The Alphabear

Encounter Difficulty
“The Alphabear” is balanced as a medium difficulty
encounter for adventurers of 3rd level.

It would be a hard difficulty for adventurers of 2nd level.

It would be an easy difficulty for adventurers of 4th level or above.

Monsters/NPC’s: 1 Owlbear.

Setting the Stage

The local town has been plagued by owlbear attacks which
have become more and more frequent of late. Woodsmen
are afraid to enter the local wood for many have gone
missing. Unbeknownst to the people of the town rockfalls in
the nearby woods have destroyed or blocked the entrances
to many of the owlbears’ caves, and a territorial alpha has
been chasing the other owlbears out of his domain and into
the town.

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
have become increasingly aggressive and sends the
adventurers to investigate.
• The path to the adventurers’ next objective runs through
the forest around Ursibis Glade and they discover signs
someone has been attacked nearby.
Encounter Hooks for The Verdant Queen:
• The adventurers encounter the rockfall after leaving the
city of Chivesse.
• The adventurers are asked by a local resident to look into
the recent attacks. The resident fears they are somehow
connected to the Southern Terror.
• Heal the wounded Alphabear, making it friendly. At the
Game Master’s discretion the owlbear will then follow the
adventurers out of the glade, allowing the other owlbears
to move back into the territory.
Note: If the owlbear accompanies the adventurers and you
find this unbalances future encounters, look to the
“Increasing the Challenge” section to help balance
things out. If adding the owlbear negatively impacts
your game consider this potential resolution: Have
the Alphabear encounter a lone, injured cub during
the adventurers’ travels. The Alphabear takes the
young cub under its wing and nests in a nearby cave,
leaving the adventurers after gifting them with one
of its feathers to remember it by.

Gathering More Information

To learn more about the owlbear attacks, the adventurers
can attempt various skill checks such as talking with locals
or recalling information about the region.
Suggested Skills: Intelligence (Investigation/Nature),
Wisdom (Survival), Charisma

DC 15: You know that there is a clearing nearby known as
Ursibis Glade. Many claim that the area is densely
populated with owlbears, and locals dare not venture there.
DC 20: Recent rumblings near Ursibis Glade indicate
there may have been recent rockslides in the more
mountainous areas surrounding the glade.
Some Ways to Resolve the Encounter:
• Slay the Alphabear.
• Clear the rockfalls, allowing the owlbears to move back
into their old dens.
Ursibis Glade
You press through the dense forest into a clearing. Small
tufts of grass and the occasional tree dot an otherwise
open and mossy glen. A mass of stone and rock sits at the
opposite end of the glade, much of it tumbled from the
nearby cliffs and scattered around the area. A waterfall
roars among the fallen rocks, its churning foam scattering
on the surface of the river formed below. A large stone lies
across the cliffs, forming a sort of natural bridge just in
front of the roaring waterfall. You can see trails of clawed
footprints and torn earth spread throughout the grove.
Once the adventurers enter Ursibis Glade they can
investigate the area for clues as to what has happened.
While they investigate the Alphabear prowls about atop
the fallen rock blocking the entrances to the owlbear caves.
The Alphabear watches the adventurers for a time, before
moving in to attack. The Alphabear attempts to kill the
largest adventurer first, seeing the creature as a challenge
to his dominance.

Alphabear
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 Potential Actions/Skill Checks
Climb up the slippery, naturally formed, stone steps.
DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check. (Map: 1)
Swim across the stream. DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check
Hop from one rock to the other across the stream.
DC 15 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check
Resist being swept downstream if pushed in.
DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check
Scale the 60-foot cliff face.
DC 25 Strength (Athletics) check (Map: 2)
Examine the clearing for clues.
DC 10 Wisdom (Perception or Survival) check: You
can see that the fallen rock seems to have blocked off
several cave entrances about the glen.
DC 15 Wisdom (Perception or Survival) check: You note
massive tracks leading through the glen towards the
fallen rock. Scratches on the stone indicate something
may have clambered up atop the stone.
Alphabear Attack: returning to engage them if they defeat the lesser owlbears.
A massive creature lumbers along the rockfall before you.
It resembles a massive black bear with the curved beak
and glowering eyes of an owl. One of the creature’s eyes
is blind, a great open wound cuts across its face, and
arrow shafts stick out of its back like spines. The creature
bears the scars and open wounds of many battles, and its
one good eye roils as it rushes toward you, the wounded
creature letting out a horrid sound as blood drips upon the
stone behind it.
The Alphabear bursts from its cave when anyone steps
onto the stone bridge or ascends the cliff face outside of its
cave. The Alphabear first attempts to push any intruder off
the cliff face or into the waterfall. If this is unsuccessful the
owlbear begins attacking wildly at the nearest opponent.
Potential Actions/Skill Checks
Heal the owlbear. Requires a successful DC 20 Wisdom
(Animal Handling) check followed by a successful DC 20
Wisdom (Medicine) check.
Clear the rocks. An adventurer can take an action to
clear away a section of rock by succeeding on a DC 15
Strength check.
Loot: The Verdant Queen Tie-In:
The owlbear cave is a small, filthy chamber filled with
the carcasses of the creature’s victims. Searching the
owlbear cave, the adventurers can discover the following
loot at random.
Random Treasure Table (owlbear cave)
The cave has one of the following, determined by rolling a d10
1 13 gp spilling from a torn cloth sack
2 Large black-tipped owlbear feather
3 Bloodied set of traveler’s clothes
4 Small brass statue of a hand, likely a paperweight
5 Worn and lightly damaged saddle
6 Spell scroll (expeditious retreat) (common), bloodstained
7 Fine cloth cloak trimmed with feathers (25 gp)
8 Carved wooden scroll case bearing claw marks (25 gp)
9 Potion of animal friendship (uncommon), the glass
showing signs of cracking
10 Driftglobe (uncommon), wrapped in a filthy rag
Increasing the Challenge:
If the encounter is too low a CR for the adventurers consider
increasing the difficulty in the following ways:
• Add additional owlbears driven forth from their hiding
places by the Alphabear. The Alphabear would drive these
owlbears ahead, into the adventurers, lumbering off before
• Add a pack of gnolls hiding in the cliffs nearby. These
gnolls caused the rockfall that destroyed many of the
owlbear caves in an attempt to ensnare and hunt them
down as part of a ritual to their dark god. They are
attempting to bring the head of the Alphabear back to
their camp and will stop at nothing to slay the beast and
any that interfere with their plans.
• For a truly uncanny encounter, give the Alphabear
enhanced statistics, flight, a swim speed, or the effects
of the enhance ability spell to make it stand out as a
significantly more powerful foe than a normal owlbear
while increasing the CR of the encounter.
Encounter Tie-Ins:
After your group has resolved the encounter, consider using
the following to build off of this encounter:
• A pack of gnolls caused the recent rockfall in an attempt
to entrap the owlbears and hunt them, and recent
rumblings indicate the gnolls have caused another
rockfall for an unknown purpose…
• A troubled druid approaches the adventurers, informing
them their recent actions have disturbed the balance of
the forest and they must venture to a holy well within the
woods to set things right.
• 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.
This chance encounter in Ursibis Glade was not caused by
the Southern Terror but serves as a world-building element
for the GM as the adventurers progress on their way to the
Verdant Queen.
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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