The Dog Soldier

8/2/2019 The Dog Soldier

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DragonCyclopedia Monsters: The Dog Soldier

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Monsters:

The

Dog SoldierA New Monster for Use

with the Pathfinder

Roleplaying Gameby

Glen R. Taylorand

DragonCyclopedia

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This document is copyright Glen R. Taylor,2011, and is published under the Open GameLicense version 1.0a, copyright 2000 Wizards ofthe Coast, Inc. The full text of this documentis Open Game Content under the provisions ofthat license.

Uncredited illustrations are derived from worksthat are in the Public Domain.

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and thePathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatible logo

are copyright 2009 Paizo Publishing, LLC.

Design and Writing: Glen R. Taylor

Production, Editing and Publishing:DragonCyclopedia

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Table of Contents

Introduction..........................................................4

Dog Soldier..........................................................5 New Feats.............................................................6

New Magic Items.................................................7

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Introduction

This document introduces a new monster, the

Dog Soldier, for use in the Pathfinder

Roleplaying Game.

What's This About?

One of the staples of the action genre of fiction,

including fantasy, is the faceless enemy hordes.They may be enemy soldiers with visored

helmets, or simply look distinctly inhuman, but

they are ideal as enemies in fiction because they

are faceless; they lack identity, even as a person.In most cases, this is metaphorical, and these

enemies really are people, just people with

different and often homicidal views.

However, there are also enemies that are faceless

in all senses. They are not people; they do not

have an identity, or any ambitions other thankilling you and doing the things you are trying to

stop. One such enemy is the dog soldier, which is

created when a victim is enslaved by being sealed

into a special cursed helmet called a dog mask.

How Do I Use Dog Soldier?

Dog soldiers can have the same use as a lot of

other evil enemies. Where an evil overlord mightemploy human troops or orcs, he may instead use

some resources to forge dog masks in order to

employ dog soldiers. They are perfectly loyal, ifnot suited to any roles involving thinking. They

make good shock troops and suicide squads,

especially if sent against their former friends

and/or family.

Dog Soldiers in Adventures

Dog soldiers make good enemies in adventures,and in fact can often be substituted for other

enemies or monsters. However, the very nature of

dog soldiers also suggests certain adventureconcepts, with perhaps the most classic one being

rescuing a friend who has been turned into a dog

soldier and freeing him of the curse. This is anextremely difficult task, by design, and can make

for an epic quest in itself.

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Dog Soldier

Dull rage glints in the red eyes behind the iron

mask of this muscled warrior.

DOG SOLDIER CR 1/3

XP 135

Male human dog soldier warrior 1

N Medium humanoid

Init +1; Senses low-light vision, scent;

Perception +4

DEFENSE

AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14 (+1 Dex, +2natural, +2 armor)

hp 14 (1d10+4)

Fort +4, Ref+1, Will +0

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.

Melee 1 morningstar +3, (1d8+2)

Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Special Attacks none

Spell-Like Abilities none

STATISTICS

Str 15, Dex 13, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 10

Base Atk+1; CMB +3; CMD 14

Feats Power AttackB, Toughness

Skills Climb +6, Intimidate +4, Perception +5;

Racial Modifiers +4 Perception

Languages Common (cannot speak)

SQ immune to fear, language dependent effectsand uses of Diplomacy and Intimidate

ECOLOGY

Environment any

Organization solitary, pair, or gang (3-8)

Treasure NPC gear (studded leather armor,morningstar, locked gauntlet, dog mask)

A dog soldier is a warrior who has been

supernaturally bound by the power of a magic

item known as a dog mask. They are compelled tobe loyal, nearly mindless fighters.

Creating a Dog Soldier

Dog soldier is an acquired template that can beadded to any living humanoid, fey or monsterous

humanoid. A dog soldier uses the base creature's

stats and abilities except as noted below.

CR: Same as the base creature.

AL: Alignment changes to neutral.

Senses: A dog soldier gains low-light vision and

the Scent quality.

Armor Class: Natural armor improves by +2.

Defensive Abilities: If the base creature has

spells or spell-like abilities, the dog soldier losesthe use of these abilities, but gains spell resistance

equal to its highest caster level + 10. If the base

creature already has spell resistance, it uses the

higher of this or its original spell resistance. If thebase creature does not have a caster level, it does

not gain spell resistance on becoming a dog

soldier.

Weaknesses: A dog soldier's mind is bound bythe power of the dog maskinto which it has been

sealed. While the dog soldier has the sameintellect and memories as before, it has no ability

to make its own decisions. It must absolutely

obey it's master's commands. It is also unable to

speak, make any use of spells, spell-like abilities,or use any skills based on Intelligence, Wisdom

or Charisma other than Intimidate, Perception or

Survival. Once bound into the dog mask, a dogsoldier may not gain experience or class levels.

