[3.5] Warbeast Riding Dog HD Advancement

[SkaJump]

Hi guys, this is my first post (yay) and i'm having immense trouble calculating the AC's stats, mainly it's saves. Being a 6th Level Ranger (EDL=3) plus the warbeast template, the AC gets in total 3 Bonus HD, which raise i to 5HD, right?
Q 1) How do i calculate the AC's BAB? Is it +3 for 5 HD?
Q 2) How about saves? Would they be 10For[5 starting, +1 Base and +4 Con
modifier (+3 CON from warbeast)] 9Ref [5 starting, +1 Base, +3 DEX
modifier (+1 DEX from 3 HD)] and 4Wil [1 starting, +1 Base, +2 WIS
modifier (+2 WIS from Warbeast)] ? Or are they calculated elsehow?
Just to clarify, the +1 from Base comes from the deduction of HD 2
bonuses (3 3 0) from the HD 5 bonuses (4 4 1) so we come up with 1 1 1.
Q 3) Where is the damage +3 in Bite +3 (1d6+3) derived from? is it it's STR mod
multiplied by 1.5 because of being it's only attack?

Thanks in advance and sorry for the stupid questions, but i'm new to DnD and it's kinda overwhelming.

[Spuddles]

Anticipating ninjas, but here goes.

Gaining monstrous HD is just like leveling, except you use the monster's type instead of class to determine saves, skill points, etc.

In this case, you are going from 2 animal HD to 5 animal HD. You can find info about the animal HD in your monster manual or the following link:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#animalType

So your animal would have:
5 HD, size d8
Good fort saves, bad will, and good reflex saves for a fifth level char. It would have the base saves Of a fifth level ranger.
It gets 2 skill points -4, minimum one, per level, so a total of 8 skill points with max ranks 8. It gets a bonus feat at the third hd and a bonus ability point at the 4th hd.

Bab will be as a 5th level cleric, since it has medium progression for bab.

Damage in the bite is indeed from 1.5x str damage.
Then calculate in its bonuses for ability scores, and you are done.

[SkaJump]

It gets 2 skill points -4, minimum one, per level, so a total of 8 skill points with max ranks 8. It gets a bonus feat at the third hd and a bonus ability point at the 4th hd. As far as the rest go i think i understand, but what i don't understand is how the Animal Companion would earn 8 skillpoints with only 3HD advancement. Wouldn't it earn 3 skillpoints instead? And is there any source for the bonus ability point anywhere, cause it seems i might have missed it. Also, i was looking for someone to either confirm or dismiss my thinking on Saves explaining where i was wrong or not, because i'm still confused about how high it's saves would be (i mean exact numbers :p)
By the way, Would Hit points be 2d8+4+1d8+4(new CON modifier)+2d8+8 or 2d8+2d8+1d8+20 (4 CON mod x 5 HD) = 42.5 hit points?
Nevertheless, thank you for your answer as you have cleared up many of my querries.

[Spuddles]

8 skill points total; 4 for the first HD and 1 for each subsequent one. Note that if you account for wisdom and feats, the riding dog's skills per the monster manual are misspent. But you are correct; 3 more HD get you 3 more points.

Changes in constitution retroactively affect your HD. This is not true of intelligence and skill points, though.

So HP will be 5d8 + (con bonus x 5).

Saves are identical to saves for a character. Go to the ranger table. What are the base saves for a level 5 ranger? Those are also the base saves of a
Non-dire animal of equal HD (up to 20 hd, then it gets weird). So now that you have the base saves, add the modifiers. What is your animal's dex score? Wisdom score? Find those bonuses and add them to the bases. Thos are your animal's saves.

[SkaJump]

Thank you very much for your help, you were very helpful. It was all a little hazy with saves and all that. Thanks :D

[Gwendol]

Minor nitpick: you can't really apply the warbeast template to the riding dog as it already has a war-variant (see: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/dogRiding.htm), since:

The Monster Manual describes a few "war creatures" that have qualities similar to those of a warbeast but differ from standard creatures of a given kind. These creatures are considered to already have a separate "war template" and cannot have the warbeast template added. For example, one cannor apply the warbeast template to a heavy warhorse.

But if your DM is cool with it, go ahead.

[Spuddles]

Thank you very much for your help, you were very helpful. It was all a little hazy with saves and all that. Thanks :D

Glad I could be of help. I post from my phone so it's difficult to look everything up; that's why there's so many rhetorical questions.

[Spuddles]

Minor nitpick: you can't really apply the warbeast template to the riding dog as it already has a war-variant (see: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/dogRiding.htm), since:


But if your DM is cool with it, go ahead.

Actually, you can. The riding dog is simply a working breed; it's no more a war animal than a heavy horse, like a clydesdale.

The only provision regarding war training is that IF they are trained for war, they get a trip attack.

So if you take a non-tripping riding dog (which isn't of the war variety, per the MM), and apply the warbeast template, in addition to the properties gained from the template, they also pick up trip.

[Glarnog]

Spruddles, would that be the difference between a guard dog and a riding dog in the ph? I've always wondered why both are listed in the ph but a guard dog isn't stated in the monster manual. Maybe the difference in cost is if the dog knows tripping or not?

[Gwendol]

Hm, didn't read it that way. I assumed the "war" part was the tripping.

[Spuddles]

Spruddles, would that be the difference between a guard dog and a riding dog in the ph? I've always wondered why both are listed in the ph but a guard dog isn't stated in the monster manual. Maybe the difference in cost is if the dog knows tripping or not?

I think the guard dog is the 1HD small variety. Just a little yappy thing. The riding dog is the medium sized OP tripping-beast we all know and love.


Hm, didn't read it that way. I assumed the "war" part was the tripping.

Kind of tangential- a bunch of non-war animals should have -5 to hit with their natural weapons, like horses. War training removes that penalty, or it should. It's sort of a poorly covered part of the rules.