Canine Class Options

Lean, inured to the hardship of the wilds; barbarian dogs are resilient and resolute. They are formidable fighters, absolutely determined to bring their enemy down, whatever the cost and however hard the task might be. These dogs are often loners, hunting through the trackless wastes for whatever it is they seek, but when they join a pack or a group they are committed for life.

At 1st level, you may take the following ability in addition to your standard starting abilities:

• Alpha of the Pack - Your howling fury establishes you as master of the hunt; you can bring down ay quarry! Once per round, if you hav emoved 20 feet or more to engage an enemy, your melee attack delivers an extra 1d6 damage. This increases to 1d8 damage at 6th level and 1d10 damage at 12th level.

At 7th level, instead of Feral Instinct, you may take the following ability:

• Grim Resistance - You've been through the fire. Or the ice. Or whatever. You've been through something and came out the other side that little bit tougher. You may choose one form of damage, you gain resistance against that form of damage.

At 15th level, instead of Persistent Rage, yuo may take the following ability.

• Savage Howl - Your rages are accompanied by feral howls that inflame the blood of your allies and drive them forward; an echo of ancient hunting packs. Each turn while you are raging, if you hit with at least one attack, you may nominate one ally within 30 feet of you. That ally receives a 1d6 bonus to its next damage roll. You may nominate the same or a different ally each round.

Dogs cannot help but attempt to raise the spirits of those around them. It is something they do constantly, naturally, just by being there. The bard is, in some respects, the dog's ideal role. What dog doesn't love lifting up their head and barking in joy? Or greeting their friends with a frenzied yapping? Well, fortunately the dog bard is slightly more tuneful than some of the barking, but the meaning behind the songs is much the same as the intention behind the barking. It's about friends, love, and protection. Like dogs, really. 

Instead of taking one of the standard Bardic College paths, you may instead choose to become a Bard of Amity at 3rd Level.

Bard of Amity

You are untrained, you never attended a college, sitting at the feet of a master. You learned everything yourself - travelling from town to town, from an inn to a field, to a campfire, to a caravan. Everything you saw taught you more about helping those you grew to love and you've become a beacon of friendship, hope, and decency. That's what being a Bardic dog is about, concentrating your inner goodness into something that touches the hearts of others... inspiring them to be more and better than they were before.

• Bonus Proficiency. When you become a Bard of Amity at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in one new skill and in Constitution tests and saves.
• With a Little Help for Your Friends. Also at 3rd level, a creature who uses your Bardic Inspiration die to make a successful role may, as a bonus action, pass the Bardic Inspiration die to an ally within 30 feet. The recipient must use the inspiration die on their next attack roll, ability check, or saving throw. The die cannot be passed again that turn. In addition, the Bardic Inspiration die can be used to reduce damage suffered by the number of hit points shown on the die.
• Howling Melody. At 6th level, you may cast the spells Charm Person and Dissonant Whispers once per short rest without spending a spell slot. You do not need to prepare these spells.
• And I'll Scratch Yours. At 14th level, whenever a player character is reduced to 0 hit points within 10 feet of you, they make make a constitution save. on a success, they immediately regain 1 hit dice of health and may act as normal. This ability may be used once per long rest.

Faith. It defines dogs of all breeds and sizes, whether awakened or not. The dog in the home has faith that it's master will return. The awakened dog believes in their companions, that htey have i'ts back, and that htey'll always be there to help. Religious belief, therefore, became quickly and easily to awakened dogs. Theri questing minds soon found gods, or aspects of the gods, they wished to worship. Dog clerics are committed to their god, the Good Mother, in all her aspects, but they are not zealots. They're deeply committed to the tenets of the Good Mothing but only so far as their belief aids and comforts those who require such things. For a dog, the compassion and aid which their belief in the Good Mother offers is the true purpose of their faith.

Canine clerics may choose to follow the Companion Domain, rather than one of the standard Domains.

Companionship Domain.

Dogs that find their way into the worship of deities usually do so out of a desire to protect and aid others. Consequently they are drawn to pantheons whose ethos is one of protection, friendship and family. For such dogs, being stalwart friends and faithful companions is more than a cause; it is a calling from a higher realm. Some dogs who follow this path imagine canine deities sitting at the sides of the principal Gods. An example of such deities is the Good Mother; the principle locus for Awakened Canine faith and belief.

