Save or Die Podcast Adventure #15: Bugbear!
Join Vince, Glen and Julie as they bring you only the best in Classic D&D this week. First up on the table is co-operation amongst players in and out of the game and with the DM.. Then hunt down the dangerous Bugbear ending with a review of Adventures at the Rainbow lodge by Barrataria Games http://barrataria.com/ or Amazon
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Thanks to all for the review! It’s especially nice when reviewers have read the material they’re reviewing, and I am not kidding when I say I wish that were always the case.
I’ve sent a more detailed reply via email, but wanted to note here for any passerby that the module is available for free download at my website. I didn’t hear that in the podcast, and if I missed it I apologize.
While I try not to allow real world folklore ruin my enjoyment of games (the two, especially TSR products, really don’t mix well at all) as a student of anthropology, philology, and comparative mythology I’ve found very interesting sources regarding the origins of the word ‘bugbear’ and other related ‘bogey’ words in Dr. Marina Warner’s book “No Go the Bogeyman”
A small room filled with gold and jewels – and a red dragon?
That still gets me.
How small of a room? How big of a dragon? Why am I even asking this?
Anyway – I’d like to point out the wacky illustration of the bugbear in Supplement I Greyhawk. On page 67 is a creature that is a hairy humanoid with a head resembling some kind a jack o’ lantern. This would lead me to believe the “bogeyman” approach posed by DM Julie.
As for using bugbears, here are a few things I’ve done:
1. Bugbear shaman: Low-level priest of a goblin tribe worshiping the god of bugbears.
2. Bugbear bushwhacker: Taking advantage of their implied stealth, I often utilize bugbears as bandit-types and ambushers.
3. Pseudo-spriggans: I had a tribe of goblins that had the ability to spontaneously transform into larger and more savage versions of themselves – bugbears. Much like lycanthropes…were-goblins.
4. Werebears: The only non-human species able to contract lycanthropy, bugbears can become werebears.