Thugs are what I usually use as a baseline ‘bad person.’ They fill the same niche that cultists or bandits do but come with they implication of training. That said, we should try to add some variety to our street brawlers. Let’s make a better monster.

A basic 5e thug is a CR 1/2, non-good aligned, humanoid of any race with 11 AC, 32 HP, 30ft speed, and 2 types of attacks. A melee mace (+4 to-hit, 5 damage) and a heavy crossbow (+2 to-hit, 5 damage).
Otherwise the only thing interesting about them is that they have pack tactics.

Altogether this is a nice profile. High health with low AC mean that the players will get to hit a lot but the fight will be dragged out. Add in pack tactics and we’ve got an enemy that will move strategically and has an effective +9 to hit most rounds.

My only issue with this profile is that its pretty well set on someone who’s there to beat you up and take your stuff. A hired goon and nothing else.

I want to make two varients on the basic thug. A thug in my mind is someone that protects a shady business or extorts money in a protection racket.

The first one I’m making works in a drug den. They protect the clients from one another and take out any nosey investigators. My favourite bit for these types of thugs is that they always drug the hero to knock them out for questioning so we’ll build that in. We’ll also make them a little less bulky and a little more wiry from long exposure to the drugs.

Drug Den Thug
Medium Humanoid (Any Race), Any Non-Good Alignment
Armour Class 12 (leather armor)
Hit Points 27 (5d8 + 5)
Speed 30 ft.
STR 14 (+2) DEX 12 (+1) CON 13 (+1) INT 10 (+0) WIS 9 (-1) CHA 12 (+1)
Skills Deception +3, Intimidation +3
Senses Passive Perception 9
Languages Any one language (usually Common)
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +2
Actions
Multiattack. The thug makes two melee attacks.
Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage.
Bonus Actions
Opium Laced. As a bonus action, the thug has coats their weapons in opium, making any cut by it enter a state of euphoric relaxation. The next creature damaged by the thugs melee attacks must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw, gaining the poisoned condition for 1 minute on a failed save. If the creature is already poisoned, and they fail the saving throw, they are unconcious for one minute.

The other type of thug I’m making is based off of the goons you’d find in Hong Kong action movies. Those very acrobatic marital artists who fight the likes of Bruce Lee (Way of the Dragon, 1972) or Iko Uwais (The Raid Redemption, 2011). They’ll need to use the environment around them to create makeshift weapons to get the ‘weaponless street fight’ feel of a kung fu movie along with a higher AC but lower HP.

Golden Dragon Thug
Medium Humanoid (Any Race), Any Non-Good Alignment
Armour Class 14 (Unarmoured Defense)
Hit Points 17 (4d8)
Speed 30 ft.
STR 11 (+0) DEX 15 (+2) CON 11 (+0) INT 10 (+0) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 10 (+0)
Skills Intimidation +2
Senses Passive Perception 12
Languages Any one language (usually Common)
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +2
Improvised Arsenal. The thug can use almost anything, from bamboo scaffolding to a day old fish, as a weapon. If the thug is ever disarmed they can replace their weapon with a new one as a free action.
Unarmoured Defense. While the thug is wearing no armour and wielding no shield, its AC include its Wisdom modifier.
Actions
Multiattack. The thug makes one imrpovised weapon attack and one unarmed kick.
Improvised Weapon. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) bludgeoning damage.
Kick. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) bludgeoning damage.
Reactions.
Snatch. As a reaction, when the thug is targeted by one melee or ranged weapon attack that hits it, the thug can reduces the damage by 5 (1d6 + 2). If this reduces the damage taken to 0 the thug can catch the weapon out of the air. If a melee weapon is caught it is dropped at its wielders feet and the thug can make one improvised weapon attack against that creature if they are within reach.