Owlbear, Siege (3.5E)

An amalgam of fur and feathers, this armored half-bear, half-owl monstrosity charges with its massive claws.

Siege Owlbear CR 6

XP 2,400
N Huge magical beast
Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +25

DEFENSE

AC 16, touch 8, flat-footed 16 (+8 natural, –2 size)
hp 202 (15d10+120)
Fort +16, Ref +9, Will +8

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.
Melee 2 claws +24 melee (1d8+10 plus grab), bite +23 melee (2d6+10)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks rend (2d8+10)

TACTICS

Before Combat Like standard owlbears, siege owlbears are fierce and territorial. However, they are generally controlled by handlers and in such situations may be led into combat purposefully by their riders. If no rider is present, the siege owlbear reverts to its natural, untrained behavior.

During Combat The siege owlbear is, if anything, even more ferocious than its smaller standard cousin; it knows nothing of fear and attacks any enemy within reach.

Morale Siege owlbears that are ridden are generally kept under control and are subject to their riders’ commands. In normal circumstances, however, the siege owlbear fights to the death.

STATISTICS

Str 31, Dex 10, Con 25, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10
Base Atk +15; CMB +27 (+31 grapple); CMD 37 (41 vs. trip)
Feats Awesome Blow, Improved Bull Rush, Iron Will, Multiattack, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Perception), Toughness, Weapon Focus (claw)
Skills Perception +25

ECOLOGY

Environment temperate forests
Organization solitary, pair, or pack (3–8)
Treasure incidental

Bred primarily by orcs from the heftiest owlbear stock, siege owlbears represent the largest and most brutal of their kin. Such grotesque beasts tend to be used as stud creatures by orcs and are much prized by chieftains. The siege owlbear is bred for battle, fed a special diet of magically and alchemically augmented meats from a very young age, and trained to tolerate riders or gear such as small ballistas or catapults. Such owlbears have to be controlled by a rider and tend to be unpredictable—often setting off in a direction that suits the mount more than the handler.

Even when dealing with the best-trained siege owlbear, a Ride check (DC 20) is required for every new instruction the rider wishes his mount to carry out, failure resulting in the owlbear doing what it wants (which may include rolling onto its back to dislodge the rider so the beast can attack him); once the owlbear is out of control this way, it takes a DC 30 Ride check to get it to obey again.

Siege owlbears are sometimes outfitted with splint mail barding, which lowers speed to 20 ft. and increases AC to 23.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Chronicles: Dungeon Denizens Revisited. Copyright 2009, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Clinton Boomer, Jason Bulmahn, Joshua J. Frost, Nicolas Logue, Robert McCreary, Jason Nelson, Richard Pett, Sean K Reynolds, James L. Sutter, and Greg A. Vaughan.

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