Bloodhound (Dog)

Crime and Punishment
Author Keith Baker
Series Campaign Style
Publisher Atlas Games
Publish date 2003

A well-trained bloodhound can be extremely useful when investigating a scene or tracking a criminal. Of course, you need to know how to direct the dog and how to interpret its behavior. To use a bloodhound effectively, you must have at least 4 ranks in Handle Animal. As long as you meet this condition, a bloodhound can help you in the following ways:

• If you’re using Survival in conjunction with the Track feat, the assistance of a bloodhound provides you with a +4 to your check.
• A bloodhound provides you with a +3 bonus to Search checks, provided that the details that he helps you find relate in some way to smell. A bloodhound could help you locate a spilled potion or a buried corpse, but he won’t notice a tripwire.
• If you don’t have the Track feat or just don’t feel like using it, a bloodhound can Track using Scent alone. In order to pick up a fresh Scent, the dog must make a Wisdom check with a DC of 10; due to its keen sense of smell, a bloodhound receives a +8 to this check. However, for every hour that passes the Scent grows colder, resulting in a cumulative -2 penalty per hour; the DC may be further modified based on the strength of the odor (a stinky troll is easier to Track than a pristine elf). Use the other modifiers listed under the standard D20 System Track feat description, with the exception that surface conditions and visibility make no difference. A bloodhound can Track in a city as well as in the wilds, but if there is a great deal of activity it will be hard to isolate a Scent; the GM should raise the DC of the check to 15 or even 20 for a busy metropolis.

Bloodhound
Small animal
Hit Dice	1d8+2; hp 6
Initiative	+3
Speed	40 ft ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class	15 (+1 size, +3 Dexterity, +1 natural), touch 14, flatfooted 12
Base Attack/Grapple	+0/-4
Attack	+1 melee (1d4, bite)
Full Attack	+1 melee (1d4, bite)
Space/Reach	Face 5 ft. x 5 ft.
Special Attacks
Special Qualities	Scent
Saves	Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +1
Abilities	Strength 10, Dexterity 17, Constitution 14, Intelligence 3, Wisdom 12, Charisma 6
Skills	Listen +5, Spot +5, Survival +1, Swim +4
Feats	Alertness, Track
Environment	Any
Organization	Solitary
Challenge Rating	1/3
Treasure	Standard
Alignment	Always neutral
Level Adjustment	—

A bloodhound is trained to identify and follow scents, and to help his master search. Good bloodhounds are relatively rare; it’s up to the GM to decide if a particular community has a breeder willing to sell his dogs.

Price 75 gp