Owlbear Cub (Peaceful Resolution) Not Appearing in Goblin Camp

[Krenshaw Habernak]

Hello, All:

I believe I am having a serious bug. In all of my campaigns, I cannot get the owlbear cub to appear in the goblin camp.

Actions:
1. Using [Animal Handling], I peacefully exit the cave.
2. Perform 3+ rests.
3. Go to the goblin camp for the first time.

That is the exact order of my actions. And no matter what, there is still no owlbear cub. He doesn't not leave the cave, and I do not get any options for the chicken chase.

Please advise. Thanks!

[Krenshaw Habernak]

Edit:

I did a test run with a new character to see if I could trigger the owlbear's relocation to the goblin camp. This time, I was successful. As an update, there were a few minor steps that I changed from all my other previous campaigns.

1. I did not talk to the gate goblins in the Blighted Village before talking with the owlbear mother.
2. I did not reenter the owlbear cave after interacting with the owlbear mother.
3. I did not kill the goblins in the secret passage (the one in which you find the halfling druid, Findal).

On my other playthrough, I went through the blighted village first and killed the goblins. I'm not sure if this actually made a difference, but that's what I did differently this time.

[Ironwu]

Heh. I just killed them both. Oh well. :/

[WeenerTuck813]

I think if you leave the mother alive the cub stays with mom.

I always kill the mother and let the cub eat her. I’ve never not gotten the cub

[NzFox]

Originally posted by WeenerTuck813:

I think if you leave the mother alive the cub stays with mom.

I always kill the mother and let the cub eat her. I’ve never not gotten the cub

no, the gobblins kill her and take the cub.
You need to wait a long rest between first interacting with the owlbear and then going to the gobblin camp.
As for why OP is not getting the cub I honestly don't know, unless its something introduced with this latest patch I've not run into it the many times I've played through that part.

[RedRobed]

You can bypass the killing of the mother and having the cub eat the mother, speeding up the process by knocking the Owlbear mother out instead of killing her. The cub will run off, while the Owlbear mother remains alive and unwell. Additionally, the only valuable loot you get the spear jammed in them, which you get either way of Kill or KO.

Conditionally, if you go to the Goblin Camp first, and then to the Owlbear Cave, you'll encounter a Chicken which is used specifically to get an inspiration point and a bit of gold, depending on your choices. After a Long Rest, the Owlbear will show up in it's stead.

For ease, it's actually faster to KO the Mom and then head to the Camp - In ALL of the cases where I did this, the Owlbear was ready to go at the Camp.

The baseline condition for having the Owlbear appear is to Kill or KO the Owlbear Mum. If YOU do not do so, then eventually, the Goblins will. Requires a few Long Rests AFTER getting to the Goblin Camp. In terms of the race NOT starting, a notable blocker for that chat is if Volo is performing on the well. If you do not go through the associated dialogue - you will never start the unmarked questline of recruiting the Owlbear Cub, which takes a few long rests to actually happen, across two separate interactions.