Taking inspiration from the classic idea of the boogeyman, bugbears move with surprising stealth and speed for creatures of their size and build. While their imposing statures tend to see them characterized as brutes – some do end up serving as elite bodyguards or low-level leaders in larger armies – bugbears aren’t naturally wired for a head-on approach. Standing a full seven feet tall and covered in thick, matted fur, bugbears ( according to the Monster Manual) are terrifying ambush predators “born for battle and mayhem.” While they belong to the same category of creature as goblins and hobgoblins, taxonomy is more or less the beginning and end of the similarities between bugbears and their goblinoid kin.
In fact, I’d wager there’s a not-insignificant number of players out there whose first TPK involved that very same bugbear. Given how common it is for the Lost Mines of Phandelver adventure to serve as a lot of people’s introduction to D&D 5e, there are a lot of players out there whose first “boss fight” was against a bugbear.
