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The Unluckiest Owlbear

Monday, February 22, 2009

I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point along the way, the owlbear kind of ended up being the official Kingmaker mascot. Sure, the PCs will be facing evil fey, lizard and frog men, undead monstrosities, bandits, trolls, giants, dragons, and worse during this Adventure Path, but they'll also be facing a lot of owlbears. Some of which are really rather memorable.

Anyway, once we realized how owlbear-riffic this Adventure Path was going to be, we decided to open each one of Kingmaker's forewords with illustrations of the life and death (mostly death) of the River Kingdoms' unluckiest owlbear. There he is in the illustration above, wandering through the primeval woodlands of the Stolen Lands without a care in the world. I'm not going to name him, because that would just make the next five months of what happens to the poor guy depressing.

For now, though, he's at home in his element, with no idea of the pain and humiliation to come. What has cruel, cruel fate got in store for this poor, innocent owlbear? Tune in to this blog next month to find out!

James Jacobs
Creative Director

baron arem heshvaun (Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber) Feb 22, 2010, 01:07 AM

We totally need a 'name the poor owlbear' contest.

Spoiler:

And no, 'Unwinnie the Poohed On' does not qualitfy

Also some free Owlbear love right here at the Paizo store.

lojakz (Pathfinder Adventure Path, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules Subscriber) Feb 22, 2010, 01:20 AM

baron arem heshvaun wrote:

We totally need a 'name the poor owlbear' contest.

** spoiler omitted **

Well, I'm gonna call him Roger.

Asgetrion Feb 22, 2010, 03:05 AM

That's not an owlbear... that's my momma!

golem101 (Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber) Feb 22, 2010, 03:11 AM

His name will be "toughie". Because no matter what disgrace will happen to him, he'll just stick around.
Owlbears are just like that, they shrug it off. Was that your best shot?

Love the art style, BTW.

logic_poet (Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules Subscriber) Feb 22, 2010, 04:14 AM

Beaky Lives!

Cpt_kirstov (Pathfinder Charter Superscriber; GameMastery Maps Subscriber) Feb 22, 2010, 04:32 AM

Doh - last memorable owlbear encounter, the pcs ended up taking home a baby owlbear.......

logic_poet wrote:

Beaky Lives!

Brett Hubbard Feb 22, 2010, 04:39 AM

His name should be Albert, but pronounced with a French accent: /al-bare/.

That way he can be /al-bare/ the owlbear.

Woodsy Feb 22, 2010, 04:51 AM

Who?

Beek Gwenders of Croodle (Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Adventure Path, Campaign Setting, Companion, Tales Subscriber) Feb 22, 2010, 04:58 AM

Kenny?

Matthew Morris (RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8) Feb 22, 2010, 05:05 AM

I'm just happy it's an owlbear that doesn't look silly.

I've a soft spot for the big feathered and fuzzy.

Mairkurion {tm} (Pathfinder Adventure Path, Tales, Battles Case Subscriber) Feb 22, 2010, 05:06 AM

We need Chong from the Last Airbender to give us an owlbear song.

Callous Jack (Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber) Feb 22, 2010, 06:55 AM

Hooray for Owlbears!

Black Dow (Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber) Feb 22, 2010, 07:07 AM

Bubo ;)

Chris Mortika (RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16) Feb 22, 2010, 07:12 AM

Speaking of ...

Alex Martin (Pathfinder Adventure Path, Campaign Setting, Companion Subscriber) Feb 22, 2010, 07:28 AM

Chris Mortika wrote:

Speaking of ...

That's painful and hilarious.

Matthew Morris (RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8) Feb 22, 2010, 07:30 AM

Black Dow wrote:

Bubo ;)

Shouldn't that be 'Boo-bo'?

"But what about the Ranger, Yogi?"
"Hey, hey Boo-bo! Just peck out his eyes and feast on his liver."

DitheringFool (Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules, GameMastery Cards Subscriber) Feb 22, 2010, 07:32 AM

logic_poet wrote:

Beaky Lives!

