Awakened Owlbear

SNARL IS WELL AWARE OF THE PEOPLE STARING AT him as he enters the Drowsy Wizard. It used to bother him, a long time ago, but he's gotten used to the fearful glances exchanged when present in polite society. A local guard reaches for his spear and stands up to protect the tavern, but the veteran sitting next to him stops him with a hand wave. The two exchange a nod, and Snarl orders his drink. The bartender is shocked, not necessarily at the order, but from the fact that it came from the beak of an owlbear.

Owlbears are not an abnormal sight in the forests and plains of the Forgotten Realms; a sign of danger, but a common one nonetheless. Less common, are the ones that wear clothes and speak in mortal tounges. These half-owl, half-bear creatures are normally dangerous predators, but some circumanstances can lead to the creation of one with sentience. These creatures are extremely rare, and are treated as regular animals first, people second. As such, they often steer clear of cities and towns, instead sticking to secluded forests. If they do dare to venture into populated spaces, it is almost never by themselves. They may be animals, but they are not stupid.

Unwanted Sentience

Owlbears are staples of the forests in the Forgotten Realms. They are fierce hunters, both feared and reveared by the cultures surrounding them. They are oftened worshipped, seen as peak forces of nature, or hunted for sport by fletchling adventurers. Despite their prevelance in many cultures around the world, however, it is important to note that they are not particularly magical. In a world teeming with the arcane, owlbears are simply powerful predators, relying soley on animilstic instinct and a profound knowledge of their surroundings. This makes the existance of awakened owlbears something soley reliant on outside influence.

Awakened Owlbear Origins

Roll	Origin
1	You were the companion to a powerful adventurer. Once they were of a suitable level, they awakened you to sentience. You've learned all you know from them.
2	You innocently ate a small rodent one day, not knowing it was teeming with strange magic. After an intense fever, you awakened to sentience.
3	You were captured against your will by a wizard, who used you as an expirement.
4	You were hit with a spell in combat with a mage which caused you to go unconcious and wake up with newfound sentience.
5	You were bred to be smarter than your peers. Most of your life has been inside of a laboratory.
6	You were born awakened. Growing up, you realized you were able to think much differently from your companions and eventually even master speech. You do not know how this happened.

Animal at Heart

When creating your owlbear, it is important to remember that you will be playing an animal, and will be often treated like one. Towns and villages will most likely try to stop you from coming in, and people will often be distrusting of you. Speaking to them may help your case, especially if they understand magic, but this is still something to be wary of. It is important to note, however, that many powerful druids and rangers have been known to tame owlbears in the past, so if you are travelling with one, you might have an easier time.

Due to your heightened intelligence, you may also have a hard time connecting to your owlbear peers. Perhaps they can sense your higher intellect, and may even take it as a threat. Or maybe your character resents their kin for their animalistic instincts. Think about how your character views others of its species.

Finally, think about your owlbear's relationship to the outside world. How does your character feel about being stuck between these two drastically different cultures? Do you resent the outside world for stripping you of your animalistic instincts? Do you try to hide those instincts in yourself to better fit in with society? Think about what kind of relationship your owlbear has with nature vs. nurture, and if this struggle is important to them or not.

Art Credit: Ben Wootten

Owlbear Names

Due to the rarity of awakened owlbears, they do not have a society, much less a structered naming convention. Typically, they are named in two major ways: either by whoever awakened them or by themselves upon awakening, usually after something they immediatley see or do. As such, there are no major difference in male and female owlbear names. Owlbear Names: Argh, Bean, Beetle, Claw, Charlie, Ellie, Hide, Henry, Snarl, Strike, Trinket, Vole

Owlbear Traits

Your owlbear has the following racial traits.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Age. Owlbears mature at 3 and can live up to 20 years old. Alignment. Owlbears are, in their natural state, simply animals who go about their day to day life. An awakened owlbear sticks to this idea of simplicity, and as such they tend towards neutral alignments.
Size. Owlbears, when standing at their full height, can reach from 7 to 8 feet tall, and weigh 300 to 400 lbs. Your size is medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 40 feet.
Creature Type. Your creature type is monstrosity.
Powerful Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.
Darkvision. Designed for life in dense forests, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. 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.
Animal Instinct. You gain proficiency in either the Survival or Nature skill.
Keen Sight and Smell. You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight or smell.
Four Legged. Owlbears can either walk on four legs or two. Four legs is your default mode of travel and while you walk on all four legs you cannot carry items that require use of your hands. You can switch to standing on your hind legs as an action or by using half your movement. While you are standing in such a way, your normal movement speed is halved.
Natural Weapons. Your talons count as melee weapons, and do 1d4 piercing damage.
Hide Defense. You can use your Constitution modifier instead of your Dexterity modifier when calculating AC for light and medium armor.
Bad Rap. As an apex predator, you naturally scare off most regular folk. You have advantage on Charisma (Intimidation) checks made against medium or smaller sized creatures.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common, and can communicate with other owlbears, whether or not they are awakened.



Awakened Owlbear Race by Sabrina Romano (u/general_bignose on reddit, generalbignose on tumblr)
Art Credit: u/mizomei on reddit
Version: 2.1