Bugbears as PCs balanced??

[tomBitonti]

My 2cents:

If a PC is too much different, that right there is a problem. The PC could be the squeekly wheel too often in the game.

On the other hand, trying to fit an unusual race seems to be a good GM (and player) creativity challange. Anything from "son of a retired gladiator, who has a mark of dispensation from the king" to "assigned warrior, tribute of the FarEast tribe, sent to prove the valor of the FarEast tribe to cement an alliance of mutual defense." All sorts of possibilities spring to mind.

In addition: One problem with creating social problems for a Bugbear PC is that this might not fit the tenor of the game as compared to other characters. Why shouldn't a half-elf PC not occasionally run into the same issues with hostile townfolk? Why shouldn't any social outsider or member of a lower class not have huge problems when travelling? If Bugbears have problems (that could be argued to be signs of racism, sexism, or nationalism), why would that not be prevelant overall?

 

[Kaelkatar]

It all depends on the world, and while there can easily be worlds where bugbears have been allies for eons while the abomination of a half-elf is a threat to society, the typical fantasy world views it the other way around.

 

[Ginnel]

Say fine, then say he's going to use the human write up for stats and racials.

Then you will be able to see if its for story reasons or simply for a mechanical advantage.

If player says Ok I'm playing a bugbear with human stats go for it if he says wah wah wah but thats not a bugbear suggest he might want to rethink his Character concept and see if it will fit in with another race as your only using PHB races.

 

[zero skill LPB]

The party I'm running through Thunderspire Labyrinth has a Bugbear Ranger. What's more, said Ranger took Sneak of Shadows to have a Sneak Attack for use at his discretion. What's more-more, I let him start with a Bag of Holding to go along with his Quick Draw feat (thereby expanding his potential weapon selection in any given situation). And I think it's gonna work out fine. Why?

Hunter's Quarry: minor action to fire off, tactical position relevant
Predatory Eye: minor action to fire off, requires combat advantage
Sneak Attack: constrained weapon list, requires combat advantage
Oversized Weapon: bumps damage die one tick on the track

If he has the actions to spend and the opportunity to spend 'em, great! It's entertaining to see a murder machine do it's thing.

He's a monster. NPCs react to him appropriately. Everyone at the table is having a great time with that too.

The Bugbear Ranger named 'Buttercup' has earned checkmarks in every win column 'round these parts.

-----

That said, my opinion is skewed towards acceptance since the party kinda lucked out in that they're themed in such a way as to blend with the story/backdrop rather nicely.

When the party was originally being put together they knew next to nothing of the backdrop or the story arc. I let them go nuts with the MM playable races and ended up with a Drow Warlord, Bugbear Ranger, Shadar-Kai Wizard, Tiefling Warlock and a Dwarf Fighter. They all designed their PCs to be trained in Stealth -- the non-Rangers all juggled stats to take Warrior of the Wild. They're a bunch of mercs that specialize in scouting missions and ambushes. And, coincidentally, blend pretty dang well in the Seven Pillared Hall.

 

[Regicide]

A player might also want to play a 30th level demigod in a 1st level game and WANT to play it BECAUSE of the consequences. You wouldn't allow that, would you?

A 30th level in a party of 1sts ruins the games for the other players, a kill-on-sight race ruins it only for the player doing the race. Completely different. I'd have no problem if someone brought a bugbear PC into my campaign. The character would almost be guaranteed to be dead before the end of the first session, but thats their choice.

 

[Wolfwood2]

A 30th level in a party of 1sts ruins the games for the other players, a kill-on-sight race ruins it only for the player doing the race. Completely different. I'd have no problem if someone brought a bugbear PC into my campaign. The character would almost be guaranteed to be dead before the end of the first session, but thats their choice.

The players are a group who want each other to have fun and play the game as a cooperative unit. The measure of success is whether they all had a good time at the end of the day. If you allow a bugbear PC and then kill him off by the end of the session, the only thing you've accomplished is to waste both the time of the player of the bugbear and the time of all the other players.

 

[deleteme123456]

There's a lot to be said for having +2 to your two most important stats (Brutal Rogue). And predatory eye isn't going to wow anyone with its brokenness, so I didn't have a problem with any of that. But since some campaigns rely heavily on Goblin = bad, I worked with the PC and we decided he was like a shifter with a goblin heritage, so he looks different, but he's not frightening (no more than a tiefling would be, if even that), and he's not really a true member of the goblin family, so enemy goblins aren't really going to treat him like one of the family or anything, and there's no way he could possibly pass for one without an extensive disguise either. He wrote the backstory well enough to explain where he came from and what he's doing now, so we were all happy with it.