Bandit Captain 5e: Stats, Tactics and the 2024 Pistol

The Bandit Captain is a CR 2 NPC stat block for the leader of a gang: AC 15, 65 hit points, three melee attacks a turn (two scimitar, one dagger, all +5) and a Parry reaction that adds 2 to its AC against one melee hit. It's the standard boss for a level 1 to 3 bandit adventure, tough enough to survive a round of focus fire and smart enough (Intelligence 14, Deception +4) to talk before it fights. The 2024 version keeps the CR and most of the numbers, drops to 52 hit points and two attacks, and swaps the thrown daggers for a pistol (range 30/90 feet, 8 damage).

Table of Contents

• •Bandit Captain Stat Block (2014)
• •The Bandit Captain in the 2024 Rules
• •How the Bandit Captain Fights
• •Running a Bandit Captain Encounter
• •How Players Beat a Bandit Captain
• •Bandit Captain Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Bandit Captain Stat Block (2014)

This is the Bandit Captain from SRD 5.1. It can be any race and any non-lawful alignment.

Read it as a duelist with a gang behind it. Dexterity 16 drives its attacks and AC (studded leather, 15). Constitution 14 and ten hit dice give it 65 hit points, about as much as six bandits combined. Saving throw proficiencies in Strength (+4), Dexterity (+5) and Wisdom (+2) mean it shrugs off shoves, most area spells and some mind control.

The non-combat lines matter too. Intelligence 14, Charisma 14 and Deception +4 make it the one member of the gang who can plan an ambush and lie convincingly about it. SRD 5.1 describes bandit captains as craving infamy: a prisoner who flatters the captain's reputation gets better treatment than one who claims never to have heard of it. That's a ready-made roleplaying hook for a party that gets captured.

The Bandit Captain in the 2024 Rules

SRD 5.2.1 keeps the name and the role. The new block is Medium or Small, neutral, and speaks Common and Thieves' Cant.

What changed from 2014:

Ability scores, saves, skills and the +5 attack bonus are unchanged. The practical differences:

• •The 2024 captain is weaker in melee and stronger at range. Against AC 16, the 2014 captain's three melee attacks average 8.5 damage a turn; the 2024 captain's two scimitar attacks average 6. Its two pistol shots average 8, against 5 for two thrown daggers.
• •The 2024 captain is easier to kill. 52 hit points instead of 65 is about one fewer round of a level 2 party's focus fire.
• •The pistol is a setting choice. If your world has no firearms, keep the 2024 numbers and call it a hand crossbow or a throwing axe. The stat block decides the math, not the prop.

How the Bandit Captain Fights

The captain is the gang's best fighter and its only planner. Run it as both.

Damage per turn against AC 16. A +5 attack hits on an 11 or higher, 50% of the time.

Use the damage calculator to rerun these against your party's actual AC.

Split the attacks. Each attack in a Multiattack can target a different creature. A 2014 captain with three attacks can put two scimitar swings on the fighter and stab the wizard who stepped too close. Low-level spellcasters have 6 to 10 hit points, so one dagger plus one scimitar hit (11 damage) is often enough to drop one.

Parry at the right moment. Parry triggers after the DM knows an attack hit, so it is only useful when the attack total is exactly 15 or 16: the +2 turns those hits into misses. Save it for the party's heaviest melee hitter (a greatsword or a sneak attack) rather than spending it on the first hit of the round. A natural 20 still hits. In 2014 the captain must be holding a melee weapon and see the attacker; in 2024 any held weapon works, including the pistol.

Shoot the caster, stab the rest (2024). The pistol's normal range is 30 feet. A 2024 captain that fires the pistol while an enemy is within 5 feet of it has Disadvantage on the shot, whoever it aims at. Open with two pistol shots at a spellcaster from 30 feet, then close and switch to the scimitar once the front line reaches it.

Talk first. With Deception +4 and an Intelligence higher than most of the party's, the captain should open many encounters with a parley: a toll demand, a fake surrender, a bluff about how many archers are in the trees. Use that time. Every round of talking is a round for hidden bandits to get into position.

Leave before dying. A captain with a price on its head doesn't fight to the death for a cart of grain. At about 20 hit points, have it run for a prepared exit (a horse, a rope down a cliff, a door it can bar) using Athletics +4. If it escapes, the party has a recurring villain who now knows their faces.

