Vigor
Vigor — The Encounter
Hooded warden of the forge, fed by burning conduits · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Vigor
They call it Vigor, though no breath stirs beneath its hood. The forge-wardens of a sunken bastion poured the last of their craft into a soldier that would never tire, never flee, never question the order to hold the line. Within its riveted shell run conduits of liquid fire, and so long as the furnace at its core still glows, the thing marches. It was set to guard a threshold and was never told the war had ended; it guards it still, striking down any who cross with a cleaver that has notched a thousand years of intruders. Scavengers speak of the red eye in the dark and the hiss of vented steam before the blow lands. Quench its fires and the conduits dim; but starve it of fire and it merely grows patient, for a thing that does not live cannot truly die, and a thing that does not tire will simply wait for you to.
Run Vigor in Sixty Seconds
- Hold the line. Vigor is a guardian construct — it does not pursue or scheme. Park it on a door, a bridge, or a relic and make the party fight through it.
- Open with the Gauntlet. Ranged shot to knock a key PC prone, then march in and Cleave with advantage next turn.
- Never feed it fire. Kill-priority for the PARTY is anyone slinging fire — every point of fire damage cranks Burning Conduits from 2d6 to 3d6. Cold and force are the smart answers.
- When bloodied, Relentless Engine guarantees it survives one killing blow at 1 HP — make that bonus round a full Multiattack on whoever dropped it.
- Three ways to run it: lone gate-warden (a wall to grind through), paired with a flagship boss as the unkillable anchor, or as a duo with its companion Cinder shielding it.
Vigor
Medium construct, lawful neutral
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEBurning Conduits. Signature. Searing fluid courses through Vigor's frame. The first time each turn Vigor hits with a weapon attack, the target takes an extra 7 (2d6) fire damage. While Vigor has taken fire damage since its last turn, this extra damage increases to 10 (3d6) as the conduits run hot.
Relentless Engine. If damage reduces Vigor to 0 hit points, it drops to 1 hit point instead (once per long rest) and its speed and attacks are unaffected by being grappled or restrained until the end of its next turn.
Actions
Multiattack. Vigor makes two attacks: one with its Heavy Cleaver and one with its Forge-Gauntlet.
Heavy Cleaver. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (3d8 + 4) slashing damage.
Forge-Gauntlet. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 40/120 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (3d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Venting Burst. Reaction, when a creature within 5 ft. hits Vigor with a melee attack: Vigor vents superheated steam, dealing 7 (2d6) fire damage to that creature (DC 14 Dexterity save for half).
A hooded sentinel sheathed in riveted forge-plate, its masked face split by a single burning red slit, hauling a slab-bladed cleaver in one fist and a clenched piston-gauntlet in the other while red conduits pulse along its limbs.
Vigor, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEStoke the Forge (signature). When Vigor takes fire damage, it stores the heat; its next weapon hit before the end of its next turn deals an extra 5 (2d4) fire damage.
Actions
Slag Hammer. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage.
Reactions
Ember Guard. When an ally within 5 ft. is hit, Vigor interposes its plating, reducing the damage by 5 (1d8 + 1) and taking that damage itself.
A smaller, scorched cousin welded from salvage, Vigor shadows Vigor's march and shields it with its own battered frame.
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 the Forge-Gauntlet to knock the front-liner prone, then close and Cleave. If two PCs cluster on it, let Venting Burst punish whoever swings. It is a guardian, not a brain — keep it parked on a threshold and let the party come to it; pair it with a bigger threat or a pack of lesser foes.
Open with Forge-Gauntlet on the squishiest reachable PC (prone, then melee with advantage next turn). Kill-priority: healers and anyone using fire — fire only feeds Burning Conduits, so a fire mage hands it 3d6 riders. When focused, Relentless Engine buys it one extra round; spend it on a full Multiattack. Best paired with a flagship boss as the immovable anchor it was built to be.
Run it as a lair-warden alongside lesser constructs or a bigger threat, never alone — a party this tier out-acts a lone engine. Open with Gauntlet-prone, Cleave the downed target, and let any incoming fire crank the conduits hot for 3d6 riders. Hold chokepoints and Vent on everyone who melees it.
Put Vigor 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 Vigor?
Vigor is built at CR 6 (Tier 2, levels 5-10): AC 17, 127 HP, +7 to hit, save DC 14. Scaled stat lines for Tier 1 (~CR 2) and Tier 3 (~CR 11) are in the tiers table — the traits and actions stay identical, only the numbers move.
Can Vigor be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a tireless construct warden it makes a natural bound guardian for a forge, vault, or patron NPC. Use Cinder, Bound (its scorched salvage cousin) as the ready-made allied sidekick, or reskin Vigor itself as a loyal sentinel that holds a doorway for the party.
Why does fire damage make Vigor more dangerous?
Its body runs on burning conduits, so incoming fire stokes the furnace rather than hurting it — Vigor is fire-resistant and its extra fire rider jumps from 2d6 to 3d6 while running hot. Hit it with cold, force, or radiant instead, and quench it in water if the scene allows.
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 Vigor 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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