Brown Bear 5e: Stats, Wild Shape Rules and Running a Bear Fight

The brown bear is a CR 1 Large Beast with AC 11, 40 feet of speed, a 30-foot climb speed and a bite-and-claws Multiattack. The 2014 bear has 34 hit points and deals 19 damage when both attacks land. The 2024 bear drops to 22 hit points and 12 damage, but its Claw now knocks Large or smaller targets prone, which sets up its Bite. It's also one of the forms druids reach for once Wild Shape allows CR 1 beasts, so this page covers both sides: fighting a bear and being one.

Table of Contents

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

Brown Bear Stat Block (2014)

The 2014 brown bear from SRD 5.1:

For a CR 1 creature the 2014 bear is a lot of meat and a lot of damage. 34 hit points is high for its CR (the 2014 giant eagle has 26), and bite (8) plus claws (11) adds up to 19 a turn on two hits. The cost is defense: AC 11 means a level 1 character with +5 to hit lands 75% of their attacks.

Keen Smell gives it Advantage on Perception checks that rely on smell. It has no darkvision, which matters for a night encounter: the 2014 bear finds you by scent, not sight.

The Brown Bear in the 2024 Rules

SRD 5.2.1 keeps the brown bear at CR 1 and 200 XP but rebuilds most of the block.

The 2024 bear is a weaker damage dealer and a better controller. It loses about a third of its hit points and more than a third of its damage, but every Claw hit puts a Medium character on the ground, where the Bite (and every other melee attacker nearby) gets Advantage against them. It also gains darkvision and loses Keen Smell, so a 2024 bear hunting at night uses its eyes.

How Brown Bears Fight

A bear fights to protect cubs, food or territory, or because it's starving. That should shape every bear encounter more than the numbers do.

Close fast, hit the nearest threat. With 40 feet of speed, a bear outpaces most characters. It charges whoever is closest or whoever got between it and its cubs.

2014: two big swings. The 2014 bear just attacks. Against AC 16 at +5 (hits on 11+, 50%), it averages about 10 damage a round including critical hits, and 19 on the rounds both attacks land.

2024: Claw first, then Bite. The Multiattack is "one Bite attack and one Claw attack" with no fixed order, so lead with the Claw. If it hits a Large or smaller creature, that target is Prone, and the Bite that follows has Advantage because the bear is within 5 feet.

Overall, about 8 damage per round against AC 16, plus a Prone character who has to spend half their movement to stand up. Allies of the bear (wolves, a druid, a hunter's hounds) get Advantage on melee attacks against that prone target too.

Climb to escape or ambush. Both versions climb at 30 feet. A bear in a tree or on a rock shelf can drop on a passing party or retreat where the fighter can't follow.

Retreat at half health. A wild bear with half its hit points gone has lost the fight it was in. Let it run, and decide whether it comes back.

Brown Bear Wild Shape

The brown bear is CR 1, so a druid needs a Wild Shape that allows CR 1 beasts. Here's what each SRD allows.

How the two editions play differently:

• •2014: the bear is a second health bar. You assume the bear's 34 hit points. When they run out you revert to your normal form and any extra damage carries over. Wild Shape takes an action and you can use it twice per short or long rest. The famous level 2 "bear druid" comes from the Circle of the Moon in the 2014 Player's Handbook, which lets a druid take CR 1 forms at level 2; that subclass is not in the SRD.
• •2024: the bear is a layer of armor. You keep your own Hit Points and get 8 Temporary Hit Points at level 8. Wild Shape is a Bonus Action. The bear's 22 hit points don't matter to you at all, so the form is only as good as its AC (11, tied for the lowest among the SRD's CR 1 beasts), its attacks and its movement.
• •Speech. In the 2024 rules you keep your ability to speak while shape-shifted. A 2024 druid bear can talk. A 2014 one can't.
• •No spellcasting in either edition, but Concentration on a spell you already cast continues. A common pattern is casting a concentration spell, then shifting.