I don't recall Smenk ever paying for that injustice...

Black Dow (Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber) Feb 22, 2010, 07:37 AM

Matthew Morris wrote:

Black Dow wrote:
Bubo ;)

Shouldn't that be 'Boo-bo'?
"But what about the Ranger, Yogi?"
"Hey, hey Boo-bo! Just peck out his eyes and feast on his liver."

LOL. That's gold... [and totally impossible not to read in a "yogi" voice]

therealthom (Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber) Feb 22, 2010, 07:45 AM

Watcher. Call him Watcher.

walter mcwilliams Feb 22, 2010, 07:47 AM

Cool,

Owlbears are absolutely one of my top 5 all time favorite D&D monsters.

kenmckinney (Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber) Feb 22, 2010, 09:43 AM

Awesome!

And I love the art style... I'd like to see more Pathfinder art like this. It's simultaneously evocative and restrained.

Ken

Mairkurion {tm} (Pathfinder Adventure Path, Tales, Battles Case Subscriber) Feb 22, 2010, 01:14 PM

Chris Mortika wrote:

Speaking of ...

Thanks, Mortika.

William Ronald Feb 22, 2010, 07:53 PM

Callous Jack wrote:

Hooray for Owlbears!

Well, one enterprising former military official thinks so certainly thinks so based on this ad campaign that may show this owlbear's ultimate fate:

Spoiler:

Kentucky Fried Owlbear!!! It's finger lickin' good!!

0gre Feb 22, 2010, 08:02 PM

I love this... the poor owlbear :)

I have a super wide display (2 screens) so did a little photo edit to make tile seamlessly on the horizontal. Makes for a great wallpaper :)

Mikaze Feb 22, 2010, 08:04 PM

Dammit. I can't stand "animals in peril" movies. I couldn't stand them as a child.

These pictures are going to @#$%ing ruin me.

DM_aka_Dudemeister (Pathfinder Adventure Path, Tales Subscriber) Feb 23, 2010, 12:01 AM

How about "Abomination: The Thing That Should Not Be".

I always feel bad about killing owlbears. It's not their fault that a mad wizard bred two completely incompatible species and created a furry/feathered/pointy creature of pure rage. Mostly... I feel bad for the original owlbear pairing. How drunk do you have to get an owl and a bear to even begin creating this thing that should not be?

Watcher Feb 23, 2010, 08:32 AM

therealthom wrote:

Watcher. Call him Watcher.

HAHAHAHAHA.

That's cool. If I don't suck in Round 4, then it's dedicated to you, Thom.

(If I do suck in Round 4, it's dedicated to me.)

I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't love that as a custom avatar like Sebastian has.

Russell Akred Feb 23, 2010, 08:55 AM

Still wonder what they were smoking when they came up with that creature.

Shinmizu Feb 23, 2010, 02:37 PM

Brett Hubbard wrote:

His name should be Albert, but pronounced with a French accent: /al-bare/.

I have to second this.

(Seriously, I really, really HAVE to. Albert's right here, and his claw-talon thingies are loaded with armor-piercing rounds.)

Mistral (Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber) Mar 3, 2010, 04:48 AM

DitheringFool wrote:

logic_poet wrote:
Beaky Lives!
I don't recall Smenk ever paying for that injustice...

Tragic... and memorable. A revolting act from a repulsive villain.

Ingame my players wept bitter tears (especially the ranger who adopted Beaky). Outgame they LOVED it!

EDIT: as for a name: Bubba!

Matthew Morris (RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8) Mar 3, 2010, 05:05 AM

Watcher wrote:

therealthom wrote:
Watcher. Call him Watcher.
HAHAHAHAHA.
That's cool. If I don't suck in Round 4, then it's dedicated to you, Thom.

(If I do suck in Round 4, it's dedicated to me.)

I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't love that as a custom avatar like Sebastian has.

We'd better see an Owlbear in your proposal, Jim!

The Unluckiest Owlbear

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