wlBear is a minimal ruleset for
Instead, you
dungeon diving, social intrigue,
and going on adventures. The
rules are inspired by Lasers &
Feelings (onesevendesign.com), Into the
Odd (bastionland.com), the OSR, and FKR
Rules
Your OwlBear (OB) Score is between 2 to
9. When trying to accomplish something
dangerous, you roll a number of 10-sided
dice (d10’s) and compare them to your
OB Score. Dice must roll under your OB
Score for Owl actions, and over for Bear
actions. Each die that rolls under/over
counts as 1 success. Rolling your OB Score
exactly counts as 2 successes
Owl actions focus on your senses,
sneakiness, ranged attacks, casting spells,
resisting magic, and diplomacy. Bear
actions focus on reducing damage taken,
melee attacks, moving or breaking things,
and being intimidating. Most knowledge
is based on your background and does
not require a roll
Extra Dice
You start with 1 die when making a roll.
If you have an item that helps you (e.g.
weapon, armor, tools), add its rating to
the number of dice you roll. You can
only benefit from one item per action. If
someone spends their action to help you,
add 1 die to your roll. If you are in an
advantageous position (e.g. hidden), you
add 1 die to your roll. If you have a trait
or background which is beneficial to the
task, you add 1 die to your roll. Do not
roll more than 4 dice at once
If you are in a compromising situation,
reduce the number of dice you roll by 1.
These effects can stack, but you are
always able to roll at least 1 die
Who are you There is no formal currency.
Choose a Name and roll 1d10 for both
the Background and Trait tables
Choose a number between 2 and 9; this
is your OwlBear Score. If your Owl or
Bear range are ever reduced to your OB
score, you die
Roll 1d10 and divide by 2, rounding up,
to determine your starting Health
Refer to the Starting Gear Table. Use your
OB score and Starting Health. An OB
score of 2-5 is Bear, and 6-9 is Owl
Advancement
Upon completing a Quest, roll 1d10, If
you roll over your Maximum Health,
increase it by 1, up to a maximum of 10.
You may also shift your OB Score by 1,
either up or down
Spells
Spells are channeled through the Keys of
Lay Stones. Lay Stones are large wheels
of rock with special markings carved into
their edges. They may be anywhere in the
world, but whoever holds the Key, which
looks identical but fits in your palm,
owns that Lay Stone
Each Lay Stone can cast a single Spell
which has a rating between 1 and 3. A
Spell’s rating is how many Successes are
needed to cast it. If you do not roll
enough Successes to cast it, reduce your
Owl range by 1, up from 1
You may hold 1 Key at a time. A Key
counts as a Tool for casting Spells
Equipment
You can carry a number of items equal
to 2 plus your max Health. You can carry
up to double your normal capacity, but
you are compromised while you do
trade through barter or favors. The most
valuable item to barter with are Keys to
Lay Stones, as they are quite rare and
highly sought after
You do not track food and water. Arrows
are kept with your bow. As long as you
have a torch and a free hand to hold it,
there is no need to track light
Heavy items like weapons and armor
give 2 dice to your rolls, but count as 2
items when carrying them
Magical items may grant you additional
effects for a cost. You can discover these
properties while examining an item
during a rest. When using the item, a
number of your Successes may be spent
to trigger the effect
Danger
When exploring dangerous locations, you
must keep track of a Danger Score. Any
time an action outside of combat fails,
increase the Danger Score by 1. Any time
the group enters a new location, rests in
a dangerous location, or make a great
deal of noise, roll 1d10. If it rolls under
or equal-to the Danger Score, roll 1d10
and add the Danger Score. Refer to the
Encounter Table and reset the score to 0
Combat
Enemies have a number of Abilities, each
with a rating of 1 to 5. Each player rolls
2d10. The first die determines the Ability,
while the second die, halved, determines
its rating. These Abilities can be given to
one or multiple enemies.
When an enemy takes damage, reduce
one or multiple Ability ratings by the
damage it takes. Once a rating is 0, that
Ability can no longer be used
Initiative is determined at the start of Starting Gear
the encounter. The order is based on Bear/1- Melee, Torch
highest to lowest current Health. Use the
current total Ability points of an enemy
for its Initiative. Acting while hidden
Bear/2-
Bear/3-
Bear/4-
Melee, Armor, Torch, Pole
Melee, Shield, Chain, Crowbar
Melee, Heavy Armor, Torch, Rope OwlBear
grants a free turn to act
Bear/5- Heavy Melee, Heavy Armor
One action can be made per turn: attack, Owl/1- Torch, Key
move, use an item, cast a spell, help an
Owl/2- Bow, Armor, Key
ally, swap what you are holding, or flee
Owl/3- Bow, Armor, Rope, Lock-picks
When attacking, the damage you deal Owl/4- Heavy Bow, Armor, Rope, Hook
equals the number of successes rolled Owl/5- Melee, Bow, Armor, Pole, Rope
minus enemy defenses. When defending,
roll Bear for physical attacks and Owl for Spell effects
special attacks. You must roll a number 1- Life (2) (or) Death (3)
of successes equal or greater than the 2- Fire (1) (or) Ice (1)
Ability rating to avoid the effect. You 3- Light (1) (or) Shadow (2)
may shatter your shield to avoid the 4- Flight (3) (or) Swim (1)
damage from one physical attack
5- Grow (3) (or) Shrink (2)
If you take damage with 0 health, reduce 6- Inspire (1) (or) Fear (2)
your Bear range from 10 for physical 7- Move (1) (or) Petrify (2)
attacks, or Owl range from 1 for special 8- Solid (2) (or) Liquid (2)
attacks. Roll 1d10 against the new score 9- Haste (2) (or) Slow (1) Name
to resist falling unconscious
10- Guard (1) (or) Weaken (2)
Recovery Background
After an brief rest, roll 1d10. You recover
Encounters
2-4 Meet a friendly NPC/Group
half the roll rounded up in Health
5-8 Meet a non-hostile enemy
Trait
After a night’s rest, you recover all of 9-11 Meet a hostile enemy/group Inventory
your Health. If you have reduced your 12-14 Same as before, roll 1 extra dice set
Owl or Bear ranges, make a single roll 15+ Same as before roll 2 extra dice set
for either. If you pass, you recover 1
point of your range. It is permanently Enemy Abilities
reduced by 1 each time you fail 1- Charming (or) Corrosion
2- Melee Weapon (or) Trip up
Backgrounds 3- Resist Magic (or) Shield
1- Hunter, 2- Thief, 3- Scholar, 4- Priest, 4- Element Breath (or) Darkness
5- Merchant, 6- Smith, 7- Hermit, 8- Elf,
5- Poison Sting (or) Psionics
9- Dwarf, 10- Halfling
6- Claws or Fangs (or) Life Leech
Traits 7- Elemental Shot (or) Frighten Written by Andy D’Ambrose
1- Brave, 2- Dirty, 3- Devout, 4- Polite, 8- Range Weapon (or) Grapple
blacksandgames.itch.io
5- Quirky, 6- Stern, 7- Proud, 8- Resolute, 9- Camouflage (or) Armor
10- Paralyzing (or) Flight Logo by Mac Teg - macteg.com
9- Scarred, 10- Temperamental