Skeletal Hound

A skeletal hound is a dog's skeleton with no flesh, organs, eyes, sinew or joints, held together purely by an animate dead spell. A reclusive necromancer of the misty dread realm first made them. Though they lack vocal cords, they can somehow still bark and growl.

They fight only when their creator commands, moving stiffly and slowly and fighting worse than living dogs. A bite deals 1-4, or 1-2 for a very small dog. Former hunting or war dogs keep some training and gang up on one target at once, and war dogs maneuver into good positions first; beyond such instincts they are mindless.

Sleep, charm, hold, fear, cold, poison and paralysis have no effect, and they never check morale, since they are usually ordered to fight until destroyed. With no soft tissue to cut, blades and points (swords, spears, daggers) deal only half damage, while bone-breaking bludgeons such as clubs, maces and staves, and fire, deal full damage. Holy water deals 2-8 per vial. Destroyed hounds collapse into loose bones.

They appear wherever a wizard or priest is powerful enough to make them, and do nothing but their assigned tasks. One may watch a single door, hall or room and bark at intruders; a heap of bones in a treasure vault or temple antechamber may rise and assemble to attack strangers; packs may roam a walled estate. Priests of death gods raise whole canine armies beside human skeletons for war or temple defense. Good priests, though less troubled by raising dogs than people, may still dislike disturbing the dead, and druids find the practice especially offensive.

They follow simple commands, from basic tricks like sit or play dead to guard-dog duties like watch and bark or guard and attack. Anything more complicated leaves them frozen or lashing out at whatever moves. They obey only their creator or a master of hounds named when the spell is cast.

Unless the bones are destroyed or widely scattered, another animate dead can raise the same hounds again.