Bugbear 5e: The Monster Stat Blocks, Ambush Math and the 2024 Kidnappers

This page is the bugbear monster, the one a DM puts in a goblin warren, not the bugbear player species. The 2014 bugbear is a CR 1 Medium Humanoid with AC 16, 27 hit points and Stealth +6, built for one thing: a first hit from the dark that deals 18 damage on average (a morningstar plus its Surprise Attack bonus). The 2024 rules replace it with two Fey stat blocks, the CR 1 Bugbear Warrior and the CR 3 Bugbear Stalker, which drop the surprise damage and instead grab people with 10-foot reach and drag them away at full speed.

Table of Contents

• •Bugbear Stat Block (2014)
• •The 2024 Bugbears: Warrior and Stalker
• •How Bugbears Fight
• •How Many Bugbears for Your Party?
• •How Players Beat Bugbears
• •Bugbear Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Bugbear Stat Block (2014)

The 2014 bugbear from SRD 5.1. Player rules for bugbear characters aren't in either SRD (they were published in non-SRD books such as Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse), so they aren't covered here.

Two traits turn an average stat line into a killer:

• •Brute adds one extra weapon die to its melee hits. That's why a morningstar, normally 1d8, deals 2d8 + 2 (11 average), and a javelin swung in melee deals 2d6 + 2 (9) but only 1d6 + 2 (5) when thrown.
• •Surprise Attack adds 2d6 (7 average) when the bugbear hits a creature it surprised during the first round. Morningstar plus Surprise Attack is 18 damage, with a ceiling of 30. Most level 1 and 2 characters have fewer hit points than that.

The rest of the block is solid but plain: AC 16 from hide armor and a shield, +4 to hit, speed 30, darkvision 60 feet and a passive Perception of 10.

The 2024 Bugbears: Warrior and Stalker

SRD 5.2.1 splits the bugbear into a rank-and-file Warrior and an elite Stalker. Both are Fey (Goblinoid) now, both have 10-foot reach on their melee attacks, and both share the Abduct trait: they don't spend extra movement to move a creature they're grappling.

What changes at the table:

• •No more alpha strike. The 2024 versions lose Brute and Surprise Attack. Being surprised under 2024 rules only means Disadvantage on Initiative, so the 2024 ambush is about positioning.
• •The fight becomes about grapples. The Warrior's Grab deals 9 damage and grapples a Medium or smaller target. Its Light Hammer then attacks that target with Advantage. The Stalker grapples as a bonus action, then makes two attacks, and its Morningstar also gets Advantage against the creature it holds.
• •Reach makes the grapple stick. A grapple ends if the distance between grappler and target exceeds the grapple's range. With 10-foot reach, a bugbear can hold a target 10 feet away, out of reach of a player's 5-foot sword.
• •Fey, not Humanoid. Hold Person and Charm Person can't target 2024 bugbears. Protection from Evil and Good, which covers Fey, now does.

Use the Warrior as a 1-for-1 swap for the 2014 bugbear (same CR and XP). Use the Stalker as a leader or a solo hunter for a level 3 to 5 party.

How Bugbears Fight

The 2014 ambush

A 2014 bugbear's whole plan is the first round. Under 2014 surprise rules, compare each bugbear's Stealth check to each character's passive Perception. With +6, a bugbear beats a passive Perception of 12 on a 6 or higher, 75% of the time. Any character that doesn't notice it is surprised: no move, no action and no reaction on their first turn.

Put two bugbears where the party has to pass close (a doorway, a stair, a narrow forest path) and pick the target with the lowest AC.

Expected damage includes critical hits. Two bugbears focusing one rogue expect about 23 damage, enough to drop a typical level 2 rogue (around 15 hit points) before it acts. After round 1 the bugbear is just a 27 HP soldier with an 11-damage swing. Good bugbears know this: they ambush, and if the first strike doesn't kill, they pull back into the dark and set up again later.

The 2024 grab and drag

The 2024 bugbears play as kidnappers.

Bugbear Warrior, turn 1: Grab (+4, reach 10 ft.) for 9 bludgeoning damage, and the target is Grappled (escape DC 12). Turn 2: Light Hammer with Advantage against the grappled target for another 9, or walk away. Thanks to Abduct the Warrior moves its full 30 feet while dragging the victim, so it can pull a character out of the light, into a side passage or off a ledge.

Bugbear Stalker: Quick Grapple as a bonus action (DC 13 Dexterity save, within 10 feet), then two Morningstar attacks with Advantage against the grappled target.

A character with Dexterity +2 and no save proficiency fails the DC 13 Quick Grapple save half the time. Escaping takes their action: a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check against DC 13. That's an action they don't spend attacking, and the Grappled condition also gives them Disadvantage on attacks against anyone other than the Stalker.