Companionship Domain Spells:

• 1st level: Guiding Bolt, Healing Word
• 3rd Level: Aid, Calm Emotions
• 5th Level: Beacon of Hope, Mass Healing Word
• 7th Level: Death Ward, Locate Creature
• 8th Level: Geas, Greater Restoration

Aspect of the Amicable

When you choose this Domain at level one, you gain advantage on all Charisma based checks.

Channel Divinity: Invoke Companionship

Starting at 2nd level you can use your Channel Divinity to reaffirm your allies’ bonds. As an action you present your Holy Symbol and evoke a positive energy which can heal and stir your allies. Choose any number of creatures within 30 feet. Each creature affected may gain temporary hit points equal to your cleric level.

Channel Divinity: Lifted Spirits

At 6th level, you can inspire an ally to face down impossible odds and press on in the face of adversity. As an action, you present your Holy Symbol and nominate one creature within 30 feet. It gains advantage on a saving throw type of your choosing. This effect lasts for one minute.

Divine Bite

At 8th level you gain the ability to infuse your Bite attacks with the combined strength of your allies. Once in each of your turns when you hit a creature with a Bite attack, you can cause the attack to deal an additional 1d8 piercing damage. When you reach 14th level, the extra damage increases to 2d8.

Leader of the Pack

At 17th level you gain the ability to command other animals. Twice per long rest, you may take a bonus action on your turn to dictate to one creature what they will do their next turn.

The natural joyousness of dogs means that many gravitate towards the mysteries of druidism, learning to harness their boundless enthusiasm and delight in the falling of leaves, the scent of grass, and the activities of small animals. Dogs must study hard to become druids; their sheer love and enthusiasm for the world around them making them impatient with the slow and deliberate ways of the druid - why spend so long learning to commune with the roots of a tree and hear their answers in the shuffle of leaves, when you could go dig them up? But for those dogs who can restrain their passion, druidism is a natural fit, harnessing their innate love for the wild to protect and watch over all living things.

At 6th level, in place of your circle ability, you may take the following ability:

• Nature's Own. Animals know you as a friend and help you when called upon. You may take Animal Messenger as a Cantrip.

At 10th level, in place of your circle ability, you may take the following ability:

• Kin of the Wild. Nature knows you as one of it's children, awakened perhaps, but still an animal in your essence. It seeks to protect you against the forces which assail you on your adventures. You may choose two types of damage and become resistant to them. You are also immune to poison damage.

At 14th level, in place of your circle ability, you may take the following ability:

• Bond of the Wildblood. You can call upon the aid of nearby creatures. Once per long rest you can issue a cry for assistance, calling nearby companions to your side. The DM will determine the exact creature that responds as is suitable for the environment you are in and this ability may not work if no living creatures are present. A group of 1d6 creatures of the Beast Subtype appear within two turns of the cry. The CR of the summoned creatures is equal to your wild shape form Max CR, halved and rounded down. Summoned creatures will aid you and fight for you as a friendly NPC might. Once the combat is complete, or the task they are needed for is complete, they run off.

Do not come between a dog and it's companions; there are few things more dangerous and more formidable than a canine whose friends are being threatened. Such is the motivation of the fighter. Skilled in all forms of combat, the fighter makes sure that those they love are guarded, shielded, defended. Whatever threats they might face, the fighter is ready for them and more than a match. Dog fighters use their endless energy to push their foes back, forcing them onto the defensive and ensuring that the fight lasts no longer than it has to.

At 2nd level, in place of Action Surge, you may take the following ability:

• Fangs of the Wolf. Whenever you score a critical hit with your chosen weapon, you may make a free bonus attack with your Bite.

At 9th level, in place of Indomitable, you may take the following ability:

• Pack Fighter. You have become adept at aiding your allies when fighting in close formation with them. Once per short rest, allies who remain within 10 feet of you gain a +2 AC bonus for one minute.

Stillness. Poise. Tranquility. None of these things are natural canine conditions, special and a little different, often large creatures who can seem ungainly from afar. Their intensive training and focus however, makes their movements sinuous, flowing from one position to another. A dog's intense commitment to their friends and to those they love also makes their ki exceedingly strong. Those dogs who dedicate themselves to the path of the monk quickly learn to channel their species natural enthusiasm into a new and different kind of focus. Fast of thought and paw, the monk is a skilled fighter and  philosopher.

Instead of one of the standard monk traditions, you may choose the following:

Way of the Striking Tail

You are a follower of the martial path created, so they say, by the first martial arts master's canine friend. That dog, faithful and clever, recognized that she could not imitate her master's every movement because she had four paws. Something else was required. Thus was born the Way of the Striking Tail. This unique material art is specifically designed for the canine form, making the most of their speed, balance, and strong jaws. Those who become initiates of the Striking Tail often become healers at temples and shrines, or else travel abroad, teaching the Striking Tail path to those who seek them out.

