Hello friends,
I am looking for a consensus on what the racial modifiers for Bugbears are, written as though for a playable race (i.e., ARG format). Reverse math from Bestiary 1 (assuming base ability scores are 3 10s and 3 11s) yields the following:
STANDARD RACIAL TRAITS
Ability Racial Score Traits: +6 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, and -2 Charisma
Type: Bugbears are humanoids with the goblinoid subtype.
Size: Bugbears are Medium creatures and thus have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Base Speed: Bugbears have a base speed of 30 feet.
Languages: Bugbears begin play speaking Common and Goblin. Bonus languages for high intelligence?
FEATS AND SKILLS
Stalker (Ex): Perception and Stealth are always class skills for bugbears.
Unnamed Trait: Bugbears gain a +4 racial bonus on Intimidate and Stealth checks.
SENSES
Darkvision: Bugbears can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 ft.
Scent (Ex):
Please check my math and make any other comments as relevant. The purpose of this inquiry is to determine a baseline from making hostile NPCs with class levels.
Looks about right. Bugbears also have 1 racial HD. There's a Bugbear Ranger from Pathfinder 1, but Bestiary 1 is probably a better source.
My Self wrote: Looks about right. Bugbears also have 1 racial HD. There's a Bugbear Ranger from Pathfinder 1, but Bestiary 1 is probably a better source. The bugbear ranger in Pathfinder 1 is problematic due to his ability scores: the math doesn't add up properly, using either the Heroic NPC Creation (rebuild with base scores: Str 15, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8) or Monster Advancement rules (adjust Bestiary scores by +4 Str, +2 Dex, +4 Con, +0 Int, +2 Wis, -2 Cha).
The problem with this is that bugbears are not a typically playable race with racial statistics. They do not have to fall under a certain point buy or certain race building rules. Why do dragons have such monumental scores in everything? Why do they get arbitrary bonuses as they get older? Why doesn't my elf get more strength as he gets older?
You're in the realm of houserules. There are no written rules for this.
That being said, I think you have made a reasonable assessment.
According to the reincarnate spell it's +4 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Con. In ARG's race builder (p219) is no entry for that, though - so it's difficult to say what mental scores get which penalty. But -2 Cha could fit. If you want to deal with the race builder, Advanced Strength etc. is likely the way to go.
The difference between +6 Str and +4 Str is probably due to balance reasons, but I thought I'd the reincarnate argument in.
CampinCarl9127 wrote: The problem with this is that bugbears are not a typically playable race with racial statistics. They do not have to fall under a certain point buy or certain race building rules. Why do dragons have such monumental scores in everything? Why do they get arbitrary bonuses as they get older? Why doesn't my elf get more strength as he gets older?
You're in the realm of houserules. There are no written rules for this.
That being said, I think you have made a reasonable assessment.
It may be relevant that I have no desire to make the bugbear into a playable race, so balance is not necessarily an issue; rather, I want to be sure that I follow the rules as written when modifying the bugbear with class levels for producing bad guys. In this thread, I demonstrate an example of an NPC bugbear barbarian that follows the suggested guidelines for NPC gear and treasure value. Stat blocks generated using various methods produce similar results, so this is more an inquiry about correctness than it is an issue for balance.
I think it's a fair assessment. If you want some RAW support, you won't find any. All you can get is people's opinions. Flagged to be moved to houserules.
Okay, thanks friend. Since the resulting stat blocks are so similar (only the Dexterity modifier is meaningfully different), I think I'm pretty safe going with either one. For the sake of sticking with the one that's most RAW-consistent, I'll probably go with the Monster Advancement rules.
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