Hound Master (Character Kit)

Class Information 	Class Information
Class Requirements 	Fighter, ranger (elf or half-elf only)
Racial Requirements 	Elf (moon, wild), halfelf (moon, wild), dwarf (gold, shield), gnome, (forest, rock), halfling
Ability Requirements 	Charisma 11, Intelligence 9, Strength 9, Wisdom 11
Prime Requisite 	Charisma, Strength, Wisdom
Aligments 	Any
Social Rank 	Lower class
Hit Die Type 	d10
Attack as 	Warrior
Save as 	Warrior
Advance as 	Fighter
Spell Ability? 	No (Yes for high-level rangers)
Exceptional Strength? 	Yes
Exceptional Constitution?	Yes
Starting Cash (x10 gp) 	5d4
Proficiencies 	Proficiencies
Weapon Slots 	4
Initial Weapons 	Dagger or knife, whip, missile and melee weapons
Additional WP Slot 	3
Additional Weapons 	Any
Nonproficiency Penalty 	-2
Nonweapon Slots 	3
Additional NWP Slot 	3
Available Categories 	General, Warrior
Bonus Proficiencies 	Animal training, appraising (dogs), hunting, tracking
Recommended Proficiencies	Animal handling, animal lore, blacksmithing, direction sense, endurance, fire-building, fishing, gaming, herbalism, languages (sign), leatherworking, riding (land-based), rope use, running, set snares, survival, swimming, veterinary healing (CRH), weather sense
Secondary Skills 	Forester, groom, hunter, trapper/furrier
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==Overview==
A human's best friend is also a demihuman's best friend. The elves have elven dogs (cooshees), the halflings have hunting and guard dogs, and dwarves sometimes capture wolf cubs and raise them. Some warriors of these races devote their lives to breeding, raising, and training canine packs that track down intruders, bandits, humanoids, or escaped prisoners; patrol regional boundaries; guard special buildings or people; sniff out illegal or dangerous cargoes; and scout wilderness lands for enemy forces. A common love of dogs led some trainers to informally share their knowledge over the centuries, leading to the development of experienced hound masters.
Hound masters come from every homeland of the demihuman types allowed to take this kit. They tend to be rural characters and love the wilderness.
Mention is reluctantly made here of the rock gnomes of Saradush, Tethyr, who use tame giant weasels exactly as other races use dogs. No one has grown accustomed to calling them "weasel masters," however, and their control over their bloodsucking companions is doubted by all. Mention is not made of the tinker gnomes from wildspace who are said to have imported giant space hamsters to an unrevealed location and now claim to be "hamster masters"—no, they will not be mentioned at all.
==Description==
Hound masters use similar methods of training and commanding their charges, and so have much in common despite racial and cultural differences. At home, hound masters do not wear armor around their dogs, instead choosing rustic, serviceable clothing that the hounds are accustomed to smelling. Dull, natural colors (maroon, brown, dark green, gray) are most common. On a mission, a human, elf, or half-elf hound master is often mounted on a light horse; dwarves and halflings ride ponies. Medium armor (up to chain mail) is worn so as not to encumber the mount. Thick gloves offer protection from dog bites when dragging dogs off their prey. Hounds are allowed to run free if in full pursuit but kept leashed if the hound master must travel on foot.
==Roleplaying==
Of the first four weapons chosen, one must be a dagger or knife used to cut leashes, free dogs from briars, fight in close quarters, and so forth. A whip is used to control the dogs when they are too stirred up to obey orders; merely cracking the whip over their heads provokes a moral check on their part, and this can be done twice a round if necessary. Actually hitting the dogs with the whip is bad, as the dogs fight back and could be seriously injured. A hand-to-hand weapon such as a sword or axe is also chosen (with which to kill prey), along with some form of missile weapon (crossbow, bow, sling, etc.) for hunting and self-defense.
Dogs are usually trained to attack their prey and kill it, unless the prey escapes up a tree or into a cave. If possible, a hound master trains his dogs to chase but not attack certain types of unkillable prey, like trolls or lycanthropes. Some dogs are trained to hunt silently, not barking to alert their prey until they actually see it. Many hounds respond to sign language or coded horn blasts. If prey is anticipated to be very dangerous, light armor can be placed on the dogs to give them AC 6 or AC 5. Some canines are trained as pack animals for very light loads, but none are trained as mounts, even by small races.
