Yin Tiger
Yin Tiger — The Encounter
Lamellar-clad guardian of the dark moon, cleaver of the western watch · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Yin Tiger
In the old reckoning of the heavens, the western quarter and the waning dark moon belong to the Yin Tiger, sworn warden of thresholds where light surrenders to shadow. It is no beast of fury but a disciplined sentinel, drilled in stance and breath until stillness itself becomes armor. Folk of the border valleys say the Yin Tiger appears where a gate must be held against what the night sends through, and that it will not yield its post though the hour run long and the cold deepen. Its greatcleaver was forged from a fallen temple bell, and the notches along its spine count the things it has turned back. Those who fight beside it learn quickly: do not stand before the sweep, and do not mistake its patience for weakness. When it finally moves, the dark moon moves with it, and the stroke that follows is meant to be the last one needed.
Run Yin Tiger in Sixty Seconds
- Hold the line The Yin Tiger is a gate-warden, not a chaser. Plant it on a chokepoint and make the party come to it; it wins by attrition, not pursuit.
- Yin Stance is the engine If it doesn't move, it has resistance to ALL damage. Keep it stationary and let the party burn resources on a half-damage target before they crack it.
- Kill-priority: the healer Brutal Cleaver stops a struck target from regaining hit points. Send the cleaver at the cleric, then the party can't out-heal your damage.
- When bloodied It abandons stance and goes aggressive: Rending Sweep on recharge to prone clustered PCs, then Multiattack the one on the ground.
- Three ways to run it: immovable doorway tank (hold stance, dare them in), prone-and-punish brawler (Sweep then crit-prone), or shield for a bigger boss (Crouching Guard + Held Threshold keep the real threat alive).
Yin Tiger
Medium humanoid (beastfolk), lawful neutral
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEYin Stance. The tiger draws on the still, cold half of the world. While it has not moved on its turn, it has resistance to all damage until the start of its next turn. The moment it moves, the stance breaks.
Brutal Cleaver. A target hit by the tiger's greatcleaver cannot regain hit points until the start of the tiger's next turn (the wound runs too deep to staunch).
Actions
Multiattack. The tiger makes two attacks with its greatcleaver.
Greatcleaver. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d10 + 4) slashing damage. On a critical hit, the target is also knocked prone.
Rending Sweep (Recharge 5-6). The tiger sweeps its cleaver in a wide arc. Each creature within 10 ft. must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 22 (4d8 + 4) slashing damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success. Creatures that fail are pushed 5 ft. and knocked prone.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Crouching Guard. Reaction: When a creature the tiger can see hits it with an attack, the tiger plants its feet and adds 3 to its AC against that attack, potentially causing it to miss.
A broad-shouldered, dusky-furred beastfolk warrior in lacquered samurai lamellar, hauling a massive notched cleaver as long as a man is tall, set in a grim guardian's crouch.
Yin Tiger, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEHeld Threshold (signature). While Yin Tiger is within 5 ft. of an ally, that ally gains a +1 bonus to AC. Yin Tiger refuses to be the first to retreat from a line it has been told to hold.
Actions
Notched Blade. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing damage.
Reactions
Guard the Flank. Reaction: When an ally within 5 ft. is hit by a melee attack, Yin Tiger interposes its blade and reduces the damage by 1d8.
A younger sworn-warrior who took the same vow at the western gate, steadier in the line than in the open field.
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 closing to reach 10 ft. and forcing one PC to back off the cleaver. Kill-priority: whichever healer or caster is keeping the party standing, since Brutal Cleaver shuts off their heals. Hold Yin Stance on the front line and let squishier minions flank; pair it with archers or a caster boss so it isn't out-actioned.
Open by anchoring a chokepoint in Yin Stance (resistance to all damage while it holds still), daring the party to come to it. If two or more PCs cluster, break stance for Rending Sweep to prone and scatter them, then Multiattack the prone target. Kill-priority: the off-tank or melee striker trying to flank past it; use Crouching Guard to deny the burst turn.
Run it as the immovable gate-warden in a lair fight, not solo: it holds the line while a bigger threat (a sorcerer-king, a celestial judge, a wyrm) works the back ranks. Open with Yin Stance and let casters waste a round on a resistant target, then Rending Sweep the moment melee clusters. Kill-priority: anyone trying to slip past to the real boss. Pair it with a flying or ranged ally to punish PCs who refuse to engage it.
Put Yin Tiger 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 Yin Tiger?
Its home stat block is CR 6 (Tier 2, levels 5-10): AC 16, 127 HP, +7 to hit, save DC 15. Tier 1 and Tier 3 versions are provided for levels 1-4 and 11-15 by sliding the numbers; the traits and actions are identical at every tier.
Can Yin Tiger be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a disciplined sworn-warden it makes a natural bodyguard or gate-holder NPC, and the bound companion Bellnotch is built to fight at a PC's side, shielding the flank and holding a line. The Yin Stance trait also makes it an excellent allied 'anvil' that soaks damage while the party maneuvers.
Is the Yin Tiger a boss or an add-on?
An add-on. It has no legendary actions and isn't built to solo a four-person party. Use it as the front-line wall in front of a true centerpiece threat, or run two of them to bracket a chokepoint and grind the party down.
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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