This article originally appeared in d20 Weekly

Slayers Guide to Bugbears

The Slayers Guide to Bugbears

Written by Sam Witt

Published by Mongoose Publishing

32 b&w pages; $9.95

The Slayers Guides are a series of 32-page sourcebooks designed to take a deeper look at d20 monster races. This book, the seventh in the series, covers bugbears, one of the more interesting yet underused of the humanoid races. Powerfully built and bestial, they make for intimidating warriors, but they are also known for their cunning and stealth. Certainly, they have a far more imposing presence than goblins and hobgoblins, and are more appealing than the plodding ogres.

I have been less than impressed with some of the earlier releases in this series. Some of the Slayers Guides were marred by unimpressive content that really didn't tell us anything new. In many cases, it felt like Mongoose Publishing was afraid to put their own stamp on these races, restricting themselves to a rather narrow interpretation as defined by the MM. Slayers Guide to Bugbears is in some respects an improvement, marking it as one of the better outings in this series, though it still shows some of the same troubling elements that have plagued all of its predecessors. Mongoose Publishing has yet to truly realize the full potential of these books.

This book is graced with a decent cover and excellent interior illustrations. Unfortunately, I found the artwork did little to complement the text. All too often, the obvious talents of the artists were wasted on pieces that simply depicted bugbears in a variety of . . .

This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.



Article publication date: July 31, 2002

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