Monster - Owl Bears

Ah, the Owlbear.

Its chilling screech has sent shivers down the spine of many an adventurer – voracious, implacable, a maul of Owlbears can ravage remote farmland, depopulate entire dungeons, and yet somehow fail to accumulate anything better than treasure type C.  But then, I guess sheep and miscellaneous goblinoids aren’t known for their wealth.

When I was young and callow (as opposed to old and bitter) I decided that it was silly to presume that all the monsters in the book existed in any given setting.  This seems obvious now, but when I was 15 this was a bit of an epiphany.  In the years following my revelation, I experimented with different “ecologies” – some of which were more successful than others. 

One unsuccessful offering involved an archipelago of island states roughly like the Bronze Age Aegean…except for the alarming frequency with which numbers of huge spiders and giant toads appeared on the wandering monster tables. (I don’t really remember what I was thinking, other than that the basic idea was that the huge spiders replaced wolves and the toads were like tigers or some other big cat – ambush hunters).  That could have been a pretty awesome setting if I’d thought it through in more detail, but as it was it was just off-putting and nightmarish.  (wait...maybe it WAS awesome!)

In one of my more successful ventures, though, I ignored ogres and trolls and in every adventure there was an Owlbear instead.  After a time, it became the campaign schtick, and I developed variants on the Owlbear to the amusement and dismay of my players.  I present a small selection of the more successful strains of this glorious beast (as originally developed for a B/X campaign) for your delectation.

Delicious?  Perhaps not.  But that’s not what they think of adventurers!

(Edit: More exotic variants are available in my later follow-up post here)

	Screech Owlbear	Great Horned Owlbear	Burrowing Owlbear
AC:	5	5	5
HD:	5*	6	3
Move:	120’ (40’)	120’ (40’)	120’ (40’)
Attacks:	2 claws/1 bite	2 claws/1 bite or 1 gore	2 claws/1 bite
Damage:	1-8/1-8/1-8	1-8/1-8/1-8 or 1-10	1-6/1-6/1-6
No. Appearing:	1-4 (1-4)	1-4 (1-4)	2-8 (2-8)
Save As:	Fighter: 3	Fighter: 3	Fighter: 2
Morale:	9	9	9
Treasure Type:	C	C	C
Alignment:	Neutral	Neutral	Neutral
XP Value:	300	275	175

	Electric Owlbear	Drop Owlbear
AC:	5	5
HD:	5*	2
Move:	120’ (40’)	120’ (40’)
Attacks:	2 claws/1 bite	2 claws/1 bite
Damage:	1-8/1-8/1-8	1-6/1-6/1-6
No. Appearing:	1-4 (1-4)	2-8 (2-8)
Save As:	Fighter: 3	Fighter: 2
Morale:	9	9
Treasure Type:	C	C
Alignment:	Neutral	Neutral
XP Value:	300	175

Screech Owlbear: Like its more ordinary cousin, the Common Owlbear, the Screech Owlbear stands 8’ tall and weighs in at 15,000 cns.  Like its cousin, when both claws hit the Screech Owlbear will crush an opponent for 2-16 hp damage.  In appearance, the bear-like body is covered with downy brown feathers as usual, but the owl-like head has a larger than usual beak (with the usual wicked edge), and the owl-like eyes are large, surrounded by black and white rings that initially give it a slightly comical surprised appearance.  Below the beak, half hidden in the feathery ruff, is what appears to be a mass of fleshy wattle, and this is where the Screech Owlbear gets its name: 3 times per day, the Screech Owlbear can inflate this wattle and emit a long, shattering screech.  The special effects of the screech are felt within a cone-shaped region just as for dragon breath – those in the area of effect must save vs dragon breath or be stunned for 1d6 rounds and deafened for 1d6 turns.  Stunned characters cannot act, and are treated as though surprised for purposes of defence.  Deafened characters cannot hear clearly – move silently works automatically against them, and they are surprised twice as often.

Great Horned Owlbear: This variant is much larger than its cousins, standing 10’ tall and having much bulkier shoulders.  In addition, the head is adorned with a pair of wide, wicked horns like those of a bull.  In combat, the Great Horned Owlbear may choose between a “traditional” attack of using claws and bite (if both claws hit, crush for 2-16) or goring.  In addition, if sufficient space is available (at least 10’) it may opt to lower its head and charge, doing double goring damage on a hit.

