Monday 8 August 2011

[Dog Variants] The Dungeon Terrier


When dungeoneers venture into the underworld, be it natural caverns, ancient temple complexes, or ruined castles, they are often accompanied by dogs. One specialised breed of dog that is highly sought-after by adventurers is the Avenillish Cur - or, more popularly, the Dungeon Terrier. Originally bred for the purposes of hunting Jermlaines in narrow subterranean tunnels, these dogs have found widespread use as scouts, fetch-and-carriers, and burrowers, in the 'employ' of adventurers.

These dogs are typically small, sturdy and tough in physique, and fierce and snappy in personality. They tend to have a mongrellish appearance, with a wide variety of different coat colours and patterns. They have a number of abilities which aid them in dungeon scenarios, including excellent darkvision (infravision to 10') and all-round senses (they are only ever surprised on a roll of '1' due to their excellent hearing and sense of smell; human companions, by keeping a close eye on their terriers, can also benefit from this).

Dungeon Terriers also have a natural and typically terrier-like propensity to attack small prey with great savagery. Foes shorter than 2' will be gripped in the dog's jaws and vigorously shaken; on a 'to hit' roll that succeeds by +4 above the required result, double damage is done and the victim must save versus death.

Dungeon Terrier

Armour Class: 5
Hit Dice: 1*
Move: 180' (60')
Attacks: 1 bite
Damage: 1d6
No. App: N/A
Save As: F1
Morale: 8
Treasure Type: N/A
Intelligence: 2
Alignment: Neutral
XP: 13

11 comments:

  1. Hooray for terriers!

    I've always thought a "Sewer Patrol" or "Dwarven Pest Control" campaign would be a lot of fun.

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  2. Yeah, any city-based campaign should have at least the option of doing that. I like the idea of crocodiles living in city sewers. Other naturals are wererats, of course.

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  3. Makes perfect sense that a breed of dog for dungeon-work would be produced in a world where that was a common activity.

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  4. I thought so too, Trey. Depends how common adventurers are in your campaign setting of choice, of course.

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  5. I'm really enjoying the dog variants (particularly this one--I love the idea of my terrier shaking the hell out of an annoying pixie)

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  6. I am starting to really like the dungeon dogs. Mostly because I have players that will ALWAYS buy dogs and are not terribly good at keeping them alive--so being able to go "well you can have a dungeon terrier or a dalmatian familiar but that's all they got in this town" suddenly seems appealing...

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  7. Wait a minute... against targets under two feet... save vs instant death...

    Acererak: YOU WHO DARED TO VIOLATE MY TOMB NOW PAY THE-

    Adventurer: Look, boy! Bones!

    Dungeon Terrier: *cheerful bark!*

    Acererak: AH! AH! BAD DOG! BAD DOG!

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  8. Eagerly awaiting the Dungeon Pit Bull Terrier...

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  9. Ivan: Pretty much exactly the image I had in my mind...

    Zak: Dalmation familiar. Now there's an idea...

    eotbeholder: Heh. Love it.

    Blair: I tend to think of war dogs as being basically big pit bull terriers - so anyway there'll be a war dog entry coming up.

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  10. Completely awesome.

    It reminds me when, playing Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay back in the Golden 80s, a player made a Rat Catcher character, who get, as part of their trappings, a small rat terrier.

    He named it Rat Trap, and I immediately decided the dog would be immortal--no matter what seemed to happen to him, he'd always show up later, dragging a rat...

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