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Retch Hound

This large, muscular dog has sickly brownish-yellow fur, matted or torn in places. Small sores cover its body, each oozing a thick, yellowish-green liquid. Its mouth is filled with long pointed yellow teeth, some broken off on the ends. Most disturbingly, it has four large yellow eyes evenly aligned across its canine head.

Retch Hound CR 3

XP 800
NE Medium magical beast
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent; Perception +12
Aura stench (DC 13, 10 rounds)

DEFENSE

AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 15 (+2 Dex, +5 natural)
hp 22 (3d10+6)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +2

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft.
Melee bite +5 (1d6+2 plus trip)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks breath weapon (10-ft. cone, 2d6 acid damage plus nauseated 1d3 rounds, Reflex DC 13 for half and not nauseated, usable ever 8+1d4 rounds)

TACTICS

Retch hounds hunt their prey in packs. Using an eerie howl, they seem to coordinate and communicate with one another during these hunts. A favored tactic of a retch hound pack is to encircle a foe and then hit it from all sides at once. Usually the largest hound in the pack is the leader. When slain, a retch hound melts into a pile of stinking and bubbling slime.

STATISTICS

Str 14, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 5, Wis 12, Cha 4
Base Atk +3; CMB +5; CMD 17 (+21 vs. Trip)
Feats Skill Focus (Perception), Track
Skills Perception +12, Survival +6 (+10 scent tracking); Racial Modifiers +4 Perception, +4 Survival when tracking by scent

ECOLOGY

Environment temperate forests and marshes
Organization solitary, pair, or pack (3-6)
Treasure none

Retch hounds are large, yellowish, sickly-looking hounds, about the size of war dogs. They are highly aggressive and powerfully built carnivores that love the taste of human flesh and bones. Their appearance lends to the façade of a sickly dog, which sometimes works to the retch hound's advantage when hunting its prey.

Retch hounds are often found in the service of powerful fighters and warriors, who use the dogs to guard prisoners, lead hunting expeditions, and perform other such services. A retch hound is only as loyal to its master as it has to be to insure its own survival. While the dog won't necessary seek escape at the earliest possible time, it often turns on its master at some point. Retch hounds raised in captivity are often more loyal to their masters than those captured in the wild. A typical retch hound stands 4 to 4 1/2 feet tall at the shoulder and weighs about 150 pounds.

Section 15: Copyright Notice - Tome of Horrors Complete

Retch Hound from the Tome of Horrors Complete, Copyright 2011, Necromancer Games, Inc., published and distributed by Frog God Games; Author Scott Greene.