The Magician
The Magician — The Encounter
Adept of the First Trump, who wills the world to bend · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is The Magician
The First Trump of the deck shows the Magician at her table, one hand raised to heaven and one lowered to earth, the channel through which power flows. Those who draw her in a spread are warned that no outcome here is fixed: she is the figure who decides. In the flesh she is an adept who has memorized the correspondences of the seventy-two spirits and the secret names of the elements, and who treats reality as a sentence she may yet rewrite. She rarely fights alone, preferring to stand behind a greater menace and shape the battlefield to its advantage, snaring the bold in webs of force and shattering ranks with bursts of conjured fire. Sages say her open book is never the same twice, its pages turning to whatever working the moment demands. To bargain with her is to wager your certainties against her will, and the will of the Magician has bent stronger things than you.
Run The Magician in Sixty Seconds
- What she is a glass-cannon battlefield controller. She wants the fight at range and on her terms; close the gap and she crumbles.
- Open with web to split the party, then a fireball or ice storm into the cluster you just made. The control comes before the damage.
- Counterspell economy she will burn counterspell on the first big thing the party casts, usually a heal or a blast. Bait it with something cheap before committing your key spell.
- When bloodied she stops trading and turns evasive, Misty Stepping each round and leaning on shield. Have a way to pin her or she runs the clock.
- Three ways to run her as a lone ambusher behind terrain, as the caster-support of a flagship boss, or as a recurring rival who escapes via Misty Step to menace the party again.
The Magician
Medium humanoid (human), any alignment
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINESpellcasting. The Magician is an 8th-level spellcaster. Her spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 15, +7 to hit with spell attacks). She has the following wizard spells prepared: Cantrips: fire bolt, mage hand, minor illusion, ray of frost. 1st (4 slots): mage armor, magic missile, shield. 2nd (3 slots): misty step, web. 3rd (3 slots): counterspell, fireball. 4th (2 slots): ice storm.
As Above, So Below. (signature). When the Magician casts a spell of 1st level or higher, she may channel it through the open book she bears. The next time a creature she can see fails a saving throw against that spell before the end of her next turn, she draws on that broken will: she gains temporary hit points equal to the spell's level x 3, and the energy swirling around her flares, dealing 5 force damage to one creature within 10 ft. of her.
Actions
Multiattack. The Magician makes two Arcane Bolt attacks, or casts one spell and makes one Arcane Bolt attack.
Arcane Bolt. Ranged Spell Attack: +7 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (3d8+3) force damage.
Focus Wheel. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8+3) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be unable to take reactions until the start of its next turn.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Misty Step (Recharge 5-6). As a bonus action, the Magician teleports up to 30 ft. to an unoccupied space she can see. She does not provoke opportunity attacks this turn.
A poised arcanist in a broad witch's hat stands at the crossroads of will and world, one hand bearing an open grimoire, the other spinning a wheel-like focus while green eldritch power coils about her like a serpent.
The Magician, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINESpell-Linked (signature). While within 60 ft. of its summoner, The Magician grants advantage on Concentration saving throws made by that ally.
Actions
Spectral Talons. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d4+4) force damage.
Reactions
Shielding Flicker. When its summoner is hit by an attack, The Magician interposes itself; the summoner gains a +2 bonus to AC against that attack, possibly causing it to miss.
A coil of luminous green vapor that drifts at the Magician's shoulder, half cat and half smoke, watching with eyes that are only borrowed light.
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 cover with web to split the party, then pelt the most exposed PC with Arcane Bolt. If foes cluster, drop a scaled fireball; teleport away the moment a melee fighter reaches you. Pair her with a brute or a lair: she is a controller, not a duelist.
Lead with web on the front line, then fireball anyone caught in it to feed As Above, So Below. Counterspell the party's healer or blaster on instinct. Kill-priority is her, but she will Misty Step out of every reach; pin her with grapples or readied attacks, and remember she shines paired with a bigger threat.
Run her as the spell-support of a flagship boss: ice storm to lock the floor, web and counterspell to strip the party's answers while the boss carries the kill. She holds back, feeds on failed saves, and teleports clear of any melee. Pair her with a larger menace and minions; she should never be the only thing on the table.
Put The Magician 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 Magician?
Her home tier is CR 6 (2,300 XP), a tier-2 challenge for a party of levels 5-10. The record also provides dialed-down tier-1 (levels 1-4) and dialed-up tier-3 (levels 11-15) numbers; the traits and actions stay identical, only the AC, HP, to-hit, and save DC move between bands.
Can The Magician be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a humanoid arcanist she makes an excellent quest-giver, rival, or hired spellcaster who can switch sides. As an ally she is a powerful artillery and control piece; have her cast web and fireball on the party's behalf, and lean on her counterspell to protect the group's own casters.
Is The Magician a good solo boss?
No. She has no legendary actions and no punishing reaction trait, so a four-PC party will out-act her in a one-on-one fight. She is built as an add-on: pair her with a flagship boss, minions, or a lair so her control and burst land while a tougher threat carries the encounter.
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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