Kenshi Wiki
Loading Screen Tips
If your character has a bounty on his head then he should avoid going to towns with a police presence. It takes time for someone to recognize you though, so if you have to go in- avoid attention and get out fast.


Many characters have Bounties on their heads, which means that they are wanted by a faction for Cats. Some of these characters can be learned about through their Wanted Posters.

Bounty

If a player character has a bounty some factions will try to catch them. They will attack this character and after defeating them, they will put them into a cage. Both player and NPC characters can gain bounty amount by committing crimes.

If put into a cage of a faction who practices slavery, the character may be enslaved and transported to their own respective slave mines if a slaver patrol is present.

Besides stealing, picking locks and looting bodies in town, player can be wanted for trespassing into residential houses (like Mongrel or The Holy Nation ones). These houses are usually private. People in such houses will ask player to leave. Therefore, be careful and check a house status for "Public" before entering.

Characters with Diplomatic Status are treated as a bounty by enemy factions, this is dependent on the opinion of the jailer, not the one with the bounty. Characters that are assigned the class of "Bandits" are capable of being spotted to commit crime, but not capable of being assigned bounties on.

If the bounty character is dead, the player will only gain half the amount of money for turning them in.

You will still receive the bounty from a Hostile Faction if you manage to get the prisoner into their cage.

Bounty Types[]

Loading Screen Tips
Stealing, picking locks, looting bodies in town, these are all crimes that will get a bounty put on your head if you are spotted.


Crime List[]

These bounties will fade over time unless the player character has become "notorious".

Crime Description Time to expire Sentence duration Bounty
Trespassing Entering buildings set to private or certain (Narko's Trap as an example) military bases. During the day many NPCs are more forgiving and will ask you to leave a few times before you are guilty of trespassing. 4 hours 2 hours c.100
Looting Taking items from unconscious person. 20 hours 10 hours c.500
Assault Attacking NPCs or defending self against NPCs when attacked from the faction. Such as not leaving a noble house during the day, when attacked you will receive an assault bounty even if your character(s) are on block/passive. 20 hours 10 hours c.500
Burglary Picking locks of containers/buildings you do not own. 40 hours 20 hours c.1,000
Theft Taking NPC owned (Red) items off ground. Looting bodies. 100 hours 50 hours c.2,500
Escaping Prison Leaving your cage before you finish serving your time. 100 hours 50 hours c.2,500
Terrorism Attacking people with Diplomatic Statuses.

Freeing slaves and other criminals inside cages (including unlocking own shackle) Kidnapping slaves

200 hours 100 hours c.5,000
Kidnapping Caught kidnapping an NPC. This charge will also be applied each time you are caught stealing clothing/weapons the kidnapped NPC is wearing. 200 hours 100 hours c.5,000
Refusing Bag Check When prompted to show your bag, refuse/attack the guard. 160 hours 80 hours c.4,000 (UC)
Uniform Theft Stealing an uniform, then get caught wearing it. 200 hours 100 hours c.5,000
Slavery Only applicable in territory of factions that aren't pro-slavery, only seen by NPCs capable of enslaving people.

Applies when the character is seen enslaving their own faction members.

Crop Theft Only seen by Raptors so far.

The time it takes for a bounty to expire is 4 hours for every c.100 that a crime adds to your total. If you are jailed (Turning yourself in or being captured) the sentence is half of that time.

Loading Screen Tips
The bigger your bounty, the more people are going to recognize you. Police and bounty hunters are the sharpest spotters, while civilians will only recognize the most infamous of criminals.


Notorious[]

A bounty over c.10,000 makes a unit notorious, which means that it never expires on its own. If jailed, a character's bounty at or below c.25,000 can still expire. For bounties over that amount, they can only be removed by bailing the character out by talking to the Police Chief/Inquisitor/Hundred Guardian (depending on the faction whom you are bailing out from) directly with another character. The cost to bail out a character is double their bounty value. If a Police Chief happens to get close enough for you to speak to them, you can pay off your own bounty from inside of a cage as well.

Bounties for enemies' heads[]

Loading Screen Tips
If someone has a bounty on their head you can freely attack them without any trouble from the police.


All Bounties (and Meitou Weapons) on the map

All Bounties (and Meitou Weapons) on the map

Bounties are prices put out on the heads of characters such as Sand Ninja Jounin, Dust Bandit Bosses, Grass Pirates and more. Even the player themselves if they commit crimes. Note that not all leaders necessarily have a bounty on them, but you can find out which ones do by clicking on them and mousing over the bounty shown on the top of the bottom left UI.

