Dog Days

We’re pivoting back to our Dungeon Delve Wandering Monster table today, but we get a little double duty once again as our hound dog also fits snugly into our Wilderness Trek table.

Since our last entry focused on those nasty groundbreaking skeletons, we’re going with another non-combat encounter with a chance for someone in the party to pick up a sorta-familiar pet (as long as the DM thinks adding it fits the party makeup well).

We’re tapping EC3D Designs Everyday Folk Part 2 Kickstarter this time, as that fantastic support-free set includes a couple of fun dog mini variations. There’s just so much value in this set, and as usual, an EC3D Designs’ STL always, and we mean always, prints like a champ.

This hound of hounds will elicit quite a soothing reaction from your players, as he’s just so darn loveable. And its paint job is perfect! We never constrain our resident painter, Kimmy Utah, because we want her creativity to ooze out of her. The black-and-white patch look is perfect in our eyes.

Now, let’s discuss the narrative here. The party has found a somewhat secure spot in the dungeon and has decided to take a long rest to restore those precious hit points and spell slots. The player on watch is bored out of his mind and tries not to nod off on his shift. A Perception check roll reveals some very faint “whining” in the distance.

If the player decides to open the locked door, it will reveal this skittish pup just barely popping out in the shadows. The player will need to roll an Animal Handling check to see if it can befriend the traumatized pup and get it to come closer. He’ll have a dog tag on it, but the name is worn off, so the group will need to name this poor guy.

We immediately gleaned an excellent suggestion in the D&D Beyond forum to just take the Cat familiar and tweak its abilities. DM Ben doesn’t really care if the party uses their new-found pet in combat because that just means they’re using valuable heals on their new furry friend rather than themselves. However, unlike typical DnD Familiars, if this canine takes damage and dies…sadly, it dies permanently.

For that reason, we’ll let the party use this suggested Wild Dog stat block (AC 12, HP 5, +3/1d6+1). DM Ben will print out its stat sheet and include it with the miniature. You could also level up the dog over time which could be super fun for the group (DM Ben will surprise his players with this when they do their own leveling up).

DM Ben won’t lie — managing Familiars in DnD games is not his favorite, as adding these creatures makes surprising the group quite difficult. For example, a Wizard’s spider familiar often lets one slip underneath dungeon doors and relay the contents of the rooms. Blech. However, animals are part of the game at times, so we gotta embrace the concept.

Lastly, let’s ponder some other campaign story hooks to ensure you get lots of juicy gameplay out of this lil’ pooch.

• Leads the group to his fallen master.
• Helps the party find the dungeon exit.
• Suddenly runs away from the group (for now).

We also found a couple of interesting videos that might be fun to watch as you’re getting ready for work in the morning.

Lastly, DnD Blogger Jamie Chambers from Backstab with a Ballista wrote an absolutely brilliant article on incorporating puppies into one’s game. Our favorite was this really great puppy antics table that the DM could roll on from time to time. Every hour or maybe once a session, a player would roll a d20 and get a result like, “accidentally damages a minor item belonging to a party member” or “uncovers a hidden item or clue by digging or sniffing around.” So good!

And even better — we have yet another wandering entry on both our tables! One could certainly find a lost doggo out in the wilderness, too!

Until next time!