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...]