Homebrew Awakened Owlbear Species Details

Physical Description

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 Traits

Owlbears in an Awakened state

Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score is increased by 2 and your Wisdom is increased by 1.

Age

Owlbears mature around 12 and can live until about 50

Alignment

Owlbears are a neutral race, following the laws of nature and are neither inherently evil nor good.

Size

Owlbears stand a little over 7 feet tall. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 40 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.

Beak And Talons

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.

Large Build

Due to your genealogical roots stemming from Owlbears, you are considered one size larger when determining your carrying capacity, the weight you can push, drag, or lift

Animal 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.

Languages

You can speak and read common, and another language of your choice but due to your large talons, you cannot write