Thorbjorn Stormheart
Thorbjorn Stormheart — The Encounter
Horn-helmed thane of the thunder, axe of the north wind · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Thorbjorn Stormheart
They call him Stormheart for the thunder that lives behind his ribs, a gift or a curse left by the trickster's bilelight when it washed over the northern fells. Where Thorbjorn walks the air tastes of iron and coming rain, and his great axe answers each swing with the crack of a sky splitting open. The skalds say he was once a hold's sworn thane until the poison-light touched his blood, and now no roof can hold his rage for long. He fights not for gold nor glory but for the clean fury of the blow, the way the storm fights the mountain: without malice, without mercy, until one of them breaks. Warriors who survive his charge speak of a roar that buckles the knees and a man who simply will not fall, rising again with rain in his eyes and the same terrible grin. Loki's blight made many monsters; it made Thorbjorn only more himself.
Run Thorbjorn Stormheart in Sixty Seconds
- He opens loud. Lead with Thunderous Shout (Recharge 5-6) the first turn two or more PCs stand within a 15-foot cone, then charge. It pushes, prones, and softens the cluster all at once.
- Kill-priority is the healer. Thorbjorn ignores the tank, slips past with his 30-foot move, and hunts whoever keeps the party standing. Bodyguard your support or he ends the fight early.
- When bloodied, watch for Relentless. The first time you drop him to 0, he stays up at 1 hit point and roars. Plan to spend a second burst of damage that same round or he gets one more deadly turn.
- Reckless Swing is a trap you can spring. When he swings recklessly, every attack against him has advantage too. Encourage the players to dogpile him the round he goes berserk.
- Three ways to run him. Mad-dog skirmisher who only chases squishies; immovable bruiser who guards a chokepoint and Shouts anyone who clusters; or the muscle beside a caster boss, charging on cue while the real villain casts.
Thorbjorn Stormheart
Medium humanoid (human), chaotic neutral
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEStorm-Touched Fury. Thorbjorn enters a battle already raging. While raging he has advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws, deals an extra 7 (2d6) thunder damage with melee weapon attacks, and resists nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. If he ends a turn having taken no damage and dealt none, the rage ends.
Relentless (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). When Thorbjorn is reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, he drops to 1 hit point instead and bellows a war-cry.
Actions
Multiattack. Thorbjorn makes two attacks with his Stormcleaver greataxe.
Stormcleaver Greataxe. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d12 + 4) slashing damage plus 7 (2d6) thunder damage. On a critical hit, the target must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone as the blow lands like a thunderclap.
Thunderous Shout (Recharge 5-6). Thorbjorn looses a deafening roar in a 15-foot cone. Each creature there must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 22 (4d10) thunder damage and being pushed 10 feet and knocked prone on a failure, or half damage and no push on a success.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Reckless Swing (Bonus Action). Thorbjorn can attack with advantage on all melee weapon attacks this turn; until his next turn, attack rolls against him have advantage.
A broad, red-bearded warrior in scrollwork plate and a horned helm, gripping a two-bladed greataxe that hums with caged thunder. He plants his feet on cracked stone, daring the storm and any foe alike to come within reach.
Thorbjorn Stormheart, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEThunder-Maned (signature). When Thorbjorn Stormheart hits with a bite, crackling static leaps to one other creature within 5 feet of the target, dealing 4 (1d8) thunder damage.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Reactions
Pack Charge. When an ally Thorbjorn names hits a creature, Thorbjorn Stormheart can move up to half its speed toward that creature without provoking opportunity attacks.
A shaggy, thunder-grey wolf-hound that pads at Thorbjorn's heel, its fur standing on end before every storm.
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 Thunderous Shout to scatter a clustered party, then wade into the squishiest spellcaster. He fights without legendary actions, so let a low-level group focus fire and use his Reckless Swing greed against him. Pair him with a couple of raiders so the action economy is not entirely on one body.
Open by charging the back line and dropping Thunderous Shout the moment two or more PCs bunch up. Kill-priority is the party healer; his rage resistance lets him soak the front line while he hunts soft targets. He is an ADD-ON bruiser, not a solo boss, so run him beside a spellcasting villain or a pack of minions to cover the action economy he lacks.
Use him as the iron muscle of a lair fight: he charges, Shouts the clustered melee, and pins bodies while the real threat works. Kill-priority remains the enemy who can keep him locked down (restrained or prone). Pair him with a bigger storm-caller threat; alone he is out-acted by a high-tier party.
Put Thorbjorn Stormheart 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 Thorbjorn Stormheart?
His home stat block is Challenge 6 (2,300 XP), tuned for a tier-2 party of levels 5-10. The included tier ladder scales him down to roughly CR 2 for levels 1-4 and up to roughly CR 11 for levels 11-15, with the traits identical and only the numbers shifting.
Can Thorbjorn Stormheart be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a chaotic neutral mortal driven by the fury of the fight rather than evil, he makes a believable berserker ally or rival-turned-friend. Drop his offensive numbers a step if a PC will run him, and lean on his Storm-Touched Fury and Relentless as a front-line bodyguard built. His Storm-Hound Skalfr can join as a second body.
Is Thorbjorn solo-boss material?
No. He has a punishing kit but no legendary actions or reactions to out-tempo a full party, so a balanced group will out-act him alone. Run him as a centerpiece bruiser beside minions or a spellcasting villain who can lock down the battlefield while he charges.
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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