• The Pack Is Many, The Pack Is One. Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you can use your ki to duplicate the effects of certain spells. As an action, you can spend 3 ki points to cast Healing Word, Purify Food and Drink, or Sanctuary without material components. Additionally, you gain Mage Hand as a cantrip, if you didn't know it already.
• Four-paw Strike. At 6th level, you gain the ability to launch the famous 'four-paw strike'. When making an attack, you may spend 2 ki points to make 4 unarmed attacks as a bonus action.
• The Wisdom of Playfulness. At 11th level you are able to channel the positive attitude of dogs and their delight at the world, projecting this to those around you. Once per long rest, as an action you may choose to receive the benefit of one of the below effects. Spend 1 ki point per additional creature within 30 feet that you wish for it to effect.
  • Laughing at danger. For once hour, you have resistance to a specified damage type.
  • The folly of fear. For one hour, you are immune to fear effects.
  • Irrepressible joy. For once hour, you have advantage to all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma throws.
• Balance of the Tail. At 17th level, you are able to achieve both external balance and internal balance, turning aside all negative forces which would seek to afflict you. You may spend 5 ki points to cast a Globe of Invulnerability around yourself, as though it were a 7th level spell.

As anyone fortunate enough to have a dog as a companion knows, there are no truer and more devoted friends in the world. Dogs who become paladins deliberately cultivate this part of their nature, seeking to become a friend to the world, to any in need - to extend the canine gift for friendship to any who might require it. There is no limit to the paladin's devotion, or to the lengths they'll go to protect those who have sought shelter with them. The paladin dog is a warrior for everything that is good in the world - true, loyal, and just. But they still like to have their fur ruffled. And scratches.

At 1st level, you may take the following ability in addition to your standard starting abilities:

• Bark of Protection. You give voice to your hatred of evil, in the form of a powerful bark. Any evil creatures within 10feet make their next attack at disadvantage.You can use this ability once + your charisma modifier, per long rest.

At 4th level, in place of an ability score improvement, you may take the following bonus ability:

• Devoted to the Pack. You never care or think only of yourself. When you use your Channel Divinity feature, in addition to your chosen effect, one friendly creature you nominate within 30 feet is encouraged for one minute, becoming immune to fear.

At 14th level, in place of Cleansing Touch, you can take the following ability:

• Loyalty to the Last. Death is no obstacle when it comes to helping a friend. If a friendly creature within 20 feet of you is reduced to 0 hit points, you may use your reaction to use your Lay On Hands as a ranged ability. You may use this ability twice per long rest.

Bounding through the wild, hunting one moment, joyously rolling in piles of leaves the next, the Ranger is a natural fit for almost any dog. With an acute sense of smell, a canine ranger possesses almost unparalleled tracking abilities, able to detect a lost friend or a deadly enemy from miles away. Despite their reputation for full-hearted bounding, dogs can also move with exceptional stealth - prowling through the undergrowth, the ranger is a master of movement and the hunt. What dog doesn't love chasing things?

At 3rd level, in place of Primeval Awareness, you may take the following ability:

• Scent on the Wind. Your sense of smell has become so acute that you can pick up the trace of an enemy creature with ease. You can detect the scent and location of an enemy creature within 1 mile, on a successful DC 14 Wisdom (Perception) check.

At 8th level, in place of Land's Stride, you may take the following ability: 

• Guide the Pack. You show your companions how to move as you do, making them almost as skilled in teh wilderness as you are. You gain teh following benefits:
  • Your group can move stealthily at normal pace.
  • When any member of your group forages, they find twice as much food as they normally would.
  • If you forage for food alone, you find four times as much food as you normally would.
  • When tracking other creatures, you can not only learn their exact number, size, and how long ago they passed, but also their alignment and level.

At 14th level, in place of Vanish, you may take the following ability:

• Apex Predator. Once per short rest, when you reduce a target to - hit points, you grant up to three creatures within 30 feet of you advantage on their next attack. You also gain advantage on your first attack against your next target.

Dogs are many things but, it must be said, rarely quiet. That's why there aren't a huge number of dog rogues. Those you do find are usually smaller, quicker, and more cunning. The kind of dogs you don't notice until they're chewing your ankle. Those kind of dogs... exactly. They're never quite what you expect them to be, or hope they are. They scamper between your legs, up onto a chair and are gone, out the window. All told, useful skills for a thief. Experts in hiding and more than happy to sink their teeth into the wrist of someone threatening them, canine rogues might be rare but that just makes them more special.

