Zmij
Zmij — The Encounter
Many-Headed Storm-Wyrm of the Old Slavic Sky · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Zmij
In the old Slavic sky-tales the zmij is no mere beast but a hungering storm given scale and tooth, hatched (so the grandmothers swear) from a serpent that lived seven years unseen beneath a millstone. It hoards more than gold: it hoards weather, dragging frost and black cloud behind its wings so that the rye fails wherever it nests. The villages along the river paid it in cattle and, when the cattle ran thin, in daughters, until a horseman of the old faith rode out to cut its heads away. Yet that is the zmij's cruel gift, for where one head is struck another buds from the wound, and the man who would slay it must sear each stump with fire before a new mouth can open. It speaks in two voices at once, flatters in one while the other counts your bones, and it remembers every bargain ever broken against it across the long Slavic winters.
Run Zmij in Sixty Seconds
- Hold the breath. Open with Frost Breath the first round you can hit two or more PCs in the cone, then save the recharge for when they re-cluster.
- Kill-priority the casters and healers. Three Bites plus a legendary Lashing Bite can delete a 10th-level squishy in one turn.
- Many Heads matters: it shrugs prone, stun, and paralysis and frees itself, so don't burn slots on save-or-suck control. Hard damage and fire are the answer.
- When bloodied (104 HP) it goes airborne, Storm Wings to knock the front line prone, and breathes the moment the recharge hits.
- Three ways: raw sky-terror (fly and breath-kite), grounded brawler (land and Snapping-Heads anyone who flees), or lair fight with Bagienniks and Vukodlaks pinning the flanks while it picks off the back.
Zmij
Huge dragon, chaotic evil
CR 11 · 7,200 XP · GUIDELINEMany Heads. The zmij has advantage on saving throws against being blinded, charmed, deafened, knocked prone, or stunned. While it has more than one head, it cannot be surprised, and at the end of each of its turns it makes a free save against one effect causing it to be paralyzed or incapacitated.
Wakeful. While the zmij sleeps, at least one of its heads is awake. It cannot be caught unaware by stealth.
Actions
Multiattack. The zmij makes three Bite attacks, one from each of its serpentine heads. It can replace one Bite with a use of Frost Breath if available.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d10+6) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) cold damage.
Frost Breath (Recharge 5-6). The zmij exhales a blast of glacial wind from one head in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in that area makes a DC 17 Constitution saving throw, taking 36 (8d8) cold damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success. A creature that fails is restrained by creeping rime until the end of its next turn.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Snapping Heads. When a creature the zmij can see moves out of its reach without Disengaging, the zmij can use its reaction to make one Bite attack against that creature with a fresh head.
Legendary Actions (3/Round)
Detect. The zmij makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.
Lashing Bite. The zmij makes one Bite attack with one of its heads.
Storm Wings (Costs 2 Actions). The zmij beats its wings. Each creature within 10 feet makes a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw, taking 10 (3d6) bludgeoning damage and being knocked prone on a failure. The zmij then flies up to half its speed.
Two crowned serpent-heads rear from a single frost-rimed body, vast bat-wings half-furled over a hoard of broken stone. Every scale glitters with hoarfrost, and both maws breathe a killing winter.
Zmij, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINECull the Stumps (signature). Zmij's strikes against a multi-headed creature deal an extra 9 (2d8) fire damage, searing wounds so new heads cannot bud.
Actions
Hewing Blade. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) slashing damage.
Reactions
Ward the Line. When an ally within 5 feet is hit by an attack, Zmij can use her reaction to grant that ally +3 AC against it, possibly turning the hit into a miss.
A horsewoman of the old river-faith, branded by the storm-wyrm's breath and sworn to cut and cauterize every serpent-head she finds.
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.
Run it as a single-headed hatchling wyrmling. Open with Frost Breath on the tightest cluster, then snap at whoever drops below half. Pair it with a Bagiennik or two so the party cannot simply gang the one head.
Two heads now. Lead with Frost Breath, then Multiattack the squishiest caster. Use Snapping Heads to punish anyone who tries to slip past, and keep it airborne with Storm Wings so melee struggles to commit.
Boss mode. Open from the air with Frost Breath into the party, land, and triple-Bite the kill target. Spend legendary actions on Lashing Bite each round and Storm Wings to scatter melee. It is a true solo for a 4-person table, but a Bagiennik or Vukodlak escort closes the back rank.
Put Zmij 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 Zmij?
Natively CR 11 (Tier 3, ~level 11-15), a 7,200 XP boss. Because it carries a real legendary kit plus the Snapping Heads reaction, it plays up a notch and can solo a 4-PC party. Scaled stat lines for Tier 1 and Tier 2 are included for lower tables.
Can Zmij be a companion or ally?
Not as the full dragon. For a player-side option use the bound companion Riri, Frost-Marked, the horsewoman who learned to cauterize its budding heads. Her Cull the Stumps and Ward the Line make her a strong anti-boss ally without overshadowing the party.
How do you fight a creature that regrows its heads?
Fire and discipline. The Many Heads trait makes it resist control, so commit to burst damage on one kill target while a fire source (or Riri's Cull the Stumps) sears the stumps. Break line of sight to deny Frost Breath, and force it to the ground so it cannot kite.
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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