Frodown
Frodown — The Encounter
The Barefoot Burglar Who Bears a Cursed Ring · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Frodown
They name him Frodown, the smallest soul ever to shoulder the heaviest of burdens. The folk of the green hollows reckon courage by size and so reckoned him weakest, yet it is he who carries the gold band that no king or warlord could bear without ruin. The ring is a marvel and a sickness both: slip it on and the world cannot see you, but the world's hungrier things see you all the clearer, and each vanishing leaves a colder ache behind the ribs. He fights only when cornered, darting low beneath reaching arms with a quick bright blade, then slipping into shadow before the blow returns. Track him by his bare feet and the smell of pipe-smoke, never by his footstep, for he treads silent as falling ash. Those who would take the ring from him should know this: it does not wish to be taken, and what it wants, it tends to get.
Run Frodown in Sixty Seconds
- Hold him as a skirmisher, not a slugger Frodown is a hit-and-fade knife. Do not stand him in the open trading blows; he opens from hiding and leaves before the answer lands.
- Open with a hidden Multiattack Attack from Stealth for the +2d6 advantage bonus, then bonus-action Slip the Ring to go invisible or Nimble Escape to disengage and reposition.
- Kill-priority is whatever pins him He dies fast if cornered, so the party should answer with area denial, see-invisibility, or a grappler. Counter that by always keeping an exit toward darkness.
- When the ring's strain hits 3, he bolts Track the Cursed Ring strain; at 3 he is compelled to flee toward the nearest shadow, which is your built-in retreat trigger.
- Three ways to run him Reluctant fugitive (flees, talks, never wants the fight), cornered desperado (sneak-attacks then vanishes), or tragic thrall (the ring is winning, he is half-villain) - pick one before initiative.
Frodown
Small humanoid (halfling), neutral good
CR 2 · 450 XP · GUIDELINECursed Ring of Vanishing. Signature. Frodown wears a small gold band that drinks the light. As a bonus action he can slip it on to become invisible until the start of his next turn, but each time he does he must make a DC 11 Wisdom save or gain one level of a creeping dread (a point of strain); at 3 strain the ring's whisper compels him to flee toward the nearest darkness. He removes a point of strain whenever he ends a turn at least 30 feet from any enemy.
Nimble Escape. Frodown can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of his turns.
Brave. Frodown has advantage on saving throws against being frightened.
Actions
Multiattack. Frodown makes two attacks with his glimmering shortsword.
Glimmering Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6+3) piercing damage, plus 7 (2d6) extra piercing damage if Frodown had advantage on the attack roll.
Sling. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4+3) bludgeoning damage.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Slip the Ring (Bonus Action). Frodown uses his Cursed Ring of Vanishing trait, vanishing from sight.
Halfling Luck (Reaction). When Frodown rolls a 1 on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, he can reroll the die and must use the new roll.
A barefoot little wanderer in a worn brown coat and green hooded cloak, lifting a softly glowing gold ring in one hand and a slim sword in the other, planted atop a cracked, glowing-red ridge of stone.
Frodown, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEStout Companion (signature). While within 5 feet of Frodown, the ally he is bound to has advantage on saving throws against being frightened and cannot be knocked prone by an attack of opportunity.
Actions
Cast-Iron Pan. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8+2) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution save or have disadvantage on its next attack roll.
Reactions
I'm Coming, Mister Frodown!. When the ally he is bound to drops to 0 hit points within 30 feet, Frodown can move up to his speed toward them; if he reaches them, that ally is instead stabilized at 1 hit point.
A loyal, broad-shouldered gardener who refuses to leave his friend's side, swinging a frying pan and a fierce, stubborn love.
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 from hiding for the advantage sneak bonus, then bonus-action Hide or slip the ring to vanish before anyone can strike back. Kill-priority is whoever can pin him down (grapplers, web, faerie fire) since his whole game is never being where the party swings. Pair him with melee minions or a bigger threat that forces the party to split attention while he picks off stragglers.
Same kit, scaled: vanish, reposition, stab the softest target with advantage. He cannot brawl a tier-2 party alone, so run him as an elusive skirmisher beside a flagship boss or a knot of guards who lock down the front line. Mark the ranger or rogue who can sniff out invisibility as the threat to him.
Even inflated he is glass, so keep him in a lair or among minions that punish anyone chasing him into the dark. Use him to harass casters and snatch objectives while a larger menace holds the line. Never field him solo against this tier; pair him with a bigger threat and let him be the knife in the shadows.
Put Frodown 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 Frodown?
Frodown is CR 2 (450 XP) at his native Tier 1, a Small humanoid skirmisher built around stealth and a vanishing trick. The stat block also lists scaled Tier 2 and Tier 3 lines so you can drop him into higher-level play as an elusive add-on rather than rebuilding him.
Can Frodown be a companion or ally?
Yes. He makes an excellent reluctant guide or scout NPC - low damage, high stealth, and a self-limiting invisibility that keeps him from dominating fights. His bound companion Sammy reinforces that role, shielding a chosen ally from fear and pulling them back from the brink.
Is Frodown solo-capable as a boss?
No. He has no legendary actions and a glass-cannon body; a full party will out-act and corner him quickly. Run him alongside minions, a lair full of dark corners, or a larger flagship threat, and let him be the blade that strikes from nowhere.
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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