Separate the party. Grab the healer, drag them 30 feet into darkness, and let the other bugbears hold the gap. The party has to choose between chasing and fighting what's in front of them.

How Many Bugbears for Your Party?

Encounter budgets for four characters, 2024 rules (SRD 5.2.1). A 2014 bugbear or 2024 Warrior is 200 XP, a Stalker 700 XP.

Under the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (used by our encounter calculator), two bugbears are 400 XP × 1.5 = 600 adjusted XP: Hard for four level 2 characters (600) and Medium for level 3 (where Medium starts at 600). That math ignores Surprise Attack, so treat any 2014 bugbear ambush as one step harder than the calculator says.

Bugbears also fit in mixed goblinoid groups: a 2014 bugbear bossing a handful of goblins, or a Stalker leading hobgoblins on a raid.

How Players Beat Bugbears

• •Beat the stealth. The 2014 bugbear's damage depends on surprise. A scout ahead of the party, a familiar, or a character with high passive Perception takes away the surprise and the 7 extra damage that comes with it. Light helps too: darkness gives bugbears places to hide, and a lit room leaves fewer.
• •Stay out of 10 feet, not 5. Against 2024 bugbears, the usual "stay away from the melee guy" spacing is wrong by 5 feet. Ranged characters should keep 15 feet or more between themselves and a bugbear.
• •Break grapples by moving the victim or dropping the grappler. Damage alone doesn't free anyone. The grapple ends if the bugbear has the Incapacitated condition, or if something moves the target out of its 10-foot range. A shove, Thunderwave (pushes creatures 10 feet on a failed save) or an ally teleporting the victim away all work. Read our grappled condition guide for the full escape rules.
• •Pick the right save. The 2014 bugbear has Wisdom 11 and Charisma 9 and no save proficiencies. The 2024 Stalker is proficient in Constitution and Wisdom saves (+4 and +3), so target its Intelligence (+0), Charisma (+0) or Dexterity (+2) instead.
• •Check the creature type. Against 2014 bugbears, Hold Person works and paralyzes a dangerous ambusher. Against 2024 bugbears (Fey) it can't target them.
• •Rescue fast. Spend movement on the rescue the same round a character is grabbed. A bugbear with Abduct moves its full speed every turn, so a one-round delay can mean a 60-foot chase.

Bugbear Encounter Ideas

The bridge beam. Two bugbears wait above a covered bridge, lying across the rafters. When the party's rear member passes underneath, a 2024 Warrior reaches down 10 feet and grabs them, and the pair start hauling the victim up through a hole in the roof. The rest of the party is inside a 40-foot wooden tunnel with one way out at each end.

The missing lamplighters. Three lamplighters have vanished from the same street this month, always at dusk, always on the stretch where two lamps keep going out. A Bugbear Stalker is taking them into the sewers for a buyer who wants laborers. The party can stake out the street and play bait.

The ransom note. A bugbear band holds a merchant's son for ransom. Their camp is in a sinkhole with one rope ladder down. The bugbears plan to grab whoever climbs down first and hold them as a second hostage. If the party pays, the bugbears keep the deal; if the party attacks, the first victim gets dragged into the cave system. Keeping track of who owes whom after a ransom deal is easier when the session is recorded and summarized for you (Loreify session notes).

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a bugbear in 5e?

The 2014 bugbear is CR 1 (200 XP). In the 2024 rules, the Bugbear Warrior is CR 1 (200 XP) and the Bugbear Stalker is CR 3 (700 XP).

How does the bugbear's Surprise Attack work?

In the 2014 rules, if the bugbear surprises a creature and hits it during the first round of combat, the target takes an extra 7 (2d6) damage. Combined with its morningstar, that's 18 damage on average. The 2024 bugbears don't have this trait.

Are bugbears Fey in 5e?

In the 2024 rules, yes: both the Bugbear Warrior and the Bugbear Stalker are Medium Fey (Goblinoid). The 2014 bugbear is a Medium Humanoid (goblinoid), so Hold Person and Charm Person work on it but not on the 2024 versions.

Does the 2024 bugbear have 10-foot reach?

Yes. The Warrior's Grab and Light Hammer and the Stalker's Javelin and Morningstar all have a reach of 10 feet. The 2014 bugbear has normal 5-foot reach.

Is this the playable bugbear race?

No. This page covers the bugbear monster stat blocks from the System Reference Document. Rules for playing a bugbear character are not part of either SRD.

What's the difference between a bugbear and a goblin?

Both are goblinoids that rely on stealth. A goblin (CR 1/4) has 7 hit points and survives by hiding and running every turn. A bugbear (CR 1) has 27 to 65 hit points depending on the version and wants one big hit or one good grab, then a retreat into the dark.

Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.