Hell Hound

A hell hound is a big dog, two to three feet at the shoulder, furred in red-brown or rusty red, glowing red eyes, and soot-black markings, teeth and tongue. It reeks of smoke and sulfur, and its rare baying has a hollow, eerie ring that chills anyone who hears it. The more Hit Dice it has (4 to 7, 1d4+3), the bigger it is and the harder it hits.

Hell hounds are smart pack hunters that move in near silence, giving opponents -5 on surprise rolls. Rather than baying, one or two sneak toward the quarry while the rest circle it. The first then bursts from cover, attacks the nearest victim, and tries to herd the others toward the pack; prey that holds its ground has the rest of the pack on it within 1d4+2 rounds. They may bay when chasing fleeing prey.

A hell hound starts by breathing fire at one target up to 10 yards away for 1 point per Hit Die, halved by a save vs. breath weapon, and then bites, still breathing flame as it does. On a natural 20 it clamps the victim between its teeth and blasts flame straight into him.

It is immune to fire, has a 50% chance to notice invisible or concealed creatures, and hears so well that it is surprised only on a d10 roll of 1-2.

Their home is the scorching, fiery outer planes, where they run in packs of 2d20. Evil beings summon them to the Prime Material Plane, and most eventually escape into the wild. The leader of each pack has 7 HD, which chases away rival 7 HD hounds, and they go on to found packs of their own. They eat what ordinary dogs eat and range across 1d10+4 square miles around the den; territories can overlap. Most prey is eaten on the spot, though now and then a carcass is dragged home for later.

Breeding is hard for them on the Prime Material, and only 5% of encounters include pups, born in litters of 2d4. Pups hiccup harmless flames at least once a day that still ignite anything flammable nearby. Newborns are 10% of adult size, add another 5% monthly, and are fully grown at 4 HD after a year and a half. Their bite burns as they grow: 1 point up to two months old, then +1 for each further six months.

Like ordinary dogs, hell hounds like to fetch. Trained ones seek out particular objects, and others just play, especially with noisy bags and pouches full of their victims' valuables. Burnable containers eventually burn away, spilling their contents in and around the den, so parchment survives only inside fireproof cases.

In the natural world they are dangerous pests that start fires wherever they hunt, more forest fires than any creature except humanoids. Their knack for spotting hidden and invisible creatures makes them superb watchdogs, prized by clever monsters, fire giants among them. Pups raised by hand can be domesticated, but each year a tame hell hound has a 10% chance of going wild.