Foo Creature

Foo creatures have broad, blunt heads, protruding eyes set far apart and thickly furred bodies that look broadly like a lion's, with big padded paws. The front legs are leonine, the back legs more like a dog's. Foo dogs, the kind met most often, have long drooping ears, wide noses and short tails ending in a tuft; their coats are usually gold or black but can be gray, white, violet or green. Foo lions are larger, with longer tails, bigger mouths and shaggy manes that are sometimes tangled with peony blossoms, and are most often orange, gold or black.

Each kind has its own tongue and also speaks the other's. Foo creatures learn the languages of any humans or humanoids they come to know.

A foo dog fights with bite and claws. Against evil opponents it attacks as a 10 HD creature, and against lawful evil ones it also adds +1 to attack and damage rolls. Evil beings that attack a foo dog take -1 on their attack and damage rolls. At will, it can turn invisible, go ethereal, and travel both the Astral and Ethereal planes. If it keeps up its booming bark for 7 rounds in a row or longer, there is a 20% chance of opening a gate that brings 1d6 more foo dogs.

Foo lions have all the same powers and tactics, but attack as 15 HD creatures when fighting evil foes, who suffer the same penalties for attacking them. A foo lion that roars for at least 7 rounds straight has a 20% chance to gate in 1d2 others.

These creatures may turn up anywhere on the Prime Material Plane, but they live on the Astral and Ethereal planes and on several Outer Planes, notably the mountain realm of the gods and the northern warrior heaven. Good-aligned humans and humanoids can sometimes persuade one to help them, particularly if the asker strikes it as truly kind or the cause stirs its sense of justice. Even then it never stays on the Prime by choice for long, rarely more than a few weeks. Foo lions share the dogs' outlook, habits and homes; the two kinds bear each other no ill will but seldom mix.

Among eastern nobility the foo lion stands for bravery and might. Military officials wear its image embroidered on their court robes, and stone foo lions guard the doors of many government buildings. Eastern sorcerers sometimes enchant such statues and emblems so they can be used to petition foo lions dwelling on their native planes.

Foo creatures can eat almost any inorganic substance on the Prime Material Plane. They relish precious metals and gems, and silver and platinum most of all.