To collect a bounty, deliver their body to the Police and they will pay you as you release it. It should be noted that the character must be delivered alive for the full bounty, as turning in a corpse will only grant you half of the reward. It does not matter who killed or incapacitated the character, as long as you are the one that turns it in. Bringing in bounties also increases the reputation of the faction it has been handed in to, if handed over through dialogue. The reputation increase is +2 per bounty (+5 for holy nation if you do not ask for payment), no matter how much the bounty was or if it was delivered alive. A few notable bounties such as certain faction leaders or Bugmaster are an exception from that rule and cause much higher relation changes.

Some bounties do not actually require you to hand in a body but instead yield a high value looted item that needs to be sold. These bounties do not give reputation but also don't require hauling someone across the map either. The bounties on Fog Princes and the King Gurgler work like this. Their heads can be sold to any vendor to receive payment. If you are having difficulty finding a shop to sell them you can always go to shops which sell many Skeleton Repair Kits to purchase, sell off the "bounty" item and then resell the kits to other shops in the same town to get your money back.

Finding bounties[]

Wanted Posters can be purchased or looted from Police Stations and Bars. In this wiki, all characters with bounties are organized into the Category Bounty, including characters which only have a small chance of spawning with a bounty.

Named character bounty list[]

Please note that only male humans can turn bounties into The Holy Nation for a relation increase, in such cases, you should probably hire a male recruit nearby to have them turn in the bounty in place of the female/non-human characters, or give the task to some of your other male human characters if you have one. You can still however place a bounty into a cage for just the bounty reward even as a female, or non-human character.

Some relationship improvements won't happen if you're allied with said faction's enemies, such as turning in Bugmaster to Shek Kingdom while allied to The Holy Nation, or turning in Esata to The Holy Nation while allied to United Cities. In some cases, some bounty interactions may be prevented altogether for being allied with their enemies, such as allying with Anti-Slavers prevents talking to Police Chief, and allying with Flotsam Ninjas will cause Inquisitors to attack upon interaction.

Name Reward Location Recipient [Relations Boost] Relations change Weapon

Bugmaster
  • c.100,000 for Shek Kingdom
  • c. 0 for Kral's Chosen
  • c. 100,000 for United Cities
  • c. 100,000 for Rebel Swordsmen
Arach
  • (+70 SK/KC, -80 HN if not allied with TG, ST, UC, HN and accept to gain enemies)
  • (If turning into Kral's Chosen, will not gain bounty reward)
  • (If you deny to gain enemies, you will gain +0 Shek and -10 The Holy Nation)
  • (If allied with any above mentioned faction, will not have relationship boost)
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
Meitou Foreign Sabre

Holy Lord Phoenix
  • c.100,000
  • c.100,000
  • c.0
  • c.100,000
  • c.100,000
Blister Hill
  • +70 Shek Kingdom, -75 The Holy Nation
  • +70 Kral's Chosen, -75 The Holy Nation
  • +75 Flotsam Ninjas, -75 The Holy Nation
  • +75 United Cities, -75 The Holy Nation
  • +75 Rebel Swordsmen, -75 The Holy Nation
Meitou Paladin's Cross

Tinfist
  • c.100,000
  • c.100,000
  • c.0
Spring
  • +75 United Cities, -75 Anti-Slavers, -50 Rebel Farmers.
  • +75 Rebel Swordsmen, -75 Anti-Slavers, -50 Rebel Farmers.
  • +50 The Holy Nation, -75 Anti-Slavers
Martial Arts

Esata The Stone Golem c.50,000 Admag
  • +40 United Cities, -75 Shek Kingdom
  • +40 Rebel Swordsmen, -75 Shek Kingdom
  • +80 The Holy Nation, -75 Shek Kingdom
Meitou Fragment Axe

Savant c.80,000 Skinhouse HQ United Cities
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
Meitou Nodachi

King Gurgler c.60,000 Island Lab
  • Shops (Need to have enough to purchase the head)
Meitou Combat Cleaver

Moll c.50,000 Flotsam Village The Holy Nation +80 The Holy Nation, -75 Flotsam Ninjas 2x Skeleton Smiths Ninja Blade

Gorrillo c.50,000 The Old Prison
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
  • +2 Shek Kingdom
Meitou Exile Plank

Valamon c.50,000 Ark
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
Meitou Longsword

