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Pirate Captain 5e NPC Stat Block: Rapier, Pistol and Riposte
This is the Pirate Captain NPC stat block from the 2024 rules (SRD 5.2.1), a duelist boss for a ship fight. It's CR 6 with AC 17, 84 hit points and Initiative +7, and makes three attacks a turn at +7: a rapier for 13 that grants Advantage on its next attack, or a pistol for 15. It also has Riposte, a reaction that adds 3 to its AC against a melee hit and strikes back on a miss, and Captain's Charm, a bonus action that Charms one target on a failed DC 14 Wisdom save. There's no 2014 version; it debuted in SRD 5.2.1 alongside the Pirate.
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Pirate Captain Stat Block (2024)
Pirate Captain
Medium or Small Humanoid, Neutral
Armor Class 17
Initiative +7 (17)
Hit Points 84 (13d8 + 26)
Speed 30 ft.
STR
10 (+0)save +3
DEX
18 (+4)save +7
CON
14 (+2)save +2
INT
10 (+0)save +0
WIS
14 (+2)save +5
CHA
17 (+3)save +6
Skills Acrobatics +7, Perception +5
Gear Pistol, Rapier
Senses Passive Perception 15
Languages Common plus one other language
Challenge 6 (XP 2,300; PB +3)
Actions
Multiattack.The pirate makes three attacks, using Rapier or Pistol in any combination.
Rapier.Melee Attack Roll: +7, reach 5 ft. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) Piercing damage, and the pirate has Advantage on the next attack roll it makes before the end of this turn.
Pistol.Ranged Attack Roll: +7, range 30/90 ft. Hit: 15 (2d10 + 4) Piercing damage.
Bonus Actions
Captain's Charm.Wisdom Saving Throw: DC 14, one creature the pirate can see within 30 feet. Failure: The target has the Charmed condition until the start of the pirate's next turn.
Reactions
Riposte.Trigger: The pirate is hit by a melee attack roll while holding a weapon. Response: The pirate adds 3 to its AC against that attack, possibly causing it to miss. On a miss, the pirate makes one Rapier attack against the triggering creature if within range.
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 Dexterity build like its crew, scaled up: Dexterity 18, saves in Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom and Charisma, Acrobatics +7 and Perception +5. Its unproficient saves are Constitution (+2) and Intelligence (+0). Everything it does is about winning one-on-one fights and making the party fight on its terms.
How the Pirate Captain Fights
The rapier chain. Each rapier hit gives the captain Advantage on its next attack that turn. Against AC 16, a +7 attack hits on 9 or better (60%), and 84% with Advantage. Over three rapier attacks:
Attack
Hit chance
Why
First
60%
Normal roll
Second
about 74%
Advantage if the first hit
Third
about 78%
Advantage if the second hit
That's about 2.1 hits, or roughly 28 damage a round (13 per hit). Three pistol shots at range average about 27 (3 × 0.6 × 15). A level 5 character with 40 hit points goes down in two rounds against either.
Pistol at point blank. A ranged attack with an enemy within 5 feet has Disadvantage. A rapier hit grants Advantage on the next attack, and Advantage and Disadvantage cancel. So a captain in melee can stab, then fire the pistol at a normal roll. That's swashbuckling description, not a damage gain: a straight pistol shot averages 9 (60% × 15), while a rapier attack with Advantage averages about 11 (84% × 13). Keep stabbing in melee and save the pistol for targets out of reach.
Riposte. When a melee attack hits, the captain adds 3 to its AC against it, and if that turns the hit into a miss, it makes a rapier attack back. Against a +7 attacker, AC 17 is hit on 10 or better (55%); AC 20 on 13 or better (40%). Riposte turns about one melee hit in four into a miss, and each of those misses earns the captain a free rapier attack (13 on a hit). It works once per round (it's a reaction), so the second melee attacker each round gets the real AC 17.
Captain's Charm every turn. Use the bonus action every round on whichever character threatens the captain most. A character with Wisdom +1 fails DC 14 60% of the time. The charmed character can't attack the captain until the start of the captain's next turn, so it has to fight the crew instead. Combined with the crew's Enthralling Panache, a captain and three pirates can lock several characters out of attacking the people who matter.
Fight on the deck. A 2024 shove or grapple lets the target save with Strength or Dexterity, and the captain's Dexterity save is +7, with Acrobatics +7 to escape a grapple that does land. Put it on the quarterdeck with stairs, rails and rigging around it, and let the crew hold the stairs.
Running a Pirate Captain Encounter
The captain is 2,300 XP. For four characters, using the 2024 XP budget:
2 captains (rival crews, one betrayal) + 11 pirates
The 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (used by our encounter calculator) count the captain with three pirates as 2,900 × 2 = 5,800 XP, Deadly for four level 5 characters (threshold 4,400). Charm effects that keep characters from attacking make the captain play harder than its XP suggests, so lean toward the lower budget.
How Players Beat a Pirate Captain
•Don't fight it with swords alone. Riposte only works against melee attacks. Ranged attacks and spells face AC 17 every time with no counterattack.
•Target Constitution or Intelligence. It has no proficiency in either. Blindness/Deafness (Constitution save) blinds it, giving its attacks Disadvantage and cancelling the rapier chain's Advantage. Shatter also targets Constitution.
•Avoid its Wisdom save. It has +5 against Hold Person and similar spells, so they land less than half the time against a typical DC.
•Break the charm chain. A character with a strong Wisdom save or Fey Ancestry should be the one who goes for the captain. Kill the crew first if the charms are keeping your damage dealers busy.
•Make two melee attackers take turns. Riposte uses the captain's one reaction per round. Once the first melee hit draws it out, every other attack that round faces plain AC 17 with no counterattack.
Pirate Captain Encounter Ideas
The duel offer. The captain offers to settle the fight with a duel against the party's best fighter: if she loses, the crew surrenders. Riposte and the rapier chain make that a bad deal for most level 5 fighters. Smart players find a way to make it two-on-one.
Letters of marque. The captain is a privateer with a legal commission from the same crown the party serves. Attacking her is a crime. Proving she's attacking the crown's own ships turns the law to the party's side.
The guard who used to be a pirate. A retired captain is now running a harbor watch as a guard captain. Her old crew is back and wants her to rejoin. Which stat block she uses at the end depends on what the party does.
Frequently Asked Questions
What CR is a pirate captain in 5e?
The Pirate Captain is CR 6 (2,300 XP), from the 2024 rules (SRD 5.2.1). It has AC 17 and 84 hit points.
Is there a pirate captain stat block in the 2014 rules?
Not in SRD 5.1. For a 2014 game, a bandit captain works as a low-level stand-in. It has a weaker Parry reaction (+2 AC against one melee hit, no counterattack) and no charm.
How does the pirate captain's Riposte work?
When the captain is hit by a melee attack roll while holding a weapon, it can use its reaction to add 3 to its AC against that attack. If that turns the hit into a miss, it makes one rapier attack against the attacker if it's within range.
How much damage does a pirate captain do?
Three attacks a turn: a rapier for 13 (2d8 + 4) or a pistol for 15 (2d10 + 4). Against AC 16 it averages about 27 or 28 damage a round, and each rapier hit gives it Advantage on its next attack that turn.
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.