Valrek
Valrek — The Encounter
Gaunt void-raider whose barbed shafts drink the soul · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Valrek
Among the gaunt ones who slip between the folds of the night sky, Valrek is named a Soul-Reaver, one of the void-born raiders that scripture and traveler's-tales alike accuse of feeding upon the spirits of the slain. He was not born of any earthly womb; the gaunt ones are hatched in the cold dark, raised to nothing but the hunt, and Valrek hunts with a bow taller than a tall man. They say his arrows are fletched with a fragment of his own hunger, so that a wound from him bleeds memory as much as blood. He keeps no fortress and asks no quarter, descending in raiding bands upon caravan and shrine, taking what gleams and what breathes. Sages who have survived an encounter warn that Valrek does not tire, does not parley, and does not miss twice. Where the silver mist gathers and the air tastes of iron and forgetting, the gaunt raiders are already drawing their strings.
Run Valrek in Sixty Seconds
- Hold, don't open in melee. Valrek is a kiter. Start him at maximum range with full cover or high ground; he wants the party to come to him across open killing ground.
- Open on the healer. First volley targets whoever restores hit points; Soul-Barbed Arrows shuts off their healing and halves their speed, breaking the party's recovery loop early.
- Kill-priority: anyone faster than him. Snag the speedsters and skirmishers first so nothing can run him down; he has 40 ft. of move plus a 30 ft. teleport to stay loose.
- When bloodied, reposition. Spend Misting Step to break engagement, then retreat behind Threnody or a chokepoint and resume firing rather than trading blows.
- Three ways to run him: sniper, harrier, or pack. As a sniper he picks off backliners from 600 ft.; as a harrier he hits-and-fades around the battlefield; as a pack leader he points and his raid-band converges. Always give him an anchor; he is an add-on, not a solo.
Valrek
Medium aberration, lawful evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEAstral Stride. Valrek does not provoke opportunity attacks when he moves out of an enemy's reach, and difficult terrain costs him no extra movement.
Soul-Barbed Arrows. Signature. When Valrek hits a creature with a ranged attack, the target must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom save or have its mind snagged: it cannot regain hit points and its speed is halved until the end of its next turn.
Actions
Multiattack. Valrek makes three attacks with his greatbow, or two with his shortsword.
Greatbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) psychic damage.
Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6+4) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) psychic damage.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Misting Step (Bonus Action). Valrek teleports up to 30 ft. to an unoccupied space he can see, leaving a wisp of silver vapor. He can use this once between rests, and his next ranged attack this turn has advantage.
Cut the String (Reaction). When a creature within 5 ft. of Valrek makes an attack against him, he can add 2 to his AC against that attack, possibly causing it to miss.
A lean, jade-skinned marauder with a flame-red crest, Valrek nocks a heavy barbed shaft on a recurved warbow, bare feet planted on cracked stone as silver vapor curls from his shoulders.
Valrek, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEQuartermaster's Mark (signature). Once per turn, when Valrek hits a creature, she marks it; the next ally to attack that creature before the start of Valrek's next turn deals an extra 4 (1d8) damage.
Actions
Hooked Spear. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d10+4) piercing damage, and the target's speed is reduced by 10 ft. until the end of its next turn.
Reactions
Drag Back. When a creature Valrek can see ends its move within 10 ft. of her, she can pull it 5 ft. toward her unless it succeeds on a DC 13 Strength save.
A scarred raid-sister who fights at the gaunt one's flank, hooking foes off balance so the arrows find them.
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 extreme range with Soul-Barbed Arrows on the party healer so they cannot top up the front line, then Misting Step away the instant melee closes. Kill-priority is anyone who can outrun him; halve their speed and kite. Pair him with two skirmishers so the party cannot all converge on him at once.
Open by tripling his greatbow into the squishiest backliner, snagging their mind so they cannot heal and move at full speed. Use Astral Stride and Misting Step to stay 60+ ft. from the heaviest melee at all times. When bloodied, fall back to a chokepoint with Threnody and let her hook stragglers into your line of fire; he is an add-on archer, not a lone boss.
Deploy him as a sniper-lieutenant beside a bigger threat, opening on the party's controller from full range and mind-snagging them out of the fight. Keep mobile, Misting Step before he can be pinned, and focus whoever closes distance fastest. He is a force multiplier with minions or a lair, not a solo centerpiece, so always run him alongside a stronger anchor.
Put Valrek 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 Valrek?
Valrek is CR 6 at his native Tier 2 (party levels 5-10), worth 2,300 XP, with AC 16, 114 HP, +7 to hit, and save DC 14. Scaled stat lines for Tier 1 (~CR 2) and Tier 3 (~CR 11) are provided so you can drop him into any party without rebuilding the block.
Can Valrek be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a player-aligned ranged specialist he is a deadly scout and skirmisher; reflavor the soul-barbed arrows as a hunter's mark of the void and he becomes a memorable NPC ally. The bound raid-sister Threnody travels with him and is statted as a lighter companion if you want a pair.
Is Valrek a solo boss?
No. He is an add-on archer designed to harry and snipe alongside a bigger threat or a raiding band. He has no legendary actions, so a full party will out-act him if he stands alone; pair him with a flagship adversary, minions, or a prepared lair.
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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