Awakened Owl Bear (5e Race)

Awakened Owl Bear

"As we were walking through the brushes of the Wilds, I saw a hulking mass come towards me. I turned my head, and I saw an Owlbear on two legs if you can believe it! As our traveling party readied their weapons to attack, The Owlbear began waving his arms in front of him as if to say "I mean no harm!" That's when Merl noticed he had a satchel on his back, and called for us to hold our weapons. The Owlbear took the Satchel off and displayed some crude bowls and trinkets along with a small amount of coins. We asked him questions, and he seemed to understand, but said nothing and made gestures in response. We traded some food for some necklaces, then we went on our way." -Merchants report to the King of Neverwinter

Physical Description

by Ben Wooten

Awakened Owlbears have the same resemblance as their ancestral counterpart, the Owlbear. The wizard's spell from their origin story, however, had its side-effect, which slightly shortened the race's size by a minuscule amount (cutting off about 3 to 5 inches from their normal build) when the second generation of Awakened Owlbears were conceived. This small blunder, however, doesn't change their ferocity and aggression, making them perfect fighters within skirmishing situations. Their origin race's reputation for being violent and mindless makes them heavily feared by many.

History

About a hundred years ago within in the Wilds, a down on his luck Wizard tried to create a spell to raise his own intellect. Unfortunately, a mother Owlbear alongside her cubs stumbled into the clearing he had made. In a panic, he cast the unfinished spell, and a bright flash gleamed from his point of origin; the wizard was gone. The Owlbears, however, had become intelligent and self-aware.

The magic had fundamentally altered the beasts and her kin, retaining their intelligence. Over the course of the next century, they formed a tribal society, learned to walk upright, wield simple weapons, and craft crude materials and implements. They learned how to understand common, but have yet to fully become proficient when speaking it.

Society

Their society, like their intellect, is coarse and unrefined. It is entirely centered around surviving the wilderness, and as such, the biggest and strongest amongst the tribe the is usually considered the Chief. They are, however, beginning to learn through the trickles of information they get from the outside world. They aspire to become a great civilization, yet only time will tell if they can learn to build and carve out a kingdom within the Wilds.

Awakened Owlbear Names

Awakened Owlbear are not given names, they earn them. Titles such as "Defender of village", "He who killed the Crocodile", and "He who spilled the soup on the Chief" are common names. Chiefs are invariably named "Chief, protector among us"

Awakened Owlbear Traits

Owlbears in an Awakened state
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score is increased by 2 and your Wisdom is increased by 1.
Age. They mature around 12 and can live until about 50
Alignment. They are a neutral race, following the laws of nature and are neither inherently evil nor good.
Size. Awakened Owlbears stand a little over 7 feet tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Innate Savagry. Your beak and talons are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal piercing or slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Ancestric Physiology. Due to your genealogical roots stemming from Owlbears, you are considered one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift. You are unable to wield light weapons, but you are able to use weapons that are oversized.
Natural Instincts. You are proficient in the Nature skill, and you are considered proficient in Wisdom (Perception) checks that require seeing or smelling due to your keen sight and smell.
Clumsy. Due to the infantile state of this race, you are considered clumsy and are unable to wield weapons you are not proficient with.
Animalistic Understanding. You can understand Owls, Bears, and Owlbears.
Languages. You can understand, and read Common, but have a hard time speaking it proficiently and your long talons make it impossible to write.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
7′ 1''	+2d3	400 lb.	× (2d5) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

5.00

(one vote)

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