Dwarven Bear Rider

Family: Dwarf

Medium humanoid (dwarf), chaotic good

Armor Class 15 (breastplate)
Hit Points 58 (9d8 + 18)
Speed 20 ft. (40 ft., climb 30 ft. while mounted)

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
16 (+3)	16 (+3)	14 (+2)	10 (+0)	11 (+0)	10 (+0)

Skills Animal Handling +2, Perception +2
Senses passive Perception 12
Languages Hillspeak
Challenge 3 (700 XP)

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The bear rider makes one pike attack, preferring to charge first if mounted. Their bear can also make a claw attack if it’s being ridden.

ABOUT

If anyone was going to slap a saddle and reins on a bear and ride it into battle, it was going to be a dwarf. The taming of bears as mounts was not a decision made out of practicality, but because someone thought it’d make a good story. It was. Bear riders are not common, but they are always among the most brazen and fearless of the dwarves.

Dwarves are usually good-natured and well-intentioned glory hounds, ready to lend aid to others when it might serve their own quest for renown and recognition. This makes them a tightly woven and cooperative people, with a selfish streak that is sometimes at odds with their desire to do right by their fellows.

Dwarves take their oaths and commitments seriously, if only because to do otherwise would harm their good name. These bonds are not unbreakable however, as a dwarf will turn their back on old allies to do what they feel is right at the time. It wasn’t so long ago that the previous king of the Grey Hills chose to break off lucrative peacetime trade with Drohm to stop its campaign to eradicate the elves.

Standing less than 5 feet on average, dwarves are broad and stocky, weighing almost as much as a human despite being quite a bit shorter. Their dense, muscular builds lend them an unparalleled hardiness that lets them shrug off blows that would kill most other people. Their hair is typically thick and wavy and grows exceptionally fast. Dwarves are hairy by nature, a protection against the cold of the higher altitudes and piercing winds of the Grey Hills, and a dedicated dwarf can easily grow a beard that’s almost as long as they are tall.

Dwarves grow up surrounded by grand epics, music, and songs about their history. There are few history books that dryly cover the origins of the dwarves; instead they have songbooks, paintings, tapestries, and similar artistic renderings of events that shaped their culture.

Any dwarf worth their salt knows a couple songs and stories about something important to them, or their family. Dwarves eagerly craft their own legend and lore, as it’s not enough to seek out adventure and accomplishment – you must also tell others about it, otherwise it might as well have never happened! Regardless of background, upbringing, and class, all dwarves craft songs and stories about their greatest deeds, so that their names are remembered by their fellows.