Diet: Carnivorous or Omnivorous

Unique Ability: Dig:The diamond dog descendants can move through the earth at the same speed that Pegasus ponies are capable of flying, with the possible exception of the occasional boulder getting in their way. They can burrow at five times their agility score in feet per action, and while they are moving in this way they cannot be intercepted and are immune to incoming or suppressive fire (digging in this way can also be used to take cover in combat). They only take half damage from area-of-effect weapons and spells while burrowed and close to the surface – i.e. within half the explosion or AoE effect’s maximum radius in depth), and going deeper underground can negate damage from AoE entirely. Both sub-races can also use their claws to climb most surfaces at their normal movement speed (½ AGI per action). If attacked and successfully dealt at least a single wound while climbing, they must make a Strength check (MFD ¾) to remain attached, or they’ll fall.

In addition to their fearsome claws, which can slash through steel, concrete and flesh alike as if it was tissue paper (4d12 +STR, Ignores 50 DT), the Hellhounds (HH) are in possession of an entire military arsenal of magical energy weapons. Life in their now-tainted and irradiated home has hardened them, making them immune to radiation’s effects similarly to ghouls and wasteland alicorns. Hellhounds are a canine analogue to the equine alicorn, only needing to sleep 8 hours every 2d4 days and capable of metabolizing radiation at the same exchange rate in place of drinking food and water (50 for a day’s food, and 30 for a day’s water) to stave off starvation and dehydration. Unlike alicorns and ghouls, however, hellhounds gain no benefit from over-exposure to radiation. They simply aren’t affected by it.

Hellhounds get +1 STR, PER, or END at character creation, and their claws allow them to dig or cut through solid concrete and non-reinforced steel doors. The downside of this is that their sharp claws make manipulating some items difficult, and accidentally may slice up more fragile items (such as health potions) simply by grabbing them. GMs are encouraged to take advantage of this fact as comedically or dramatically appropriate.

To compensate for how powerful hellhounds and their digging abilities are, they only receive one character creation point for every two hindrances taken at character creation. Their sharp-but-sensitive ears also mean that hellhounds are categorically affected with the Big Ears hindrance, which gives them back a character creation point (or fraction thereof) but counts towards their maximum number of hindrances.

As an alternate method of balance, hellhound characters may opt to receive hindrance character creation points as normal ponies (one per hindrance, maximum six), but instead receive perks only on even-numbered levels as their character progresses.

The Sand Dogs (SD) are a desperate group descended from diamond dog families recruited (often by force) to dig tunnels under many Equestrian cities as part of the war effort. They worked in harsh and unsafe conditions and environments, many of them losing limbs or requiring cybernetic augmentation to survive, which pony mining interests supplied and which the extremely intelligent diamond dogs improved and customized.

Ponies distrust them, and the feelings are mutual. Shunned by pony merchants and settlements, they lack a steady income of supplies needed to survive - food for their starving young or gems to run their cybernetic augmentations. Their only assets are the incredible stealth and weaponry systems built into their enhancements, and their ingenuity when it comes to inventing and constructing devices out of raw materials. Sand dogs are among the most advanced cybernetics technicians and surgeons in the wasteland, many of them living survivors of the last war due to the effect of their enhancements on aging. They possess far less lethal claws than hellhounds and can naturally dig only through normal soil and dirt, but that doesn’t mean they should be taken lightly. It was the Sand Dogs that built most of the facilities underneath Hoofington. Sand Dogs get +1 INT, AGI, or END at character creation. Their sharp-but-sensitive ears mean that sand dogs also must take the Big Ears hindrance, which gives them back a character creation point but counts towards their maximum number of hindrances.

The Dig skill can be used to make tunnels, create traps and pitfalls (which should be accompanied by an INT roll to see how well made such traps end up), and to sneak up behind enemies (accompanied by a sneak roll). Its main use is for digging tunnels, which is why the skill’s base score is Strength based, rather than Intelligence or Agility based. Unorthodox uses of a hellhound’s claws (such as cutting out a lock from a steel door or climbing up the side of a concrete pillar) should also use the Dig skill, receiving situational bonuses or penalties as appropriate.

Skill Bonus Ranks:

Hellhounds: +5 Energy Weapons or Unarmed, +5 Explosives, +5 Sneak, -50 Speechcraft vs. All-non-canine races

Sand Dogs: +3 Energy Weapons, +5 Repair, +5 Explosives, +3 Sneak, -15 Speechcraft vs. Ponies

Racial Skill: Dig +10, Strength Based. This skill can be used to tunnel through any substance that the character’s claws can easily penetrate; while concealed underground, characters receive a bonus to avoid detection similar to a magical stealth field. It can also be used to climb at their normal movement speed, provided that the claws can find purchase in the climbing surface.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 783