Black Bear 5e: Stats, Wild Shape and the Smallest Bear

The black bear is a CR 1/2 Medium Beast with AC 11, 19 hit points and two attacks a turn. In the 2014 rules that's a bite and claws for 12 damage if both land; in the 2024 rules it's two Rends for 5 each. It's the bear for level 1 and 2 parties, the first bear a druid can become (Wild Shape at druid level 4), and the 2024 version gains darkvision, a swim speed and sharper Perception while losing 10 feet of walking speed.

Table of Contents

• •Black Bear Stat Block (2014)
• •The Black Bear in the 2024 Rules
• •Black Bear vs Brown Bear vs Polar Bear
• •How Black Bears Fight
• •Black Bear Wild Shape
• •Running a Black Bear Encounter
• •How Players Beat a Black Bear
• •Black Bear Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Black Bear Stat Block (2014)

The 2014 bear has a +3 to hit, which is low: against AC 14 each attack lands half the time. Its damage is lopsided, 5 (1d6 + 2) from the Bite and 7 (2d4 + 2) from the Claws. Keen Smell gives advantage on smell-based Perception, and it has no darkvision.

The Black Bear in the 2024 Rules

The 2024 bear is slightly more accurate and slightly less damaging, and it's a better night hunter. With passive Perception 15 and darkvision, it notices a camp watch before the watch notices it.

Black Bear vs Brown Bear vs Polar Bear

The black bear is the only Medium one. It fits through doors and down mine shafts a brown bear can't, which is the best reason to put one in a dungeon. In 2024 it also has no rider effect: the brown bear's Claw knocks targets prone, the black bear's Rend just deals damage.

How Black Bears Fight

A black bear is a nuisance predator. It wants the party's food more than the party.

• •Start with the food. It raids packs and smokehouses. Combat starts when someone stands between it and the bacon.
• •Focus one target. Both attacks go into the same character, usually whoever is carrying the food. Against AC 14, the 2014 bear averages about 6 damage a round and the 2024 bear about 5.5.
• •Climb out of trouble. At 30 feet of climb speed it goes up a tree in one turn, where melee characters can't follow. A bear that climbs after losing half its HP is done fighting.
• •2024: use the water. The swim speed lets it cross a stream to break pursuit, or come out of a lake behind a fishing camp.

Black Bear Wild Shape

Both editions let a druid take CR 1/2 forms without a fly speed at druid level 4, so the black bear becomes available then. The two editions treat it very differently:

• •2014: you take the bear's 19 hit points as a buffer on top of your own. If it drops to 0, you revert and excess damage carries over. Two bear forms per short rest is 38 extra HP of frontline.
• •2024: you keep your own Hit Points and gain Temporary Hit Points equal to your druid level (4 at level 4). The bear's 19 HP don't matter. What you get is AC 11, two +4 Rends, and climb and swim speeds.

In 2024 the black bear is a mobility form more than a tank form. Use it to climb a cliff or swim a river with your gear merged into the shape.

Running a Black Bear Encounter

The 2024 Low budget for four level 1 characters is 200 XP, which buys two black bears; three (300 XP) is Moderate. For four level 2 characters, three bears are Low (400 is the cap) and a mother with three yearlings, four bears at 400 XP, sits right at Low too.

Under the 2014 guidelines in our encounter calculator, two bears count as 200 × 1.5 = 300 XP: Hard for four level 1 characters.

How Players Beat a Black Bear

• •Give it food. Dropping a ration pack is a legitimate way to end the fight. Animal Friendship works too: it's a Beast, and its Intelligence of 2 is under the 2014 spell's cutoff of 4.
• •Hit it. AC 11 means a +5 attacker hits 75% of the time. Three hits from a level 1 party usually drop it.
• •Scare it off. Fire, loud noise and a few hits make the bear's retreat logical. Speak with Animals can negotiate.
• •Don't follow it up a tree. Ranged attacks finish a climbing bear; melee characters on a trunk don't.

Black Bear Encounter Ideas

The smokehouse. A village smokehouse has been raided three nights running. The tracks say bear; the broken lock says someone let it in. A local poacher is feeding the bear to scare off the new lord's gamekeepers.

The mine shaft. A Medium black bear has denned in an abandoned mine's first gallery. It's hibernating, so stealth works, but the party needs to carry ore carts past its nose.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a black bear in 5e?

A black bear is CR 1/2 and worth 100 XP in both the 2014 and 2024 rules.

What level can a druid Wild Shape into a black bear?

At druid level 4, when Wild Shape allows CR 1/2 beasts without a fly speed. This is true in both the 2014 and 2024 rules.

What's the difference between a black bear and a brown bear in 5e?

The black bear is Medium, CR 1/2, with 19 HP. The brown bear is Large and CR 1, with 34 HP in 2014 and 22 in 2024, and hits harder. In 2024 the brown bear's Claw also knocks targets Prone.

Do black bears have darkvision in 5e?

Only in the 2024 rules, which give it darkvision 60 feet. The 2014 black bear has Keen Smell instead.

Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.