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Kestrel Vane
The Northern Wildlands · bandit country · area boss XX

Kestrel Vane

the Wolf's Head

A bandit warlord who runs the wildlands' worst crews on nerve, not numbers. She doesn't have a monster's reserves to draw on, so she spends her own — a called shot to open, then real hit points paid out for guaranteed heavy strikes through the middle of the fight, and finally an all-in stand that trades her own defense for everything she has left.

CR 15Rogue 10 / Fighter 5resref wln_kestrelspawn table 110 · always, 12% · count 1–2

Stat Block

Race / Class
Human · Rogue 10 / Fighter 5
Challenge Rating
15
Hit Points
138 (expected ~115 × 1.2)
Natural Armor
2
Str
19
+4
Dex
23
+6
Con
16
+3
Int
12
+1
Wis
10
+0
Cha
14
+2
Feats — Weapon Finesse, Dodge, Mobility, Toughness, Iron Will, Alertness, Weapon Proficiency (Simple), Improved Initiative, Great Fortitude
Skills — Hide 14, Move Silently 14, Listen 11, Spot 11, Bluff 9, Intimidate 9

The Fight

Above 66% hp · every 3 rounds

Marked for Death

A called shot on whoever's nearest — a failed Reflex save (DC 15) takes 3d6+4 piercing damage, a successful one still takes 3d6.

66–33% hp · every 3 rounds

Blood Pact

A real gamble, not free power: if she can afford it, she spends an eighth of her own current hit points to guarantee one brutal strike (3d10+8 piercing) and buys herself a couple rounds of heavy regeneration off the trade. She won't pay past a safety floor — below it, she just fights normally.

Below 33% hp, once

Last Stand

She stops guarding herself at all: permanent +2 to hit and +4 damage, paid for with a permanent −4 to her own AC. The module's first enrage with a real, lasting downside attached instead of pure upside.

Why These Numbers

Revised CR7 → CR15 after checking the Northern Wildlands' ambient table: the area's own bandit rank-and-file (Bandit Leader) already sits at CR12, and grizzlies/panthers/will-o-wisps run CR10–13 — a CR7 warlord was weaker than her own crew. CR15 puts her clearly above everything she commands.

138 hp is still deliberately lean relative to her new level — she's a duelist, not a tank, and Blood Pact only makes sense as a gamble if her hit point pool is small enough that spending it actually hurts. The 12-hp safety floor keeps a bad string of Blood Pacts from being able to kill her outright. Natural AC 2 and heavy reliance on Dexterity (23) instead of armor keeps her reading as fast and lightly armored rather than heavily plated.

How It's Wired

pattern
new build — cloned from BELE_BANDIT_CHI (bandit chief)
blueprint
wln_kestrel.utc
scripts
wln_kv_inc.nss, wln_kv_spawn.nss, wln_kv_round.nss, wln_kv_death.nss
area wiring
wildlands_n.git · sparky_variables enc07 → 110