Special Qualities: Gain immunity to fear,language dependent effects, and uses of

Diplomacy and Intimidate. Does not need to eat,drink or sleep.

Skills Gain a +4 racial bonus to Perception skill

checks.

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New Feats

The following new feats are presented for use in

conjunction with this document.

Dog Soldier Tracking (General)Your past as a dog soldier has made your sense ofsmell uncannily acute.

Prerequisites: Wis 13, Renegade Dog Soldier

Benefit: You gain the Scent ability, as themonster special ability.

Renegade Dog Soldier (General)

You were once supernaturally enslaved as a dog

soldier, and are now free but can draw strengthfrom your painful history.

Prerequisites: Must have been bound into a

dog maskand subsequently freed.

Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus to Will saves

against fear, charms and compulsions and a +2

bonus to your own uses of the Intimidate skill.

Special: Your face is permanently marked

with the scars left by the dog mask, although they

can be concealed. This incurs a -2 penalty on any

Disguise checks made to disguise you. Thesescars can never be healed, naturally or through

magic, and even appear on other forms if you

magically change shape.

Normal: You gain no special capabilities fromyour time spent enslaved by the dog mask.

Renegade Willpower (General)

You have vowed you will die before you areenslaved as you were before.

Prerequisites: Con 13, Wis 13, Renegade Dog

Soldier

Benefit: If you fail a Will saving throw to

resist a charm or compulsion effect, you mayvoluntarily suffer 2 points of Constitution damage

and 2 points of Charisma damage in order to treatthe failure as a success. This occurs even if you

are normally immune to such ability damage.

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New Magic Items

The following new magic item is presented foruse with this document.

Dog Mask

Aura moderate enchantment; CL 9th

Slot head; Weight 3 lbs.; Price 500 gp

Description

This evil creation holds a special and powerful

curse. It takes the form of an iron or steel helmet

with a visor can swing down and lock into place,completely obscuring the face except for two

narrow eye-slits. Exact construction varies, butmany are sculpted with a snarling canine face onthe visor. Looking on the inside of the visor

reveals a series of long, cruel, hooked metal

spikes pointing in toward the face and curving abit upward. The two longest are located on the

inside of the eye-slits.

Because of the complexity of the mask, it can

only be put onto a willing or helpless victim.When the dog maskis put on a victim, the spikes

pierce the skin, flesh and bone of the face in

several places, with the longest entering theinside corners of the eyes and penetrating as far

as the victim's brain. This leaves the whites of the

victim's eyes permanently stained red and blood-shot, even if he is later cured of the curse.

The effect of the mask is immediate. As soon as

the mask locks into place, the victim's will is

completely over-ridden by the mask. The victimacquires the dog soldier template, and the first

being that gives him an order is considered to be

the new dog soldier's master. This effect onlytakes place if the victim is a living humanoid, fey,

or monstrous humanoid. Any other type of being

is locked into the mask, but not mentallyenslaved. There is no saving throw against this

process, and spell resistance does not protect.

The dog soldier blindly obeys all orders of its

master, including self-destructive orders. The

master can voluntarily pass ownership of the dog

soldier on to another being simply by telling the

dog soldier who the new master is. This caninvolve telling the dog soldier that if the master

dies, who will be in charge.

The new dog soldier loses any spell-castingability and spell-like abilities (although if it losesany such abilities, it gains spell resistance equal

to its former caster level plus 10), and becomes

unable to speak or make individual decisions. Itno longer needs to eat, drink or sleep, with the

mask providing all sustenance.

Once locked into place, the mask may not be

removed without risk of killing the occupant andeven destroying its soul. Removing the mask can

be performed by suppressing the magic holding it

closed (such as introducing it into an antimagicarea, or casting greater dispel and succeeding in a

caster level check with a DC of 19) and then

physically opening it. However, once it is opened,the wearer must immediately make a Will saving

throw with a DC of 30. Failure indicates that the

wearer's soul is shredded; he dies and can only be

returned with a true resurrection. If he succeeds atthe Will saving throw, he suffers 4d6 Constitution

damage and is reduced to -1 hit point and is

dying. He can be stabilized as normal. If his

Constitution is reduced to 0 or below, he dies, butcan be raised as normal.

Construction

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, dominate

person, creator must be of a non-good alignment;

Cost 250 gp

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DragonCyclopedia Monsters: The Dog Soldier is copyright 2011Glen R. Taylor.

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