Copyright 2011 Wizards of the Coast.

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Boggles have been in the game since 1st Edition, when they appeared on the Monster Manual II. This is their 4e debut.

The Lore

Boggles are mischievous humanoid fey. They’ve been around a very long time, and are actually the common ancestors to both banderhobbs and mundane goblins! They love playing cruel pranks on others, and move from the Feywild to the world every time they find a fey crossing. The world’s mortals are so much more easily fooled than the jaded fey of their home plane!

These creatures are naturally sneaky and have some capacity to bend space. It’s common for a child to complain to their parents about a “bogeyman” who keeps lurking just out of sight and disappears when looked at. Parents dismiss that as a childhood fantasy right up until the boggle strikes. Common pranks include spoiling milk, tying shoelaces together, setting clothes on fire, and all the stuff you might have read in old real-world myths about the Fair Folk. At the most cruel end that does include switching infants for swaddled animals or just plain snatching children away. There are also some adventurer-specific pranks like disassembling armor and hiding the pieces, or swapping brand new or magic weapons for old and rusty replacements.

For all their cruelty, boggles are cowards, preferring to do their spying and sabotage through those mini-portals they can create. They get nervous and anxious when near other people, and this causes them to sweat profusely. Boggle sweat is a very distinctive substance, viscous and slippery like grease. It’s resistant to fire, though. Traces of it are often confirmation that boggles are acting in a location.

Sometimes, stronger or smarter creatures manage to coerce boggles into working for them. Left to their own devices, they associate only with each other.

The Numbers

Boggles are an early-Heroic threat suitable for introducing PCs to the more fairy-tale side of fey opposition. They’re Small Fey Humanoids with ground and climb speeds of 6, and darkvision. They also have Fire Resistance 5 from their weird sweat.

Their signature traits are Dimensional Window, which allows them to make “remote” Thievery checks against creatures up to 10 squares away; and Dimension Hop, a move action that lets them teleport up to 3 squares. Even tough they’re small, boggles have a long melee reach, because they hit you through a tiny portal. All of their individual powers are also based around this ability to create small dimensional windows.

Boggle Sight Stealer

This is a Level 3 Lurker with 37 HP. Its basic attack is a Reach 2 claw, and its favorite move is the Peek-a-Boo Trick a Range 10 attack that targets Reflex. It does no damage, but it lets the boggle pull the target to a space within 2 squares of it and to grab them. The target is blinded until the grab ends, either by the target beating its escape DC of 13, or by the boggle being more than 2 squares away from the target.

While the boggle is grabbing a victim, it can use a Neck Bite on them. This attacks Reflex and deals heavy physical damage, half on a miss. If the victim escapes the grab, the boggle can attack it with Face Rip as a reaction, automatically dealing a bit of physical damage and allowing the boggle to teleport 3 squares.

Sight Stealers work very well against controllers and ranged strikers, particularly if they have buddies that can keep the other PCs away from them.

Blink Tricksters are Level 4 Artillery with 43 HP. They’re the only artillery monster I’ve seen that lacks a ranged attack! Instead, their basic claw has a, well, boggling Reach of 10, and enjoys the increased accuracy usually given to ranged attacks from artillery monsters. This is an interesting implementation because it means they’re not actually weak in melee and need not fear opportunity attacks as much.

In addition to the standard traits discussed above, blink tricksters can use a Double Diversion Trick to attack twice in one action. This recharges when they’re first bloodied. And if they’re damaged by a melee attack, they can dimension hop as a reaction once per encounter.

Boggle Chase Trickster

Chase tricksters are Level 4 Skirmishers with 53 HP. Their claws have a more typical reach of 2, and they have a couple of interesting movement powers.

Foot-Snare Trick is a minor action that can target an enemy flanked by the boggle. It has an automatic effect: if the target moves more than 3 squares on their next turn, they end that movement prone. This won’t do much good against defenders, but it can ruin the plans of mobile strikers.

Chase Trick is a reaction that triggers when the boggle is missed by a melee attack. It can shift up to 3 squares and pull the attacker along with it. This represents the creature tricking the attacker into chasing them, so the pull does provoke opportunity attacks! If the attacker ends this movement without taking damage, they can make a free attack against the boggle. The power recharges when the boggle is first bloodied. It’s only worth using if the boggle has plenty of other buddles hanging out nearby.

Boggle Body Snatcher

This is a Level 5 Controller with 61 HP. It has all standard boggle traits including a Reach 2 claw attack. Its special move is Body Snatch (recharge 4+). It’s a non-damaging attacks that dominates on a hit (save ends)! Until the target saves against this, the boggle is removed from play, and the target gains a +2 bonus to hit and damage. When the effect ends the boggle returns to play within 5 squares of the target.

In other words, this thing works exactly like a Jockey from Left 4 Dead 2, riding the victim and directing their movement. It’s also extra-sweaty: once per round as a minor action it can leave a Boggle Sweat Stain on the ground. Each stain occupies a square and lasts until the end of the encounter. Whenever a non-boggle enters a sweat-stained square, they automatically fall prone.

Final Impressions

Copyright 2011 Wizards of the Coast.

I like these creatures! Their lore gives them a proper fairy-tale monster feel, and their mechanics are flavorful and interesting. My favorite is the Reach 10 melee attack from the blink trickster, with the body snatcher’s sweat stains a close second.