Burrowing Owlbear: This variety of Owlbear is smaller than others, standing 4-6’ in height, but is nonetheless a potent adversary.  The typical attack is with a pair of slashes from large, mole-like shovel claws followed by a bite.  These creatures are too small to hug in most cases, but if the victim is small (eg Dwarf, Halfling or smaller) two hits with claws will be followed by a hug doing 2-12 hp damage. Unlike the Common Owlbear and its other, larger cousins, who live mainly in small groups (usually a bull alone, a mated bull and cow, or a cow with juveniles) Burrowing Owlbears form larger family groups, with several generations living together.  Further, rather than ranging afield from a central lair, these creatures create intricate burrow networks in which they live, digging with their spade-like claws.  They are very good diggers, and when dungeons or badlands have been infested with a colony the tunnel network may emerge in many places, allowing the Burrowing Owlbears to surround and take down even quite powerful opponents.  Although a group usually doesn’t exceed 8 individuals (plus any eggs being incubated and helpless young) there are rumours (usually dismissed as tall tales) that in truly wild places colonies of a score of the things have occasionally been sighted.  

Electric Owlbear: At first seeming just like the Common Owlbear, observant adventurers will notice key differences: rather than brown, the feathers are mainly black – the blueish iridescent black of ravens – with flecks of white and a lighter blue on the belly, while the claws have a definite coppery tone to them.  The Electric Owlbear attacks just as the Common Owlbear, but in addition to the ordinary claw/claw/bite (and crushing hug) there is a surprising side effect – the Owlbear’s body accumulates charge, and on the first claw hit an additional 2d4 electrical damage will be delivered (save for half) – this is doubled if a hug is delivered in the same round.  The Owlbear recharges in 2d4 rounds.

Drop Owlbear:  Drop Owlbears are small cousins of the Common Owlbear, similar to Burrowing Owlbears.  In fact, they are nearly identical to the Burrowing Owlbear, except that they live exclusively underground and have developed a specialized hunting technique: ambush.  Drop Owlbears are expert climbers, and use this ability to access their burrow entrances, which are always in the ceilings of caves and tunnels.  These burrow entrances are concealed by mats they form out of a combination of their sticky saliva and excavated gravel, and are extremely difficult to detect (treat as secret or concealed doors).  When prey passes underneath, Drop Owlbears will drop from their hidden burrows to surprise their victims (1-4 on 1d6).

[For a follow-up project, I'm tempted to write an adventure featuring the Bearenstein Owlbears...]

Alternatives to Vancian Magic

[ stolen from +Lloyd Neill    ]

See Lloyd’s take here.  You’ll want to look, as I will be referring to the table posted there.

The basic concept:

In a standard “D&D” type fantasy RPG, magic-users “memorize” a limited number of spells which they then cast automatically when they want, but once cast the spells are gone and need to be re-memorized.  Instead, use the cleric “turn undead” table to assign probability of successfully casting a spell – a magic-user can then attempt to cast any spell known, but there is a risk of failure.  On top of this there is a power cost associated with attempting to cast – Lloyd suggests the M-U needs to spend a certain number of hp, based on the level and type of spell, regardless of whether the casting attempt succeeds.

I like the idea.  I like it a lot, actually.  It’s a very interesting take on a way to get away from the “Vancian” magic system inherent in D&D-likes, and I think it’s a better concept than the usual “sorcery” approaches that have been tried in the past.  But I do have a couple of problems with it:

First and foremost is the probability of failure.  At first level, the M-U must roll 9 or better on 2d6 to successfully cast a 1^st level spell.  At first glance, it seems OK – but the cumulative probability of rolling 9, 10, 11 or 12 on 2d6 is only 10/36, or 27.8%. [1] For a first level M-U to succeed at casting a 1^st level spell less than one third of the time seems unnecessarily difficult.  [edit: since I started writing, Lloyd had the same idea as me, and has changed the table to reflect a base target of 7 – this gives a 50/50 chance on 2d6]

The second point that strikes me is the fact a cost in hp will be levied each and every time and this seems like a recipe for rendering M-U an unplayable class. [2] Using Lloyd’s concept as written, on attempting to cast a first level M-U would have to spend 2hp – succeed or fail.  For a D&D-like game, where M-U characters typically have very low starting hp and poor progression this is far too restrictive.  It’s quite conceivable for a first level character to be unable to cast a single spell without dying from the effort.

