Homebrew Ursine [Beast World] Species Details

Bears never forget a face, or a good meal, or a bad one. In fact, they don’t forget just about anything. Divinity has blessed ursines with perfect memories, which shapes their common culture in every homeland. They’re united by a love of history and are the Beast World’s most trusted historians.

Like the animals they come from, an ursine’s body is equipped to thrive in freezing conditions. Their pristine written history puts the first willful ursines in the remote peaks of the far north, and the species is still most common in Oria. Their thick bodies turn away the biting chill of Oric winters, and also afford them extra protection from the dangers of delving. Bears don’t fear a fight, they come self-assured they will be the last ones standing.

The spirit of competition is the bedrock of their Oric tradition, spread through history to burn in the ursine hearts of every homeland. Headstrong to the last, a bear will never let you
forget how tough they are. They take pride in their achievements and revel in victories that bring honor to their family name. Every triumph is a chance to bring a trophy home to one’s parents and soak in the praise. Many bears have a braggadocious streak, but the drive to climb the highest mountains in life also makes them valuable and motivating friends.

They love competition and sport; every homeland’s popular athletic games are a sure place to spot its ursines. Among friends, every open field is a potential race and every battle is a contest to see who can clobber the most foes. A good-natured ursine sees these contests as a way to bond with others through mutual self-improvement. A cruel one lords their victories over their lessers.

Ursines’ ancestral roots are entangled with Oria’s, and in every homeland, family is core to the way a bear sees themselves. An ursine parent rarely hesitates to name their favorite child, and sibling rivalries ignite between cubs and burn throughout a bear’s life.

Ursines race into the waiting mouth of the Dungeon just to prove they can. Siblings and cousins leave together to join crews, and the corner of every delver bar has two bears arguing over whose scars are more impressive.

Bears are bulky, but their stature varies greatly between 5’2” and 7’2” feet tall.

Ursine [Beast World] Traits

Racial Traits

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution score increases by 2 and your Intelligence score increases by 1.

Eidetic Memory

Bears have uncanny memories that trap and store every detail. You can accurately recall anything you have seen or heard. Additionally, when you make a Strength or Dexterity saving throw against a creature’s nonmagical ability, you have advantage on saving throws against future uses of that ability by the same creature.

Mnemonic Mind.

When a creature you can see within 60 feet of you casts a spell that’s on your spell list, you can use your reaction to commit it to memory. You can visit an arcane library or university within the next 7 days to research the memory and learn to cast the spell. Doing so requires 8 hours of research per level of the spell. If you are adding the spell to a spellbook, you must pay double the cost of copying it from a scroll.

When you finish the research, make an Intelligence (Arcana) check with a DC equal to 10 + the spell’s level. If you succeed on the check, you add the spell to your spells known or copy it into your spellbook as if you had access to a scroll.

If you use this trait to add a spell to your spells known, any previous spells added this way are lost.

Toughen Up.

The endurance of your progenitors runs in your blood, giving you the ability to steel yourself in a fight. When you roll initiative, you can also spend a number of Hit Dice up to half your level, rounded down (minimum 1). When you spend Hit Dice this way, you gain a number of temporary hit points equal to the total rolled, without adding your Constitution modifier. These temporary hit points last 10 minutes.

Homeland Traits

Select a homeland.