Owlbear Cub

Owlbear Cub is a Beast and a potential Camp Follower encountered in the Owlbear Nest with its mother during Act One.

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 camp follower later. The principal scenarios include:

1. The party meets the 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).
2. The party meets the 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).
3. The party attacks the 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 the 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). 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 Devout Mezzka was killed before a long rest or if the Goblin Camp was poisoned through the Booze Tub. Should the party have killed the entire Goblin Camp before encountering the Owlbear, then the Owlbear Mother will be killed by a Goblin hunting party and the Cub will show up at the campsite 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 calling Lump the Enlightened to participate in combat with the Goblin Camp exterior when the cub is present, then the Owlbear Cub will become hostile to the three Ogres and by extension the party. If this happens, the party will likely be locked out of recruiting the cub, as even if knocking it out using nonlethal attacks, it still will disappear after a long rest, and it will be difficult to prevent the ogres from eventually killing it. 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 knocking out Brynna and Andrick and then fleeing the 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 it down. The cub will also remark that Scratch reminds it of its bigger brother. If asked about that, the cub will say that it used to have an older brother, but their mother ate him.

Act Three

If the cub is a camp follower and Dammon survived till the game's finale, then the latter will transform the cub into a battle-ready beast before the group arrives in the Upper City. He feeds the cub potions to accelerate its growth and outfits it with steel armour. The cub's display name changes to Armoured Owlbear. The party can summon the owlbear to assist in the final battle using  Gather Your Allies, though it is one of two major characters who can permanently die in this fight and be removed from the Epilogue, the other being Zevlor.

Epilogue

If the cub survived the final battle, it will appear at Withers' Reunion Party still as the Armored Owlbear. The player character can pet it, tell it they're glad Withers invited it, and comment on it being so much larger than its new "big brother" Scratch. If the player character knows  Speak with Animals, it reveals that it was never invited but instead followed the player character's pleasant smell to find the gathering. Speak with Animals casters can also ask the cub what it's been up to. Then it shares that it made new cat, turtle, and kraken friends, but it attacked the kraken after the latter ate the cat. The player character then has the opportunity to let a former party member adopt the cub. It can be given to either Halsin, the player character themselves (if they only romanced Halsin in Act Three and returned to the Shadow-Cursed Lands with him), or Shadowheart (if she turned away from Shar). Regardless of who adopts it, the cub says it likes the player character's choice and will go to them after the party.

Attacks and abilities

 Tiny Claws ()

1d4 (1~4) + Strength modifier Slashing

Lash out with your tiny but deadly paws.

 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:

• Nature, Medicine, or Survival check to heal him

 +1  +1  +1  +1

• Scare him away (without Speak with Animals)

 -1  -1

• Attack

 -1  -1

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

External Links

Owlbear on the Forgotten Realms Wiki