Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Talisman 12-20-06, 03:36 PM	Fearhound Medium Fey Hit Dice 9d6+9 (40 hp) Initiative +3 Speed 40' AC 17 (+3 Dex, +4 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 14 Base Attack/Grapple +4/+4 Attack/Full Attack Gore +4 melee Damage Gore 1d6 Space/Reach 5'/5' Special Attacks Baleful gaze, spell-like abilities Special Qualities Aura of terror, DR 10/cold iron, dread sanctuary, hidden fear, immunities, scent, SR 18 Saves Fort +4, Ref +9, Will +9 Abilities Str 11, Dex 17, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 23 Skills Bluff +18, Handle Animal +18, Hide +17, Intimidate +18, Listen +16, Move Silently +17, Spot +16, Survival +15 Feats Alertness, Dodge, Mobility, Stealthy Environment Temperate to subarctic forests Organization Solitary, pair or pack (3-8) Challenge Rating 6? Treasure Standard Alignment Usually chaotic evil Advancement 10-17 HD (Medium), 18-27 HD (Large) Level Adjustment +5 The creature resembles a wolf at first glance--a skinny, bony wolf with a ragged black coat. Its legs are peculiarly long and slender, ending in the cloven hooves of a stag or a goat. Its head is deeply unnerving: it bears curled, goatlike horns, long, ragged, pointed ears, and eerie, unnerving yellow eyes. Sharp, predatory fangs are visible over its lower lip. Fearhounds are fey creatures of sheer terror. Unrelated to any sort of hound, fearhounds exist to bring fear to mortal creatures. They care nothing for death, except as a tool to inspire greater fear in the survivors. They associate with the Unseelie Court, and the jaeger and gray jesters are among the few fey that will deal with them. Fearhound travel on all fours, but can walk about on their hind legs for short distances. Their dainty forehooves are surprisingly dexterous, roughly akin to a human wearing thick mittens. A typical fearhound is five to six feet long, but weighs only 50 pounds at most. Fearhounds speak Sylvan. Combat: Fearhounds hate and avoid melee combat; they are woefully unsuited to it and they know it. If forced into melee, a typical fearhound will flee like a coward, escaping by any means necessary. Their preferred method--indeed, the only method these creatures employ--is to remain at a distance, preferably concealed, and harry the foe with their spell-like abilities and fear-powers. Aura of Terror (Su): Fearhounds radiate an aura of unearthly malevolence which is far out of proportion to the actual danger they pose. Any creature approaching within 30' a fearhound must make a DC 20 Will save or become shaken, remaining so for 10 minutes. A successful save renders the creature immune to the effects of that particular fearhound's aura of terror for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting fear effect; the save DC is Charisma-based. Note that this effect does not require the victim to even be aware of the fearhound. Baleful Gaze (Su): As a standard action a fearhound may focus the gaze of its unnerving yellow eyes upon a single creature within 30'. That creature must succeed on a Will save (DC 20) or be dazed for 2d4 rounds by the sheer malevolence of the fearhound's alien gaze. A successful save reduces the duration to 1 round. This is a mind-affecting effect; the save DC is Charimsa-based. Dread Sanctuary (Su): So intense is the aura of fear that a fearhound generates that those seeking to strike it find their weapons falling from rigid fingers, their bodies betrayed by sheer terror. Any creature attempting to strike a fearhound with a melee attack must first succeed on a DC 20 Will save; on a failure, the victim fails at the last second and wastes his action. On a successful save, the attacker is immune to the dread sanctuary of that particular fearhound for 24 hours. An attacker who fails this save may attempt it again each round, but a failure wastes the standard action for that round. Dread sanctuary has no effect on ranged attacks or area-effects. This is a mind-affecting fear effect; the save DC is Charimsa-based. Hidden Fear (Ex): Fearhounds excel at the art of stealth. Whenever a fearhound cannot be seen clearly (whether due to concealment, lighting conditions less than full daylight, or other effects), the fearhound gains full concealment (50% miss chance). This replaces the miss chance provided by concealment, invisibility, or the like, but not the miss chance provided by other effects (for example, if the fearhound somehow becomes incorporeal). Immunities: Fearhounds are themselves immune to all mind-affecting spells and effects. Spell-like Abilities: At will--cause fear, dancing lights, ghost sound, mage hand, scare, silent image. 3/day--crushing despair, fear, major image, obscuring mist. 1/day--phantasmal killer, telekinesis. Caster level 9th (equal to HD); save DC 16 + spell level. The save DCs are Charisma-based.
JLaurHughes 12-21-06, 12:41 PM	Fail one save and you possibly fail all saves. Not to be taken lightly. I would definitely set this somewhere between CR 4 and CR 8. Nice touch with it preferring to remain out of combat and scare away its opponents. Leaning more toward CR 4 with that. One thing concerns me, the Skills, how did you come up with the ranks & misc modifiers for this? Does it have racial bonuses to some of the skills? If so then could you add the Skills portion to the information listed for the creature...Right after the spell-like abilities.
R.M.G.C.L.F. 12-21-06, 01:43 PM	Cool critters. Nicely fright-oriented, and it's cool to see a creature that isn't focused on beating up and killing. Shouldn't baleful gaze also be a fear-based effect?
Talisman 01-02-07, 05:04 PM	One thing concerns me, the Skills, how did you come up with the ranks & misc modifiers for this? Does it have racial bonuses to some of the skills? If so then could you add the Skills portion to the information listed for the creature...Right after the spell-like abilities. 9 HD, int 14, fey type equals (12 x 8 =) 48 skill points. Subtracting ability modifiers: Bluff +12, Handle Animal +12, Hide +14, Intimidate +12, Listen +15, Move Silently +14, Spot +15, Survival +12. Alertness grants +2 to Spot and Listen Stealthy grants +2 to Hide and Move Silently Looks like I gave them 1 extra point each in Spot and Listen. Thanks for spotting that! Cool critters. Nicely fright-oriented, and it's cool to see a creature that isn't focused on beating up and killing. Shouldn't baleful gaze also be a fear-based effect? Baleful gaze was originally a fear effect, but then I realized that someone immune to fear (paladin, anyone?) is totally immune to this monster, so I changed it. It's more of a psychic "punch" than actual fear.
Chippy_the_Devourer 01-02-07, 08:25 PM	Hm... I bet I could find a YTMND that fits with this...
Morrowner 01-02-07, 09:46 PM	Could you make one of their abilities be like the dog in earlier editions which would curse the player and make him take maximum damage from the next 3 attacks against him or her? DC 20 or be gazed for 2 to 8 rounds. That is sick. Phantasmal Killer at DC 20 is sick, too. No way is this CR 4. Split the difference and call it CR 6...and mind you it'd be a very tough CR 6.
Talisman 01-03-07, 02:33 PM	CR 6 it is. Thanks! Oh, and JLaurHughes: what did you mean by "Fail one save and you possibly fail all saves."? None of the saves are linked in any way I can see.