[DM] WOOF! Need some help with dogs.

[killem2]

Ok so a fighter in my group leveled up some Handle Animal skills and bought himself a dog. (which I don't mind at all, if its in the PHB i'm ok with it by default no questions asked)

However, I do have questions because this fighter is relativity inexperienced when it comes to D&D his dad helped him, which again, is fine, but I fear they may have pulled info from places I can't find or verify at least for my own efforts to reference.

He started out by saying he bought a riding dog, and bought it barding. He wanted it to attack. One slight thing that did bother me is, they just declared it was trained, per the little blip in the monster manual about dogs. Again, I'm ok with them getting even a trained dog, but I need to know more.

1. Where are the stats for the Guard Dog listed in the PHB. (or official related source)
2. Where are the stats for the Riding Dog listed in the PHB.(or official related source)
3. The DC checks in handle animal Skill, are those a one time check or each time you want the Dog to obey you?
4. Where can you find the info for a "trained" dog, and if it has stats that are different than just a guard dog and a riding dog, where are they in the PHB. (or official related source)
5. I would need the cost of a trained dog as well.

[hamishspence]

MM has stats for the Riding dog, and the basic Dog (which I figure, when trained to Guard, qualifies as a Guard Dog).

[Piggy Knowles]

They're in the MM, not the PHB, although you can find details on them via the SRD (System Reference Document, an online repository of WotC material that was released online under Open Gaming License):

Dog (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/dog.htm)

Riding Dog (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/dogRiding.htm)

Regarding Handle Animal, you make the initial check to train it tricks. This takes a good bit of time - training a specific trick (such as Attack or Come) takes one week per trick, while training for a purpose (such as Fighting or Hunting) takes three to six weeks.

If it knows a trick, it is a paltry DC 10 to get it to perform that trick. As a DM, I generally don't even make the character roll for it unless there's serious distractions, although I do require the requisite move action. To "push" an animal (ie, get it to do something it isn't trained for) requires a DC 25 check every time, as well as a full round action.

For more details, check out the Handle Animal (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/handleAnimal.htm) skill.

All of this stuff is straight from the Player's Handbook or Monster Manual, although later books expanded on this a bit.

[Gavinfoxx]

Also, if a dog has the attack trick, it AUTOMATICALLY attacks the nearest obvious threat. If it has the attack any, it will do that even if the enemy is 'weird'.

[Piggy Knowles]

Also, if a dog has the attack trick, it AUTOMATICALLY attacks the nearest obvious threat. If it has the attack any, it will do that even if the enemy is 'weird'.

Yeah, although if you want to direct who it is attacking, that does require a command. Defend works similarly - if you train the Defend trick, it will defend you without needing a command or Handle Animal check. If you want to direct it to defend someone else, that does require a command.

Also, "Attack Any" specifically requires two tricks; otherwise, there'd be no reason to take the standard attack trick.

Keep in mind the limits an animal has, by the way - a dog/riding dog can only learn a maximum of six tricks...

EDIT: Man, these times are really optimistic. I've been training my dog for two months, and she's still working on "fetch."

[killem2]

They're in the MM, not the PHB, although you can find details on them via the SRD (System Reference Document, an online repository of WotC material that was released online under Open Gaming License):

Dog (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/dog.htm)

Riding Dog (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/dogRiding.htm)

Regarding Handle Animal, you make the initial check to train it tricks. This takes a good bit of time - training a specific trick (such as Attack or Come) takes one week per trick, while training for a purpose (such as Fighting or Hunting) takes three to six weeks.

If it knows a trick, it is a paltry DC 10 to get it to perform that trick. As a DM, I generally don't even make the character roll for it unless there's serious distractions, although I do require the requisite move action. To "push" an animal (ie, get it to do something it isn't trained for) requires a DC 25 check every time, as well as a full round action.

For more details, check out the Handle Animal (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/handleAnimal.htm) skill.

All of this stuff is straight from the Player's Handbook or Monster Manual, although later books expanded on this a bit.

Thanks, I guess I wanted to make sure that it was ok to reference the MM, when I know sometimes the DMG covers this kinda stuff.



This next question is more of a DM choice, do you think I should allow him to buy the dog at standard price which I assume is untrained, or make him pay a little more for it. Because I kinda feel we miss out on a lot of good laughs of some one trying to train their dog haha.

[jiriku]

I always assumed that the purchase price was for a trained animal. After all, who would buy a horse that wouldn't accept a saddle, or an ox that would refuse to pull a load?

[killem2]

I always assumed that the purchase price was for a trained animal. After all, who would buy a horse that wouldn't accept a saddle, or an ox that would refuse to pull a load?

I assumed it was trained to ride but not anything else, why would you need the DC checks in handle animal? Is that if you just get a wild one then?

So confusing.

[Piggy Knowles]

I always assumed that the purchase price was for a trained animal. After all, who would buy a horse that wouldn't accept a saddle, or an ox that would refuse to pull a load?

Somewhat trained. The PHB explicitly says that the mounts you can purchase are trained to carry riders. Also, it mentions that the (more expensive) warhorse/warpony IS trained for combat riding, but the standard horse/pony is not.

Unfortunately it doesn't really go into detail much beyond this. For a dog that was both war-trained and trained to ride, I would probably charge extra as a DM. After all, the person selling it had to put in about twice as much time to train it properly.

[Gavinfoxx]

Let's put it this way. A 'Riding Dog''s closest analogy is that of a knight's highly trained, fighting warhorse. It is, by default, trained for combat riding.