BLACKDIRGE
Adventurer
Sorry for the delay guys, I will try to update this thread as often as possible. Thanks for hanging in there. Here is the second update.
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The Scarlet Hound
Advanced Krenshar of Legend
Large Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 8d10+64 (124 hp)
Initiative: +10 (+6 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
AC: 25 (-1 size, +6 dex, +10 natural), touch 15, flatfooted 19
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/+22
Attack: Bite +18 melee (2d8+10/19-20)
Full Attack: Bite +18 melee (2d8+10/19-20) and 2 claws +15 melee (1d6+5)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Crushing jaws, improved grab, scare
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 10/magic, darkvision 60 ft., fast healing 5, low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +17, Ref +15, Will +7
Abilities: Str 31, Dex 22, Con 26, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 14
Skills: Hide +11, Jump +22, Listen +10, Move Silently +18
Feats: Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative*, Improved Natural Attack (bite), Multiattack*, Power Attack, Track*, Weapon Focus (bite)
Environment: Temperate forests
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 9
Alignment: Neutral
Crushing Jaws (Ex): The Scarlet Hound deals 4d8+20 points of damage with a successful grapple check, crushing the life from his foe with his powerful jaws.
Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, The Scarlet Hound must hit a creature of Large size or smaller with his bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If he wins the grapple check, he establishes a hold and can attempt to use his crushing jaws on the opponent in the following round.
Scare (Ex or Su): As a standard action, a The Scarlet Hound can pull the skin back from its head, revealing the musculature and bony structures of its skull. This alone is usually sufficient to scare away foes (treat as a Bluff check with a +3 bonus). Combining this scare ability with a loud screech produces an unsettling effect that works like a scare spell from a 3rd-level caster (Will DC 16 partial). A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected again by the Scarlet Hound’s scare ability for 24 hours. The shriek does not affect other krenshars. This is a supernatural, sonic mind-affecting fear effect.
History
Traders wishing to traverse the long and well-traveled road from the port city of Yhuann to the thriving metropolis of Arabel can make a tidy sum selling all manner of coastal goods to the inland cities. The road is well protected in most places, seeing regular patrols of Cormyrian guards and enough well armed travelers to give the bandits and occasional monster reason to seek out friendlier hunting grounds. The one blemish on this relatively safe route is the last leg before one reaches Arabel; here the road enters the gloom and isolation of the Hullack Forest. The forest is rumored to be filled with all manner of foul beasts, not withstanding the orcs and goblins recently displaced in the goblin wars. Caravans of traders and even adventurers have been known to disappear without a trace beneath the near endless green canopy of the Hullack.
Recently a more concrete threat has surfaced in the Hullack, a marauding beast that has attacked a number of caravans in the last several months. The death toll has been relatively low and survivors are common, all of which describe a terrible creature, blood red, with huge crushing jaws and a fearsome disposition. The tales of these survivors have grown in the telling, and a name for the beast has been bandied about in the taverns of Arabel and Eveningstar. The Scarlet Hound is the moniker hung on this rampaging menace, due in large part to the creatures crimson hide, a detail that has survived each and every retelling of the monster’s exploits.
The Scarlet Hound is simply a very large and very powerful krenshar with an anomalous coloration, and in truth the accounts of its attacks have been greatly exaggerated. Those that have bothered to look more closely into the matter have found that the Scarlet Hound attacks only large horse drawn caravans, and that both human deaths were the result of trampling by panicked horses, not the slavering jaws of a hungry monster. Further investigation reveals that since the Scarlet Hound has made an appearance in the Hullack, attacks by orcs, goblins and highwaymen, menaces interested in much more than horseflesh, have dropped significantly. Fortunately these facts have not escaped the attention of everyone, and while drunken merchants spew forth lies and exaggerations, a contingent of local druids and rangers has arranged a foray into the Hullack to confront the Scarlet Hound. The hope of these woodwise individuals is to earn the beast’s trust and thereby gain a valuable ally in the fight against the more potent dangers that infest the Hullack.
Appearance
A massive and powerful creature, the Scarlet Hound is as large as draft horse and true to its name is covered from nose to lashing tale in a hide of deep crimson. Although named a hound by ignorant merchants and caravan guards, the Scarlet Hound is far more catlike, with a low-slung body and long retractable claws on each of its four paws. Its head is a bizarre hybrid of wolf, hyena and hunting cat and is equipped with a mammoth set of crushing jaws. The most startling feature of the Scarlet Hound are its eyes, deep set pools of liquid gold that churn not with the dull savagery of a rampaging monster, but gleam with intellect and curiosity.
Tactics
A highly effective ambush predator, the Scarlet Hound uses its forest home to remain hidden, stalking its prey through the heavy underbrush in absolute silence. When attacking merchant caravans, it will stalk them for hours waiting for the entire train to stop for the night, or to simply rest and water the horses. When all is quiet and everyone off their guard, the Scarlet Hound will explode from the dense forest aligning the road, screeching maddeningly and pulling the skin back from its face in a horrific display of savage aggression. This mode of attack usually causes a complete panic, with horses and guards running about in disarray. The Scarlet Hound will choose one horse from this chaos and close in for the kill. Like a large predatory cat it will use its claws to wrestle its prey to the ground and then deliver the killing blow with its powerful bite. The Scarlet Hound does not consider intelligent beings prey, and will knock them aside with its huge body or club them into submission with its paws (talons retracted), if they get in the way.
