Ringleader

Medium humanoid, any non-good alignment

Armor Class 14 (studded leather) Hit Points 39 (6d8 + 12) Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
12 (+1)	15 (+2)	14 (+2)	11 (+0)	13 (+1)	12 (+1)

Skills Deception +3, Intimidation +3, Persuasion +3, Stealth +4 Senses passive Perception 11 Languages Common, Thieves' Cant Challenge 1 (200 XP) Proficiency Bonus +2

Actions

Multiattack. The Ringleader makes two melee attacks or two ranged attacks.

Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.

Light Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage.

Description

The Ringleader runs a village smuggling cell or a small gang's crew. Not a fighter by trade, but experienced enough to see a knife coming and cornered enough to have thrown a few. Charismatic where it pays, brutal where it works.

Design notes

Fills the CR 1 slot in the Criminals axis between Bandit (SRD, CR 1/8; the Runner) and Bandit Captain (SRD, CR 2; the Lieutenant). Village-scale smuggling captains use this block; town and city Ringleaders scale up to Bandit Captain. Also useful for small-gang crew leaders below Lieutenant tier.

Skills tilt toward social criminality (Deception, Intimidation, Persuasion) with Stealth for shadow work. No Investigation or Perception boost — the Ringleader is a leader, not an intel gatherer (that role uses Spy, the Fixer / Fence stat block).

Multiattack + no reaction sits between Bandit's single-attack simplicity and Bandit Captain's Parry-and-3-attacks profile. Damage output (~10-11 per round) hits the CR 1 target without needing Sneak Attack.