Archon, Hound
Description
Hound archons look like well-muscled humans with canine heads typically resembling those of noble-looking wolves or dogs. Well trained, they prefer to make use of their greatswords in battle, though they are equally adept with their natural weapons. Hound archons loathe killing mortals and prefer to disarm or incapacitate even evil individuals when they can. Against fiends and the irredeemably corrupt, though, they show no mercy.
Hound archons are disciplined soldiers and sentinels. Occasionally good-aligned deities send them to watch over specific places and individuals they take a particular interest in. Under the guise of unassuming but friendly strays, such secret defenders might follow their ward or guard their post subtly for years.
In Heaven's armies, exceptional hound archon paladins lead their fellows into combat, taking on roles as captains and knights. They lead incursions against fiendish holdings, whether that entails strikes against daemonic fortresses or liberating the captives of night hag soul collectors. Such missions make hound archons perhaps the most likely celestials one might encounter upon the Lower Planes, and packs of swift-moving wolves occasionally reveal themselves to be welcome saviors to those lost within such realms. Regardless of their orders, hound archons universally exhibit a particular hatred of canine fiends, abandoning all mercy and going out of their way to put an end to the evils of barghests, glabrezus, yeth hounds, and similar depraved outsiders.
Combat Stats
- Melee
- bite +8 (1d8+3), slam +8 (1d4+1) or mwk greatsword +9/+4 (2d6+3), bite +3 (1d8+2)
- DR
- 10/evil
- SR
- 15
- Aura
- aura of menace (DC 16), magic circle against evil
- Racial Modifiers
- +4 Stealth, +4 Survival
Ability Scores
Proficiencies
Weapons: Martial, Simple
Special Qualities
Change Shape — A hound archon can assume any canine form of Small to Large size, as if using beast shape II. While in canine form, the hound archon loses its bite, slam, and greatsword attacks, but gains the bite attack of the form it chooses. For the purposes of this ability, canines include any dog-like or wolf-like creature of the animal type.
Feats
Special Abilities
Universal Monster Rules
Feats, Traits & Items
You can choose to take a –1 penalty on all melee attack rolls and combat maneuver checks to gain a +2 bonus on all melee damage rolls. This bonus to damage is increased by half (+50%) if you are making an attack with a two-handed weapon, a one handed weapon using two hands, or a primary natural weapon that adds 1-1/2 times your Strength modifier on damage rolls. This bonus to damage is halved (–50%) if you are making an attack with an off-hand weapon or secondary natural weapon. When your base attack bonus reaches +4, and every 4 points thereafter, the penalty increases by –1 and the bonus to damage increases by +2. You must choose to use this feat before making an attack roll, and its effects last until your next turn. The bonus damage does not apply to touch attacks or effects that do not deal hit point damage.
Skills
Acrobatics +9, Intimidate +10, Perception +10, Sense Motive +10, Stealth +13, Survival +14
Spells
- Type
- Outsider
- Alignment
- LG
- Size
- Medium
- Environment
- any (Heaven)
- Organization
- solitary, pair, or squad (3-5)
- Treasure
- standard (masterwork greatsword, other treasure)
- Senses
- darkvision 60 ft., detect evil, low-light vision, scent; Perception +10
- Aura
- aura of menace (DC 16), magic circle against evil
- Languages
- Celestial, Draconic, Infernal; truespeech
- Source
- Bestiary