Garuman
Garuman — The Encounter
The White Sage Who Coveted the Crimson Eye · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Garuman
Once the foremost of an order of sages, Garuman was set above his peers for his depth of lore and the silver of his tongue. He counseled kings and read the deep histories that lesser minds dared not open. But study became hunger, and hunger became pride. Gazing too long into a crimson stone that whispers across leagues, he came to believe that order could only be imposed by a single unbending will: his own. The staff he bears now is no mere focus but a leash, its red eye a window through which a greater darkness flatters and feeds him. He no longer persuades so much as commands, his voice unmaking loyalty and bending honest folk to labor in his service. Those who knew him say the cruelest loss was not a kingdom but a friend, for Garuman betrays first the ones who trust him most, and he counts that betrayal a mercy.
Run Garuman in Sixty Seconds
- Hold actions, not attacks. Garuman wins by stealing turns, not trading blows. Keep counterspell and Withering Word in your pocket every round to tax the enemy caster.
- Open with control. First round, dominate person or hold person the party's biggest damage dealer, then Command the Throng to swing it into its own line.
- Kill-priority is whoever frees the dominated PC. Target the cleric or anyone holding remove-curse magic; his whole plan collapses if the dominated ally breaks loose.
- When bloodied, banish and burn. Banish the melee bruiser to buy a round, then cone of cold or chain lightning the clustered survivors and misty step to high ground.
- Three ways to run him: a manipulative talker who parleys before fighting, a battlefield puppeteer commanding charmed minions, or a glass-cannon artillery mage hiding behind Grimgore and a wall of conscripts.
Garuman
Medium humanoid (human), lawful evil
CR 9 · 5,000 XP · GUIDELINESpellcasting. Garuman is a 13th-level spellcaster (INT, spell save DC 15, +9 to hit with spell attacks). He has these wizard spells prepared: Cantrips: fire bolt, mage hand, message, ray of frost; 1st (4 slots): mage armor, magic missile, shield; 2nd (3): hold person, misty step, scorching ray; 3rd (3): counterspell, fireball, lightning bolt; 4th (3): banishment, ice storm; 5th (2): cone of cold, dominate person; 6th (1): chain lightning; 7th (1): finger of death.
Voice of Persuasion. Signature. Garuman's words bend the weak-willed. When he casts an enchantment spell of 1st level or higher, one creature already charmed or frightened by him makes its next saving throw against that spell with disadvantage.
Actions
Multiattack. Garuman casts one cantrip and makes one Staff attack, or he casts one spell of 1st level or higher.
Staff. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8+5) bludgeoning damage plus 7 (2d6) lightning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be unable to take reactions until the start of its next turn.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Withering Word (Reaction). When a creature Garuman can see within 30 ft. casts a spell or moves out of his reach, Garuman casts fire bolt at it (no action) or speaks a word of unmaking, forcing the creature to make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or take 13 (3d8) psychic damage and have disadvantage on its next attack roll.
Legendary Actions (3/Round)
Cantrip. Garuman casts a cantrip.
Staff Strike (Costs 2 Actions). Garuman makes one Staff attack.
Command the Throng (Costs 2 Actions). Garuman targets one creature he can see within 60 ft. that is charmed or frightened by him. That creature uses its reaction to move up to its speed and make one weapon attack against a target of Garuman's choice.
A white-robed sage of vast learning stands mid-incantation, one hand clawed toward an unseen foe while the other grips a tall black staff crowned with a smoldering crimson eye. His robes coil as if caught in a wind no one else can feel.
Garuman, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEBrutal Overseer (signature). While within 30 ft. of Garuman, Grimgore has advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened, and allied creatures within 10 ft. of Grimgore ignore the frightened condition.
Actions
Heavy Cleaver. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) slashing damage. On a hit against a creature Garuman has charmed or frightened, the target takes an extra 7 (2d6) damage.
Reactions
Shield the Master. When Garuman takes damage from an attacker within 5 ft. of Grimgore, Grimgore can move to interpose and take half that damage instead.
A scarred warrior-foreman who drives Garuman's conscripted laborers, loyal not by love but by the staff's whispering command.
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 cover with fire bolt and a single magic missile, never letting melee close. If the party clusters, drop a scaled fireball then misty step away. Pair him with goblin or hobgoblin laborers so the front line is busy while he picks off whoever carries a holy symbol or wand.
Open by dominating or hold-person-ing the party's heaviest hitter, then turn it on its allies with Command the Throng. Kill-priority is the enemy caster: hold a counterspell and burn Withering Word on anyone who starts a spell. When bloodied, banish the melee threat and cone of cold the rest. He is the boss here, but feels best with two bound minions to body-block.
Lead with chain lightning into the clustered party, then dominate person on the paladin and march it into its friends. Spend legendary actions every round on Command the Throng to multiply the chaos. At this tier run him as a lair villain with a war-camp of conscripts and a bigger threat behind the curtain, never as a lone fight.
Put Garuman 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 Garuman?
Garuman is CR 9 (5,000 XP) in his native Tier 2 build, leaning a band lower than a raw artillery mage because his control kit and legendary actions let him play up. Scale the AC, HP, to-hit, and save DC to the tier table for a Tier 1 (~CR 4) or Tier 3 (~CR 12) version; the traits and actions stay identical.
Can Garuman be a companion or ally?
As written he is a villain, but a redeemed or grudging-ally version makes a memorable NPC patron: lean on his Voice of Persuasion and Spellcasting to support the party from the rear while Grimgore guards him. Drop his offensive spells a tier and he reads as a wise (if proud) advisor rather than a threat.
How do I keep the dominate-and-Command combo from feeling unfair?
Telegraph it: let the dominated PC roll their save at the end of each turn (and grant advantage if a teammate uses an action to shake them). Reserve Command the Throng for one dramatic swing per round rather than every legendary action, and make freeing the ally a clear, rewarding kill-priority for the table.
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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