Hund

Description

This creature resembles an enlarged wolf with a reddish coat of short hair, and a thick, extended tail. They have a long snout, small eyes and ears, and a pair of fuzzy protrusions on top of their head.

These ferocious wolf-like creatures are almost the size of a pony, with a coat of short, reddish-brown hair and a thick, flexible tail almost as long as their body. In addition to their acute senses, the hund possess unusual magical abilities that make them highly effective hunters. Their snout is unusually large, providing a potent sense of smell. Their eyes are adequate but not particularly acute, and they have only small ears. Instead they have two soft antennae on the top of their head that focus their special abilities and provide an unusual sense of proximity.

The hund hunt in packs, and they possess a mental link that allows them to sense the intent of other pack members at distances of hundreds of feet. This ability allows them to spread out in a broad skirmish line until they sense their prey. They are also able to dimension hop short distances, allowing them to close ranks in a hurry. These abilities, and their cunning pack tactics, allow the hund to chase down prey that have a significant lead, and reduce the distance quickly.

In other respects the hund behave similarly to wolves, with a leader and a pecking order within each pack. The females rarely give birth to more than one pup in a season, and the entire pack takes turns looking after the offspring. Their dens are built at inaccessible locations, such as a grotto in a cliff face. The pups only leave their den when they have mastered the ability to perform a streaking run.

When a hund is hand raised from a pup, it is possible to partially domesticate the creature and train it to serve as a hunting hound. However the hund never fully loses its innate ferocity and must always be managed with some degree of care.

Combat

Hunds are clever enough to be wary of ranged weapons, and typically attack by using their streaking run so that they can close with a few bounding steps. Their mental link allows them to synchronize attacks with their pack by encircling opponents from a distance and cutting off any escape routes. When the prey is encircled, the pack members close using their streaking run ability, often gaining surprise in the process. (Listen and Spot checks to notice the hund is made prior to closing including any distance penalties that apply.)

Vitality Drain (Su): Living creatures hit by a hund's numbing bite attack must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or become fatigued. If the target is already fatigued, it becomes exhausted. This ability has no effect on creatures that are immune to magical sleep effects. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Streaking Run (Sp): As a run action a hund can transport itself at the speed of a lightning bolt in a straight line up to a distance of 350 feet. To use this ability, the hund must have an unobstructed view of the destination and there can be no solid barriers between the current location and the end point. This is the equivalent of a 4th-level spell.

Mind Link (Su): Whenever two or more hund from the same pack are within a mile of each other, each is automatically aware of the distance and the general direction of the others. In addition they understand the immediate general intentions of each other and are able to coordinate their actions.

Blindsense (Ex): A hund possesses an unusual sense that allows it to detect nearby sources of energy. It can discriminate between the various creatures that it can see, and can detect active spells or magic items, although it would not understand a particular magical effect unless it had experienced it beforehand.

Skills: Hund have a +4 bonus on Balance checks. *They also have a +4 racial bonus on Survival checks when tracking by scent.

Advanced Benefits

In addition to the standard changes due to Hit Dice advancement, hunds also gain the following special benefits.

• The save DC of the vitality drain is equal to 10 + ½ HD + Constitution modifier.
• The streaking run ability can transport a hund up to 50 feet per Hit Dice.
• 10–19 HD ― This hund can mind link with other hund from the same pack within two miles.
• 18+ HD ― If a creature is already exhausted, then the vitality drain of the hund affects the target as a slow spell (caster level equals Hit Dice).
• 20+ HD ― This hund can mind link with other hund from the same pack within five miles.