Bear

Official portrait of Trinket, by Kit Buss. Cropped from the image shared by Matt Mercer on the Vox Machina Wiki.

## Biological Information

### **Subraces**

* Black bear
* Brown bear
* Cave bear
* Polar bear
* Sun bear

## Physical Characteristics

### **Hair color**

* Black
* Brown

## Sociocultural Information

### **Planes**

* Material Plane (Exandria)
* Feywild

### Environment

* Arctic (brown, polar)
* Forest (black, brown)
* Hill (brown)
* Underdark (cave)

**Bears** are a species of large, predatory, mammalian beasts indigenous to forests and caves in Exandria.

## **Description**

Bears are large mammals indigenous to forests and caves in Exandria and can be found in Tal'Dorei and Wildemount. They have a keen sense of smell.

Statistically, bears are unaligned beasts, most of whom are large-sized. All bears have a walking speed of forty feet, proficiency in Perception and possess the ability "Keen Smell", granting them advantage on Perception checks reliant on smell.

As far as attacks, bears have a "Multiattack" trait, allowing them to attack with their bite and claws. Their "Bite" attack is a melee weapon attack that deals piercing damage, and their "Claw" attack is a melee weapon attack that deals slashing damage.

### **Subspecies**

#### **Black bear**

Black bears are a medium-sized subspecies of bears with darker fur and a climbing speed of thirty feet. They can be found in forests, such as in Wildemount.

#### **Brown bear**

Brown bears, also known as grizzly bears, are a large-sized subspecies of bears with brown fur and a climbing speed of thirty feet. They can be found in forests, hills, and arctic regions, such as in Tal'Dorei.

#### **Cave bear**

Cave bears are a large-sized subspecies of bears that live in caverns and other underground environments. They have a swimming speed of thirty feet and darkvision for sixty feet.

#### **Polar bear**

Polar bears are a large-sized subspecies of bears that live in arctic environments. They have a swimming speed of thirty feet.

### **Related creatures**

The owlbear is a monstrosity with the head of an owl and the body of a bear.

    Werebears are lycanthropes that can transform into bears.

## **History**

### **Tal'Dorei**

In 811 PD, a band of orcs wandering between the Stormcrest Mountains and Cliffkeep Mountains kept bears unlike the usual brown kind: their bones protruded out in points and jutted out of the edges of their shoulders and parts of their spine. They were larger and "a little more dangerous" than regular brown bears, probably indicating they were dire bears.

According to the hunter Auld Connaught, bears of the Mooren River Run were not what they appeared to be. To wit, the adventure hook *Bear of the White River* in the Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, set in 812 PD, features a half-orc shaman of the Rivermaw Tribe who had seemingly been mauled to death by a large bear, but if one follows the bear tracks to the Mooren River Run, the tracks seem to turn into humanoid footprints.

### **Wildemount**

In Wildemount, "Bearkiller" was a common nickname for goliaths.

## **Notable bears**

* **Trinket**: Companion of Vex'ahlia. Also starred in Trinket's Honey Heist and Honey Heist 2: Electric Beargaloo.
* **Sweet Pea**: Talking sun bear and childhood companion of Fearne Calloway at the Ligament Manor.

## **Behind the scenes**

In *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*'s Heroic Chronicle, one of the options for a "Fateful Moment" is: "You were transformed into a bear by mysterious magic, and lived for a year as an animal before you were saved by a druid. Magic still lingers within you, though, and you can cast *Speak with Animals* at will."

## **References**

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 See *D&D: Monster Manual*, 5th ed., pp. 318–334.
2. ↑ See "Converging Fury" (2x27) at 3:00:52.
3. ↑ See "The Throne Room" (1x07) at 3:47:32.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. ?.
5. ↑ See "Rime and Reason" (2x75) at 2:00:14.
6. ↑ See "Night at the Ligament Manor" (3x46) at 1:30:19.
7. ↑ See "Converging Fury" (2x27) at 3:00:52.
8. ↑ See "The Throne Room" (1x07) at 3:47:32.
9. ↑ See "Arrival at Kraghammer" (1x01) at 12:11.
10. ↑ See *D&D: Dungeon Master's Guide*, 5th ed., p. 302.
11. ↑ See *D&D: Dungeon Master's Guide*, 5th ed., p. 302-303.
12. ↑ See *D&D: Dungeon Master's Guide*, 5th ed., p. 304.
13. ↑ See *D&D: Dungeon Master's Guide*, 5th ed., p. 305.
14. ↑ See "Arrival at Kraghammer" (1x01) at 12:11.
15. ↑ See "Converging Fury" (2x27) at 3:00:52.
16. ↑ See "Converging Fury" (2x27) at 3:00:52.
17. ↑  Black Bear on D&D Beyond (backup link)
18. ↑ See "The Throne Room" (1x07) at 3:47:32.
19. ↑  Brown Bear on D&D Beyond (backup link)
20. ↑  Cave Bear on D&D Beyond
21. ↑ See "Rime and Reason" (2x75) at 2:00:14.
22. ↑  Polar Bear on D&D Beyond (backup link)
23. ↑ See "Night at the Ligament Manor" (3x46) at 1:30:19.
24. ↑ See *D&D: Monster Manual*, 5th ed., p. 249.
25. ↑ See "Bats Out of Hell" (1x93) at 10:16.
26. ↑ See "A Name Is Earned" (1x49) at 1:06:07.
27. ↑ See "A Name Is Earned" (1x49) at 1:18:21.
28. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting*, p. 46.
29. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting*, p. 46. Bear of the White River
30. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 176.
31. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 196.

**Art:**

1. ↑ Official portrait of Trinket, by Kit Buss (source). Cropped from the image shared by Matt Mercer on the Vox Machina Wiki This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
2. ↑ Fan art of a were-bear on Rumblecusp, by BlackSalander (source). Used with permission.

## **External links**

* Bear on Wikipedia (backup link)
* Bear on The *Forgotten Realms* Wiki (note) (backup link)