Grit
Grit — The Encounter
Iron-plated siege gunner of the forgebound legions · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Grit
The forge-priests of the old dominion did not raise soldiers so much as cast them, pouring will and bound fire into shells of riveted plate until the shells learned to march. Grit is one such casting: a siege-frame given a single, simple charge — hold the line and break what stands behind it. Its coils are wound with caged storm-fire, vented through arc-projectors that strip the courage from a man before they strip the flesh. It does not tire, does not flinch, and does not retreat without command. Veterans of the broken frontier speak of a blue-armored shape that walked through a collapsing gatehouse, cannons still firing, and emerged on the far side to keep walking. The makers are dust now, their tongues long dead, yet the frame still answers the last order it was given. Where Grit stands, the wall holds; where it advances, the wall comes down.
Run Grit in Sixty Seconds
- Hold, don't chase. Grit has only 25 ft. of speed and a 120-ft. gun — keep it stationary, let the party come into the kill-zone, and never let it get baited into a footrace.
- Open with the Arc Projector. First shot strips a caster's reaction (no Shield, no Counterspell, no opportunity attack), then vent Overcharged Coils for the extra 2d6 fire and to punch through cover.
- Kill-priority: ranged controllers. Grit ignores cover when it vents, so the wizard hiding behind a wall is exactly who it wants — push melee threats away with the Coil Cannon and shoot past them.
- When bloodied (60 HP): stop maneuvering and turtle — plant on an objective, Brace every melee hit, and keep both cannons firing until it drops.
- Three ways to run it: (1) gate-guard that double-damages the door behind the party; (2) overwatch sniper venting coils each round; (3) bodyguard hugging a flagship caster, Bracing every melee that gets through.
Grit
Medium construct, lawful neutral
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINESiege Frame. Grit deals double damage to objects and structures, and has advantage on saving throws against being knocked prone or moved against its will.
Overcharged Coils. Signature. Grit's weapons are fed by glowing power coils. Once per turn, when it hits with a ranged attack, it can vent the coils to deal an extra 7 (2d6) fire damage and ignore half cover and three-quarters cover from the target.
Actions
Multiattack. Grit makes two attacks: one with its Arc Projector and one with its Coil Cannon (or any two it can reach).
Arc Projector. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 60/120 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (3d8 + 4) lightning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or be unable to take reactions until the start of its next turn.
Coil Cannon. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 40/100 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (3d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage, and a Large or smaller target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be pushed 10 ft. away.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Brace (Reaction). When a creature within 5 ft. hits Grit with a melee attack, Grit can plant its frame and gain resistance to that attack's damage, then make a Slam attack against the attacker.
A walking battery of riveted blue-and-gold war-plate, Grit levels twin coil-fed cannons that hum red with bottled lightning, advancing one heavy stride at a time and refusing to fall.
Grit, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEBulwark (signature). While Grit is within 5 ft. of you, you have half cover. As a reaction when an ally you can see is hit by a ranged attack, Grit can interpose its frame and take the damage instead.
Actions
Coil Cannon. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 40/100 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (3d6 + 3) bludgeoning damage.
Reactions
Brace. When a creature hits Grit with a melee attack, it gains resistance to that damage and may shove the attacker 5 ft.
Re-tasked to a new commander, the siege-frame plants itself between you and the guns, taking the shot so you don't have to.
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 at range with the Arc Projector to lock down a key foe's reactions, then advance behind cover. If the party clusters, lead with the Coil Cannon to shove the front-liner off an objective. Pair it with weaker skirmishers it can shield.
Open by venting Overcharged Coils through cover at the squishiest caster, stripping its reaction with the Arc Projector. Kill-priority is healers and summoners it can reach at 120 ft. When melee closes, Brace and grind — it is a wall, not a duelist. Pair Grit with a flagship boss as the heavy that punishes anyone who breaks line of sight.
Run two or three as a gun-line anchoring a larger threat's lair, venting coils every round to deny cover. Focus the back rank and force saves to break formation. This is an add-on heavy — pair it with a bigger boss; alone, a high-tier party simply out-positions it.
Put Grit 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 Grit?
Grit is built at CR 6 (2,300 XP) at its native Tier 2, with AC 17 and 119 HP. Scale it to AC 14 / 45 HP for Tier 1 or AC 19 / 210 HP for Tier 3 using the tier table — traits and actions stay identical, only the numbers move.
Can Grit be a companion or ally?
Yes. Re-tasked to a new commander, Grit makes a durable bodyguard construct — see the companion block (Grit, Bound), which keeps its Bulwark cover aura and Brace reaction at roughly 60% of its adversary hit points.
Is Grit a solo boss?
No. Grit has no legendary actions and only a single defensive reaction, so a four-player party will out-act it. Run it as a heavy add-on or gun-line anchor alongside a larger flagship threat, not as a standalone centerpiece.
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
Played Grit at your table? Log in with your Obsidian Tavern account to leave a balance note, a war story, or a file issue — the sharpest reports get the block revised.
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