Thorvald Grimshadow
Thorvald Grimshadow — The Encounter
Giant-blooded reaver who fells men with twin mauls · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Thorvald Grimshadow
They name him Grimshadow for the long dark he drags behind him across the moor, where carrion-birds wait on the warriors he leaves broken in the mud. Thorvald is of the old giant-blood, the towering reavers of folklore who scorned king and council and took what they could carry. Where lesser raiders bring sword and shield, Thorvald brings two mauls and the patience to use them, walking through arrows and spear-walls as though they were tall grass. The scars upon his skull are tallies, each one a champion who thought to face him and was hammered flat. He speaks little and in the old giant-tongue, and what he says is mostly the names of the dead. Hedge-witches warn that no wall stands where Grimshadow has set his shadow, and that the only mercy in him is how quickly the second hammer follows the first. He hires to warlords who can stomach him, and outlives them all.
Run Thorvald Grimshadow in Sixty Seconds
- What he is: A pure melee wrecking ball - two heavy mauls, prone-on-hit, and a recharge slam. No magic, no ranged option; he wants to be in your face.
- Open with: Reckless on, charge the lowest-AC target, Multiattack to knock it prone, then keep hammering the same body.
- Kill-priority: Healers first, then whoever keeps standing back up - Thorvald wants kills to fuel his Wrath movement.
- When bloodied: At half HP he is raging - +2d6 damage on hits, and dropping a PC lets him free-stride to the next enemy. Burst him past bloodied fast or peel and kite.
- Three ways to run him: (1) brute add-on beside a caster boss; (2) line-breaker with shield-thralls like Bonecrack; (3) lone champion duel in a tight room where his slam and counter shine.
Thorvald Grimshadow
Large giant, chaotic evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEReckless. At the start of its turn, Thorvald can gain advantage on all melee weapon attack rolls during that turn, but attack rolls against it have advantage until the start of its next turn.
Grimshadow's Wrath. Signature. While Thorvald has half its hit points or fewer, it is raging: its weapon attacks deal an extra 7 (2d6) damage, and the first time each turn it reduces a creature to 0 hit points, it immediately moves up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks toward the nearest standing enemy.
Actions
Multiattack. Thorvald makes two Maul attacks.
Maul. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d10 + 5) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Shockwave Slam (Recharge 5-6). Thorvald smashes both mauls into the ground. Each creature within 10 feet must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 21 (6d6) bludgeoning damage and being knocked prone on a failure, or half as much damage and remaining standing on a success.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Crushing Counter. Reaction. When a creature Thorvald can see hits him with a melee attack, he makes one Maul attack against that creature.
A bald, deeply scarred giant-kin reaver stalks forward in worn plate and spiked pauldrons, a heavy iron maul gripped in each fist, his stitched grimace promising a slow grinding death.
Thorvald Grimshadow, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEShieldbreaker (signature). When Thorvald Grimshadow hits a creature that is benefiting from a shield, half cover, or three-quarters cover, the target loses that benefit until the start of its next turn.
Actions
Great Hammer. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage.
Reactions
Guard the Giant. Reaction. When a creature Thorvald Grimshadow can see attacks an ally within 5 feet, Thorvald Grimshadow imposes disadvantage on that attack roll.
A wiry oath-bound thrall who marches at Thorvald's heel, smashing aside the shields and barricades that would slow his master's hammers.
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 charging the squishiest target and trying to knock it prone with Maul, then grind. Hold Shockwave Slam for when two or more PCs cluster within 10 feet. Pair him with a couple of raiders so the party cannot simply kite a lone bruiser.
Open Reckless every turn and Multiattack the lightest-armored frontliner to drop it and trigger Grimshadow's Wrath. Save Shockwave Slam (Recharge 5-6) for clustered PCs, and let Crushing Counter punish melee attackers. Kill-priority: healers, then anyone who keeps re-standing. He is a wrecking ball, not a general - field him with minions or beside a bigger flagship threat to control the field while he wades in.
Run him as a hammer paired with a lair or a casting boss that pins the party in place for him. Lead with Reckless, smash a downed PC to chain Grimshadow's Wrath movement toward the next victim, and Shockwave Slam whenever clusters form. Pair with a bigger threat - alone, a Tier 3 party simply out-acts a single bruiser.
Put Thorvald Grimshadow 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 Thorvald Grimshadow?
His home stat block is CR 6 (2,300 XP), tuned for a party of levels 5-10. The record also gives scaled-down (CR 2, levels 1-4) and scaled-up (CR 11, levels 11-15) versions - the traits and actions are identical, only the numbers move.
Can Thorvald Grimshadow be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a chaotic-evil mercenary he readily hires to a warlord who can stomach him, and the bundled companion Bonecrack, Bound, is built to ally with a party or NPC patron. Thorvald himself makes a fearsome bodyguard or pit-champion, though he will turn on a master who shows weakness.
Is Thorvald a boss or an add-on threat?
He is an add-on bruiser, not a solo centerpiece. He has no legendary actions and a four-player party will out-act him on his own, so field him with minions, a line-breaker like Bonecrack, or alongside a bigger flagship boss who controls the battlefield while Thorvald wades in.
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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