Jhakul
Jhakul — The Encounter
The Horned Reaver, captain of the bone-thorn legion · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Jhakul
Of the captains marshaled beneath the burning banners, none reaped so willingly as Jhakul, called the Horned Reaver. The grimoires record that he was once a sworn knight who bargained his soul for the strength to never kneel, and the bargain took root in him as briar takes root in ruin: thorns burst through his armor, his face peeled back to the bone, and his oath of fealty curdled into a hunger for the killing harvest. He does not parley and he does not retreat. Where his legion marches he goes ahead of it, halberd lowered, and the field behind him is sown with skulls as a farmer sows seed. Those who have stood against him speak of the barbs that drink blood from any who dare strike him, and of a will so cold that neither terror nor torment can turn him from the kill. Bind him to no cause but slaughter, the chroniclers warn, for the Reaver serves only the cut.
Run Jhakul in Sixty Seconds
- What he is a Medium horned devil-captain built to reap clustered melee. Native CR 6, an add-on enforcer, NOT a solo boss.
- Open with Reaping Sweep into the tightest knot of PCs, or Hurled Bone-Spike to halve a kiter's speed before you close.
- Punish contact Thornclad Reaper deals 1d10 to the first melee attacker each round, and Wrath of Thorns swings free when someone stands up or steps in. Make them think twice about flanking.
- Kill-priority healers first, then any caster trying to disengage; pin them with the bone-spike's speed-halving.
- Three ways to run him (1) shock captain leading minions, (2) bodyguard soaking aggro for a flagship boss, (3) lair brute that controls a choke point with reach and sweeps.
Jhakul
Medium fiend (devil), lawful evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEThornclad Reaper. Jhakul's barbed halberd and the iron thorns bristling from his armor are wreathed in living briar. The first time a creature hits him with a melee attack on each of its turns, it takes 5 (1d10) piercing damage from the thorns.
Cruel Resolve. Jhakul has advantage on saving throws against being frightened or charmed, and on the first failed saving throw against an effect that would knock him prone, he may choose to succeed instead.
Actions
Multiattack. Jhakul makes two attacks with his thorned halberd.
Thorned Halberd. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d10 + 4) slashing damage plus 4 (1d8) piercing damage from the barbs.
Hurled Bone-Spike. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or have its speed halved until the end of its next turn.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Reaping Sweep (Recharge 5-6). As a bonus action, Jhakul whirls his halberd in a wide arc. Each creature within 10 feet of him must make a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw, taking 14 (4d6) slashing damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success.
Wrath of Thorns. Reaction: When a creature Jhakul can see within 10 feet stands up from prone or steps within his reach, he makes one Thorned Halberd attack against it.
A goat-horned devil-knight with a face half stripped to the skull, Jhakul plants his barbed halberd amid a litter of cracked skulls, his red flesh and iron barding alike sprouting cruel living thorns.
Jhakul, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEBriar Ward (signature). While within 10 feet of the Jhakul, an ally takes no damage the first time it is hit by an opportunity attack each round; the thorns intercept the blow.
Actions
Rending Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage.
Reactions
Thorn Lash. Reaction: When an enemy within 15 feet hits the Jhakul's bonded ally, the Jhakul lashes a briar tendril at the attacker, dealing 5 (2d4) piercing damage and pulling it 5 feet.
A crawling knot of living thorn-iron that scuttles at the Reaver's heel, throwing itself between blade and master.
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 by hurling a bone-spike to halve the fastest skirmisher's speed, then close and reap with the halberd. Position so Reaping Sweep can catch two clustered foes. Pair him with a couple of cultists or thornlings; he is a brutal field captain, not a lone threat.
Open with Reaping Sweep into a clustered line, then Multiattack the squishiest target in reach. Let melee strikers come to him so Thornclad Reaper and Wrath of Thorns punish them, and save Hurled Bone-Spike to pin a fleeing caster. Kill-priority: healers, then anyone trying to kite. Best run alongside a flagship boss or a pack of minions.
Front-line enforcer for a bigger threat: wade into the cluster, Reaping Sweep on recharge, and use Wrath of Thorns to lock down a frontliner. Pair him with a lair or a higher-CR commander so the party can't simply focus him down; he soaks aggro while the real danger works the back line.
Put Jhakul 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 Jhakul?
Jhakul is natively CR 6 (Tier 2, levels 5-10): AC 17, 127 HP, +7 to hit, save DC 14. The record also gives scaled CR 2-ish (Tier 1) and CR 11-ish (Tier 3) versions with identical traits and only the numbers moved.
Can Jhakul be a companion or ally?
Jhakul himself is built as an adversary, but the record includes a bound companion, the Thornling, that fights at his side and can be handed to a player or NPC ally. The Thornling wards a bonded ally from opportunity attacks and lashes attackers with briar tendrils.
Is Jhakul a solo boss?
No. He has a punishing kit (thorn retaliation and a free reaction strike) but no legendary actions, so a four-PC party will out-act him alone. Run him as a captain leading minions or as an enforcer paired with a larger flagship threat.
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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