The brown bear is a “hulking, swaying brute with claws as long as fingers.” They are strong (+4 strength) creatures that, in Shadowdark, can crush enemies after successfully hitting the target with two claw attacks. These carnivorous creatures are not evil…they are just territorial and hungry.
Encounter Seed: A woman (druid) wearing primitive clothing strolls into a settlement, ignoring guards’ commands to halt. Some peasants stare. Some run. Some quickly go indoors. The druid is accompanied by two large brown bears walking closely alongside her.
Encounter Seed: Characters in a wilderness area outside of a settlement hear two voices in the distance. It sounds like they are shouting. As they get closer, they realize that these are shouts of “help” and “get away.” If the characters investigate further, they will find two bandits who have been chased up a tree by a hungry brown bear.
Encounter Seed: A brown bear aggressively approaches (or attacks) the characters in a wilderness setting. The bear has a shackle and broken chain on its rear, right leg.
Adventure Seed: A settlement is under siege by a series of raids from a nearby tribe of gnolls. On the fifth such raid (or at their camp if there is an offensive attempt against the gnolls), the gnolls control four well-trained, armored brown bears. The bears follow the gnolls’ command and fight for them. [Mechanics: Add +2 to the normal AC of the brown bears.]
Adventure Seed: Rumors place the Bracer of Bear Strength somewhere past Bear Meadow and in the Ruins of the Clan of the Brown Bear. Rumors also suggest that the ruins are haunted by the spirits of the clan. [Shadowdark Mechanics: Bracer of Bear Strength: +1 to AC and magically increases strength to 19.]
Ridiculous Adventure Seed: An eccentric couple decides to live amongst the bears near the river. They argue that bears are not bloodthirsty creatures. They are merely misunderstood. The locals realize this is a bad idea and hope someone can talk some sense into them.
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