Is the brown bear a good 2024 pick? At level 8 the druid can also choose a flying form, and other CR 1 beasts have better AC (the dire wolf and giant spider both have AC 14). The bear earns its spot with two attacks, a climb speed and the Claw's Prone effect, which sets up Advantage for the party's rogue and fighter. Pick it when you want to knock enemies down. For soaking hits, a higher-AC form does better.

Running a Brown Bear Encounter

A brown bear is 200 XP. Using the 2024 budget (SRD 5.2.1) for four characters:

Those budgets fit the 2024 bear. The 2014 bear has 50% more hit points and over 50% more damage at the same CR. The 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (used by our encounter calculator) put one bear at Medium for four level 1 characters and two bears (200 × 2 × 1.5 = 600 adjusted XP) past Deadly for level 1 and at Hard for level 2. In play, a single 2014 bear against a level 1 party can drop a character on the first turn.

Bears also pair well with other creatures: a bear alongside a druid as a guardian, or a bear that the party has to protect from hunters. For a tougher animal, step up to a polar bear or a werebear.

How Players Beat a Brown Bear

• •Don't fight it. A brown bear is one of the easiest monsters to resolve without combat. Animal Friendship works on it (a Beast with Intelligence 2, Wisdom save at +1, so it fails a DC 13 save 55% of the time). Speak with Animals lets the party ask what it wants. Food, distance and not cornering it work without any spell.
• •Hit it hard. AC 11 means almost everyone lands their attacks. The 2024 bear goes down to 22 damage, which a level 3 party deals in one round.
• •Mind the Prone. Against a 2024 bear, characters knocked Prone should stand up (half their movement) rather than crawl, and allies should finish it fast before it gets Advantage on everyone.
• •Use control spells that fit a Beast. Dominate Beast turns it into an ally. Command works only under 2024 rules, since the 2014 version needs a target that understands your language. Hold Person doesn't work: the bear isn't a Humanoid.
• •Stay downwind of a 2014 bear. Keen Smell gives it Advantage on smell-based Perception checks, so sneaking past works better when the wind blows toward the party.

Brown Bear Encounter Ideas

The smokehouse. A village's winter meat store has been broken into twice. A brown bear comes down every night and has learned the latch. The villagers want it dead; the local druid says it's a mother with two cubs and asks the party to move the family to the far valley instead. Moving a bear is harder than killing one.

The bear that answered. A brown bear blocks a mountain path and, when the party draws weapons, says "Please don't." It's a level 8 druid in Wild Shape under 2024 rules, guarding a sacred grove from loggers and testing whether the party are loggers too. (Under 2014 rules, make the bear communicate through gestures, or have the druid revert to speak.)

The fighting pit. A gambling den in the city's warehouse district runs bear fights. One of its bears escaped mid-fight and is loose in the market at noon, wounded (start it at half hit points) and terrified. Guards are on the way with crossbows. The party can kill it, calm it, or buy it from the furious owner, who wants it back. If your table likes callbacks, a Loreify session recap remembers the bear's name and the owner's grudge for you (how it works).

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a brown bear in 5e?

The brown bear is CR 1 and worth 200 XP in both editions. The 2014 version has AC 11 and 34 hit points; the 2024 version has AC 11 and 22 hit points.

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

In both the 2014 and 2024 SRD, a druid can take CR 1 beast forms at druid level 8. The 2014 Circle of the Moon subclass (not in the SRD) allows CR 1 forms from level 2.

How much damage does a brown bear do?

The 2014 brown bear deals 8 with its bite and 11 with its claws, 19 total if both hit. The 2024 version deals 7 with its Bite and 5 with its Claw, 12 total, and the Claw knocks a Large or smaller target Prone.

Does a brown bear have darkvision in 5e?

Only in the 2024 rules, which give it Darkvision 60 feet. The 2014 brown bear has no darkvision but has Keen Smell instead.

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

The black bear is smaller and weaker: a Medium CR 1/2 Beast. The brown bear is Large, CR 1, and has more hit points and stronger attacks.

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.