Baldo
Baldo — The Encounter
Grinning Tumbler of the Beast-Bazaar, Juggler of Many Hands · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Baldo
In the crowded lanes of the beast-bazaar they call him Baldo, the tumbler whose hands are never empty. He came up among the rope-walkers and cup-and-ball cheats of the Basboo quarter, learning early that a crowd that laughs forgets to guard its purse. By day he juggles weighted clubs and coaxes coins from gawkers; by night those same clubs crack skulls in the alleys, for a juggler's wrist is a deadly thing. He is loyal to no banner and faithful only to the next bright trick, drifting toward whatever caravan or crime-lord pays in coin and applause. Folk underestimate him because he grins through every fight, vaulting over blades, snatching daggers from belts, vanishing into the festival press before the watch arrives. To meet Baldo is to be charmed, robbed, and laughing about it before you notice your rings are gone.
Run Baldo in Sixty Seconds
- What he is a hyper-mobile skirmisher and thief, not a tank — 40 ft. speed, climbs walls, Dashes/Disengages as a bonus action, and is brutal to pin down.
- Open with Juggler's Patter on the party's biggest damage-dealer to force disadvantage on everyone but Baldo, then throw clubs at the casters.
- Kill-priority ignore him unless he's controlling the fight; chase the prone effects and the Patter, since both feed his allies. Corner him to deny mobility.
- When bloodied he turns coward-clever: Disengage bonus action, break line of sight, snipe from 60 ft. Don't let the party waste turns failing to catch him.
- Three ways to run him (1) festival pickpocket the PCs catch mid-theft; (2) a crime-lord's trickster lieutenant flanking with thugs; (3) comic-relief turncoat who joins the party for coin and applause.
Baldo
Medium humanoid (beastfolk), chaotic neutral
CR 2 · 450 XP · GUIDELINETumbler's Grace. Opportunity attacks against Baldo are made with disadvantage, and difficult terrain costs him no extra movement. He can take the Dash or Disengage action as a bonus action on each of his turns.
Juggler's Patter. Signature. Baldo keeps a creature riveted by his whirling clubs. As a bonus action, he targets one creature within 30 ft. that can see and hear him and makes a Performance check contested by the target's Wisdom (Insight). On a success, until the start of Baldo's next turn the target has disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures other than Baldo, mesmerized by the flashing pattern.
Actions
Multiattack. Baldo makes two attacks with his juggling clubs.
Juggling Club. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6+3) bludgeoning damage, and if the target is Large or smaller it must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone as the spinning weight tangles its legs.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Slip the Strike. When a creature Baldo can see hits him with an attack, he can add 2 to his AC against that attack, potentially causing it to miss, then move up to half his speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
A lean, copper-furred beastfolk caught mid-flourish, weighted clubs whirling from open palms while a shattered xylophone lies at his feet on the bazaar cobbles. Every line of him is balance and showmanship, half a heartbeat from a backflip.
Baldo, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEPickpocket (signature). On its turn, Baldo can make a Sleight of Hand check (+5) against a creature within 5 ft. to filch a small unsecured object or pull a held item the creature isn't using; on a success it scampers off with the prize.
Actions
Nip. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4+2) piercing damage.
Reactions
Decoy Chitter. When an ally within 20 ft. is targeted by an attack, Baldo shrieks and flings a club; the attacker must succeed on a DC 11 Wisdom save or have disadvantage on that attack.
A wiry little monkey draped in mismatched rings and stolen ribbon, riding Baldo's shoulder and grinning the same grin.
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 Juggler's Patter to pin a frontline PC's attacks onto Baldo, then pelt squishy casters with thrown clubs from 60 ft. while skirmishing. When bloodied he Disengages as a bonus action and breaks line of sight; treat him as a slippery harasser, not a brawler. Pair him with thugs or a bigger bruiser so he can flank and knock targets prone for them.
Same dance, deadlier: Patter a key martial, then prone-lock the party's anchor with club throws so your minions get advantage. Slip the Strike to shrug off the first big hit and reposition. Run him as the elusive lieutenant beside a heavier captain or pack of cutthroats, never alone.
A high-tier infiltrator who exists to scatter and disrupt: Patter the controller, knock the tank prone, and flit between cover while the real threat closes. Kill-priority him only if he's keeping your party split. Best as the trickster blade of a crime-lord or a celebrant in a larger lair, supporting a flagship boss rather than standing in for one.
Put Baldo 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 Baldo?
Baldo is CR 2 (450 XP) at his native Tier 1, tuned for a 4-PC party of levels 1-4. Scaled stat blocks are provided for Tier 2 (levels 5-10) and Tier 3 (levels 11-15) so he can ride along with higher-level adventures as a skirmishing harasser.
Can Baldo be a companion or ally?
Yes. Baldo is built as an add-on rather than a solo boss, and his charm-the-crowd, rob-everyone temperament makes him an easy turncoat-for-hire. Recruit him as a roguish guide or comic infiltrator; his companion Pip, the Trained Marmoset, comes with him to pick pockets and harass enemies.
Is Baldo a solo boss or a minion-type threat?
Minion-type. He has no legendary actions and only a single defensive reaction, so a full party out-acts him quickly. Run him alongside thugs, a pack, or a heavier captain — his job is to prone-lock, mesmerize, and vanish, setting up bigger threats rather than soaking damage himself.
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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