Help with creature mod [3.5] Dire Fox

[Omegas]

One of my players rolled a halfling paladin. Thus far he has played it fairly well but I also offer my players a one time boon appropriate to their level. A new player asked for a Celestial Dire Fox mount which sounds more then reasonable. Normally i am not one to mod monsters/beast so in this case I am having difficulty writing it up.

My standing players are seasoned and they have RAW in their blood. I dont want my new player to take flak for an exaggerated character feature.

The real issue is time. I work constantly and although I could figure it out this week I dont have time.

Please help me modify a Fox Arctic into a medium special mount for a 6th level paladin as close to raw as possible.

[Jurai]

Start with Riding Dog chassis, up the bite and dex, reduce str or con, as you see fit. Give it wolf's Trip feature, then apply Celestial Creature.

[Vaz]

Won't a Celestial dire Wolf refluffed work for it?

[Fitz10019]

I don't think paladin's mounts normally get the celestial template. They are warhorses that are described (fluffed) and being summoned from the celestial plane. You just need a dire fox with paladin mount features.

[Omegas]

I would assume that they are all celestial because part of the special mount description is the ability to call them form the celestial plane. Ferthermore the paladin only has use of the mount for a set number of hours each day which kind of brakes the class feature if they are able to keep a non celestial equivalent all day.

I have not reviewed the planes well enough to know whether or not a non celestial can be a native in the celestial plane.

It would be nice if their where a template for making something Dire. Then at least I could layer the templates on accordingly. The Details about Arctic Fox are listed and I have even made a Fox lycon before but this Dire issue is more complicated then expected.

[Thurbane]

It would be nice if their where a template for making something Dire.
There is a Dire Animal template in the Tome of Horrors (and also an entry for a normal fox).

[Gotterdammerung]

Dragon Magazine issue 291 (pg 49) has stats for a dire fox which you could then apply the celestial template to. I wouldn't recommend it though, it has horrible stats and no special abilities (unless you count scent). It doesn't even follow the dire rules. Dire animals are supposed to have all good saves yet the dire fox has a poor will save like normal animals.

You would be better off refluffing something like a dire weasel or making something from scratch.

[Big Fau]

It would be nice if their where a template for making something Dire. Then at least I could layer the templates on accordingly. The Details about Arctic Fox are listed and I have even made a Fox lycon before but this Dire issue is more complicated then expected.

For what it's worth the Warbeast (MM2) and Magebred (ECS) are both really good starting points, and you can slap on Horrid (ECS) to make it a little more impressive.

Or you can go whole-hog and give it the Monster of Legend (MM2), God-Blooded (MM5, may require tweaking), or Monster of Legacy (WoL, only possible once the animal has another template). Applying multiple templates is also a good idea; I recommend using the Magebred and Warbeast templates on top of the Monster of Legacy template, as this allows the Fox to grow more powerful than a normal Special Mount would (since they are kinda fragile unless you go Supermount).

[XionUnborn01]

I think we're forgetting an important question here guys...

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-YV550_fox1_E_20130909174523.jpg

[Forrestfire]

Personally, I think the simplest solution is to just go with a refluffed riding dog, wolf, or dire wolf. They cover the bases of "fox" pretty well (canine, bite attack, can hunt and track).


I think we're forgetting an important question here guys...

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-YV550_fox1_E_20130909174523.jpg

Fox says HWAAAAAA! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk1mAd77Hr4)