura of Pestilence ticks 2d6 poison to everything within 10 ft. at the start of Nergal's turn, and anything it kills rises as a husk on his side. Melee parties bleed just for standing near him.
- Open with Plague Lance The 60-ft. line is his alpha strike. Fire it the first round the party clusters, then close to put the aura to work.
- Kill-priority: the healer His poison and Noonday Wrath max-HP drain snowball if nobody can scrub conditions or restore lost maximums. Whoever cleanses dies first.
- When bloodied, take to the air Use Wings of the Underworld to fly out of melee and rain Plague Lance and Decree of Fever from 60 ft. while the aura keeps grinding anyone who chased him.
- Three ways to run him As a lone session-finale boss leaning on legendary actions; as a plague-shrine guardian who must be felled to lift a city's curse; or paired with Resheph and rising husks for an attrition siege.
Nergal
Large fiend (demon), neutral evil
CR 9 · 5,000 XP · GUIDELINEAura of Pestilence. At the start of each of Nergal's turns, each creature within 10 feet of him takes 7 (2d6) poison damage. A creature reduced to 0 hit points by this aura dies and rises as a contagious husk under the DM's control at the start of Nergal's next turn.
Noonday Wrath. Nergal is the scorching midsummer sun made flesh. When he hits a creature with a melee attack, the target's hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the fire damage dealt until it finishes a long rest. This reduction cannot drop a creature below 1 hit point maximum.
Magic Resistance. Nergal has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Actions
Multiattack. Nergal makes two attacks: one with his Plague-Mace and one with his Searing Claw. He can replace one attack with Plague Lance (recharge permitting).
Plague-Mace. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d10 + 5) bludgeoning damage plus 9 (2d8) poison damage.
Searing Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) slashing damage plus 7 (2d6) fire damage.
Plague Lance (Recharge 5-6). Nergal hurls a bolt of feverish corruption in a 60-foot line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in the line must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 28 (8d6) poison damage and becoming poisoned for 1 minute on a failed save, or half as much damage and no condition on a success. A poisoned creature repeats the save at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Wings of the Underworld. As a bonus action, Nergal beats his great wings and flies up to half his flying speed without provoking opportunity attacks. Each creature within 10 feet when he takes off must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Legendary Actions (3/Round)
Claw. Nergal makes one Searing Claw attack.
Plague Step. Nergal moves up to his speed. Each creature he passes within 5 feet of takes 7 (2d6) poison damage.
Decree of Fever (Costs 2 Actions). Nergal points at one creature he can see within 60 feet. That creature must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or take 11 (2d10) necrotic damage and have disadvantage on its next attack roll and saving throw.
A horned, winged colossus stands astride a crumbling plague-shrine, the lower body of a great lion coiled to spring, both clawed hands raised to bless or to blight. Twin curved horns and a crown of stag-points frame a bearded, snarling face that has watched cities sicken and die.
Nergal, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEArrows of the Plague (signature). Nergal carries a quiver of fever-tipped shafts. A creature damaged by his ranged attack must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or take 4 (1d8) poison damage at the start of each of its turns until it or an ally uses an action to remove the shaft.
Actions
Plaguebow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) poison damage.
Reactions
Ward the Lord. When Nergal within 30 feet is targeted by a ranged attack, Nergal can loose a shaft to intercept it, granting Nergal +3 AC against that attack.
Nergal, the gatekeeper of the underworld and twin-flame of plague, stalks at Nergal's flank with a bow strung from sinew, his every loosed arrow carrying the fever of the lower realm.
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 Plague Lance down the longest line of clustered heroes, then wade in so the Aura of Pestilence chews on anyone who closes. Kill-priority: drop the cleric before they can lift the poisoned condition. Even pared down he will TPK a level-3 party, so deploy him as a campaign-ending threat, not a random encounter.
Open by taking off with Wings of the Underworld to scatter the front line, then Plague Lance the bunched survivors. Spend legendary actions on Plague Step to keep the aura grinding ranged attackers. Kill-priority: whoever is removing poison; when bloodied, fly up and rain Plague Lance from range. A genuine boss who can anchor a session-finale alone.
Open with Decree of Fever on the party's heaviest hitter, then Multiattack into the tank and let Noonday Wrath shave their max HP. Use all three legendary actions every round; Plague Step weaving through the backline keeps the aura on casters. Pair him with Resheph or a brace of contagious husks so the party cannot focus him down cleanly.
Put Nergal 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 Nergal?
Nergal is built as a solo boss at CR 9 (5,000 XP) in his native tier 2 band, tuned for parties of level 5-10. The tier table also gives scaled-down (levels 1-4) and scaled-up (levels 11-15) versions; the traits and actions stay identical and only AC, HP, to-hit, and save DC shift between bands.
Can Nergal be a companion or ally?
Not really. Nergal is a plague-god boss who does not bargain. If you need a plague-aligned ally, use his bound underworld gatekeeper Resheph (AC 15, 82 HP) instead, who fights at a hero's flank with fever-tipped arrows and shields his lord from ranged fire.
How do I keep the Aura of Pestilence from feeling unfair?
Telegraph it. Describe the air souring and wells blackening the round before contact so melee players choose to close knowingly. The husk-rising clause is meant to punish a sloppy attrition fight, not surprise the table, so let downed creatures rise visibly and on Nergal's turn, giving allies a window to drag a body clear.
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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