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Guard Captain 5e NPC Stat Block: The 2024 City Watch Boss
This is the Guard Captain NPC stat block from the 2024 rules (SRD 5.2.1), the officer who leads the city watch or commands a fort's garrison. It's CR 4 with AC 18 (breastplate and shield), 75 hit points and two attacks a turn at +6: a longsword for 15 or a javelin for 14, thrown out to 120 feet. There's no Guard Captain in the 2014 SRD, which jumps from the CR 1/8 guard to CR 3 soldiers like the knight and veteran. The captain fills that gap.
Stat block from the SRD 5.2.1 (2024 rules) by Wizards of the Coast, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Check an encounter with this monster in the encounter calculator.
The captain is a plain, durable soldier. No reactions, no bonus actions, no spells, no special traits. What it has is three good numbers:
•AC 18. A +5 attacker (a typical level 4 character) hits on 13 or better, 40% of the time.
•75 hit points. More than the knight (52) or veteran (58) from the 2014 SRD. Four level 4 characters hitting AC 18 40% of the time deal roughly 15 damage a round with weapons, so it lasts four or five rounds unless spells skip its armor.
•15 damage per hit. Two longsword hits is 30 damage, which takes most level 3 or 4 characters below half.
Its Javelin is unusual: 3d6 + 4 piercing, melee or thrown, nearly as strong as the longsword. The captain carries six, so it isn't helpless when the party stays at range. Athletics +6 helps it grapple or shove, and Initiative +4 means it often acts before the party's casters.
How the Guard Captain Fights
Damage per round. Against AC 16, a +6 attack hits on 10 or better (55%). Two longsword attacks average about 16.5 damage a round (2 × 0.55 × 15). Two javelins average about 15.4, at up to 30 feet without penalty and 120 feet with disadvantage. The captain does about the same damage whether it closes or throws, so let it pick whichever hurts the party more.
Close on the caster. Wizards and sorcerers usually have AC 12 to 15. Against AC 13 the captain hits 70% of the time and averages 21 a round. A captain that walks past the fighter (taking one opportunity attack against its AC 18) and reaches the wizard can end the caster's fight in a round.
Grapple the runner. A captain arresting someone doesn't need to kill them. With Athletics +6, it can grapple a fleeing thief instead of attacking. In the 2024 rules a grapple is part of an Unarmed Strike: the target makes a Strength or Dexterity save against DC 14 (8 + Strength +4 + proficiency +2).
Lead the watch. Put guards on the party's casters and the captain on the biggest threat. Guards die quickly (11 hit points, AC 16), but each one that soaks a spell or an attack is one fewer aimed at the captain.
Arrest, not murder. A city watch fights to subdue. When a character drops to 0 hit points, have the captain knock them out rather than kill them (a melee attack can deal nonlethal damage in both editions). The session continues in a cell, which is more interesting than a death save.
Running a Guard Captain Encounter
The captain is 1,100 XP. For four characters, using the 2024 XP budget:
Party
Budget
Example
Level 3
High, 1,600 XP
1 guard captain + 4 guards (1,200 XP)
Level 4
Moderate, 1,500 XP
1 guard captain alone (1,100 XP), or with 4 guards + 1 scout on a rooftop (1,300 XP)
Guards are CR 1/8 (25 XP). The 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (used by our encounter calculator) treat a captain with four guards as 1,200 × 2 = 2,400 XP, past the Deadly line for four level 4 characters. The multiplier overrates weak guards here; four guards add little damage. Trust the 2024 numbers for watch fights.
For a 2014 table, the closest SRD 5.1 stand-ins are the knight (CR 3, AC 18, Leadership and Parry) and the veteran (CR 3, three attacks).
How Players Beat a Guard Captain
•Target its mind. The captain has no saving throw proficiencies. Wisdom is +2, Intelligence and Charisma +1. Hold Person at DC 14 lands 55% of the time and ends its turns while it lasts.
•Ignore the AC. Saving-throw spells skip AC 18. Its saves run from Strength +4 down to Intelligence and Charisma +1, so Bane (Charisma) lands often, and even Shatter against its Constitution +3 beats rolling against AC 18.
•Stay mobile. It moves 30 feet with no bonus-action movement. A party that kites it at range eats javelins but forces it to spend six of them before switching to the sword.
•Talk first. It's a guard captain. Bribery, paperwork, a noble's letter of introduction or a good lie can avoid the fight entirely. Its Perception +4 and Wisdom 14 make it no fool, so the lie needs to be good.
Guard Captain Encounter Ideas
The honest captain. A captain is investigating the same smuggling ring as the party and suspects them. She won't attack first. Prove innocence and she becomes a valuable ally; act like criminals and she brings eight guards to the inn at dawn.
Gate at closing. The city gates close at sundown. The party needs to get a wanted NPC out tonight. The captain on duty is tired, underpaid and has seen every trick. The fight is the last resort of a social encounter.
The bought captain. A captain is on the payroll of a bandit captain and keeps the watch away from the bandits' warehouse. The party can expose him, blackmail him, or face him and his loyal guards at the warehouse doors.
Frequently Asked Questions
What CR is a guard captain in 5e?
The Guard Captain is CR 4 (1,100 XP). It appears only in the 2024 rules (SRD 5.2.1).
Is there a guard captain in the 2014 rules?
Not in SRD 5.1. For a 2014 game, use the knight or veteran (both CR 3) as the officer over a group of CR 1/8 guards.
How much damage does a guard captain do?
It makes two attacks a turn at +6: a longsword for 15 (2d10 + 4) or a javelin for 14 (3d6 + 4). Against AC 16 it averages about 16 damage a round.
What's the difference between a guard and a guard captain?
A guard is CR 1/8 with AC 16, 11 hit points and one spear attack. A guard captain is CR 4 with AC 18, 75 hit points and two attacks that each deal about 15 damage. One captain is worth 44 guards in XP.
Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.
This page includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Loreify is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.