Prepping a low-level fantasy adventure? Then you need to realise that the ultimate antagonists aren’t goblins, orcs, or kobolds – but bandits! Too often an extra in the TTRPG space, they can and should be the centre of your prep.

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Here’s why they’re the best:

They Used to Be Something Else

Farmers, villagers, whatever, they’ve got another life behind them. Maybe a wife and kids back at the village. They certainly have relatives, making dealing with them complicated – and meaning the PCs might have to engage with the law to make them properly dealt with

The Are Plot Sponges

“Why are the bandits banditing?” – this is a question you can link to any plot. Maybe it’s something simple, like goblins in the forest making being a woodsman unsustainable, or maybe it’s something more complex to do with the local economy, but whatever your adventure’s plot, you can link bandits to it and foreshadow and/or provide clues.

They’re Unpredictable

Okay, so the MM might have them as CR ⅛ challenges… but some of them will be archers, thugs, maybe even a thief or two. If bandits don’t have sneak attack on them, who does? Interestingly, PF2e makes them beefy Lvl 2 opponents, with a free action demoralize and able to ignore non-magical difficult terrain – you could always chuck that in the mix with your CR ⅛ ones.

And here’s a couple of ideas to mix them up to make them more interesting

Make them the actual antagonists

Bandits are often used to foreshadow or introduce the real antagonists – they’re robbing caravans because the white dragon kobold tribe has pushed them out of their forests, or they’re taking advantage of the dangerous forest to hide in. But make them the real antagonists and you have much more interesting villains – and the possibility of allying with the kobolds or the forest beasts to get rid of them.

Make them nails hard

They’ll always attack with terrain advantage, knowing the battlefield well, and running away to return with help if they think it might turn against them. Your classic ‘caravan ambush’ becomes a lot more dangerous when they run away and come back twice with powerful traps, or harry your PCs through the forest with surprise.

So, bandits should absolutely get more respect as low-level opponents – and even at higher levels, they shouldn’t be a pushover. Watch out next week for the latest in my series of low-level D&D adventures – this one featuring the foes described here!