At 2nd level, in place of Cunning Action, you may take the following ability:

• Silent Paws. When making a dash move during your turn, you may make a bonus hide action at the end of it.

At 5th level, in place of Uncanny Dodge, you may take the following ability:

• Shadow Paw Rogue. Moving with incredible speed, you are impossible to pin down. If you make a successful Sneak Attack, you may choose to move up to 10 feet as a free action. This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks.

At 11th level, in place of Reliable Talent, you may take the following ability:

• Ankle Cutter. Once per long rest, when you make a successful attack against a target, yoru target's speed is reduced to 0 until they pass a Constitution saving throw at the end of one of their turns. The DC for this is 9 + your proficiency bonus + your Dexterity modifier.

Charisma? Check. A deep well of inner love and power? Check. A lovable face? Check. Technically, that last one isn't a key element of both dogs and sorcerers, but the poitn stands. Dogs have a lot that makes them ideal natural sorcerers. They are creatures capable of drawing on deep reserves of natural energy, energy which can become something more, something magical. Of course, such reserves of power drives dog sorcerers out of the comfortable life and into the adventuring one. But they're perfect companions, if you're lucky enough to have one at your side.

At 1st level, you may take the following ability in addition to your standard starting abilities:

• Buried in the Veil. Once per long rest, you may 'bury' an object of no more than 1 cubic foot in size as an action. It passes beyond the materila plane. You may 'retrieve ' it at any time as a bonus action. You may bury a number of objects in total equal to your Charisma modifier.

At 6th level, instead of Bend Luck, you may take the following ability:

• Supportive Spell. When you cast a spell which successfully affects an enemy creature, you may spend a sorcery point to give a friendly creature you choose within 15 feet of you advantage on their next roll against the target.

At 14th level, instead of Controlled Chaos, you may take the following ability:

• Relentless Energy. You are never tired; when suffering a level of exhaustion, you always experience the adverse effects of the level below (so when you gain your first level of exhaustion, you suffer no ill effects). In addition, whenever you cast a healing spell on a companion, you also regain hit points equal to your Charisma modifier + your Proficiency bonus.

Dogs aren't prone to making pacts with forbidden creatures. But they can be forced into one. A dog's inherent loyalty to their friends and companions means that, when faced with difficult circumstances, a dog prefers to sacrifice part of itself rather than see their friend hurt. And the Archfey is always prepared to listen to the pleas of a good dog.

A dog Warlock must take the Archfey pact.

At 1st level, you may take the following ability in addition to your standard starting abilities:

• Fey Friend. You can call upon the Hunting Packs of your Patron. You may use Find Familiar once per long rest without requiring material components, summoning a creature equal to your warlock level. Regardless of the creature type you summon, it's appearance is a smaller version of your own canine appearance, although it retains the abilities of the creature type you call upon.

At 10th lvel, in place of Beguiling Defenses, you may take the following ability:

• Netherhound Companion. (Requirements: Fey Friend). Your patron has gifted you a fully formed hunting companion to join the hunt. You may call upon this companion twice per long rest. The summoned companion follows the same rules and behaviors as the Channel Divinity effect, Invoke Duplicity, and may cast your spells and Eldritch Invocations.

At 14th level, in place of Dark Delirium, you may take the following ability:

• Obey! You are capable of exerting great control over even the most recalcitrant of subjects. You may cast the spell Dominate Person twice per long rest without expending a spell slot.

Books filled with paw prints, and dog-eared pages (pun very much intended) are all the hallmarks of a canine wizard. Dogs are very good at paying attention, especially to those they build a close relationship with, and what's closer than the connection between a master wizard and their apprentice? As a result, there are a surprising number of dogs walking around clad in midnight blue robes, with heavy grimoires attached to their sides and pointy hats mounted on their heads. A few people laugh at the idea. But a fireball usually deals with that, quite effectively.

At 1st level, you may take the following ability as well as your starting class features:

• Wiser Than You Look. You may take the spell Detect good and Evil as a bonus cantrip.

At 10th level, you may take the following ability, replacing the ability of corresponding level from your School features:

• Familiar Friends. Your natural affinity with the creatures of the world makes summoning familiars far easier for you than most. You may prepare the Find Familiar spell without a spellbook. Also, reduce the casting time of Find Familiar to 1 minute and the cost of materials consumed to 1 gp. The summoned creature remains on this plane for one hour.