Olaf Frostbeard
Olaf Frostbeard — The Encounter
Horned spear-thane of the frozen northern fjords · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Olaf Frostbeard
They say the cold lives in Olaf's beard, not on it. Sworn to a hall that broke faith with the old gods, he marches under a poisoned, blighted banner where the loyalty of men has soured into raiding and ruin. The frost that clings to his spear is no enchantment of his own making but a curse carried in the marrow of his line since a forefather speared a winter-jotun and drank its freezing blood. Olaf fights in the shield-line as his kin always have: spear forward, shield locked to the man beside him, taking ground a single planted step at a time. He has no ambition to lead, only to hold, and a warband that fields three Frostbeards holds longer than one that fields thirty lesser men. Skalds in the southern villages he has burned name him plainly, without poetry, as a wall that walks.
Run Olaf Frostbeard in Sixty Seconds
- What he is a folklore Viking spear-thane and a pure add-on, never a solo, pair him with a bigger threat so his shield-wall actually matters.
- Open with a 10 ft. charge into Frost Spear to knock the party's mobile damage dealer prone, then Multiattack the slowed target.
- Reach trap his 10 ft. reach plus Frostbeard's Reach shaves 10 ft. off anything that approaches, so melee strikers stall a full turn before they even hit him.
- When bloodied nothing changes, he holds the line, do not let players expect a rage phase, he just keeps walling.
- Three ways to run him front anchor of a shield-line, lone gate-guard on an icy bridge (terrain plays to his cold immunity), or a paired duo with the Frost-Hound dragging down whoever he trips.
Olaf Frostbeard
Medium humanoid (human), neutral evil
CR 2 · 450 XP · GUIDELINEFrostbeard's Reach. Olaf wields a long spear two-handed. His melee reach is 10 ft., and the first time on a turn he hits a creature that moved within 10 ft. of him, that creature's speed is reduced by 10 ft. until the end of its next turn as the haft sweeps its legs.
Hardened by Winter. Olaf has advantage on saving throws against being frightened, and difficult terrain made of ice or snow costs him no extra movement.
Actions
Multiattack. Olaf makes two melee attacks.
Frost Spear. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8+3) piercing damage plus 3 (1d6) cold damage. If Olaf moved at least 10 ft. straight toward the target this turn, the target must succeed on a DC 13 Strength save or be knocked prone.
Shield Bash. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4+3) bludgeoning damage, and a Medium or smaller target must succeed on a DC 13 Strength save or be pushed 5 ft. and have disadvantage on its next attack before the start of Olaf's next turn.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Shield Wall (Reaction). When a creature Olaf can see attacks him, he raises his round shield to gain a +2 bonus to AC against that attack. If it still hits, he takes no extra effect.
A horned-helmed northman braced behind a steel-rimmed round shield, a frost-blue spear planted in the snow at his side, beard rimed white with the breath of the fjord-wind.
Olaf Frostbeard, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEPack at the Flank (signature). Olaf Frostbeard has advantage on attacks against a creature within 5 ft. of one of Olaf Frostbeard's allies.
Actions
Frozen Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6+2) piercing damage plus 2 (1d4) cold damage, and a Medium or smaller target must succeed on a DC 12 Strength save or be knocked prone.
Reactions
Snap at the Stumbling. When a creature within 5 ft. of Olaf Frostbeard falls prone or has its speed reduced, Olaf Frostbeard makes one Frozen Bite against it.
A shaggy white war-hound, blue-eyed and silent, that runs the flanks of Olaf's shield-line and drags down whoever the spear has slowed.
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 by closing 10 ft. and stabbing with Frost Spear to knock the squishiest target prone, then Multiattack the slowed front line. If foes cluster, hold ground and let Frostbeard's Reach shave 10 ft. of speed off chargers; save Shield Wall for the rogue or archer's big hit. Pair Olaf with a bigger threat, he is the wall piece, not the boss.
Run him as the anchor of a 3-4 Frostbeard shield-line in front of a flagship caster. Spear-prone the party's mobile damage dealer, then grind the held line with Multiattack and Shield Bash to strip an attack each round. Shield Wall the crit; he is meant to soak rounds while the real boss works.
A champion bodyguard for a giant or frost-lord centerpiece. Lead with the prone-on-charge to lock down a melee striker, then Multiattack relentlessly while Frostbeard's Reach denies repositioning. Kill-priority him only if the party cannot path around the wall; otherwise he buys the boss two extra rounds.
Put Olaf Frostbeard 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 Olaf Frostbeard?
Natively CR 2 (a Tier 1, level 1-4 threat) at AC 14, 45 HP, +5 to hit. He is an add-on warrior, not a solo boss, so scaled blocks for level 5-10 (CR ~6) and level 11-15 (CR ~11) are provided for when he anchors a higher-tier shield-line.
Can Olaf Frostbeard be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a hired huscarl or oath-bound shield-bearer he makes an excellent front-line guardian for a martial party: his 10 ft. reach, prone-on-charge spear, and Shield Wall reaction let him hold a doorway or protect a back-line caster while the party fights past him.
Why does Olaf deal cold damage if he is just a human warrior?
The frost is a bloodline curse, not a spell, carried since a forefather slew and drank from a winter-giant. Mechanically it is rider damage on his spear and bite, plus cold resistance and snow-walking, all flavor that keeps him a mundane SRD humanoid rather than a spellcaster.
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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