Spy 5e NPC Stat Block: Cunning Action, Sneak Attack and the 2024 Spy

This is the Spy NPC stat block, the informant or agent a noble or guild sends after the party, not a rogue player character. The spy is CR 1 with AC 12 and 27 hit points, and it's built for talking and slipping away: Deception +5, Insight +4, Perception +6 (passive 16) and a Cunning Action bonus action to Dash, Disengage or Hide. The 2014 spy deals damage through two shortsword attacks and a 2d6 Sneak Attack. The 2024 spy loses both and instead adds 7 poison damage to every hit.

Table of Contents

• •Spy Stat Block (2014)
• •The Spy in the 2024 Rules
• •How Spies Fight
• •Running a Spy Encounter
• •How Players Beat Spies
• •Spy Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Spy Stat Block (2014)

The SRD 5.1 spy can be any race and any alignment. SRD 5.1 describes spies as agents of rulers, nobles, merchants and guildmasters who would rather die than give up their employer.

Read the skills before the attacks. Seven skill proficiencies, Charisma 16 and passive Perception 16 make the spy the best social NPC in its CR range: it lies well, reads people well and notices the rogue picking a lock.

Its combat kit copies a low-level rogue: Cunning Action (Dash, Disengage or Hide as a bonus action) and Sneak Attack (2d6, once per turn, with advantage or with an ally within 5 feet of the target). Its Multiattack is two melee attacks only. The hand crossbow is a single shot.

The Spy in the 2024 Rules

The 2024 spy is simpler and more reliable at range, and weaker up close. It doesn't need an ally or advantage to get its extra 7 damage, so a lone spy on a rooftop hits as hard as one with backup. In exchange it makes one attack per turn instead of two, and some targets shrug off poison: 2024 dwarves, for example, have Resistance to it, which cuts a hit from 12 damage to 8.

How Spies Fight

Sneak Attack math (2014). Against AC 15, the spy's +4 hits on 11 or better (50%). Next to an ally, it attacks twice: 5 + 5 base damage and Sneak Attack on the first hit. That averages about 10 damage a round (2 × 0.5 × 5 = 5, plus 7 × 0.75 for landing at least one hit). A lone spy without advantage averages 5.

Hidden shot (both editions). From hiding, the spy fires the hand crossbow with advantage, hitting AC 15 about 75% of the time. That's 12 damage on a hit for both versions, about 9 a round. In the 2024 rules, hiding takes a DC 15 Stealth check made out of sight; the spy's +6 succeeds 60% of the time. In 2014 its +4 is compared to passive Perception, which works against a party that isn't watching.

Poison blade (2024). The 2024 spy averages 6 a round with one attack against AC 15, or 9 from hiding. It can climb 30 feet, so use rooftops, balconies and walls: shoot, then Hide behind a chimney with its bonus action.

Leave early. A spy with 27 hit points that stays in a fight dies. Use Cunning Action to Dash or Disengage once it has what it came for. Its goal is to get the information home. If you want an agent who stays and kills, use the assassin (CR 8) instead.

Running a Spy Encounter

The best spy encounter is a conversation. Give the spy a cover identity and let the party talk to it before anyone draws a weapon. The NPC generator helps when you need a believable cover story quickly.

When it does come to a fight, a spy is 200 XP. For four level 3 characters, using the 2024 XP budget (600 / 900 / 1,600):

Under the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines, one spy alone is a Medium fight for four level 1 characters (200 XP against a 200 XP Medium threshold). Add thugs to give the 2014 spy the adjacent allies its Sneak Attack wants. Check your mix in the encounter calculator.

How Players Beat Spies

• •Watch the lies. Deception +5 against passive Insight is the real fight. A character who asks pointed questions and rolls Insight against the spy's story can expose it before combat.
• •Isolate it (2014). Without an adjacent ally or advantage, the 2014 spy loses Sneak Attack and drops from about 10 damage a round to 5.
• •Grab it. Grapple a spy and its Speed becomes 0, so Dash and Disengage stop helping. It escapes with an unproficient Strength (+0) or Dexterity (+2) check.
• •Hit its low AC. AC 12 is easy to hit. Two solid rounds from the party kill it.
• •Take it alive. Hold Person targets its Wisdom save (+2) and works in both editions. A captured spy is worth more than a dead one, though SRD 5.1 warns loyal spies would rather die than talk.

Spy Encounter Ideas

The new servant. A noble patron's household hired a new valet the week the party arrived. He's a spy for the patron's rival and spends every evening near the party's rooms. The first sign is a letter that was resealed badly.

Two masters. A spy approaches the party offering information on the cult they're hunting. She's honest about the cult. She's also reporting the party's plans to the city watch, who want the cult and the party gone.

The rooftop chase. A 2024 spy steals a ledger and runs across the rooftops, using her climb speed to go where the party can't follow easily. Every turn she can Dash. The party needs a plan, not just speed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a spy in 5e?

The spy is CR 1 (200 XP) in both the 2014 and 2024 rules, with AC 12 and 27 hit points.

How much damage does a spy do with Sneak Attack?

The 2014 spy's Sneak Attack adds 7 (2d6) damage once per turn when it has advantage or an ally within 5 feet of its target. With two shortsword hits at 5 each, its best turn is 17 damage. The 2024 spy has no Sneak Attack; each hit deals 5 piercing plus 7 poison.

Does the 2024 spy have Sneak Attack?

No. The 2024 spy replaces Sneak Attack and Multiattack with 2d6 poison damage on every Shortsword or Hand Crossbow hit. It keeps Cunning Action as a bonus action and gains a 30-foot climb speed.

Is the spy the same as a rogue?

No. The spy is an NPC stat block. It borrows two rogue-like features, Cunning Action and (in 2014) Sneak Attack, but it has no other class features and isn't built with player character rules.

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.