Stalking Death

The stalking death resembles a mastiff grown to monstrous size, wrapped in thick double-layered fur, and the sight of it alone can freeze a man with dread. Its bulk and jaw strength outstrip even a giant crocodile, dwarfing any ordinary dog. Bred to kill, it never quits until its quarry is dead, and its genius mind produces tactics some would call cowardly but that reliably unsettle clever prey.

When summoned to fight, it pulls its victims, with all their gear and magic items and no saving throw, into an off-white pocket dimension with no visible horizon, sky, or floor. A gut-churning roar sounds, the hound blinks into being about fifteen feet away, and the attack begins. It can blink in or out whenever it likes.

Its strength and Dexterity are tremendous. Every other round it can leap 30 feet up, 30 feet sideways, or any combination, mainly to keep enemies from circling behind it, though it will not jump straight onto a foe 30 feet away who holds a polearm. Its usual routine pairs a 3d6 bite and a 3d4 claw against one foe with a 3d4 rake at another; with a single enemy left, everything goes at that one. It stomps fallen foes for 3d8 as it lunges past, and the DM may rule bones broken. It may also clamp a victim in its jaws and grind for 3d4+4 per round, which at the DM's option can break bones and reduce Charisma.

It tries to split parties so fewer weapons can reach it. A favorite gambit is to leap 30 feet off and wait for a polearm charge, then hop aside and hit the charger's flank. After each kill it takes a bite from the body, keeping the survivors in front of it, before fighting on.

At 70 or fewer hit points it blinks away and watches for a few minutes, returning only for an opening too good to waste and striking with total surprise at a flank or back. At 30 or fewer it drops as if dead and vanishes again; a party convinced of its death grants it a temporary +2 bonus to hit. Five minutes later it reappears in a strong position and fights in a frenzy, its AC worsening from 0 to 4 but gaining an extra claw attack for the rest of the battle.

Only at -1 hit point does it truly perish, whereupon the survivors return to where they started. However long the fight felt, onlookers saw no time pass, only wounds appearing on the victims as if by magic, or sudden, inexplicable death.

No one has seen a stalking death and lived, so all lore comes from ancient writings and alien wizards. The beasts seem to be the god of death's only known avatars, sent when he chooses to grant marked victims a thin chance at survival. Whether there is one or many is unknown; most assume that if one dies, the god makes another, though some sages insist a death god cannot create life and must instead raise these horrors from the grave.

Other sages and priests, unable to stomach the idea of such an avatar, call it merely the god's familiar. Everyone agrees the two are linked, and that both terrify anyone wise enough to know it.