Tapsi
Tapsi — The Encounter
Diwata of the blooming rose, mistress of thorn and vine · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Tapsi
Among the spirits the old folk call diwata, Tapsi is reckoned a guardian of the deep groves, where no axe has ever bitten and no fire has ever burned. She is said to dwell within a rose grown wider than a man is tall, sleeping through the dry seasons and waking when the first rains call the green to life. Hunters who pass with respect she lets pass; those who burn the forest or foul its springs she answers with thorn and choking pollen. Her hair moves of its own accord, like vines seeking sun, and where she sets her foot, brambles rise to swallow the path behind her. The barangay leaves offerings of rice and flowers at the forest's edge to keep her favor, for a diwata's blessing brings full harvests, while her curse leaves fields barren and travelers lost among the strangling vines.
Run Tapsi in Sixty Seconds
- Reach matters — Thorn Lash hits at 15 feet and pulls 10 feet, so she fights at a range melee hates. Force her to close or bring your own reach.
- Open with control — She leads with entangle or spike growth to choke the lane, then lashes from the back. Spread out before the spores land.
- Spores are the spike — Rose Spores is a 15-foot cone, 6d6 poison plus poisoned. Never bunch three PCs in front of her; bait the cone, then collapse.
- When bloodied — Bloom-Bound Vitality heals her 10/turn near plants; deny it with fire (it shuts the heal off) or drag her onto bare ground.
- Three ways to run her — as a lone grove-warden puzzle (respect-or-fight), as the controller half of a duo, or as the lair boss surrounded by lesser vine creatures.
Tapsi
Medium fey, neutral good
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEInnate Spellcasting. Tapsi's spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 15, +7 to hit with spell attacks). She can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: At will: druidcraft, entangle. 3/day each: spike growth, barkskin. 1/day each: wall of thorns.
Bloom-Bound Vitality. While Tapsi is within 30 feet of living plants or natural growth, she regains 10 hit points at the start of each of her turns. If she takes fire damage, this trait does not function until the end of her next turn.
Verdant Step. Difficult terrain composed of plants, thorns, or vines does not cost Tapsi extra movement.
Actions
Multiattack. Tapsi makes two Thorn Lash attacks.
Thorn Lash. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 10 feet toward Tapsi.
Rose Spores (Recharge 5-6). Tapsi releases a burst of pollen in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 21 (6d6) poison damage and being poisoned until the end of its next turn on a failure, or half damage and no condition on a success.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Snaring Vines. Reaction — When a creature Tapsi can see within 15 feet stands up, moves, or makes an attack against an ally, Tapsi causes vines to erupt: the creature must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be restrained until the end of its next turn.
A radiant nature spirit rises from the heart of a colossal pink rose, her body wrapped in living leaves, her hands trailing vine and blossom. Beneath her coils a vast thorned creeper, bristling with spines like a slumbering serpent of the wild.
Tapsi, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEBramble Body (signature). The first time each turn a creature enters within 5 feet of the Thorn Coil or starts its turn there, it takes 5 (2d4) piercing damage from the spines.
Actions
Constricting Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d8 + 3) piercing damage, and a Medium or smaller target is grappled (escape DC 14).
Reactions
Whip Forward. Reaction — When an ally within 20 feet is hit by a ranged attack, the Thorn Coil lashes the attacker, dealing 5 (1d10) piercing damage on a hit (+6 to hit, range 20 ft.).
The great thorned vine that coils at Tapsi's roots, half-plant and half-serpent, rising to crush and ensnare those who threaten its mistress.
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 with entangle to lock the front rank in place, then lash from 15 feet so melee can't reach her. If three or more are clustered, lead with Rose Spores. Keep the Thorn Coil between her and the party and retreat into difficult plant terrain when bloodied.
Open with spike growth across the choke point, then Multiattack the closest melee, yanking them off their footing into the spikes. Save Rose Spores for a 3+ target cluster. Kill-priority her over the Thorn Coil so the heal trait and Snaring Vines stop locking the party down.
Run her with minions or a grove lair: drop wall of thorns to split the party, then pin the isolated half with lash-pulls and Snaring Vines. She is an area-denial controller, not a solo boss — pair her with a bigger threat that exploits the restrained and poisoned targets she sets up.
Put Tapsi 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 Tapsi?
Tapsi is built as a Challenge Rating 6 fey (Tier 2, levels 5-10), with stat bands provided for Tier 1 (levels 1-4) and Tier 3 (levels 11-15). She is an add-on controller, not a solo boss, so her numbers sit squarely in the native band for each tier with no boss adjustment.
Can Tapsi be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a benevolent diwata she makes a strong patron or temporary ally for parties who protect the forest. Use the included companion, the Thorn Coil, as a guardian beast bound to her grove, or let Tapsi herself grant a single casting of barkskin or spike growth as a boon to allies who earn her favor.
Is Tapsi immune to being charmed or frightened?
Yes. As an ancient nature spirit she is immune to poison damage and cannot be charmed, frightened, or poisoned. Plan to break her control through movement, area damage, and denying her plant-fueled healing rather than mind-affecting effects.
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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