High Inquisitor Seta
  • c.40,000
  • c.40,000
  • c.0
  • c.40,000
  • c.40,000
Stack
  • +70 Shek Kingdom, -75 The Holy Nation if turned into Bayan for SK and KC.
  • +20 SK/KC if turned into Hundred Guardian for SK and KC.
  • +40 Flotsam Ninjas, -40 The Holy Nation
  • +20 United Cities, -50 The Holy Nation
  • +20 Rebel Swordsmen, -50 The Holy Nation
Catun Paladin's Cross

High Inquisitor Valtena
  • c.40,000
  • c.40,000
  • c.0
  • c.40,000
  • c.40,000
Okran's Shield
  • +70 Shek Kingdom, -75 The Holy Nation if turned into Bayan for SK and KC.
  • +20 SK/KC if turned into Hundred Guardian for SK and KC.
  • +40 Flotsam Ninjas, -40 The Holy Nation
  • +20 United Cities, -50 The Holy Nation
  • +20 Rebel Swordsmen, -50 The Holy Nation
Edgewalkers Paladin's Cross

Cannibal Grand Wizard c.40,000 Cannibal Capital
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
  • +2 The Holy Nation (+5 For no payment)
  • +2 Shek Kingdom
Ancient Moon Cleaver

Crab Queen c.40,000 Crab Town
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
Meitou Naginata

Dust King c.35,000 Dust King Tower
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
  • +2 The Holy Nation (+5 for no payment)
  • +2 Shek Kingdom
Skeleton Smiths Ringed Sabre

Psycho c.35,000 Tengu's Vault
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
Martial Arts

Meat Lord c.30,000 First Village (Darkfinger)
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
  • +2 The Holy Nation (+5 for no payment)
  • +2 Shek Kingdom
Ancient Long Cleaver

Luquin c.30,000 Tengu's Vault
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
Martial Arts

Grey c.30,000 Spring
  • +20 United Cities, -50 Anti-Slavers
  • +20 Rebel Swordsmen, -50 Anti-Slavers
  • +2 The Holy Nation (+5 for no payment)
Skeleton Smiths Falling Sun

Jaegar c.30,000 Spring
  • +20 United Cities, -50 Anti-Slavers
  • +20 Rebel Swordsmen, -50 Anti-Slavers
  • +2 The Holy Nation (+5 for no payment)
Skeleton Smiths Naginata Katana

Bo c.30,000 Black Scratch
  • +20 United Cities, -50 Anti-Slavers
  • +20 Rebel Swordsmen, -50 Anti-Slavers
  • +2 The Holy Nation (+5 for no payment)
Ancient Ninja Blade

Yayoi c.30,000 Special Event (Does not exist in game)
  • +2 United Cities
  • +20 Rebel Swordsmen, -50 Anti-Slavers
  • +2 The Holy Nation (+5 for no payment)
2x Skeleton Smiths Ninja Blade

Flying Bull c.30,000 New Kralia Shek Kingdom +2 Shek Kingdom Ancient Bull Horn Axe

Hex c.25,000 Tengu's Vault
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
Martial Arts

Sinklyde c.25,000 Tengu's Vault
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
Martial Arts

Screamy c.20,000 Tengu's Vault
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
Martial Arts

Shade c.20,000 Swamp Ninja Base Shek Kingdom +2 Shek Kingdom Edgewalkers Guardless Katana

Seto c.20,000 Admag The Holy Nation
  • +50 The Holy Nation, -75 Shek Kingdom if not allied with Shek Kingdom.
  • +2 The Holy Nation if allied with Shek Kingdom.
Catun Plank

Mighty Canhead c.20,000 Special Event (Raid)
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
  • +2 The Holy Nation (+5 for no payment)
  • +2 Shek Kingdom
Ancient Moon Cleaver

Boss Simion c.20,000 Fort Simion
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
Edgewalkers Horse Chopper

Buzan c.20,000 Tower Of Ninjas The Holy Nation +2 The Holy Nation (+5 for no payment) 2x Ancient Ninja Blade

Dimak c.20,000 Tower Of Ninjas The Holy Nation +2 The Holy Nation (+5 for no payment) Meitou Ninja Blade

Screamer the False c.20,000 Tower of Abuse
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
  • +2 The Holy Nation (+5 for no payment)
Meitou Heavy Polearm

Ponk c.20,000 Tower of Abuse
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
  • +2 The Holy Nation (+5 for no payment)
Meitou Holed Sabre

