BX Monsters A to Z: Bugbear

 Did I say we'd reached the end of the Bs? I spoke too soon, because I somehow missed the Bugbear. They're sneaky, those bugbears.

The English word "bugbear" is considered synonymous with "bugaboo," "bogey," and "bogeyman." In classic D&D, bugbears fit that archetype, being giant hairy goblins with an awkward gait and penchant for stealth. They surprise opponents on a roll of 1-3 on 1d6 (compared to the standard of 1-2.) I picture them being gangly rather than hulking, and enjoying not just attacking by surprise but scaring the hell out of their opponents. They won't just jump out and stick their spears in you, they'll jump out making hideous faces and laughing like unhinged demons, and then stick their spears in you if you don't drop dead on the spot of a heart attack.

Bugbears are definitely the high end of the goblin hierarchy, with a robust 3+1 Hit Dice. Their AC is quite respectable, equal to mail armor, though a clinking coat of mail isn't exactly consistent with their stealth. Perhaps they wear a motley of leather and hides, with rough metal plates sewn on in strategic places where they won't clank against each other? Their damage is given as "2-8 or by weapon +1," and it's mentioned again in the description that they gain a +1 bonus to damage when using weapons due to their strength. That seems to imply that the 2-8 damage is when they're attacking unarmed, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. With most weapons doing 1d6 damage, that means they'd do 2-7 with a weapon, compared to 2-8 without. Honestly, I'd probably just use the 2-8, regardless of what particular mode of attack they might be using. Either way, they're not doing massive amounts of damage, but with a round of surprise, combined with the time it takes to cut down their 14-15 hit points (on average) you're looking at several rounds of pummeling. With a morale of 9, they're not likely to give up easily, either. 

If they have a weakness, it's their movement rate of 90'(30'), a bit slow for humanoids of their stature. A lightly encumbered party would be able to outrun them, but anyone in metal armor is going to scuttle that advantage. If low-level parties don't have a sleep spell or other hard-hitting trick up their sleeves, a roleplayed negotiation or outright bribery may be the best bet for survival. 

If you can get into their lair without getting killed or captured, bugbears have Treasure Type B, which has a chance of being a decent haul. No individual treasure type is given, though, so randomly encountered bugbears are probably going to be very disappointing in the loot department.

One final tidbit of interest: unlike some other humanoids, whose entries specify a leader of higher Hit Dice, no such leader is mentioned for bugbears. This implies, if not a rather anarchic social order, at least greater flexibility. Gygax does place a bugbear chieftain in the Caves of Chaos, but there's nothing in the rules to say this is universal or even common among their kind. 

I have nothing more to say about bugbears. Once again, aside from the damage ambiguity, they're pretty well-designed and fill their niche nicely. 



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