Easily Encouraged Malefactor

Bugbears — a strange offshoot of the goblin evolutionary tree — are long of limb and covered in coarse hair. With wedge-shaped ears and pointed teeth, these creatures stand between 6 and 8 feet tall, a whole head above any other goblinoid species. Despite their formidable build, bugbears are known to be silent skulkers, easily able to sneak in and out of sight with the blink of an eye. However, this quiet nature does not allow for weakness: oftentimes, feeble bugbears are bullied out of their own tribes, forced to live on their own. The bugbear culture is one that compares fragility to worthlessness.

Blood Boiling Feud

Bugbears naturally arose from a tribe of goblins long lost in the wastes of the north. After surviving there for many years, they returned south, reappearing as a race of brutal and massive warriors, almost non-comparable to the fragile, tiny creatures they left as. The initial returning tribe was led by a nasty warmonger known as Kul-hrum, whose legends and power are still spoken of in tales to this day. Because of the length of time since the events happened and a lack of proper documentation, these epics have long been twisted into an almost heroic religiousness, and even to this day, some bugbears worship Kul-hrum and his deeds. Even so, Kul-hrum was not immortal: his first conquest was quickly broken up by the ancient orcish warlord Ogren, who fought without rest for three straight days until the bugbear leader was finally slain. Afterwards, the tribe quickly broke apart into smaller clans, fleeing further south. The survivors of these clans quickly became leaders of smaller goblin packs, grumbling and violently swearing vengeance against the orcs. Today, daring bugbears will still launch attacks on orcish tribes, hoping to achieve retribution for bygone strife.

While there are a select few set of bugbear tribes that manage to get by, most bugbears find success in “adopting” small and hapless goblin packs into their custody. With this strength in numbers, they manage to survive more easily and, oftentimes, they enjoy being the top dog of the group. Despite this small amount of socialization, most bugbears struggle to integrate into society, choosing instead to live either in isolation or with their “adopted” goblin clan. However, there are a meager few that have found success in integrating into more rural areas or even as hired hands for guilds across the world.

Bugbear Names

Bugbear names are often harsher on the tongue, reflecting the grating sounds of the goblin language. However, bugbears are still highly prideful of their names; insulting a bugbear’s name is comparable to laying a thousand curses on a dwarf’s mother.