Most hound masters work with war dogs, but cooshees (elven dogs), wolves, and even giant weasels are also trained in exactly this manner, as noted earlier. Some evil hound masters have great luck with worgs, but coyotes, dingoes, and dire wolves can be trained if available. (Whatever is said about dogs or hounds here also applies to these related species, including the giant weasels.) Canines that cannot be trained in this way include species whose Intelligence exceeds the "low" rating, have magical powers, or are wholly evil in nature: blink dogs, winter wolves, death dogs, shadow mastiffs, moon dogs, etc. Small canines like jackals and foxes are unsuitable because of their size and nature.
==Special Advantages==
A hound master is so skilled at training dogs that he gains the animal training proficiency with an automatic +1 bonus, but this skill can be used only with one of the allowable creatures named above. A hound master who trains wolves cannot use his skills on war dogs, as the two species have very different behaviors and responses to training. If a second animal training proficiency is taken later, it does not have this +1 bonus.
The initial animal training proficiency, with bonus, allows the hound master to train up to four animals at once, with an additional animal added with every new slot given this proficiency. Each slot added to this proficiency (including the initial bonus) reduces by one week the time needed to train the animals, down to a minimum training time of two weeks. Each slot added also increases by one the total number of tasks that can be taught. Thus, an elf hound master at 1st level could train four cooshees at once, teaching them a task in 2d6-1 weeks with the potential to teach each of them a total of 2d4+1 tasks.
If wild animals like wolves, worgs, or giant weasels are being trained, the hound (or weasel) master gains a +4 bonus to tame them if the animals were from a litter of a mother that the hound master has trained himself. When working with such animals, the hound master's commands are obeyed on a roll of 1-19 on 1d20, and are ignored on a 20.
A hound master can teach his charges to respond to commands in foreign languages or even sign language, coded light signals, horns, etc. The hound master must first have proficiency in either the language to be used, signaling, music instrument, or other appropriate talent.
A hound master can appraise the value and condition of the specific type of animal he is training. With the appraising proficiency, he can tell an animal's health with great exactness. (For game purposes, he knows how many hit points it has.) If he has the blacksmithing and leatherworking proficiencies, he can make leather armor with metal plates, or spiked collars for his hounds.
Hounds make no morale checks if defending their master from attack and, because of their senses, hounds are able to tell instantly if their master is afraid or feels threatened. If the master is attacked, the hounds gain a +4 saving throw vs. magical fear or enchantment/charm spells.
A hound master with herbalism or veterinary healing proficiencies improves the health of his dogs over time. With every level he gains and with every slot devoted to either of these two proficiencies, each of his trained hounds permanently gains one extra hit point, up to the normal maximum allowed for that species (for example, 24 hit points for a wolf).
A trained hound, wolf, or other relevant species has a +6 bonus to avoid being surprised by anything that makes noise or gives off an odor, and tracks as if using the tracking proficiency with a -6 modifier on the die roll and an assumed Wisdom of 12.
==Special Disadvantages==
A hound master's armor must be light enough to allow his mount the fastest possible movement, necessary when the hounds are in full chase after their quarry. This could be a disadvantage if the hound master suddenly faces a monster his hounds have cornered. The hound master uses no shield larger than a buckler or small shield, as he often holds his dogs' leashes in his shield hand, too.
If the hound master's dogs are killed or injured in an encounter, he must train a new group of dogs. It is recommended that a hound master have plenty of dogs on hand at home, cared for at all times by his family or trusted hirelings. He should consider armoring his hounds and should always use them wisely in battle, calling them off if the prey is too dangerous.
The death of a hound is very traumatic for a hound master, who loves his charges greatly. For 2d4 days after the death of one of his dogs, a hound master takes a -1 penalty to attack rolls and saving throws. An additional penalty of +1 days and -1 to attack and saving-throw rolls is applied for every hound beyond the first that is killed in the same encounter. However, if the hound master finds the being that killed his beloved canines, these penalties ceases and he gains instead a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls against the killer, bonuses that last until the killer is dead.
Caring for his animals is an important part of a hound master's daily rituals. Working dogs need quality food (scraps will not be sufficient), plenty of fresh water, grooming, and daily training. Establishing and maintaining ownership of (and dominance over) a hound means providing for it; hounds that are forced to fend for themselves soon learn that they need no master and become increasingly difficult to control. Therefore, unless a hound master carries a food supply for his animals (or if he runs out of food and the hounds have to hunt for their supper for more than three days), the hounds become eligible to make morale checks when their owner is threatened. Furthermore, characters who do not interact with ("train") their hounds on a daily basis—those who simply treat them as equipment, to be used when convenient—may (at the DM's option) be called upon to make animal training proficiency rolls during any occasion in which above-average control is needed.