The Preacher c.15,000 Cult Village
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
  • +2 The Holy Nation (+5 for no payment)
  • +2 Shek Kingdom
Meitou Moon Cleaver

No-Face c.15,000 Strange Camp (Gut)
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
Skeleton Smiths Longsword

Masterwork Oldworld Bow MkI

Ghost c.10,000 Berserker Village Shek Kingdom +2 Shek Kingdom Ancient Fragment Axe

Blue Eyes c.10,000 Mourn
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
Martial Arts

Gutterhead c.10,000 Old Control Tower
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen

Red Sabre Boss c.10,000 Red Sabre Hideout
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
  • +2 Shek Kingdom
Meitou Horse Chopper

Sand Ninja Oni c.20,000 Cactus Den
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
Catun Ninja Blade

Razor c.10,000 Black Desert City
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
Catun Longsword

Tora the Fearless c.10,000 Exile Camp Shek Kingdom +2 Shek Kingdom Ancient Combat Cleaver

Yabuta of the Sands c.10,000 Tengu's Vault
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
Martial Arts

Ells c.1,000 Sho-Battai
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Rebel Swordsmen
  • +2 The Holy Nation (+5 for no payment)
  • +2 Shek Kingdom
Martial Arts

Queen of the South c.0 Southern Hive
  • +2 The Holy Nation (+5 for no payment)
  • +2 United Cities
  • +2 Shek Kingdom
Meitou Polearm

Emperor Tengu c.0 The Holy Nation

c.0 Anti-Slavers

Heft
  • +80 The Holy Nation, -75 United Cities
  • +50 Anti-Slavers
Meitou Katana

Koin c.0 Heft The Holy Nation +2 The Holy Nation (+5 with pure faith) Ancient Katana

Lord Ohta c.0 Heft The Holy Nation +2 The Holy Nation (+5 with pure faith) Edgewalkers Ringed Sabre

Lady Sanda c.0 Bark The Holy Nation +2 The Holy Nation (+5 with pure faith) Edgewalkers Long Cleaver

Lord Nagata c.0 Sho-Battai The Holy Nation +2 The Holy Nation (+5 with pure faith) Edgewalkers Wakizashi

Lord Inaba c.0 Stoat The Holy Nation +2 The Holy Nation (+5 with pure faith) Edgewalkers Wakizashi

Lord Yoshinaga c.0 Heng The Holy Nation +2 The Holy Nation (+5 with pure faith) Edgewalkers Wakizashi

Lady Tsugi c.0 Brink The Holy Nation +2 The Holy Nation (+5 with pure faith) Edgewalkers Long Cleaver

Lord Shiro c.0 Catun The Holy Nation +2 The Holy Nation (+5 with pure faith) Edgewalkers Nodachi & Eagle's Cross

Lady Merin c.0 Drifter's Last The Holy Nation +2 The Holy Nation (+5 with pure faith) Edgewalkers Naginata

Arc c.0 Mongrel The Holy Nation +2 The Holy Nation (+5 with pure faith) Edgewalkers Ringed Sabre

Mukai the Mountain c.0 Squin The Holy Nation +2 The Holy Nation (+5 with pure faith) Meitou Fragment Axe

Pacifier (Flotsam Ninjas) c.0 Squin The Holy Nation +2 The Holy Nation (+5 with pure faith) Katana

Shek Pacifier c.0 World's End, Waystations (25%) The Holy Nation +2 The Holy Nation (+5 with pure faith) Katana or Wakizashi

UC Pacifier c.0 Flats Lagoon,Waystations (25%) The Holy Nation +2 The Holy Nation (+5 with pure faith) Catun Scrapmaster Nodachi

Holy Pacifier c.0 Shark, Waystations (25%) Shek Kingdom

United Cities

+2 Shek Kingdom

+2 United Cities

Martial Arts

Eyegore c.0 Special Event The Holy Nation

Anti-Slavers (Grey)

  • +25 The Holy Nation, -25 United Cities
  • +25 Anti-Slavers
Meitou Desert Sabre

Longen c.0 Trader's Edge Anti-Slavers (Grey)
  • +50 Anti-Slavers
Meitou Longsword

Kana c.0 Port North Anti-Slavers (Grey)
  • +25 Anti-Slavers
Meitou Wakizashi

Random NPC bounty list[]

Please note that the bounty amount is the minimum amount plus the random fuzz number. While FCS states that the bounty amount fuzz can be a random positive or negative number, it is only ever a random positive number.

