Mortumbringers
Mortumbringers — The Encounter
Gold-mailed revenant guard sworn past the grave · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Mortumbringers
When the king of a drowned dynasty was laid in his gold-leafed barrow, his sworn men were sealed beside him still breathing, that they might guard his rest forever. They did not die so much as refuse to. Centuries pressed the flesh from their faces and gilded their bones in funerary plate, yet the oath held; they rose as the Mortumbringers, the bringers of death, and took up arms over the throne they will not abandon. They keep formation as in life, dressing their ranks, lowering their mauls in unison, and answering only the silent commands of the crowned thing upon the seat. Tomb-robbers who breach the gilded gate describe no shrieking horde but a cold, drilled advance, spears leveled, eyes like guttered lamps. To strike down one is to see the others close the gap without a sound, for each has sworn the same word, and none of them remembers how to break it.
Run Mortumbringers in Sixty Seconds
- Read the room Mortumbringers are disciplined guards, not a mob, so run them in formation: line up, level spears, advance in step and never break ranks chasing one PC.
- Open with a thrown barbed spear from each before they close, then switch to Toothed Maul and use the prone rider to drop the party's best melee anchor.
- Kill-priority is anyone trying to turn or banish undead; huddle two or more together so Grave-Forged Resolve gives those effects disadvantage.
- When an ally falls cash in Wake of the Slain every time a creature drops within 10 ft. for a free maul swing, and keep one guard beside the throned master to fuel Undying Oath.
- Three ways to run it tomb-door pair (T1), drilled guard squad around a flagship (T2), or full household phalanx protecting a crowned undead lord in its lair (T3).
Mortumbringers
Medium undead, lawful evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEUndying Oath. When the Mortumbringer is reduced to 0 hit points while a creature it has sworn to guard (its throned master or another revenant within 30 feet) is still standing, it instead drops to 1 hit point. This trait can't be used again until the Mortumbringer finishes a long rest or its sworn charge is destroyed.
Grave-Forged Resolve. The Mortumbringer has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and any effect that would turn or destroy undead has disadvantage against it while within 30 feet of another Mortumbringer.
Actions
Multiattack. The Mortumbringer makes two attacks with its toothed maul, or two attacks with its barbed spear.
Toothed Maul. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+4) slashing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Barbed Spear. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6+4) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) necrotic damage.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Wake of the Slain (Reaction). When a creature the Mortumbringer can see drops to 0 hit points within 10 feet of it, the Mortumbringer can make one Toothed Maul attack against a different creature within reach.
A gaunt, bald revenant cased in gilded warplate over withered flesh, a teal grave-shroud whipping behind it as it shoulders a notched two-handed maul. It moves with the silent discipline of an honor guard that never learned its watch had ended.
Mortumbringers, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEShieldwall Vow (signature). While within 5 feet of you, Mortumbringers adds +2 to its AC and yours, and it can use its reaction to make a melee attack against any creature that ends its turn within 5 feet of you.
Actions
Toothed Maul. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d8+3) slashing damage.
Reactions
Take the Blow. When you take damage from an attack while Mortumbringers is within 5 feet, it can halve that damage to you and take the other half itself.
A single revenant whose oath has been re-sworn to a living charge, it stands at your shoulder as it once stood at its king's, and would be shattered before it would step aside.
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 leveling the barbed spear and advancing in line; throw it once before closing so a low-level party feels the necrotic bite early. Use Toothed Maul to knock the strongest melee PC prone, then let allies pile on. Run it as a pair of tomb sentinels flanking a richer threat, not a lone boss.
Open against the squishiest caster in reach and lean on Wake of the Slain to chain free maul swings the moment a summon or ally drops. Kill-priority is whoever tries to turn the undead: cluster two or more Mortumbringers so Grave-Forged Resolve blunts that, and keep one adjacent to the throned master to trigger Undying Oath. Best fielded as a guard squad around a bigger necromantic flagship.
Field three or more as the household guard of a far deadlier crowned undead in its barrow lair; their job is to body-block and prone the front line while the real threat works. Open with prone-on-hit mauls to lock down the party's anchor, then exploit Wake of the Slain as PCs fall. Pair it with a bigger necromancer or revenant lord, never alone, since a full party out-acts it without legendary actions.
Put Mortumbringers 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 Mortumbringers?
The native build is CR 6 (2,300 XP), tuned for a 5th-to-10th-level party as an undead honor-guard add-on. Scaled stat lines are provided for tier 1 (levels 1-4, around CR 2) and tier 3 (levels 11-15, around CR 11) so you can drop the same guard into any tier.
Can Mortumbringers be a companion or ally?
Yes. The included companion, Sworn-Blade, is a single revenant whose oath has been re-sworn to a living charge; it shields one ally with Shieldwall Vow and Take the Blow rather than swarming, making it a loyal bodyguard NPC for a paladin, necromancer, or grieving heir.
Why isn't a lone Mortumbringer a solo boss?
It has no legendary actions and only a single reaction, so a four-player party simply out-acts one in the action economy. Mortumbringers are built to be fielded in ranks around a deadlier crowned undead, where Undying Oath, Grave-Forged Resolve, and Wake of the Slain all reward keeping the formation intact.
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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