Rugard
Rugard — The Encounter
The Silent Paladin, white-furred oath-keeper of the frozen north · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Rugard
In the high snows they tell of a guardian who took a vow never to speak again, that no false oath might ever pass his lips. Rugard was a warrior-pilgrim of the white bears who climbed to a frozen shrine seeking penance, and there knelt until a celestial light filled him. He rose clad in gilded crimson armor, a censer of holy smoke bound to his staff, and descended to stand watch over the helpless. He answers prayers, not orders. Where plague-spirits and charm-witches walk, his censer scatters their hold; where the weak are cornered, his axe falls between them and the blade. Pilgrims who travel under his shadow report that fear simply cannot find them. He demands nothing in return but silence and a clean heart, and he keeps his own counsel in a tongue no living thing has heard since the day he climbed the mountain.
Run Rugard in Sixty Seconds
- He never speaks - immune to charm and compulsion, advantage vs. frightened, and he shares that fear-defense with allies within 10 ft.
- Open by planting Rugard between the enemy and your weakest ally, then bank Sentinel's Bulwark for the first heavy hit aimed at someone he guards.
- Kill-priority: he is a bodyguard, so go through him only if you must - otherwise rush the caster he is protecting; his censer keeps cleansing their charm and fear every round.
- When bloodied, Rugard stops advancing and roots in front of the helpless, trading offense for Bulwark reactions and censer cleanses.
- Three ways to run him: a redemptive lawful wall the party can talk down, a silent guardian of a holy site that attacks only if provoked, or the loyal shield of a darker master who must fall first.
Rugard
Large humanoid (bear-folk), lawful good
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEVow of Silence. Rugard speaks no word. He is immune to being charmed and to any effect that would compel him to speak, and he has advantage on saving throws against being frightened. Allies within 10 ft. of him share the advantage against being frightened.
Censer of Cleansing. Rugard's swinging censer trails sacred smoke. At the start of each of his turns, one creature of his choice within 10 ft. ends the charmed, frightened, or poisoned condition on itself.
Actions
Multiattack. Rugard makes two attacks: one with his greataxe and one with his censer-staff.
Greataxe. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (1d12+4) slashing damage plus 5 (1d10) radiant damage.
Censer-Staff. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or be unable to take reactions until the start of Rugard's next turn.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Sentinel's Bulwark (Reaction). When a creature Rugard can see attacks a creature within 5 ft. of him other than himself, Rugard imposes disadvantage on that attack roll.
A towering polar bear sheathed in crimson-and-gold sacred plate, one paw closed on a heavy battleaxe and the other raising a smoking censer atop a long staff. He never speaks; his eyes do the judging.
Rugard, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINESmoke-Tender (signature). When the acolyte uses its action to swing its censer, each ally within 10 ft. gains 5 temporary hit points and may immediately end one effect making it frightened.
Actions
Censer Flail. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8+3) bludgeoning damage plus 3 (1d6) radiant damage.
Reactions
Sheltering Smoke. When an ally within 10 ft. is hit by an attack, the acolyte may grant that ally resistance to the triggering damage.
A young bear-folk novice who tends the sacred coals so Rugard's censer never dims, mute in imitation of the master he serves.
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 stepping between the party's brawler and the weakest ally, then use Sentinel's Bulwark on the first big swing. Cleanse a frightened or poisoned ally each turn with the censer so the table never wastes a turn shaking off conditions. Pair him with a witch or plague-caster as the real threat - he is the wall, not the kill.
Open by planting himself adjacent to the squishiest defender and Multiattacking the nearest striker; the censer-staff's reach-10 ft. lets him tag a caster while bodyguarding. Kill-priority: whoever the party most wants to charm or frighten - his aura denies it. Run him beside a bigger threat (a fiend or evil cleric) and let him absorb attacks with Sentinel's Bulwark; he is a flagship guardian, not a solo boss.
Stage him as the front rank for a lair or warband: he soaks blows with Sentinel's Bulwark while minions flank, and his censer strips the party's control conditions every round. Open against clustered foes by pinning the melee line, then hold position. Pair him with a bigger threat - he buys that threat time and is not meant to fight alone.
Put Rugard 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 Rugard?
Rugard is built at CR 6 (Tier 2, levels 5-10): AC 18, 127 HP, +7 to hit, save DC 14. Scaled stat blocks for Tier 1 (~CR 2) and Tier 3 (~CR 11) are included so you can drop him into any party without rebuilding him.
Can Rugard be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a lawful-good silent paladin he makes an ideal protector NPC - his fear-aura and condition-cleansing censer shield a whole party. The companion sidebar gives a lighter Censer-Acolyte (AC 14, 38 HP) if you want a follower rather than the full guardian.
Is Rugard a solo boss?
No. He has a punishing bodyguard reaction but no legendary actions, so a full party will out-act him over a long fight. Run him as a flagship guardian beside a bigger threat - a fiend, witch, or evil cleric - and let him soak hits and cleanse conditions while that threat does the real damage.
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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