Vargoth the Marauder
Vargoth the Marauder — The Encounter
The chained executioner who outlived his own grave · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Vargoth the Marauder
In the chronicles of the headsman's road, Vargoth was the executioner of a fallen warlord, a giant of a man set to the gallows-block until rebellion put a noose around his own thick neck. They hanged him, drew his axes through his belly, and buried him in his own armor as a final mockery. The grave would not keep him. He clawed up still chained, still armored, his flail and great-axe fused to his fists by rust and ruin, and now he wanders the killing-fields he once tended. Folk who hear the dragging rattle of chains in the fog know to scatter, for Vargoth does not parley and does not tire. He hooks the fleeing with his whirling weapons and drags them within reach of the spiked head, finishing the work his old masters began. He is hunger given iron and grievance, an executioner who will never lay down the blade.
Run Vargoth the Marauder in Sixty Seconds
- Reach is the threat. Both weapons hit at 10 ft. and the first hit each turn pulls the target 10 ft. toward Vargoth, so he closes distance even when he can't catch you on foot.
- Open by fishing. Yank the back-line caster or healer out of position with Whirling Chains, then the Chained Axe knocks them prone so they burn movement standing up.
- Kill-priority: the runner. Focus whoever tries to kite or flee. He's slow (30 ft.), so deny him the pull and he's harmless; let him hook someone and they're stuck in the grinder.
- When bloodied, lean on the reaction. Crushing Riposte punishes every melee miss, so attackers should be sure of the hit; remember Undead Fortitude can shrug off the killing blow unless you use radiant or a crit.
- Three ways to run him: front-line anchor for a necromancer, lone terror dragging victims down a fog-choked road, or armored wall in a tomb full of lesser undead.
Vargoth the Marauder
Large undead, chaotic evil
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEUndead Fortitude. If damage reduces Vargoth to 0 hit points, he makes a Constitution saving throw with a DC of 5 + the damage taken, unless the damage is radiant or from a critical hit. On a success, he drops to 1 hit point instead.
Whirling Chains. Vargoth fights with a spiked flail and a chained great-axe that he keeps in constant, screaming motion. The first time on each of his turns that he hits a creature, that creature must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 10 feet toward him.
Actions
Multiattack. Vargoth makes two attacks: one with his Spiked Flail and one with his Chained Axe.
Spiked Flail. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d10 + 5) piercing damage.
Chained Axe. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) slashing damage, and a Medium or smaller target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Crushing Riposte. When a creature within 10 feet of Vargoth misses him with a melee attack, he can use his reaction to make one Spiked Flail attack against that creature.
A mountain of grave-grey muscle wrapped in scavenged spiked plate, Vargoth swings a vicious morningstar-flail and a chain-bound double axe, both kept in a constant, shrieking orbit around his rotting bulk.
Vargoth the Marauder, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEGrave-Iron Bulwark (signature). While an ally is within 5 feet of Vargoth, that ally gains a +2 bonus to AC from his hulking, chain-wrapped frame.
Actions
Spiked Flail. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Strength save or be pulled 10 feet toward Vargoth.
Reactions
Reaping Pull. When an enemy within 10 feet moves away from a creature Vargoth can see, he can use his reaction to swing his chained axe, making one attack against that enemy.
Bound to a grim purpose rather than a master, the dead executioner lumbers ahead of the party, hooking foes off the line and pinning them against his armored bulk.
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 hurling the flail at the nearest squishy caster, dragging them 10 ft. into the kill-box, then axe them prone so they spend their turn standing up. Kill-priority is whoever has the lowest AC. Pair him with a swarm of skeletons so the party can't simply kite the slow brute.
Open by pulling the back-line healer or archer into reach with Whirling Chains, then knock them prone with the Chained Axe. Bait melee with Crushing Riposte punishing every miss. Kill-priority is the most mobile striker; let Undead Fortitude soak the first kill-shot. Run him as the front-line bruiser for a necromancer or a flagship undead boss.
Open by yanking the most evasive PC into the press and locking them down with prone + Riposte. Kill-priority is anyone trying to escape the reach. He is not a solo threat here, his action economy is thin, so pair him with a bigger threat or a lair full of risen dead and use him to drag stragglers into the meat-grinder.
Put Vargoth the Marauder 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 Vargoth the Marauder?
Vargoth is built as a CR 6 (2,300 XP) Large undead brute at his native tier, sized for a level 5-10 party. Scaled stat blocks are provided for tiers 1 (levels 1-4) and 3 (levels 11-15) so you can drop him into nearly any game.
Can Vargoth the Marauder be a companion or ally?
Yes. The companion profile 'Vargoth, Bound' turns him into a hulking front-line guardian (AC 15, 76 HP) who shields adjacent allies, hooks foes with his flail, and reaps anyone who flees a comrade he watches over.
Is Vargoth a solo boss?
No. His action economy is thin for a one-versus-party fight, so he is built as an add-on. Use him as a front-line bruiser paired with a necromancer, a flagship undead boss, or a horde of lesser risen dead.
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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