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PT4 - The Alphabear (VQ)
PT4 - The Alphabear (VQ)
Encounter Difficulty
“The Alphabear” is balanced as a medium difficulty
encounter for adventurers of 3rd level.
Monsters/NPC’s: 1 Owlbear.
Encounter Hooks:
• The adventurers are asked by the locals to hunt down the
owlbears in the nearby woods.
• A local druid wishes to discover why the owlbears • Heal the wounded Alphabear, making it friendly. At the
have become increasingly aggressive and sends the Game Master’s discretion the owlbear will then follow the
adventurers to investigate. adventurers out of the glade, allowing the other owlbears
• The path to the adventurers’ next objective runs through to move back into the territory.
the forest around Ursibis Glade and they discover signs
someone has been attacked nearby. Note: If the owlbear accompanies the adventurers and you
find this unbalances future encounters, look to the
“Increasing the Challenge” section to help balance
Encounter Hooks for The Verdant Queen: things out. If adding the owlbear negatively impacts
• The adventurers encounter the rockfall after leaving the your game consider this potential resolution: Have
city of Chivesse. the Alphabear encounter a lone, injured cub during
the adventurers’ travels. The Alphabear takes the
• The adventurers are asked by a local resident to look into young cub under its wing and nests in a nearby cave,
the recent attacks. The resident fears they are somehow leaving the adventurers after gifting them with one
connected to the Southern Terror. of its feathers to remember it by.
Alphabear
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Potential Actions/Skill Checks Random Treasure Table (owlbear cave)
The cave has one of the following, determined by rolling a d10
Climb up the slippery, naturally formed, stone steps.
DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check. (Map: 1) 1 13 gp spilling from a torn cloth sack
bears the scars and open wounds of many battles, and its • For a truly uncanny encounter, give the Alphabear
one good eye roils as it rushes toward you, the wounded enhanced statistics, flight, a swim speed, or the effects
of the enhance ability spell to make it stand out as a
creature letting out a horrid sound as blood drips upon the significantly more powerful foe than a normal owlbear
stone behind it. while increasing the CR of the encounter.
The Alphabear bursts from its cave when anyone steps Encounter Tie-Ins:
onto the stone bridge or ascends the cliff face outside of its
cave. The Alphabear first attempts to push any intruder off After your group has resolved the encounter, consider using
the cliff face or into the waterfall. If this is unsuccessful the the following to build off of this encounter:
owlbear begins attacking wildly at the nearest opponent.
• A pack of gnolls caused the recent rockfall in an attempt
to entrap the owlbears and hunt them, and recent
Potential Actions/Skill Checks rumblings indicate the gnolls have caused another
rockfall for an unknown purpose…
Heal the owlbear. Requires a successful DC 20 Wisdom
(Animal Handling) check followed by a successful DC 20 • A troubled druid approaches the adventurers, informing
Wisdom (Medicine) check. them their recent actions have disturbed the balance of
the forest and they must venture to a holy well within the
Clear the rocks. An adventurer can take an action to woods to set things right.
clear away a section of rock by succeeding on a DC 15
Strength check. • The owlbear cave could be more than a small chamber,
and a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check could
reveal a hidden path leading deeper into the earth.
Alphabear
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Owlbear Keen Sight and Smell. The owlbear has advantage on
Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight or smell.
Large monstrosity, unaligned
Actions
Armor Class 13 (Natural Armor)
Hit Points 59 (7d10+21) Multiattack. The owlbear makes two attacks: one with its
Speed 40 ft. beak and one with its claws.
Beak. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA creature. Hit: (1d10 + 5) piercing damage.
20 (+5) 12 (+1) 17 (+3) 3 (-4) 12 (+1) 7 (-2)
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one
Skills Perception +3 target. Hit: (2d8 + 5) slashing damage.
Senses Darkvision 60 Ft., passive Perception 13
Challenge 3 (700 XP)
0 5 10 15 20
feet
The Owlbear is used under Open Game License v1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, LLC.
Alphabear
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