scent hound, sight hound, herd dog, ratter..

[Utrecht]

The Retreiver seems a might high - I would put it on par with the Sighthound. (and I would bump the sighthound spot up to +5 to compensate for the lost scent feat- or better yet, give them skill focus, spot)

Additionally, your estimates seem fine for a 1 on 1 battle. However, the true CR bump would come from using them in conjuntion with other creatures. I would suggest that using a sighthound with a abdn of orcs dramatically increases the CR of the Orcs since the *should* be aware of the PC before the PCs become aware of of the orcs, allowing them to get a surprise round in...... but this is a failing of the CR system and not your esimtates....

edit to better distinguish my comments on retreivers and sighthounds.

 

[Dremen]

I'd lower the STR score for the small toy breeds an 8 is too high. It should be a 4 or so.

-D

 

[CCamfield]

Yeah, that makes sense... a Cat has a 3.

 

[Lalato]

I beg to differ. My pug can pull me (6', 230#) on rollerblades.

--sam

 

[Kahuna Burger]

I beg to differ. My pug can pull me (6', 230#) on rollerblades.

--sam

This is a failing of the breed classification system. I'm fairly sure the "generic toy" people are thinking of is a maltese, not a pug (or even french bulldog). The general AKC groups aren't going to be reasonable monster manual groups.

And of course "drag on rollerblades" is not going to be the same as "weight you can drag" by D&D terms.

kahuna burger

 

[Buttercup]

Scenthounds- Probably closest to a foxhound

Small Sized Animal
HD: d8 +2
Initiative: +2
Speed: 40'
AC:15 Natural +2 Dexterity +2 Size +1
Attacks: Bite +2
Damage: Bite d4+1
Face/Reach: 5' x 5'/ 5'
Special Qualities: Scent
Saves: Fort +4 Reflexes +4 Will +2
Abilities: Strength: 13 Dexterity: 15 Constitution: 15 Intelligence: 2 Wisdom: 14 Cha: 6
Skills: Listen +5, Spot +5 , Swim +5, Wilderness Lore +3
Feats:

This pretty much describes my Brittany to a T. For feats, I'd add Skill Focus: Point, Catch Squirrel and Deadly Fart. Hmm. Maybe that last one is a special ability.

 

[DustTC]

Re: Re: scent hound, sight hound, herd dog, ratter..

I'm sorry but I must take issue with this statement.

Siamese are much more intellegent then most other breads and very independant.

The persian and russian blue are great cold weather cats, but not all that intelligent.

I could go on, but I think the point is made that a cat is not a cat anymore then a dog is a dog.

That's pretty silly.

You're taking issue at the fact that people think it's easier to distinguish between say a danish dog and a poodle then between any two types of domestic cat? Please. It's not like he was trying to insult cat lovers or something, it's just that the (mainly) physical differences between dogs are far more extreme then between any two cats.

As you say, the main differences between cats seem to be mostly behavioral, rather then purely physical - which is what you need stats for. After all, any DM can play a smart cat with the regular stats, regardless of whether it has int 2 or int 3 listed.

 

[alsih2o]

Re: Re: Re: scent hound, sight hound, herd dog, ratter..

It's not like he was trying to insult cat lovers or something

actually, as an owner of 9 cats i am firmly in the cat lover group, but i too find it a bit silly to think that cats are as dissimilar as an italian greyhound and st. bernard

 

[CCamfield]

Actually, lowering the Str for the Toy dog to a 4 is kind of problematic. The strength of the standard MM dog is very high for its size category - 13 (the Dragon article on creating monsters gives a "normal" Str guideline of 6-7), so an 8 or at least a 6 does not seem unreasonable.

 

[AuroraGyps]

That's the problem with dog breeds... each is bred for it's special abilities, so every different breed's stats will need tweaking. I mean a Pit Bull is really not an aggressive dog, unless trained to be, and they only weigh about 60-70 lbs, but their bite pressure is 2000 lbs per square inch and once they've got their jaws around something, they won't let go for nothing. It would be great if someone made a product that went over all breeds... stat up tiny, small, medium dogs generally and then for each breed list +s & -s for stats and skills, additional skills, addtional feats, and Physical attributes.

As for cats, physically most cats are a lot alike, with some exceptions. I think the big difference between one cat and another is personality and intelligence. My cat is an average female tabby physically, but she's smart: she fetches, sits, stays, knows "off the counter", & knows several toys and treats by name (ex= pom-pom or "fishy flakes" which are Bonito flakes). Now, if I can only teach her to RP...