The race I was trying to think of was the Laika from the Savage Species web enhancement...
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20030207a
[sblock]Medium-Size Humanoid
Hit Dice: 1d8+1 (5 hp)
Humanoids use d8 Hit Dice, so that’s already settled. I
want a laika to have a single racial Hit Die, so that it can
choose to trade that in for a class level, thus gaining all
the same benefits that a character would get at 1st level.
Initiative: +0
Speed: 30 ft.
AC: 12 (+2 leather armor, +0 Dexterity)
I assigned typical equipment to laikas, then determined
their AC from that and their Dexterity. I chose
leather armor because it has no armor proficiency
penalty, and no hunter wants a penalty on Move
Silently checks.
Attacks: Bite +0 melee, or short sword +0 melee, or
composite longbow +0 ranged
Damage: Bite 1d4, shortsword 1d6/19–20, composite
longbow 1d8/x3
A humanoid has the same base attack bonus progression
as a cleric, so a 1-HD humanoid has a +0 BAB.
The laika’s bite damage is standard for a Medium-size
humanoid, and its weapons are those of a hunter.
Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Qualities: Laika traits
As much as I would love to give laikas the scent special
quality, doing so would mean that a 1st-level laika character
could detect and possibly pinpoint invisible creatures.
Such an advantage would certainly be worth a level adjustment.
I could go back and change the race’s size to Small,
but even a normal wolf is Medium-size, and a Small doglike
humanoid seems sillier than I had in mind. See Laika
Traits, below, for what I do want to give them.
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +0, Will +0
Humanoids get one good save. Usually that’s Reflex,
but we want laikas to be particularly tough and hardy,
so I made Fortitude the good save and applied the Constitution
bonus to its hit points.
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 11, Con 13, Int 8, Wis 11, Cha 10
These scores give the laika ability adjustments of +2
Con and –2 Int. I think the bonus to Constitution is
particularly powerful for a player character race. Every
time a laika gains a class level, it benefits from the
higher Constitution. However, the benefit isn’t not as
powerful as a Strength bonus, so I’ll penalize only one
other ability score. I could reduce Dexterity to balance
the bonus, but a hunting creature would surely want
the ability to use ranged weapons without penalty. I
could also penalize Charisma, but then I would be
duplicating the dwarf racial ability modifiers. Therefore,
I chose to penalize Intelligence.
Skills: Knowledge (nature) +2, Listen* +4, Spot +2,
Wilderness Lore* +3
As a humanoid with an Intelligence score of 8, the
laika is entitled to 4 skill points. First I chose the class
skills that I figured were appropriate for the laika—the
four given above. Then I spent its skill points, purchasing
3 ranks of Knowledge (nature) and 1 of Wilderness
Lore. Because it’s canine in nature, I also assigned it a
+2 racial bonus (see below) on Listen and Wilderness
Lore checks. I already plan on giving it Alertness as its
first feat, so the bonuses on Listen and Spot checks are
included here as well.
Feats: Alertness, Track (B).
A laika is entitled to one feat, and I chose Alertness. I
also gave it Track as a bonus feat, since it’s a hunting race.
The rest of the stat block is meaningless for characters,
but I’ve included it here for the sake of completeness.
To create this section, I copied the information
from the wolf entry in the Monster Manual
but improved the treasure to Standard (reasonable
for a humanoid) and set the advancement to “By
character class.”
Climate/Terrain: Any forest, hills, plains, and mountains
Organization: Solitary, pair, or pack (7–16)
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Any neutral
Advancement: By character class
Laikas are explorers, adventurers, and hunters. Laika
packs claim territories without regard for conventional
political borders, and they roam throughout their lands
in search of game. Although laika bards are uncommon,
ordinary laikas love to sing together as a pack
after their evening meal.
A laika is the same height and weight as a human,
and it ages approximately as fast as a half-orc. Its body is
covered with silver, white, black, brown, or reddish fur,
and its eyes are blue, yellow, or brown. A laika has a pronounced
muzzle, triangular ears set high on its head,
and a fur-covered tail.
Laikas are very gregarious among their own kind,
but they tend to be aloof when dealing with other
races. Once a creature earns the trust of a laika pack,
however, it can be informally adopted by the pack and
treated as family.
Laikas generally speak Common. Those with high
enough Intelligence scores learn the languages of
friends or foes in their territories.
Combat
Laikas prefer to attack in numbers and use cunning tactics.
Often a few laikas distract their enemies with bowfire
while others slip into ambush positions. Laikas
regard biting as uncivilized, so they use their impressive
teeth only in ritual combat for pack hierarchy, or
when no other weapon is available. A solitary laika usually
attempts to escape confrontation unless its opponent
is clearly outmatched.
Laika Traits (Ex): Laikas benefit from a number of
racial traits.
Balanced Ability Scores: A laika gains a +2 bonus to
Constitution and a –2 penalty to Intelligence.
Medium-Size: A laika gains no size bonus to Armor
Class, attack rolls, or skill checks.
Base Speed: 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision: A laika can see twice as far as a
human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar
conditions of poor illumination. It retains the ability to
distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
Speak with Animals (Sp): Once per day, a laika can
use speak with animals to communicate with canine animals
such as wolves and dogs. This ability is innate to
laikas. It has a duration of 1 minute (the laika is considered
a 1st-level caster when it uses this ability, regardless
of its actual level).
Skills and Feats: *A laika gains a +2 racial bonus on
Listen and Wilderness Lore checks, and it receives
Track as a bonus feat.
Automatic Languages: A laika speaks Common.
Bonus Languages: Dwarf, Elf, Giant, Gnome, Goblin,
Halfling, Kobold, and Orc.
Favored Class: A laika’s favored class is ranger. A multiclass
laika’s ranger class does not count when
determining whether it takes an XP penalty (see XP for
Multiclass Characters in Chapter 3: Classes in the
Player’s Handbook).
Laika Characters
A laika’s level adjustment is +0. Build laika characters
just as you would using any standard race from the
Player’s Handbook.[/sblock]
