The Year of the Owlbear!

As we’ve said before, the fantabulous “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” is an absolute delight of a movie (especially when previous attempts have been so dreadful)! So, if anything, just grab some popcorn and simply enjoy calling out all the endless DnD references. Each time the 3DRPG team watches it, we find another homage to our beloved hobby.

The wonderfully talented Sophia Lillis plays the druid, Doric, and has simply made 2023 “The Year of the Owlbear.” And we just love her and the animation team for it. Without revealing any spoilers, there are numerous scenes where this dangerous Druid gets to show off her shapeshifting abilities and powerful attacks.

Naturally, that movie masterpiece now makes Owlbears miniatures very, very popular here in 2023 (and beyond). Thus, imagine our glee when we opened up our April 2023 Dungeon Crate and found this new feathered friend! If you don’t have a Dungeon Crate subscription or know much about them, check out our Holiday Gift Guide 2023.

This is a Lowland Owlbear by Reaper Miniatures from their classic Bones line of minis. He comes unpainted but their website shows an awesome suggested paint and flock scheme. That base is just silly good, right?

Welp, resident painter Kimmy Utah, took a little different approach by making him a little darker and a bit more menacing. Don’t those menacing claws seem like they just missed your jaw as you leaned back at the last second?

For the stat block, D&D Beyond has everything you need for this classic monster. You can also use SRD 5e’s cub stats for some Owlbear Cubs. A potential encounter here could be way more cool if your party stumbles upon a nest of lil’ Owlbear cubs and ol’ “mamma bear” isn’t too far away (or happy that her lair is being disturbed).

Now, if your Druid is thinking it can transform into one like in the movie, technically, under the current D&D 5th Edition rules, that’s not really true. Owlbears are classified as monsters, not animals, which the current form of Wildshape is limited to.

That’s ok though! Simply ask your DM for a house rule and remember to cut the film producers a little movie magic slack. Check out this Reddit thread if you are eager to add this Wildshape variant as an option for your own character.

Expect more Owlbears to make an appearance here on 3D RPG because that glorious D&D movie got us hook, line, and feather. 😉