Tengu
Tengu — The Encounter
Mountain Guardian of the Long Neck and Sudden Blade · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Tengu
On the high passes where the cedars give way to bare stone, the Tengu keeps its lonely watch. The mountain folk name it Guardian, though the word is spoken softly, for its mercy is a thing of moods. By day it is rumor: a shadow that crosses the moon, a katana's whisper, a watcher unseen. Its neck unwinds like a serpent uncoiling, carrying its red-eyed face over ridgelines and around blind corners to spy upon trespassers long before they sense the watching. When it strikes it strikes once and is already gone, its wind-borne wings stirring neither leaf nor dust. Pilgrims who keep the old courtesies—bow at the trailhead, leave rice at the shrine, speak no boast—pass unharmed. Those who fell its sacred trees or draw steel in greed learn that the mountain has a sword of its own, and that the long neck reaches everywhere the wind may go.
Run Tengu in Sixty Seconds
- It is a hit-and-run flyer, not a brawler. Open from hiding while airborne so the first Serpent Neck attack lands with advantage and the target also takes Crow's Cry; then leave melee with Mountain Wind the same turn.
- Serpent Neck ignores cover. Reach is 15 ft. and it strikes around corners and over walls, so 'hiding behind the rock' does not protect the squishy back-liner—remind players, then make them pay for it.
- Kill-priority is whatever grounds it. Target the caster or archer who can pin its flight first; the moment it can't fly, this whole kit collapses to an ordinary monstrosity.
- Recoiling Strike taxes positioning. Anyone who ends their turn within 15 ft. eats a free Talon Rake (prone on a failed DC 15 STR), so it punishes melee that crowds it without ever committing.
- Three ways to run it: patient assassin (one strike per round, always vanishing), screaming dervish (Crow's Cry into a clustered party, then Recoiling Strike everything nearby), or scout-and-pin (with Karasu marking targets while the Tengu picks off the marked).
Tengu
Large monstrosity (yokai), neutral evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEWind Walker. The tengu's flight leaves no sound and stirs no dust. It has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made while airborne, and difficult terrain costs it no extra movement while flying.
Serpent Neck. Signature. The tengu's neck and body can elongate unnaturally. Its melee attacks have reach 15 ft., and as part of any melee attack it may strike from total concealment around corners or over cover, gaining advantage on the first such attack each turn. Creatures cannot benefit from cover against this attack.
Actions
Multiattack. The tengu makes two Twin Katana attacks. If it is hidden from a target when it attacks, that target is also subjected to Crow's Cry (no action).
Twin Katana. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (3d8+4) slashing damage.
Talon Rake. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+4) slashing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone as the long body sweeps its legs.
Crow's Cry (Recharge 5-6). The tengu looses a piercing shriek. Each creature within 30 ft. must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw, taking 22 (5d8) thunder damage and being frightened until the end of its next turn on a failure, or half damage and not frightened on a success.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Mountain Wind (Bonus Action). The tengu flies up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks. If it ends this movement at least 20 ft. from where it began, its next attack this turn deals an extra 9 (2d8) slashing damage.
Recoiling Strike (Reaction). When a creature the tengu can see ends its turn within 15 ft., the tengu's neck snaps out: it makes one Talon Rake against that creature, then may fly up to 15 ft. without provoking opportunity attacks.
A fan of pale, grasping wings unfurls behind a long-necked yokai, its serpentine body coiled over a mountain crag, twin katana gleaming and a blood-red sun-disc burning at its crown.
Tengu, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEScout of the Pass (signature). Tengu has advantage on Perception and Stealth checks, and can take the Help action as a bonus action to grant an ally advantage on its next attack against a creature within 30 ft. of Tengu.
Actions
Beak and Blade. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) slashing damage.
Reactions
Carry the Warning. When an ally within 30 ft. is hit by an attack, Tengu may impose disadvantage on that attack roll by screeching a wind-warning (once per round).
A smaller crow-yokai bound to the mountain's service, all eyes and feathers, that ranges ahead to mark the trespasser before the Guardian's blade ever falls.
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 from hiding while flying so Serpent Neck lands with advantage and the target eats Crow's Cry. If the party clusters, hold Crow's Cry until 2+ are in the 30-ft. cone. Hit-and-fly each round with Mountain Wind so melee fighters never get a full turn on it; never stand and trade.
This is an ambush skirmisher, not a stand-up boss—pair it with a bigger threat or run it with Karasu and a flock of minions. Open from concealment: Multiattack the spellcaster with advantage, then fly out of melee reach with Mountain Wind. Kill-priority is anyone who can pin its flight; use Recoiling Strike to punish whoever ends their turn near it, and Crow's Cry to break a clustered front line.
Field it as a lair predator alongside lesser tengu or a heavier yokai—it harasses, it does not anchor. Use the mountain: attack around cover via Serpent Neck (cover does not help), strike, and vanish on the wind each round. Focus the controller who would ground it; hold Crow's Cry for when the party bunches to push through difficult terrain.
Put Tengu 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 Tengu?
Tengu is built as a CR 6 skirmisher at its native Tier 2 (levels 5-10): AC 16, 123 HP, +7 to hit, save DC 15. Scaled stat lines are provided for Tier 1 (~CR 2) and Tier 3 (~CR 11) so it slots cleanly into any of the three tiers without changing its traits or actions.
Can Tengu be a companion or ally?
As an adversary, no—it is a willful mountain yokai whose loyalty is to the peak, not to any party. But the record includes Karasu, the Lesser Wing, a bound crow-yokai scout (AC 14, 74 HP) that an honorable party who keeps the old courtesies might earn as an ally: it marks targets, screeches warnings, and ranges ahead.
Is Tengu a solo boss?
No. It is a high-mobility add-on, designed to harass alongside a flagship threat, a flock of lesser tengu, or its companion Karasu. With no legendary actions, a four-player party will out-act it if it tries to stand alone—run it as the wind that picks off stragglers, not the wall the party must break.
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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