Now, looking at these issues it’s pretty obvious to me that the problem is an excess of zeal in limiting just how much spell casting is going to be going on.  Basically, two separate “penalties” (hard to do + spell cost) have been applied and that’s what seems to add up to trouble. 

Luckily, this is very easily tweaked for use with D&D-like games.

First, let’s make it easier: I will keep the table as is, but will allow the M-U’s INT bonus to modify the roll – now, the roll is 2d6+[INT bonus]

Next, I think the hp cost for casting needs to be dumped to make it workable – for a bog-standard M-U with only d4  life is already too dangerous without making the one thing that makes the M-U worth it likely to be fatal.  [edit: Lloyd notes that he is considering reducing the hp cost, but I don’t think that will do it – see below for my approach] Some limitation on the actual number of times M-Us can cast spells is probably required, but hp is far too harsh for M-Us, particularly at low levels. 

I see two ways to replace hp cost as a limiting factor, and which direction one goes in depends on your “philosophy of magic” – is it inherent in the caster, or is it a natural force that the caster is simply channelling/harnessing to create an effect?

Inherent power approach

To replace the hp cost, I propose a new stat – let’s call it Magic - which is part and parcel of any magic-using class.  The score begins at a randomly determined level (I propose 3d6), and rises as levels increase (2/level for pure M-U and 1/level for multiclasses).  It will function as a kind of “magical hit points” that perhaps would have other functions as well – to counter other casters, to forge magic items, that sort of thing. [3]

The caster spends these Magic points just as Lloyd suggests, and they return with rest at some set rate, like healing.  This also has the advantage of retaining the standard M-U requirements for rest.

Force of nature approach

The approach I personally prefer would be to think of “magic” as a force or energy inherent in the world, that magical creatures and magic users are able to harness in some way.  To cast a spell, the M-U must work to gather power in one place and craft it into the “shape” desired.  Mechanically, what this might mean is that the character must perform some ritual or sacrifice [4] in order to generate the necessary power. 

Details are obviously not necessary, so a simple roll each round to determine success/failure in generating a set quantity of Magic would suffice.  I think I would start with 2 Magic per level, and require a d20 roll of the character’s Wisdom or lower to succeed.  [5] In the round in which the necessary power is accumulated, the spell may be cast. 

The force of nature approach has some interesting dimensions to it:

- If it’s a matter of accumulation, and each M-U is able to use sheer force of will to concentrate magical energy and shape it, this opens the door to cooperation – multiple casters working together to gather power (multiply the rate of accumulation by the number of casters) and potentially also adding their skill to the casting itself (highest level caster rolls, +1 per lower-level caster assisting)

- Depending on the nature of the game world, it may be thematically appropriate to link rate of magic accumulation to geography – power spots, leys, etc.

- Material components become potentially more significant – properly prepared materials may serve as a source of additional energy, speeding accumulation (or their lack preventing the accumulation of magic of the right “frequency”)

- If magic is a force, like gravity or magnetism, perhaps it can be manipulated in other ways: magic items that serve as a kind of magical “lens” to increase the rate of accumulation – depending on cosmology, these might work only for certain types of spells (or it might be easier to make such things if they work only for certain types of spells)

- Some magic items might function as “power sinks” or batteries for magical energy – something M-Us can carry around as an instant source of power.

For me, the kind of cosmology I usually use in fantasy games lends itself nicely to the force of nature approach, so this is probably the direction I would go in.

I have no idea when I will get a chance to play around with this, but I know I will be thinking about using it for a game in the not too distant future – thanks to Lloyd for the seeds!

###

1. For reference, see this handy-dandy visualization of the probability of getting a particular result in the 2-12 range using 2d6.

2. I should note that I’m not stuck on “game balance” or anything, just fun – and playing a character that usually fails at the one thing it’s supposed to be able to do doesn’t seem like much fun, particularly if the upshot of failure or success is an early grave.

3. If the points are being spent permanently for anything, the rate of improvement is obviously too low as written – perhaps instead the rates could be modified according to INT bonus, or a “magic die” (like a hit die) could be rolled each time the M-U levels up)

4. I’m thinking here of consumed material components, but there may be something here to make things like animal and human sacrifice mechanically significant – particularly in games where “taint” or similar is an issue.

5. Another option would be to make it a saving throw, or to keep the number of magic points generated per round low but make it automatic unless interrupted.

6. A very interesting tweak to this would be to apply concepts of “power spots” or “leys” to the game world, making it possible for the MU to accumulate power more quickly or perhaps more easily under certain circumstances.