The Bandit's Quiet Math
The D&D 5e Bandit (Monster Manual) is built to be dismissed. Armor Class 12, 11 hit points, Challenge 1/8. One good hit folds it. The number invites contempt, and contempt is the trap.
The pressure does not come from the Bandit’s durability. It comes from its reach. A Light Crossbow fires at range, 1d8+1 piercing, while the Scimitar covers anything that closes in. A single Bandit forces no decision. Three or four firing each round turn the encounter into an accounting problem: every turn spent chasing shooters is a turn the shooters spend elsewhere, and every unguarded NPC is 11 hit points of attacker away from dropping.
That is the moral shape of the fight. The party cannot protect the hostage, secure the objective, and clear the line of fire in the same round. They will try. The cost of trying lands on whoever they left behind. The efficient answer is to pick a priority by round two and accept what the other choice costs, which is the point.
At the table: On round two, have the Bandits split fire, half at the party’s objective or a cornered NPC, half at whoever is advancing, and let the table decide which one they cannot save.
Related
- Monster Tactic: The Statblock Is Not the Fight
- The Comic Relief That Bites: Seeding Ancient Dragon Encounters
- The Encounter Seed Reads the Room
Daily field notes, weekly Issues. Follow @ItsAlrdyWritten or subscribe via RSS.