Homebrew Awakened Hound Species Details

Did that dog just cast magic missile?

— Patchouli Tallheart, adventurer

Mostly magical in origin, awakened hounds are just that, dogs with the intellect of an average humanoid driven by the wonder of a whole new world to explore. The ultimate companions, dedicated awakened hounds are loyal and honest to a fault. Their instincts drive them to find and protect their pack!

Loyal Allies

Awakened hounds are quick to trust but slow to forgive. They readily seek out allies and are intensely protective of their "pack". But be warned, do not betray the trust of an awakened hound as they make fearsome enemies and will do almost anything to seek revenge against someone who betrayed the pack. 

Pillars of Self

Awakened hounds have an innate sense of self and rarely seek to obscure their motivations. They are generally honest in their goals and affiliations. Awakened hound emotions are usually pure and exaggerated but also fickle. It's not uncommon for an awakened hound to be ecstatic one moment and distraught in another. 

Their strong sense of self doesn't prevent awakened hounds from changing. Changes in the personality of an awakened hound most often occur following particularly impactful personal moments in the hounds life. 

Feral Origins

Despite their intelligence, awakened hounds retain many of the characteristics and mannerisms of their feral counterparts. Awakened hounds often look first with their nose, then with their ears, and last with their eyes. 

Common humanoid behaviors, like table manners, usually evade awakened hounds. Awakened hounds usually see these behaviors as frivolous and unnecessary. Many a tea party has been ruined by an overly enthusiastic awakened hound. 

Seekers of Knowledge

An awakened hounds transformation often leaves them with a thirst for knowledge whether it be arcane, historical, or cultural. The world is full of wonders that they want to see and understand. Though rare, this thirst can drive some awakened hounds to seek knowledge and power by any means, even if it means sacrificing their better inclinations. 

Awakened Hound Names

Awakened hounds have two names. Their first name is a personal identifier and is often derived from the culture that the hound belonged to before it was awakened. If the hound had a name before it was awakened, they often adopt this as their first name. 

Awakened hounds have a second name that they call their heart name. Heart names reflect a hound's inner sense of self and usually symbolize something that they feel most strongly represents their personality. While first names are usually fixed, heart names can change throughout the life of an awakened hound, usually because of a following a major life event. 

The following is a list of sample awakened hound names.

Awakened Hound First Names: Doug, Elwyn, Fluffy, Scout, Spot, Snuffles, Scotch, Evar. 

Awakened Hound Heart Names: Strongheart, Keenmind, Lostsoul, Oldfear, Darkpast, Bigbite, Goodsmell. 

Awakened Hound Personality

An awakened hound might have motivations and quirks much different from a dwarf or an elf with a similar background. You can use the following tables to customize your character in addition to the trait, ideal, bond, and flaw from your background.

The Awakened hound origin table can help hone your character’s backstory. For extra fun roll for a few quirks on the Awakened Hound quirk table. 

Awakened Hound Origin

d8	Origin
1	A spell caster used the Awaken spell on me.
2	Wild magic surged into my body granting my intellect and other abilities.
3	I used to be human! A witch made me this way.
4	A lonely druid conjured me and taught me to speak.
5	I'm the result of the experiments of an artificer.
6	I'm from the Feywild where all the dogs can talk.
7	I chewed on a weird artifact and that granted me intelligence.
8	I was born to a remote pack of awakened hounds.

 Awakened Hound Quirks

d10	Quirk
1	You are easily distracted by interesting smells.
2	You find thrown objects irresistible and will chase after them.
3	You have a minor phobia of water and hate getting wet.
4	Your tail always betrays your inner thoughts.
5	You have no concept of personal space and often try to climb into the laps of other people.
6	You are embarrassed by your feral characteristics, and attempt to act and appear as "human" as possible.
7	All food is free game and you will gorge yourself when food is plentiful
8	You have a fondness for chewing on leather.
9	You will do anything for anyone that offers to pat your belly.
10	You bathe yourself with your tongue ... constantly.

 

Awakened Hound Traits

Your Awakened hound character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution score increases by 2, and your Charisma score increases by 1.

Age

The magic that imbues an awakened hound also extends their lifespan beyond that of a normal dog. Awakened hounds can live up to 40 years.

Alignment

Awakened hounds tend toward good alignments as they mirror the kindhearted nature of their unawakened counterparts.

Size

Awakened hounds range from small to medium in size. 

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision

You have a hounds keen senses, especially in the dark. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Pack Tactics

Your instincts allow you to work with an ally to get the upper hand against a foe. You have advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of your allies is within 5 feet of the creature and your ally isn't incapacitated.

Dog's Bite

Your bite is a natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Dog's Instinct

You have proficiency in the Insight skills.

Keen Hearing and Smell

You've retained the keen hearing and smell of your unawakened brethren. You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell. 

Leave Mark

Dogs use scent to communicate just as much as their other senses. You've retained this ability. As an action you can, leave a scent mark that can convey your identity, an emotion, or a simple thought (e.g. safe, danger ahead, etc...). You, and other hounds, can interpret these scent marks. These "scent" marks persist for 1 week or until washed away. 

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice. You can communicate with hounds and other canines. With your keen sense of smell you can interpret hound marks which can convey identities, simple thoughts, and emotions.