Re: How does one limit player use of war dogs at low levels?
Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 12:52 pm
I've never had a player desire to use more than 2 at a time, so it hasn't been a issue of numbers for me. I rather enjoy employing a pair myself, having had the chance to play rather than just DM of late. Low level characters are weak, the dog provides extra muscle, which is generaly useful. It might be the DM in me, but I don't use them as disposable fodder, in about 12 games I haven't had one die yet, though they have gotten hurt. The various DM's sometimes seemed more keen than I on sending them into battle, and I haven't minded a bit about the roleplaying of caring for them, ect. 2 of the Characters were outdoors types (a Ranger with Hunting Dogs and a Barbarian) while the last is a MU. The War Dog in particular, indeed can overshadow L1 characters, but by L3 "fit" nicely. I suspect by L5+ they become too difficult to keep alive long enough to be of great use. The MU is a B/X character, the wolf statistics in that version of D&D, while much as the AD&D wardog (2+2 HD, dam 1-6 vs AD&D 2-8) don't stand out so much, as all characters "fight" much better, relative to low HD monsters.
While I think 50gp/month quite extreme for wages for a wardog handler, making them akin to light infantry with an upkeep cost of 2gp/month and perhaps 20 gp+ a month for dungeon work. Just riffing off the DMG, I'd say one such handler per 10 max wardogs sounds reasonable.
Personally, the inefectiveness of human (or even humanoid) soldiery is easier & more useful to remedy than altering every beast in the monster manuals to conform to some minimalist world players exist above.
Speaking of humanoids, nothing prevents them from using such dogs. The old Warhammer fantasy games hobgoblins using "Hobhounds" always stuck with me. Adding some wardogs to such encounters AGAINST players is indeed fair game, and adds quite a bit to encounters or lairs with such creatures. The temptation to match pack vs pack for an abusive player would be strong indeed, though used in moderation would be my preferance.
While I think 50gp/month quite extreme for wages for a wardog handler, making them akin to light infantry with an upkeep cost of 2gp/month and perhaps 20 gp+ a month for dungeon work. Just riffing off the DMG, I'd say one such handler per 10 max wardogs sounds reasonable.
Personally, the inefectiveness of human (or even humanoid) soldiery is easier & more useful to remedy than altering every beast in the monster manuals to conform to some minimalist world players exist above.
Speaking of humanoids, nothing prevents them from using such dogs. The old Warhammer fantasy games hobgoblins using "Hobhounds" always stuck with me. Adding some wardogs to such encounters AGAINST players is indeed fair game, and adds quite a bit to encounters or lairs with such creatures. The temptation to match pack vs pack for an abusive player would be strong indeed, though used in moderation would be my preferance.