Hello zoologists of all shapes and sizes! Welcome to my spellbook and thank you so much for checking out the 78th episode of our beasts series. Today we’re here with the humble d&d 5e black bear. Well not really humble i guess you could really lay some hurting tea if you wanted to but.
The black bear is found in the basic rules and it is considered to be cr one half netting you a hefty one hundred experience points upon defeating them cr:1/2(100xp). Now let’s move on and take a look at their stats.
Stats
Wizards of the coast considered the black bear to be a medium beast, that is unaligned. AC of 11, it has 19 hit points calculated by rolling 3d8 and adding 6 and a climb speed of 30 feet at a normal speed of 40. Which is quite nice. I like the fact that they tied into the bear can climb, certainly useful.
- Type: Medium Beast, Unaligned
- AC: 11
- HP: 19(3D8+6)
- Speed: 40 feet, climb30ft
Taking a look at his stats though, i’m honestly kind of disappointed. Seeing as how they can climb, i would like to see their dexterity be a little bit higher. But outside of that it seems to be about on par with most of the other cr1 halves, +2 to strength and +2 to con is certainly nice though.
- STR: 15(+2)
- DEX: 10(+0)
- CON: 14(+2)
- INT: 2(-4)
- WIS: 12(+1)
- CHA: 7(-2)
Under skills you’ll see a perception boost of +3, making for a passive perception of 13 as his only real senses.
Traits Of 5E Black Bear
Keen Smell: Mostly this 5e black bear has an advantage on the Wisdom (Perception) checks which is rely on the smell.
Now let’s move on to its actions. The black bear gets multi-attack. Two attacks such as one bite and one claw per attack action.
Actions
Multiattack: As a black bear dnd 5e monster this can make two attacks such as: one attack with its bite and an another one with its claws.
Bite: The bite attack is a melee weapon attack: +4 to hit, reach of 5 feet, can only target one target and deals five piercing damage on a hit, calculated by rolling 1d6 and adding 2.
- Melee weapon attack: +4 to hit
- Reach 5ft
- One target
- Hit: 5(1d6+2) piercing damage
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Claws: The claw attack is also a melee weapon attack, also +4 to hit and also reach of 5 feet, also one target but the difference is it deals 7 slashing damage calculated by rolling 2d4 and adding 2.
- Melee weapon attack: +4 to hit
- Reach 5ft
- One target
- Hit: 7(2d4+2) slashing damage
Very cool! Now before i get into how i’d use the black bear in my games, i’d have it be more of a moral conundrum for the party than a standard mob. For example as the party is travelling from one small village to another in their overarching quest of finding the lost cleric. They stumble across a black bear in the middle of the road.
What do they do? if they approach it slowly, it appears aggressive towards them, if they decide to attack and kill the black bear they then notice four little bear pups is what i think they’re called. Come out from the side of the road. Kind of really humanizing the whole game. At least that’s how i would use them.
Attributes Of D&D 5E Black Bear
| AC | 11 (Natural Armor) |
| Alignment | Unaligned |
| CHA | 7 |
| CON | 14 |
| Challenge Rating | 1/2 |
| DEX | 10 |
| HP | 19 (3d8+6) |
| INT | 2 |
| Passive Perception | 13 |
| Roll 0 | Bite 1d20 + 3 1d6+2 |
| Roll 1 | Claws 1d20 + 3 2d4+2 |
| STR | 15 |
| Size | Medium |
| Speed | 40 ft., climb 30 ft. |
| Type | beast |
| WIS | 12 |
Conclusion
That being said! let me know how you would use the black bear in your game comment down beneath. Also be sure to mention any thoughts, questions comments or concerns you have regarding them. That being said i hope you all have a great day and as always happy studying my friends.