A true monster

[Sydonai]

The Beasthound

Is it just me, or is this thing seriously under-CR'd?
It looks horrifying. I can't see how this coud be anything but a TPK for a level-12 party.

[rayne_dragon]

Doesn't seem that way to me... It has some nasty abilities, but nothing so powerful that it would be certain to cause a TPK. Admittedly, it has been a while since I last played a 3.x game (and I have been reading a lot of Call of Cthulhu campaigns) so maybe I'm missing something.

[Rhawin]

An outsider with Undead Qualities, Construct Traits, and a Con score? Didn't really read beyond that.

[Greenish]

Gate as an SLA.

The rest isn't that bad.

[Mikeavelli]

It's a very good hit-and-run, and its bloodlust ability synergizes very well with that. It can jump in, attack multiple times, and flee, while the party will never be able to get a full attack on it, even better if it can trap the party in an Acid Fog.

Gate must be, like, a storyline power or something. Using that to full effect in combat would be tremendously broken.

Otherwse, It'd be a nasty, memorable encounter, but it's not particularly overpowered for a CR 12.

[Sydonai]

It's a very good hit-and-run, and its bloodlust ability synergizes very well with that. It can jump in, attack multiple times, and flee, while the party will never be able to get a full attack on it, even better if it can trap the party in an Acid Fog.

Gate must be, like, a storyline power or something. Using that to full effect in combat would be tremendously broken.

Otherwse, It'd be a nasty, memorable encounter, but it's not particularly overpowered for a CR 12.

Acid dmage heals it, due to it's elemental absorption, and I assumed it used Gate to bring in another Beasthound( who could then use Bay).
Also it's Deathknell prevents "clone, raise dead, reincarnation, resurrection, true resurrection, miracle, or wish" from working as long as its alive, kill someone then Gate out.
You can't even fly away; Jump, Dimension Door( above you), "charge"( falling), bite, bloodlust, improved grab, you would be torn to shreds before you hit the ground.

[squeekenator]

Eh. It has a lot of really nasty abilities, sure, but level 12 PCs can be pretty terrifying too. I certainly wouldn't throw this up against a sword-and-board fighter/rogue/healbot cleric/blaster wizard party, but it seems an appropriate challenge if the PCs are decently optimised. The one thing that seems really scary is its ability to instakill a wizard by biting him ten times in one round, but with a few buffs active he should survive that, and anything that's good against wizards is a well-designed monster in my books.

[Mastikator]

Lacks spell resistance and better saves. It's more vulnerable to several save or lose spells.

Some kind of teleportation or flight might also be in order. A wizard with flight and enough distance is currently invulnerable to this beast.

Edit- the gate thing is pretty crazy though.

[Zombieboots]

Lacks spell resistance and better saves. It's more vulnerable to several save or lose spells.

Some kind of teleportation or flight might also be in order. A wizard with flight and enough distance is currently invulnerable to this beast.

Edit- the gate thing is pretty crazy though.

Gate as an SLA? That right there breaks it. Possibility of calling a 20HD something. Crazy.

If you remove Gate: Then Mastikator is correct. No SR and rather low saves? Feeblemind it and call it a day. It certainly is a boss fight but not a TKP.

[Tvtyrant]

Have it fight and Adamantine Horror; if it wins I will call it moderately powerful.

[Starbuck_II]

Ego Whip it to 0 Cha? It has no immunity to mental. Undead qualities only make it Tomb Tainted Soul (and more).

[Greenish]

30 AC and 104 hp, it doesn't take much of a charger to kill it, should you catch it outside of acid fog (or if you had freedom of movement).

[TroubleBrewing]

30 AC and 104 hp, it doesn't take much of a charger to kill it, should you catch it outside of acid fog (or if you had freedom of movement).

This. And freedom of movement is what, 5th level spell?

It'd be tough before that (before level 10), but after FoM, it's a cakewalk.

[Qwertystop]

Wouldn't its Acid Fog heal it?
Failing that, it could Bay up a bunch more of it and they could Acid Fog each other, which I'm sure would work.

I'm not sure whether Acid Fog affects the cater, but I know it would affect allies.

[Greenish]

Wouldn't its Acid Fog heal it?

Not once it's dead.

[arguskos]

Bloodlust seems... abusable. Like, really abusable. Beyond that and the Gate SLA, it's really nothing special. Solid, but generally unexciting.

[Greenish]

Bloodlust seems... abusable. Like, really abusable.

Well, it's pretty similar to Avalance of Blades, and I haven't seen that abused so much, aside from touch attacks to fuel Stormguard Warrior.

[arguskos]

Well, it's pretty similar to Avalance of Blades, and I haven't seen that abused so much, aside from touch attacks to fuel Stormguard Warrior.

Yeah, but this is easier to get (read: mages can access it via shapechanging effects; don't recall precisely which ones, due to sleep deprivation). Avalanche of Blades is relatively tough to get without levels invested into ToB classes, IIRC.

But yeah, really, this thing is pretty shrug worthy.

[Greenish]

Yeah, but this is easier to get (read: mages can access it via shapechanging effects; don't recall precisely which ones, due to sleep deprivation).

PaO and Shapechange, Polymorph if you're already outsider.

Still, I'd argue that the fault lies in the nature of said spells, not in the monster.

[Steward]

Over 800 pounds and 10 feet high, a beasthound's dark gray skin is torn and rotting, pulled taut over a decaying skeleton and empty rib cage. Its head is large, supporting a wide maw filled with sharp teeth in its black gums. Short, pointed ears lay flat against its withered skull, and within its empty eye sockets a pair of smoldering coals burn angrily.

Why on Earth would you mess with something like that?

[Dr.Epic]

The Beasthound

Is it just me, or is this thing seriously under-CR'd?
It looks horrifying. I can't see how this coud be anything but a TPK for a level-12 party.

Meh, seems like an appropriate monster for CR 12. Maybe it could be CR 13 or 14 at most, but still, it's not the most broken creature.

[awa]

30 AC and 104 hp, it doesn't take much of a charger to kill it, should you catch it outside of acid fog (or if you had freedom of movement).

actually looking at the srd no cr 12 monster has an ac of 30 or higher sure this thing has less hp than some of those monsters but also it has far more options then any of the srd cr 12 creatures. Even ignoring using gate to summon a 20hd creature who also has gate and similar abuses it really dangerous. between construct traits and undead traits this thing has a ton of immunities as well. if you did not know what this monster stats are, say you just walk into a room and it attacks you i think few parties would be able to with stand it and if its bay summons another hound you are really screwed.

[Greenish]

actually looking at the srd no cr 12 monster has an ac of 30 or higher sure this thing has less hp than some of those monsters but also it has far more options then any of the srd cr 12 creatures. Even ignoring using gate to summon a 20hd creature who also has gate and similar abuses it really dangerous. between construct traits and undead traits this thing has a ton of immunities as well. if you did not know what this monster stats are, say you just walk into a room and it attacks you i think few parties would be able to with stand it and if its bay summons another hound you are really screwed.

Depends on the optimization levels of the party. As noted, it won't stand a single charge from a charger, can be controlled pretty easily by a god wizard or tripper and so forth. It's stronger than many cr 12 creatures, and not an appropriate foe for some parties, sure, but it's no monstrous crab/shadow/adamantine horror.

The gate is just silly, yeah.