Uncanny Theives. Bark Boggles are the remnants of a tribe of halflings whose obsessively acquisitive nature twisted them into the creatures they are today. As such they have developed an uncanny ability to always know what someone's most treasured possession is.
Innocuous Appearance. Bark Boggles gain advantage on stealth checks while in a woodland environment due to their natural appearance resembling the stump of a fallen tree.
Innate Spellcasting. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 12, +2 to hit with spell attacks). The Bark Boggle can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
1/day each: Invisibility.
Sapping Blow. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., 1 target. Hit: 4 (1d4+2) Bludgeoning damage.
Splinter. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 20/60 ft., 1 target. Hit: 4 (1d4+2) piercing damage.
Description
Bark Boggles are roughly 2 to 3 feet tall when standing erect, and look like the stump of a tree which died from some sort of blight and had it's top snapped off in a storm. They typically have three or four spindly branches protruding from their trunk, two of these are actually their arms while the others often appear to be stubs of an old branch. In fact when they squat down and lie in wait, it is nearly impossible to distinguish them from any normal such tree stump. When moving around they look like strange caricatures of halflings made from partially rotted tree stumps walking about on their outstretched roots.
They are typically encountered in family groups of 3 to 6 waiting by the side of any well traveled road through wooded areas. Most often near convenient places to make camp. They will lie in wait during the day pretending to be part of the background scenery, until a likely group of victims settles in for the evening nearby. Once night has settled in and their victims have largely gone to sleep they will creep in close to the camp and use their invisibility to sneak past any guards and attempt to steal whatever is most highly prized by their victims. Their invisibility does not extend to anything which they are carrying, even if they use that ability after procuring a new prize.
For a merchant this might be their cargo, or they may try to sneak off with the weapons of sleeping caravan guards. A wizard may find their spell book has gone astray, or a priest may have their holy symbol taken. They have an uncanny ability to immediately know what a particular person prizes the most, but not necessarily what is most valuable, and are compulsively drawn to attempt to steal such things. If their thievery is noticed they will usually try to flee with their prizes as quickly as possible and do their utmost to avoid direct conflict. If able to maintain invisibility but unable to shake pursuit (due to a pilfered item remaining visible) they will grudgingly abandon their prizes.
Many halfling communities have cautionary tales told to children about an ancient village which lost sight of the fact that love, joy, and companionship are what is truly most important in life. Often these stories describe a village which became obsessed with creature comforts and resorted to stealing to gain those comforts. That village was eventually cursed by some wizard they'd offended and turned into some twisted parody of their former selves, and thus became bark boggles. (Halfling characters may remember such tales with a successful DC 10 History check.
Bark Boggles were indeed once from a village of perfectly normal stout halflings with obsessively acquisitive tendencies. Whether they were actually cursed or simply evolved into bark boggles due to some strange magic in their original home is unknown.
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