Tao Wu
Tao Wu — The Encounter
The Block-Headed Beast, fourth of the Four Fiends of antiquity · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Tao Wu
Of the Four Fiends driven from the old kingdoms before the dawn of recorded virtue, Tao Wu was the one named for stubbornness itself; the chronicles call it the Block of Wood, the Block-Head, for nothing could turn it from a course once chosen. It wears the body of a great tiger and the snarling face of a man too proud to die, with the tusks of a boar and a mane like burning brush. Where it walks, quarrels follow: it loves strife for its own sake and gnaws at peace as a dog gnaws bone. The sages wrote that it could not be reasoned with, bribed, nor frightened, and so could only be exiled to the four wild corners of the world. It is said to remember every blow ever dealt to it, and to pursue the one who struck across years and rivers, never once forgetting, never once forgiving.
Run Tao Wu in Sixty Seconds
- Hold Tao Wu next to your flagship boss as the bruiser. It is an add-on, not a solo act; a four-PC party out-acts a lone beast, so give it company.
- Open with Charge of the Block-Head: 20+ feet straight in, Gore, prone the front-liner, then Multiattack to lock the kill.
- Kill-priority is whoever damages it first; Stubborn as Stone forces it onto that creature, so let your meanest melee PC volunteer as bait.
- When bloodied it does not flinch (frightened-immune, can't be moved) and keeps the grudge; lean into Unyielding Fury reactions every time someone hits it.
- Run it three ways: a charging tar-pit beside a caster, a grapple-pinner that holds the party's mobile striker, or a lair hound that guards a doorway and refuses to be shoved aside.
Tao Wu
Large monstrosity, chaotic evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEStubborn as Stone. Tao Wu is the embodiment of obstinacy and will not be turned. It has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and any effect that would force it to move against its will (such as being pushed, pulled, or frightened) instead fails. While it can see a creature that has damaged it, it cannot be made to attack any other target.
Charge of the Block-Head. If Tao Wu moves at least 20 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a Gore attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 9 (2d8) piercing damage and must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Actions
Multiattack. Tao Wu makes one Gore attack and one Bite attack, or two Claw attacks.
Gore. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d10 + 5) piercing damage.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) piercing damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 16) if it is Large or smaller.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) slashing damage.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Unyielding Fury. Reaction. When a creature Tao Wu can see hits it with an attack, Tao Wu lets out a defiant bellow and makes one Claw attack against that creature.
A tiger-bodied brute crowned with a wild human mane and curved horns, its tusked face frozen in a perpetual snarl as it stands astride a heap of broken skulls. Every line of the sculpt insists this thing has never once retreated.
Tao Wu, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEPack the Quarrel (signature). While the Tao Wu is within 5 feet of an enemy, that enemy is at disadvantage on saving throws against being knocked prone, and the Hound's ally has advantage on the next attack roll it makes against that enemy this turn.
Actions
Rending Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage.
Reactions
Hold the Grudge. Reaction. When an enemy within 5 feet moves away, the Tao Wu makes one Rending Bite against it.
A lesser beast of the same exiled brood, all bristle and bad temper, that runs down anything its master marks.
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 a Charge of the Block-Head to knock the front-liner prone, then Gore and Bite to lock someone down. Kill-priority is whoever first damages it, since Stubborn as Stone glues it to that target. Pair it with a goblin-tier pack so the party can't simply kite the one big beast.
Charge the closest PC for prone, then grapple a caster with Bite so they can't slip away. It refuses to leave the creature that hurt it most, so let that PC bait it while Unyielding Fury punishes anyone who trades blows. Run it as the muscle beside a controller or summoner, not as a lone fight.
Lead with a charge, knock the tank prone, then Bite-grapple to pin a key target while it Gores. Its grudge-lock makes it a relentless bodyguard. Field it in a lair alongside a bigger threat (a sorcerer-king or a true fiend) and let it tar-pit the melee while the boss controls the room.
Put Tao Wu 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 Tao Wu?
Its home tier is CR 6 (2,300 XP), tuned for a party of levels 5-10. The stat block also scales down to a CR 2 build for levels 1-4 and up to roughly CR 11 for levels 11-15; the traits stay identical and only the numbers move.
Can Tao Wu be a companion or ally?
As written it is a chaotic, grudge-bearing adversary, but the included Strife-Hound, Bound is built as a controllable ally version: a lesser beast of the same exiled brood that runs down marked foes and punishes them for fleeing. Use it as a beastmaster's mount-foe or a bound guardian.
Why is Tao Wu immune to being frightened or moved?
It is the mythological embodiment of stubbornness, the Block-Head of the Four Fiends. Stubborn as Stone makes that mechanical: it cannot be frightened, cannot be forced to move, and cannot be made to abandon the foe that hurt it. Plan to kill it where it stands.
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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