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The Scarlet Hound
Advanced Krenshar of Legend
Large Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 8d10+64 (124 hp)
Initiative: +10 (+6 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
AC: 25 (-1 size, +6 dex, +10 natural), touch 15, flatfooted 19
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/+22
Attack: Bite +18 melee (2d8+10/19-20)
Full Attack: Bite +18 melee (2d8+10/19-20) and 2 claws +15 melee (1d6+5)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Crushing jaws, improved grab, scare
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 10/magic, darkvision 60 ft., fast healing 5, low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +17, Ref +15, Will +7
Abilities: Str 31, Dex 22, Con 26, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 14
Skills: Hide +11, Jump +22, Listen +10, Move Silently +18
Feats: Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative*, Improved Natural Attack (bite), Multiattack*, Power Attack, Track*, Weapon Focus (bite)
Environment: Temperate forests
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 9
Alignment: Neutral
Crushing Jaws (Ex): The Scarlet Hound deals 4d8+20 points of damage with a successful grapple check, crushing the life from his foe with his powerful jaws.
Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, The Scarlet Hound must hit a creature of Large size or smaller with his bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If he wins the grapple check, he establishes a hold and can attempt to use his crushing jaws on the opponent in the following round.
Scare (Ex or Su): As a standard action, a The Scarlet Hound can pull the skin back from its head, revealing the musculature and bony structures of its skull. This alone is usually sufficient to scare away foes (treat as a Bluff check with a +3 bonus). Combining this scare ability with a loud screech produces an unsettling effect that works like a scare spell from a 3rd-level caster (Will DC 16 partial). A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected again by the Scarlet Hound’s scare ability for 24 hours. The shriek does not affect other krenshars. This is a supernatural, sonic mind-affecting fear effect.
History
Traders wishing to traverse the long and well-traveled road from the port city of Yhuann to the thriving metropolis of Arabel can make a tidy sum selling all manner of coastal goods to the inland cities. The road is well protected in most places, seeing regular patrols of Cormyrian guards and enough well armed travelers to give the bandits and occasional monster reason to seek out friendlier hunting grounds. The one blemish on this relatively safe route is the last leg before one reaches Arabel; here the road enters the gloom and isolation of the Hullack Forest. The forest is rumored to be filled with all manner of foul beasts, not withstanding the orcs and goblins recently displaced in the goblin wars. Caravans of traders and even adventurers have been known to disappear without a trace beneath the near endless green canopy of the Hullack.
Recently a more concrete threat has surfaced in the Hullack, a marauding beast that has attacked a number of caravans in the last several months. The death toll has been relatively low and survivors are common, all of which describe a terrible creature, blood red, with huge crushing jaws and a fearsome disposition. The tales of these survivors have grown in the telling, and a name for the beast has been bandied about in the taverns of Arabel and Eveningstar. The Scarlet Hound is the moniker hung on this rampaging menace, due in large part to the creatures crimson hide, a detail that has survived each and every retelling of the monster’s exploits.
The Scarlet Hound is simply a very large and very powerful krenshar with an anomalous coloration, and in truth the accounts of its attacks have been greatly exaggerated. Those that have bothered to look more closely into the matter have found that the Scarlet Hound attacks only large horse drawn caravans, and that both human deaths were the result of trampling by panicked horses, not the slavering jaws of a hungry monster. Further investigation reveals that since the Scarlet Hound has made an appearance in the Hullack, attacks by orcs, goblins and highwaymen, menaces interested in much more than horseflesh, have dropped significantly. Fortunately these facts have not escaped the attention of everyone, and while drunken merchants spew forth lies and exaggerations, a contingent of local druids and rangers has arranged a foray into the Hullack to confront the Scarlet Hound. The hope of these woodwise individuals is to earn the beast’s trust and thereby gain a valuable ally in the fight against the more potent dangers that infest the Hullack.
Appearance
A massive and powerful creature, the Scarlet Hound is as large as draft horse and true to its name is covered from nose to lashing tale in a hide of deep crimson. Although named a hound by ignorant merchants and caravan guards, the Scarlet Hound is far more catlike, with a low-slung body and long retractable claws on each of its four paws. Its head is a bizarre hybrid of wolf, hyena and hunting cat and is equipped with a mammoth set of crushing jaws. The most startling feature of the Scarlet Hound are its eyes, deep set pools of liquid gold that churn not with the dull savagery of a rampaging monster, but gleam with intellect and curiosity.
Tactics
A highly effective ambush predator, the Scarlet Hound uses its forest home to remain hidden, stalking its prey through the heavy underbrush in absolute silence. When attacking merchant caravans, it will stalk them for hours waiting for the entire train to stop for the night, or to simply rest and water the horses. When all is quiet and everyone off their guard, the Scarlet Hound will explode from the dense forest aligning the road, screeching maddeningly and pulling the skin back from its face in a horrific display of savage aggression. This mode of attack usually causes a complete panic, with horses and guards running about in disarray. The Scarlet Hound will choose one horse from this chaos and close in for the kill. Like a large predatory cat it will use its claws to wrestle its prey to the ground and then deliver the killing blow with its powerful bite. The Scarlet Hound does not consider intelligent beings prey, and will knock them aside with its huge body or club them into submission with its paws (talons retracted), if they get in the way.
