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Owlbear Cub is a Beast[note 1] and a potential Camp Follower encountered in the Owlbear Nest with its mother during Act One.
| Owlbear Cub | |||||||||||||
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| Level 1 | |||||||||||||
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| Information | |||||||||||||
| Race | Beast | ||||||||||||
| Hometown | Owlbear Nest | ||||||||||||
| Family | Owlbear (mother) Owlbear Mate (father) Deceased brother | ||||||||||||
| Stats | |||||||||||||
| Size | Small | ||||||||||||
| Type | Beast | ||||||||||||
| Armour Class | 9 | ||||||||||||
| Hit points |
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| Movement speed | 9 m (30 ft) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 20 kg (40 lb) | ||||||||||||
| Initiative | -1 | ||||||||||||
| Ability scores | |||||||||||||
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| Proficiency bonus | +2 | ||||||||||||
| Saving throws |
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| Features | |||||||||||||
 | Can attack nearby creatures in the dark without disadvantage. | ||||||||||||
 | Make a melee attack against an enemy moving out of range. | ||||||||||||
 | Will flee for two turns when badly injured. | ||||||||||||
Recruiting as a camp follower
The Owlbear Cub can be recruited as a pet Camp Follower and will remain in the Campsite after being recruited.
First, the mother Owlbear must be encountered in the Owlbear Nest in the Forest, near the Blighted Village. It does not matter whether the Owlbear mother survives the encounter, but the cub must be spared if it is to become a follower later. The principal scenarios include:
- Party meets Owlbear mother in cut scene, and retreats without combat. After long resting, the party can return to the cave and find the Owlbear mother killed by a Goblin hunting party. The cub will survive and reappear after the next long rest (see below).
- Party meets Owlbear mother in cut scene, fights and kills her. A second cut scene in which the cub begins eating its mother gives the party an opportunity to spare the cub. The cub will survive and reappear after the next long rest (see below).
- Party attacks Owlbear mother from stealth, skipping the initial cut scene. In this case the second cut scene with the cub eating the mother will not be triggered and the cub will keep attacking. To save the cub, the party will need to flee from combat while the cub is still alive, after killing the Owlbear and grabbing any desired loot. If the party disengages while the cub is still alive, it will survive and reappear after the next long rest (see below). Beware that downing the cub, even with non-lethal combat, will NOT spare it for this purpose -- fleeing combat is the only way to preserve it for future story purposes.
If it has been successfully spared in one of the above scenarios, then after long resting the Owlbear Cub can next be found in the Goblin Camp where it can be freed by playing Chicken Chase or by persuading the goblins. The Cub does not seem to appear in the Goblin Camp if you've killed Devout Mezzka before you rest or if you have poisoned the Goblin Camp through the Booze Tub. Should the player have already killed the entire Goblin Camp before encountering the Owlbear, the Owlbear Mother will be killed by a Goblin hunting party and the Cub will show up at your camp after a couple of long rests.
As long as the cub is spared and not stuck in the goblin camp (i.e. the party freed it or cleared the camp before it was captured), the cub will appear at the Campsite one evening. It can be fed, but will get scared by another member of the camp, and run off. It will reappear after another long rest, injured. If healed, it will become friendly and will stay at camp for good.
If the player chooses to call Lump the Enlightened to participate in combat with the Goblin Camp exterior when the cub is present, the Owlbear Cub will become hostile to the three Ogres and by extension the player party. If this happens, the party will likely be locked out of recruiting the cub, as even if you knock him out using nonlethal attacks, he will still disappear after a long rest, and it will be difficult to prevent the ogres from eventually killing him. A similar situation also occurs if the party recruits Brynna and Andrick for the fight with the Owlbear as they will make the cub hostile even after its mothers death: in this case downing Brynna and Andrick and then fleeing combat while the cub is still alive can preserve the option of recruiting it later.
The final cut-off point for recruiting the Owlbear Cub is travelling to Baldur's Gate at the end of Act 2.
Camp events
The cub quickly acclimates to camp life. At some point after recruitment, a long rest will be interrupted by a noise. If Speak with Animals is active, it will be revealed that the cub had a nightmare, and Scratch is trying to calm him down. The cub will also remark that Scratch reminds him of their bigger brother. If asked about that, the cub will say that he used to have an older brother, but their mother ate him.
Act Three
Act 3 Spoilers! This section reveals details about the story of Baldur's Gate 3.
.Attacks and abilities
Melee: 1.5 m / 5 ft Companion approval
- After killing the Owlbear in the Owlbear Nest:
- Let the creature live.
+1 
+1 
+1 
+1
- Attack.
+1 -1 -1 -1
- The first time the cub comes to camp:
- Feed the cub something from your pack
+1 +1 +1 +1 +1
- Tell the cub to go away, or attack him (with Speak with Animals)
- -1 -1
- Attack (without Speak with Animals)
- -1 -1 -1
- The second time the cub comes to camp:
Achievements
You Have Two Hands for a Reason
Pet Scratch and the owlbear cub at the same time - the greatest joy an adventurer could ask for.
Gallery
Early Access appearance
Battle portrait
Fully grown and in armour
Armoured Owlbear resting on a stone bench.
Owlbear cub's Early Access model
Footnotes
- ↑ In the fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons, an owlbear is classed as a Monstrosity, not a Beast. This is in line with its classification in second edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, where druids could use Wild Empathy and other animal-focused abilities on them.
External Links
Owlbear on the Forgotten Realms Wiki