Boneblade Commander Vyrkos
Boneblade Commander Vyrkos — The Encounter
The crowned revenant who counts his foes in severed heads · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Boneblade Commander Vyrkos
Before the plague-years, Vyrkos ruled a march-kingdom by the blade, taking the heads of every rival who knelt too slowly. When death came for him, he treated it as one more insurgent to be put down, and so he reigns still: a corpse-king who never abdicated. The Mortisbane chronicles name him a Boneblade Commander, for he marshals the risen dead the way he once marshaled living legions, by presence and by fear. His soldiers fight harder in his shadow, for the worst thing in his court is not the enemy across the field but the master at one's back. He keeps a tally of the slain as a miser keeps coin, and each fresh kill seems to feed the grey vigor in his sword-arm. Petitioners who seek his alliance are received upon the throne; those who fail to amuse him leave it shorter by a head, added to the count he murmurs under his breath.
Run Boneblade Commander Vyrkos in Sixty Seconds
- He is a commander, not a duelist — never field Vyrkos alone. Surround him with skeletons or zombies so Marshal Undeath buffs their damage and pair him with a bigger flagship threat.
- Open with Withering Command on the tightest cluster: a 30-foot cone, DC 14 Con, 22 necrotic and a matching hit-point-maximum cut on a failure.
- Feed the Tally — kill-priority is whoever is mowing down his minions, because every enemy that drops near him hands Vyrkos 10 temp HP plus advantage on his next swing.
- Punish melee — Headsman's Riposte hits back at anyone who strikes him, and Undead Fortitude may yank him back to 1 HP, so commit radiant or a crit to put him down for good.
- Three ways to run him: grave-marshal buffing a horde from the line; throne-bound tyrant daring heroes to reach him through riposte range; or lieutenant guarding a greater master in the lair.
Boneblade Commander Vyrkos
Medium undead, lawful evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEUndead Fortitude. If damage reduces Vyrkos to 0 hit points, he makes a Constitution saving throw (DC 5 + the damage taken), unless the damage is radiant or from a critical hit. On a success, he drops to 1 hit point instead.
Reaper's Tally. Signature. Vyrkos keeps a grim count of the slain. The first time on a turn that a hostile creature is reduced to 0 hit points within 30 feet of him, he gains 10 temporary hit points and his next attack before the end of his next turn has advantage.
Marshal Undeath. Undead allies within 30 feet of Vyrkos that can see him add his Charisma bonus (+3) to their melee weapon damage rolls.
Actions
Multiattack. Vyrkos makes two Boneblade attacks.
Boneblade. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing damage plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage.
Withering Command (Recharge 5-6). Vyrkos points his blade and a wave of grave-cold rolls out in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in the area makes a DC 14 Constitution saving throw, taking 22 (5d8) necrotic damage on a failure, or half as much on a success. A creature that fails also has its hit point maximum reduced by an equal amount until it finishes a long rest.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Headsman's Riposte (Reaction). When a creature Vyrkos can see hits him with a melee attack, he makes one Boneblade attack against that creature.
Throned upon gilded death-iron and crowned with a halo of golden spikes, Vyrkos sits in cold judgment, a freshly severed head dangling from one fist. His teal hair and serpentine armor mark a once-living monarch who refused to surrender his command to the grave.
Boneblade Commander Vyrkos, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEGrim Bookkeeping (signature). Once per turn, when an enemy within 30 feet drops to 0 hit points, Boneblade Commander Vyrkos's bound bearer gains 5 temporary hit points.
Actions
Bone Halberd. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d10 + 4) slashing damage plus 4 (1d8) necrotic damage.
Reactions
Shield the Commander. When Vyrkos is hit by an attack while within 5 feet, Boneblade Commander Vyrkos can halve the damage he takes.
A standard-bearing revenant sworn to keep the commander's death-count, marching one pace behind the throne with halberd and ledger of skulls.
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 Withering Command to soften a cluster, then wade in with two Boneblade swings on the softest target. Keep a pack of zombies or skeletons next to him so Marshal Undeath stacks their damage and his Reaper's Tally keeps refilling. Do not run him alone; he is the captain of a graveyard, not a duelist.
Kill-priority is whoever is dropping his minions, since each enemy kill near him hands Vyrkos temp HP and advantage. Open at range with Withering Command, then close and Multiattack the same target two rounds running. Pair him with a screen of undead so Headsman's Riposte and Marshal Undeath punish anyone who tries to brawl through the line to reach him.
Run him as a lieutenant beside a larger flagship threat, never alone, with a full lair of risen dead. Lead with Withering Command on the densest knot, then Multiattack the marked PC each turn while his minions feed Reaper's Tally. He should be the wall the party has to break before reaching the bigger boss; let Headsman's Riposte make every melee approach cost blood.
Put Boneblade Commander Vyrkos 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 Boneblade Commander Vyrkos?
He is built at CR 6 (2,300 XP) in his native Tier 2 band, a centerpiece for parties of levels 5-10. The stat record also gives rescaled Tier 1 (levels 1-4) and Tier 3 (levels 11-15) versions so you can drop him into any campaign.
Can Boneblade Commander Vyrkos be a companion or ally?
As written he is an adversary commander, but the record includes a scaled-down ally, The Tally, Bound (AC 14, 72 HP), a standard-bearing revenant who keeps the death-count, guards its bearer, and shores up undead-themed parties.
Is Vyrkos a solo boss?
No. He is a commander built to lead other undead, so run him with minions or alongside a larger flagship threat. A four-person party will out-act him if he fights alone; his power lies in buffing his horde and punishing anyone who breaks the line to reach him.
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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