The Hermit
The Hermit — The Encounter
The lantern-bearer of the ninth Tarot, who walks the wisdom of solitude · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is The Hermit
Of the Greater Arcana he is the ninth, the Hermit, drawn when a querent must withdraw from the noise of the world to find the small clear light within. The grimoires name him a keeper of lonely roads and forgotten shrines, an old soul who traded the company of men for the counsel of stars. By night he lifts his lantern not to find his own way, for he long ago memorised every road, but to guide those who have lost theirs, and woe to the liar or the prowling thing that steps into its beam, for the light strips away all disguise. He speaks seldom and slowly, weighing each word as a miser weighs coin, yet a single sentence from him has turned kings from ruinous war. Travellers who shelter at his standing stone wake healed of fever and grief alike. To draw him reversed is to wander lost in one's own solitude, blind beside the very flame meant to save you.
Run The Hermit in Sixty Seconds
- Hold the lantern up first. On turn one give every adversary bright light in 30 ft.; that cancels enemy invisibility, magical darkness, blur and mirror image, and hands your side advantage. It is the single most valuable button on the sheet.
- He is a healer, not a hitter. Kill-priority for the players SHOULD be the Hermit, so make them earn it. Park Bristlefell between him and the melee, and use Sanctuary of Counsel every round an ally gets hit.
- Searing Verdict wants a crowd. Drop the 10-ft column on the tightest cluster, ideally the back-line casters; recharge 5-6 means roll for it eagerly each turn.
- When bloodied, turn defensive. Cast sanctuary on himself or guardian of faith between him and Bristlefell, retreat toward the standing stone, and lean on mass healing word to reset the fight's math.
- Three ways to run him: (1) battlefield support pinned to a flagship boss he keeps alive; (2) a road-shrine guardian the party must pass, winnable by parley if they do not draw steel; (3) a lantern-lit lockdown controller who erases a stealth party's whole game plan.
The Hermit
Medium humanoid (human), lawful neutral
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEThe Guiding Lantern. Signature. The Hermit carries a lantern lit by a star that does not gutter. It sheds bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light 30 feet beyond, and the light cannot be extinguished by wind, water, or magic of 3rd level or lower. While a creature stands in the lantern's bright light, it cannot benefit from invisibility, magical darkness, or the blur/mirror image effects, and the Hermit and his allies have advantage on attack rolls against it.
Hard-Won Wisdom. The Hermit has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, frightened, or put to sleep, and on Wisdom (Insight) checks to discern lies.
Spellcasting. The Hermit is a 9th-level spellcaster (Wisdom, save DC 14, +6 to hit). He knows: cantrips — guidance, light, sacred flame, spare the dying; 1st — bless, cure wounds, sanctuary; 2nd — lesser restoration, spiritual weapon; 3rd — dispel magic, mass healing word; 4th — guardian of faith; 5th — flame strike.
Actions
Multiattack. The Hermit makes two Wisdom-lit Staff attacks, or one Staff attack and casts a cantrip.
Wisdom-lit Staff. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (3d6 + 4) radiant damage, and if the target is in the lantern's bright light it must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of its next turn.
Searing Verdict (Recharge 5-6). The Hermit invokes a column of judging fire in a 10-foot-radius, 40-foot-high cylinder centered on a point he can see within 60 ft. Each creature in the area makes a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw, taking 27 (6d8) fire damage on a failure, or half as much on a success.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Reaction: Sanctuary of Counsel. When an ally the Hermit can see within 30 ft. is hit by an attack, the Hermit can speak a steadying word; the ally gains 7 (2d6) temporary hit points and resistance to the triggering attack's damage.
A snow-dusted ancient in heavy travelling robes leans on a forked wooden stave, one hand lifting a star-lit lantern beside a weather-worn standing stone. A great bristled boar drowses at his feet, half-buried in the frost.
The Hermit, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEFrost-Bristled Hide (signature). The Hermit has resistance to cold damage. When a creature within 5 ft. hits it with a melee attack, that creature takes 4 (1d8) piercing damage from its raised quills.
Actions
Gore. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage. If The Hermit moved at least 20 ft. straight toward the target, the target makes a DC 14 Strength save or is knocked prone.
Reactions
Stand Guard. When the Hermit is hit by a melee attack while The Hermit is within 5 ft. of him, The Hermit can interpose; the Hermit takes half the damage and The Hermit takes the rest.
An old tusked boar with frost in its bristles, more faithful watchdog than beast, that has dozed at the Hermit's feet through a hundred lonely winters.
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 lifting the lantern to flood the front rank with bright light, then hang back and heal whoever is bloodied. He is a support caster, not a duelist, so screen him with Bristlefell and let the boar's charge knock down the first melee threat. Pair him with a frontline brute; he keeps the brute standing while the lantern denies the party's rogue their hiding spots.
Open by drenching the cluster in lantern-light so allies get advantage and the party loses its stealth and concealment, then Searing Verdict the tightest knot of PCs. Kill-priority for the party is the Hermit, because his heals and Sanctuary of Counsel can outlast a grind, so make them fight through Bristlefell first. Pair him with minions or a bigger threat; he is a buff-and-heal anchor, never a lone boss.
Run him as the lair-keeper beside a heavier threat: he opens with the lantern to lock down invisibility and concealment across the room, then chains Searing Verdict and flame strike on clustered casters while healing his ally-boss. Have Bristlefell body-block and Sanctuary of Counsel soak the alpha-strike aimed at the boss. He amplifies a flagship; he does not solo a tier-3 party.
Put The Hermit 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 The Hermit?
His home tier is Tier 2, statted at CR 6 (2,300 XP): AC 15, 123 HP, +6 to hit, save DC 14. Tier 1 and Tier 3 versions on the sheet rescale the same traits and actions to CR 2 and roughly CR 11 so you can drop him into any table.
Can The Hermit be a companion or ally?
Yes, and it suits him perfectly. As a guiding sage he makes an excellent quest-giver, healer-NPC, or recurring ally; reskin his spellcasting and lantern as a friendly buff aura and let the party benefit from advantage in his light instead of suffering it. Bristlefell the boar comes with him as a loyal watch-beast.
Is The Hermit meant to be fought solo?
No. He has no legendary actions and is built as a buff-and-heal anchor, so a four-PC party will out-act him alone. Use him as an add-on to a bigger threat or a lair he guards, where his lantern lockdown and healing make the whole encounter far harder than his CR suggests.
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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