Name Min Reward Max Reward Chance Locations Recipient
Cannibal Chief c.10,000 c.10,000 50%
Sand Ninja Jounin c.6,000 c.10,000 100%
Fog Prince c.6,000 c.6,000 100% (Fog Prince Head) Sell to any vendor
Gorillo Bandit c.5,000 c.5,000 3%
Outlaw Swordsman Captain / Rebel Captain / Vigilante Chief c.3,000 c.3,500 100%
Outlaw Heavy / Rebel Fighter c.3,000 c.3,500 10%
Drifter c.2,000 c.4,000 4%
Tech Hunter / Tech Hunter Guard / Tech Hunter Gate Guard c.2,000 c.4,000 4%
Dust Boss c.2,000 c.3,000 25%
Grass Pirates c.2,000 c.3,000 10%
Straw Lieutenant c.2,000 c.3,000 10%
Flotsam Jonin c.2,000 c.3,000 5% Flotsam Village The Holy Nation
Yabuta Chief c.2,000 c.2,500 20% Fort Yabuta
Yabuta Outlaw c.2,000 c.2,500 20%
Smuggler c.2,000 c.2,500 5% Smugglers Bar
Escaped Slave c.2,000 c.2,000 100%
Holy Nation Robot c.2,000 c.2,000 20% The Holy Nation
Ugly Bar Thug c.1,500 c.2,500 4%
Crazy Bar Thug / Traitorous Bar Thug c.1,000 c.1,750 7%
Drunken Bar Thug c.1,000 c.1,750 2%
Territorial Thug c.1,000 c.1,500 5%
Swamper Bar Thug c.1,000 c.1,500 1% Shark
Swamper Non-Gang c.1,000 c.1,500 1%
Outlaw Farmer / Rebel Swordsman c.800 c.1,300 10%
Outlaw Swordsman / Rebel Veteran Swordsman c.800 c.1,300 10%
Bar Thug Drunk / Twitchy Bar Thug c.500 c.750 8%
Flotsam Refugee c.500 c.500 2% Flotsam Village The Holy Nation
Noble Hunter c.0 c.0 0% The Holy Nation

Bugs[]

  • One possible easy way to make a considerable amount of money is to have a particular character repeatedly commit crimes against one of the major factions, such as The Holy Nation, and have a second character carry the first to a prisoner cage owned by said faction. A member of that faction does not have to be present to receive payment for putting a bounty into a cage.
  • The turn-in mechanics can be easily abused for reputation rewards:
    • You can fill all police cages plus one extra to be carried by police chief. Guards will stick hostile to them NPCs into the cages, not just bounties, so kiting some raid into the city will see incapacitated raiders stuck into the cages without your involvement. The next bounty turned in will give you one-time money reward and repeatable reputation reward but won't be taken off your shoulder on account on no slots to be filled with a prisoner. You can simply keep turning in the bounty without anyone moving. The same can be achieved if the police warden has broken left arm as they carry the bounty.
    • With two or more bounties you also have a window of opportunity to repeatedly claim a reward: turn in a bounty #1 to the warden, while he's busy carrying it into the cage, have a character carrying bounty #2 repeatedly talk and turn in the bounty #2 to the warden.
    • There is also no "already turned in by player" check, so player can unlock the cage, pick up the bounty and go turn it again. With high enough stealth, player can stay in a spot that is both close to "lockpick" and "pick-up" range of the cage and "speak to" range of prison warden, then repeatedly unlock the cage → pick up the bounty → wait for "committing crime - lockpicking" to expire → speak with the warden → turn in the prisoner → repeat. Only lockpicking the cage is seen as a crime, not carrying a prisoner (it doesn't count as kidnapping or staging a prison escape), so it's even possible to openly carry away the prisoner after you're done and use him the same way with another faction if he/she has a bounty in numerous factions. If you're busted for lockpicking, you can just jump into the cage yourself and wait out your term served which is usually less than a day for a simple lockpicking.
  • Dead bounty characters are accepted by all faction's police chiefs, but they will throw them outside once they recieve it. One can potentially repeat this with any of the major factions until they ally with them.
  • Sometimes bounties over c.10,000 may disappear off of characters over time.
  • Units may (rarely) spawn without their bounty.

Trivia[]

  • (FCS) Although the description for bounty amount fuzz says that it will "+/- the amount to randomize the bounty" the value will only increase the bounty by up to that amount.
  • (FCS) Units that have a bounty with both the United Cities and Traders Guild will have their bounty doubled as the two factions share bounties. (Sand Ninja Oni is an example of this)