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Message: <blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 5990168" data-attributes="member: 3192">I thought their take on Goblins was very recognizable. That's a good thing as it can be customized per campaign for those who don't want the more default D&D monsters. They are sneaky pests who come in the night to steal your cattle, shred your grain sacks, and kidnap your children. They are the not the best, but the iconic ambushers and part of the reason night time travel is simply more dangerous.Hobgoblins are 1/2 goblins 1/2 human and the write up does a good job demonstrating both sides of the coin. They are highly organized, can run countries, amass armies, attack well as groups, husband creatures, train for specialties for hero warriors and among the best humanoid magic-users / witchdoctors. Their culture however is cruel, mean, and violent. They may not have all the natural abilities of a goblin, but they are bigger and smarter and their organizing of goblins can make their smaller cousins more of a threat. It is not uncommon to find a hobgoblin leading a band of particularly successful goblins. For Bugbears I didn't agree with a lot of the points described. I see them as hobgoblins bred with giantkin or perhaps orcs which have some giant blood in them too. They are big brutes, but as intelligent as a human and sneaky as a goblin. They are quite simply the green berets of the humanoid armies. They are like the Uruk-Hai. They stand at the top of the humanoid Hit Die totals of the AD&D monster ladder just before it goes seriously non-humanoid. They are not Large-size, but are the biggest and tallest in the medium-size span putting even gnolls to shame.They are more organized than any other standard humanoid, work in packs, know more about tactics like tripping, attacking magic items directly, encircling, and much, much more. Bugbears are amongst the best ambushers in the game and could even lead thieves guilds or a branch of the assassin's guild. They are trained in poison use and assassination attacks. They can use any weapon or armor. They can see the PCs use a novel tactic once, remember it, and in short time be prepared to use it for their own. They can track and hunt the PCs for as long as supplies and the environment will support them, even months to years if ordered to do so. They are very capable at hiding and have sneaked bands even into large cities in order to attack behind enemy lines destroying high value targets and enemies. They are a separate goblinoid tribe created specially for their size, ferocity, sneakiness, and intelligence. They may not win you over as conversationalists, but while terse they are no fools. They have great patience and will watch and listen for information which they know can be as dear as any treasure they can hold. Culturally they do not breed, but are bred from other stock. There are no bugbear young and male and female are largely indistinguishable in behavior. Bugbear culture promotes violence and inflicting pain. They are very popular as torturers and headsmen. Bugbears are often one of the gems of a Chaos Army (no matter who put it together, bugbear breeders or not) and they know their pay value too, which is high. They are unwilling to lead other groups believing they are naturally superior to all others and seek to only work alongside other bugbears. They will use others to their advantage however, but have no misgivings of using their goblinoid cousins as shock troops, wasting lives so they can gain tactical advantage, probably from hiding. If one of their bugbear allies or even themselves fall in combat, there is no expectation of being saved. They will be left behind for being unfit and will even take suicidal measures against enemies in such cases. However, fellow bugbears are still judged highly valuable as combatants whether they have been harmed or not. They are naturally the closest ally to other bugbears, so out of combat wounds are treated as by any highly trained warrior. Nor are they so dumb as to fight to the death over nothing. They have very high morale scores, but, like any goblin, will retreat as frequently as desired if environmental or other tactical advantages are lost. They realize combat may require several battles. They will not split their group even if half have fallen to injury unless their quarry is at risk of permanently escaping. Instead they will seek to heal to regain power becoming a full strength band before attacking again.</blockquote>

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