Using Different Dog Breeds!

[Treebore]

I blame my mother- she's a BC junkie...she's got statues, clocks, pillows, etc. all over her house.

Beyond them, though, I want stats for War Chihuahuas!

Just give them a "fear effect" for their ugliness.

Yeah, I have several different breeds of horses and dogs. Because my wife, and now daughter, love dogs and horses and know tons about them. So, naturally, i do to. Plus my 11 year old son is fascinated with all those "Animal Planet" programs about animals, so he frequently wants to have one added to the game we play at home.

I have to admit, writing up the stats for the "best" war horse breed in my campaign (Ludensheims, named for the town in which they were, and still currently are, bred in) was a bit fun, and makes the fighter/knight/Paladin something extra to be reckoned with. Definitely worth the 5,000 GP charged for them. Gelded/neutered. Breedable types are not sold. Many horse thieves have died as well.

So such things can add a lot to your campaign world, but only if you have players interested in those kinds of details.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Sorry for going off-topic, but I just had a thought while thinking about different dog breeds with different stats:

There's a score of different elves out there (and quite a lot of dwarves, and most other races have their share of subraces) that have different strengths and weaknesses despite being the same general race. What if they were bred that way?

 

[Rhun]

That raises another question: Who goes the extra mile and changes the dog races' names so they fit their campaign world? Unless you have Germany, Labrador, Newfoundland, Rottweiler, and similar locations in your campaigns, those names make little sense.

I go the extra mile to do this.

I remember when I started doing it to. After reading Darkwalker on Moonshae back in '87-88 or so. I remember both the Moorhound and the Calimshan Desert Racer being mentioned as breed of dogs in that book.

 

[bodhi]

Actually, I think it was a pegasus-unicorn hybrid thing.

...

Did it come with a rainbow?

 

[bodhi]

If they turn the party into a walking menagerie, I'm fine with that.

D20 Beastmaster! Ferrets with rogue levels! Loincloth of, uh, the Mighty Thews? I dunno.

 

[Nifft]

Darn it all to heck, when is WotC going to write Companion Compendium for all the animal, familiar and special mount crunch?

Or has someone else done this already?

Thanks, -- N

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Darn it all to heck, when is WotC going to write Companion Compendium for all the animal, familiar and special mount crunch?

Amen.

IIRC, Bastion Press did a Familiars book, but the rest of the menagerie of mounts, pets, and animal companions has yet to be satisfactorily covered.

 

[Klaus]

Yes.

One dog "breed" I've used regularly that I haven't seen revisited in 3E D&D literature is the Cooshee (elven dog) from the original Monster Manual II.

Many if WOTC ever does the Complete Book of Animal Companions the Cooshee will come back officially.

Er...

The Cooshee (Elven Hound) is statted out in Races of the Wild.

 

[Thurbane]

There was a good article in Dragon for this back in the 1E days: issue # 103 - "A dozen domestic dogs"...and also # 102 - "A collection of canines"...

Had stats for:
Bushdog
Coyote
Dhole
Dingo
Dog, Feral
Fox
Hunting Dog
Jackal
Wolf
Wolf, Dire

You might also want to check out The Bestiary: Predators by Betabunny Publishing.

 

[Thurbane]

Darn it all to heck, when is WotC going to write Companion Compendium for all the animal, familiar and special mount crunch?

Or has someone else done this already?

Thanks, -- N

This is one WotC book I'd buy in a heartbeat.