Dogs

Traits

The diversity of dogs is hard to generalize but dogs begin with the follow traits:

Ability Score Increase: Your Charisma score increases by 1.

Age: Dogs reach maturity around 18 months and usually live between 10 and 15 years.

Alignment: Dogs tend towards good alignments due to their natural urge to be helpful, but there are exceptions.

Size: Dogs vary in height and length enormously. Your size is dependent on your subrace.

Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Languages: You can 'speak' and read Common and two extra languages of your choice. Note that dogs do not necessarily use speech; whilst they can understand their chosen languages, the specifics of how they communicate are left to the players. Some possibilities include having the full ability of speech, being uncannily effective at conveying meaning through gesture and sounds ("I think she is saying the kids are down in the well") or having another character who can understand and interpret for the dog. Regardless of how the dog expresses itself, it is assumed that it is communicating with its allies with sufficient fluency as to avoid any penalties to rolls.

Keen Senses: Dogs have advantage on Perception checks based on smell or hearing and disadvantage on Perception checks depending on color recognition.

Best Friend: Dogs may cast the Charm Person spell using Charisma as the spellcasting ability once per long rest. Not spell components are necessary. The DC for this ability us 8 + your Charisma modifier.

Worse than the Bark: You have a natural bite attack. You are proficient with this attack and it counts as both a weapon attack and an unarmed attack. This attack does 1d4 + your Strength modifier damage. This increases to 1d6 + your Strength modifier at level 5 and 1d8 + your Strength modifier at level 10.

Many Breeds, Many Forms: Dogs have such variety of shapes and breeds that they are highly diverse. Choose one of the following subraces to reflect your chosen breeding and select two Breed Abilities from the Breed Abilities list.

Big Dog

Big dogs are the strongest, and most physically imposing animals in the canine family. mastiff's, St Bernards, and Alsatians all fall into this size of breed.

Size: Your size is Medium.

Ability Score Increase: Your Constitution score increases by 1.

Powerful Bite: When you use your bite attack, you roll two dice for damage and choose the higher result. For critical hit, roll three dice and choose the best two results.

Regular Dog

Regular dogs may be the most common sized dogs and tend to be known for energy and hale sturdiness. This includes spaniels, bulldogs, and many crossbreeds.

Size: Your size is Medium.

Ability Score Increase: Your Strength score increases by 1.

Boundless Persistance: Once per long rest, when you are reduced to 0 hit points, you may immediately roll a hit dice to heal that many hit points.

Lap Dog

Tiny of body but giant of heart, lap dogs are known for nimble movement and fearless attitude. This category includes Chihuahuas, Terriers and Maltese.

Size: Your size is Small.

Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity score increases by 1.

Slippery: If your attack is a critical hit, you may dodge as a free action after resolving the attack.

Breed Abilities

Dogs are an almost infinitely varied species and as such, are represented by the subraces and the following breed abilities. These are intended to help reflect a certain breeding or classic role that dogs are renowned for. You may choose two of these abilities at level 1.

Assistance Dog: You are gifted at guiding others. You can nominate a creature within 5 feet as your bonus action. Whilst in this range, if benefits from your Keen Senses trait as if it possessed the trait itself.

At Their Heels: You are skilled in dogging your opponent no matter what. When a target provokes an opportunity attack from you, if you hit then you may also move up to half your movement speed towards your foe.

Bloodhound: You are a master of tracking. You have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks on rolls related to tracking a target using scent.

Catch and Fetch: You are skilled at snatching things from the air and retrieving them. You can use your reaction to reduce the damage from a ranged weapon attack by 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier. If you reduce the damage to 0 in this way, you can catch the weapon.

Cattle Dog: You are a natural at herding your quarry. When you hit a creature with an opportunity attack, you may move that creature up to 10 feet in any direction before it resolves the rest of its movement.

Comforting Companion: You are a soothing presence. When you share an entire short of long with up to six creatures you choose within 30 feet of you, each regains hit points equal to your level.

Digger: You just have to dig! You have advantage on ability checks for digging. In combat, if you are in an environment which can be dug into by your paws, you may take an action to go prone and gain half cover.

Dogged Persistence: You possess boundless energy and determination. When you take damage, you can use your reaction to gain resistance to all of the triggering damage. After you use this ability, you can't use it again until you complete a short or long rest.

Faithful Friend: You are able to aid those around you just by your presence. Once per short rest, as your reaction, when an ally you can see within 30 feet fails a saving throw, ability check, or attack roll, use your reaction to allow them to attempt the roll again. You can also use this reaction to force an opponent to re-roll a successful attack against an ally you can see within 30 feet.

Frenzied Fighting: You are adept at the frantic combination of barking, scratching, biting and general chaos that typifies some dogs when they are enraged. Once per long rest, you may cause each creature in a 15-foot cube originating from you to make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 2d8 damage and is pushed 10 feet away from you. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage.

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