Running a Bandit Captain Encounter

The Bandit Captain is 450 XP; bandits are 25 XP and thugs 100. Using the 2024 budget for four characters:

The 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines, which our encounter calculator uses, rate a lone captain (450 XP) as a Medium fight for four level 2 characters and past Deadly for four level 1 characters. Add six bandits and the raw 600 XP is multiplied by 2.5 for a group of seven, giving 1,500: Hard for four level 3 characters, close to Deadly. The 2014 math punishes large gangs much more than the 2024 budget does.

Fitting the captain to your party:

• •Level 1: don't use it as a straight fight. 8.5 damage a turn can drop a level 1 character in one round, and 65 hit points takes a level 1 party three or four rounds to chew through. Use it as a negotiator, a chase target or a fight the party should flee.
• •Levels 2 to 4: the intended range. The captain plus a gang is a strong session-ending fight.
• •Level 5 and up: the captain becomes a lieutenant. Put a veteran or a stronger villain above it.

How Players Beat a Bandit Captain

The captain has no resistances, good Dexterity and Strength saves, and +2 everywhere else.

• •Attack from range. Parry only works against melee attacks. Bows, crossbows and spell attacks ignore it entirely.
• •Target Wisdom, Constitution, Intelligence or Charisma. All are +2. Hold Person at DC 13 lands half the time, and a paralyzed captain takes a critical hit from every melee attack within 5 feet. Vicious Mockery gives it Disadvantage on its next attack, which in 2014 only affects the first of its three. Avoid Dexterity saves (+5).
• •Control it, then mop up. Command ("Drop" or "Grovel") or Hold Person on the captain often ends a bandit fight faster than killing the bandits, because the gang won't hold without its leader.
• •Don't grapple it lightly. Athletics +4 and a Strength save of +4 make it good at escaping grapples and resisting shoves.
• •See through the parley. Insight against Deception +4 is a real roll. A passive Insight of 15 or more beats a captain's average roll. Spells like Detect Thoughts help if a party suspects an ambush.
• •Take it alive. A captain is worth more as a prisoner: it knows the gang's hideouts, its fences and who paid for the job. Any melee attack can knock it out instead of killing it when it drops to 0 hit points.

Bandit Captain Encounter Ideas

The ransom at the mill. A merchant's daughter has been taken, and the captain's letter names a price and a place: an abandoned water mill at dusk. The captain plans to take the money and keep the hostage. Six bandits hide in the mill loft and the reeds. The twist: the daughter left willingly and is engaged to the captain. Rescuing her means arguing with her.

The village that hides them. A captain robs tax wagons on the king's road and shares part of every haul with the poor village nearby. When the party arrives on the sheriff's commission, the villagers lie for the gang. The fight, if it happens, is in the village itself, with frightened commoners in the way and a captain who will use them as cover.

The ford at high water. The gang holds a river crossing during the spring flood. The water is waist deep and counts as difficult terrain. A 2024 captain stands on a boulder on the far bank and fires the pistol at anyone who wades in; a 2014 captain waits on the bank with daggers ready and Parry for the first character who climbs out. Two bandits with ropes upstream can cut the party's own guide rope. If you plan to bring the captain back after a narrow escape, Loreify can record the session and keep track of the NPCs the party met, so the rematch remembers who insulted whom.

Need a name or a backstory for the captain? The NPC generator can build one in seconds.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a Bandit Captain in 5e?

The Bandit Captain is CR 2 (450 XP) in both the 2014 and 2024 rules.

How much HP does a Bandit Captain have?

The 2014 Bandit Captain has 65 hit points (10d8 + 20). The 2024 version has 52 (8d8 + 16). Both have AC 15 from studded leather armor.

What does the Bandit Captain's Parry do?

As a reaction, the captain adds 2 to its AC against one melee attack that hits it, which can turn the hit into a miss. In the 2014 rules it must see the attacker and wield a melee weapon; in the 2024 rules it only needs to be holding a weapon.

Does the 2024 Bandit Captain have a gun?

Yes. The 2024 Bandit Captain carries a pistol: a +5 ranged attack with a range of 30/90 feet that deals 8 (1d10 + 3) piercing damage. Its Multiattack lets it make two attacks with the scimitar and pistol in any combination.

How many bandits should a Bandit Captain lead?

For four level 2 characters, a captain with six bandits is a Moderate fight by the 2024 budget (600 XP). For level 3, add three thugs. Under the 2014 multiplier the same group is much harder, so use fewer bandits if you use the 2014 math.

Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.