Bugbear 2
Bugbear 2 — The Encounter
Bogey of the deep wood, the nursery-tale terror made flesh · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Bugbear 2
Mothers of the borderlands hush their children with its name. The bugbear is the thing that waits past the last lit window: a goblinoid grown monstrous, taller than two men kneeling, with skin the green-grey of bog moss and eyes that catch torchlight like a wolf's. Folk of the old hill-villages call it the Bogey, the wood-prowler, the snatcher of the unwary. It hunts by patience and silence-this one wears no blade, for it learned that the strongest grip is its own scarred hands. It drags the careless from their bedrolls before a cry can leave the throat, and what it takes, it takes wholly. Where a tribe of common goblins schemes and squabbles, a bugbear simply arrives, looms in the firelight, and decides who lives. The braids in its beard are knotted with the teeth of those who fled too slowly, and it counts them in the dark as a child counts coins.
Run Bugbear 2 in Sixty Seconds
- It is an ambusher, not a duelist. Do not start it in the open-have it hidden (Stealth +6) so round one is a surprise round and Surprise Mauler lands its prone-burst.
- Kill-priority is the back line. It charges the squishiest caster, grapples with Smashing Fists (escape DC 13), and drags them away from the party's protection.
- When bloodied, it gets meaner, not cautious. A bugbear does not flee while it has prey grabbed-keep stomping the prone target with the bonus +1d6 and shoving attackers off with Cornered Fury.
- Three ways to run it: (1) lone snatcher dragging a victim into the dark; (2) the muscle of a goblin warband; (3) one of several enforcers guarding a hag or ogre flagship.
- No weapon, all hands. Lean on grapple-and-stomp: grab, prone, then punish the prone target every round-it turns one isolated PC into a liability for the whole party.
Bugbear 2
Medium humanoid (goblinoid), chaotic evil
CR 2 · 450 XP · GUIDELINEBrute. A melee weapon deals one extra die of its damage when the bugbear hits with it (included in the attacks below).
Surprise Mauler. Signature. If the bugbear surprises a creature and hits it with a melee attack during the first round of combat, the target takes an extra 7 (2d6) damage and must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. The bugbear has advantage on attack rolls against any creature it has surprised.
Actions
Multiattack. The bugbear makes two attacks: one with its smashing fists and one with a stomping kick, or it makes two fist attacks.
Smashing Fists. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d8+3) bludgeoning damage. On a hit against a Medium or smaller target, the target is grappled (escape DC 13).
Stomping Kick. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (2d4+3) bludgeoning damage, and if the target is prone the attack deals an extra 3 (1d6) damage.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Cornered Fury. Reaction. When a creature the bugbear can see hits it with an attack, the bugbear may snarl and shove, forcing the attacker to make a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be pushed 10 feet away.
A hulking goblinoid the size of a small ogre stands roaring with empty, clawing hands spread wide, its tusked jaw thrown open and beaded braids swinging. Bound in stained hide wraps and a stitched leather kilt, it needs no weapon-its body is the ambush.
Bugbear 2, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINESpotter's Whistle (signature). As a bonus action, the goblin marks a creature within 60 feet it can see. The next ally to attack that creature before the start of the goblin's next turn has advantage on the roll.
Actions
Barbed Net. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 5/15 ft., one target. Hit: a Large or smaller creature is restrained until it escapes (DC 11) or the net is destroyed (AC 10, 5 slashing damage).
Reactions
Nimble Escape. Reaction. When an enemy ends its turn within 5 feet, the goblin may Disengage and move up to half its speed.
A wiry goblin trapper that runs ahead of the bugbear, fouling the ground with nets and snares so its master's prey has nowhere to bolt.
Guideline numbers — formula-tuned and read from the miniature's design, not yet table-proven. Tell us how it ran in the comments.
How It Fights — by Tier
Same creature, scaled threat. The traits never change; only the numbers move.
Open from hiding-Stealth +6 means it should start the fight surprised, triggering Surprise Mauler for a prone burst on the squishiest PC. Once in melee it grabs and holds a target with Smashing Fists, then stomps anyone already prone. Pair it with a goblin pack or a bigger ogre-class threat; it is the ambusher, not the centerpiece.
Run it as an elite enforcer beside minions: it opens with a surprise grapple-shove on the back-line caster, drags them out of formation, and pins them while lesser foes swarm. Kill-priority for the party is freeing the grappled PC. Pairs best with several weaker goblinoids or a hag handler giving it orders.
A lair-dwelling pack-tyrant: keep it amid traps, snare-goblins, and dim cover so its ambush and Cornered Fury shine. Lead with a surprise round on the weakest defender, grapple-and-isolate, then let minions converge. This is a heavy add-on-pair it with a bigger flagship threat (a giant or a hag coven), never as a lone boss.
Put Bugbear 2 on the table
Download the presupported STL and run the fight tonight — the model, and the encounter that comes with it.
Get the STL on MyMiniFactory →Clay Cyanide Companion Rules v1
How a bound creature acts
- A companion acts on its owner's initiative, immediately after the owner.
- It uses the Companion block above — roughly ×0.6 HP and damage, no recharge abilities, and at most one reaction trait.
- It moves freely; it takes its Action only while its owner is conscious.
- At 0 HP a companion is broken, not dead — restored on a long rest unless your table rules otherwise.
Original Clay Cyanide material © Clay Cyanide LLC — explicitly not the non-SRD official sidekick rules.
Questions, Asked at the Table
What CR is Bugbear 2?
Its home tier is CR 2 (450 XP)-a Tier 1 brute built to ambush parties of levels 1-4. Scaled stat blocks are provided for Tier 2 (levels 5-10) and Tier 3 (levels 11-15) so it stays a credible enforcer at higher tables.
Can Bugbear 2 be a companion or ally?
Yes-as a brute it makes a fearsome hireling or bound muscle for an evil patron, though its chaotic streak means it follows strength, not friendship. The included Snare-Goblin shows the flip side: a trapper ally that sets up the bugbear's ambush kills.
Is it a solo boss?
No. With a single Multiattack and no legendary actions, a four-PC party out-acts it quickly. Run it as a high-impact ambusher or warband enforcer alongside minions or a bigger flagship threat-that is where it terrifies.
Tell Us How It Ran
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 ("SRD 5.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
Clay Cyanide Miniatures is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC. This content is compatible with the fifth edition of the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game. Companion rules, lore, names, and original mechanics © Clay Cyanide LLC.
Technical Specifications
32mm, 75mm
STL, Pre-supported STL
Standard or ABS-like resin, 0.05mm layer height
Yes — ready to print, optimized supports included
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