In case you haven’t noticed, I save my nighttime wilderness encounters for those who pull a watch overnight as the other characters sleep. It’s a fun way to give players a moment to shine and participate – especially if they’re uncomfortable with the roleplay aspect of the game.

This is a similar encounter to my nighttime wolf encounter, only crafted for an owlbear.

As the rest of the party slumbers, the crackle of the campfire is your only companion. That is, until a faint rustle from the edge of your encampment breaks the silence. Just beyond the edge of the firelight you spot something moving.

The shape is 30 feet away in dim lighting, outside of the campfire’s bright light. Without the use of darkvision, Wisdom (Perception) checks made to ascertain the source of the movement are made with disadvantage.

If any character approches to investigate, read the following:

You come upon the tattered remnants of a backpack belonging to one of your companions. It has been dragged a few feet from camp by the small creature now rummaging through its contents – a bear cub by the look of it, with its face buried in the pack. Sensing your presence, the beast rounds on you.

Wide, glassy eyes glitter in the firelight, framed by a flat, beaked face. It then bellows a strange, high-pitched sound between a screech and a growl. Then, somewhere close by, a similar call echoes through the woods in response. It is deeper, and with more ferocity as you suddenly hear something large crashing through the underbrush.

Anyone with a passive Intelligence (Nature) score of 13 instantly recognizes the small creature as an owlbear cub once it turns to face the character.

At the first opportunity, the owlbear cub flees into the wilderness. The following round, a full grown owlbear (the mother) charges into the camp and attacks.

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