Arc Kavalos
Arc Kavalos — The Encounter
Deathless sorcerer who weaves arcane webs to steal sacred lore · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Arc Kavalos
They name him Arc Kavalos, the deathless weaver, and the entry warns the reader twice before it speaks his works. In life he was a mage of insatiable hunger for hidden knowledge; in death he refused the silence, binding his spirit to a secret vessel so that the grave could not keep its lessons from him. His relentless purpose was the sacred lore guarded by the moon-keeper Ixchel—the transformative secrets of the Moonmorphs—which he sought to ensnare in arcane webs and bend to his twisted designs. Where he passes, the air hums with stolen recollection, and those who fight him find their own thoughts turned against them. He does not hate the living; he merely regards them as books not yet read, pages to be withered open. Slay the body and he reforms; only the shattering of his phylactery writes the final line of his story.
Run Arc Kavalos in Sixty Seconds
- Hold at range and open with Wither on whoever looks beefiest—the hit-point-max drain makes that target stay scary even after healing.
- Kill-priority: his Skull-Staff and Wither both shred max HP, so focus the PC the party most needs alive—healer or controller—and grind them down.
- When bloodied, spend Unbinding to negate the next save-or-die, then Step Through Webs out of melee to reset to range.
- Three ways to run him: (1) artillery lich—Wither + legendary bolts from max range; (2) trap-room caster—let Web of Wards and Cripple lock the doorway; (3) unkillable rival—the body keeps coming back, turning the fight into a phylactery hunt.
- Remember Web of Wards: anyone entering or starting their turn within 10 ft. eats disadvantage on a DC 17 Int save—punish the melee that rushes him.
Arc Kavalos
Medium undead, neutral evil
CR 11 · 7,200 XP · GUIDELINERejuvenating Phylactery. Arc Kavalos's deathless essence is bound to a hidden vessel. If he is destroyed, his body crumbles to dust but his spirit reforms beside the vessel within 1d10 days, regaining all hit points. He is truly slain only when the vessel is found and shattered.
Web of Wards. Invisible threads of stolen lore hang about Arc Kavalos. The first time a creature enters a space within 10 ft. of him or starts its turn there, it must succeed on a DC 17 Intelligence saving throw or have disadvantage on its next attack roll or saving throw.
Turn Resistance. Arc Kavalos has advantage on saving throws against any effect that turns undead.
Actions
Multiattack. Arc Kavalos uses Wither (Spellcasting) if able, then makes one Skull-Staff attack.
Skull-Staff. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (3d6+4) bludgeoning damage plus 14 (4d6) necrotic damage, and the target's hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken until it finishes a long rest.
Wither (Spellcasting). Arc Kavalos points his horned staff at a creature he can see within 60 ft. It must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw, taking 36 (8d8) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success. A creature reduced to 0 hit points this way crumbles to gray dust.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Unbinding (Reaction). When Arc Kavalos fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead. He can use this trait once, regaining its use when he finishes a short or long rest.
Legendary Actions (3/Round)
Lore-Thief Bolt. Arc Kavalos makes a ranged spell attack, +10 to hit, against one creature within 120 ft. On a hit, the target takes 16 (3d10) necrotic damage and Arc Kavalos learns one fact it knows.
Cripple (Costs 2 Actions). Arc Kavalos casts a binding hex on one creature within 60 ft. It must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or be restrained by arcane threads until the end of its next turn.
Step Through Webs (Costs 2 Actions). Arc Kavalos teleports up to 60 ft. to an unoccupied space he can see, and the Web of Wards trait triggers against each creature he leaves adjacent to.
A gaunt, skull-faced sorcerer crowned with antler-like horns and draped in gold-and-jade vestments, gripping two ornate staves—one capped with a leering skull-mace, the other with a horned daemon mask. Tattered green robes stream behind him like grave-mist.
Arc Kavalos, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEAnimate Servitor (signature). The horned staff hovers and fights on its own, a sliver of Arc Kavalos's will. It cannot be charmed or frightened and shares his truesight 60 ft.
Actions
Lash. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+4) necrotic damage.
Reactions
Ward the Master. When a creature it can see hits Arc Kavalos with an attack while within 10 ft. of the staff, the staff lashes that creature for 7 (2d6) necrotic damage.
When Arc Kavalos has no patron to bind it, the daemon-mask staff fights as a tireless familiar, lashing any who would harm its weaver.
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 Wither on the tankiest-looking PC to threaten the hit-point-max drain, then keep range and let Web of Wards punish anyone who closes. Kill-priority is whoever heals or casts—drop them first. Pair him with a knot of skeletal cultists so the party can't simply rush the caster.
Lead with Wither into a cluster, then Skull-Staff anyone who reaches him to stack the hit-point-max reduction. Spend Unbinding the moment a save-or-suck lands on him. Kill-priority the party's controller; hold Step Through Webs to escape a melee pin and reset to range with minions or a lair around him.
Open Wither + Skull-Staff, then end each round with legendary Lore-Thief Bolt and Cripple to restrain the biggest threat. Use Step Through Webs to dodge focus-fire and trigger Web of Wards on the way out. He's a centerpiece solo boss—remind players the body reforms unless they hunt the phylactery, and let Unbinding shrug off the one big save they're counting on.
Put Arc Kavalos 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 Arc Kavalos?
Natively CR 11 (Tier 3, levels 11-15) as a solo-capable boss with the legendary kit. Scaled stat blocks are provided for Tier 1 (~CR 2) and Tier 2 (~CR 6) so you can drop him in at lower levels as an elite caster threat.
Can Arc Kavalos be a companion or ally?
Not himself—he's an adversary boss—but the bundled Daemon-Mask Staff (AC 15, 60 HP) works as a sinister animated familiar for an NPC necromancer or a darker player patron, lashing foes and warding its bearer.
How do you permanently kill him?
You can't by reducing him to 0 HP—his Rejuvenating Phylactery reforms him within 1d10 days. The party must find and shatter the hidden vessel binding his essence to end him for good, which is the natural climax of his arc.
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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