Uber dog advise

[Celjabba]

In my soon-to-start MH campaign, a player want a dog as ally.
A full 200 pts ally.
But a 'apparently normal' dog, no talking, no breathing fire, ...

Player is a priest build as a sage variant, with divine powers instead of magic.

(for my first MH game with players who don't know Gurps well, I wanted to avoid the new magic system, as much as I love it. If the campaign goes well, I will rotate magic in later on).

I plan to make the dog a divine ally sent to assist the priest, unless I get a better idea here :)
But I am having a brain blockage, and can't think of anything interesting.

Here is a potential build, what would you suggest ?

Name: Mangisa
Race: Berger Mailinois

Attributes [155]
ST 9 (ST includes -1 from 'Reduced ST')
DX 12 [24]
IQ 5 [20] (IQ includes -6 from 'Reduced IQ')
HT 12 [20]

HP 10 [2]
Will 12 [35]
Per 12 [35]
FP 15 [9]

Basic Speed 6
Basic Move 8 [10]

Languages: adamic (Native/None) [0]; suédois (Broken/None) [1]; woof (Native/None) [3].

Advantages [285]

Acute Taste and Smell (3) [6]
Claws (Blunt Claws) [3]
Combat Reflexes [15]
Discriminatory Smell [15]
Enhanced Move (Ground) (1/2) [10]
Extra Legs (4 Legs) [5*]
Night Vision (4) [4]
Parabolic Hearing (2) [8]
Reduced Consumption (2) (Cast-Iron Stomach) [2]
Teeth (Sharp Teeth) [1]
Temperature Tolerance (2) [2]
Ultrahearing [5]

Appearance (Attractive) (Impressive; Universal) [5]
Damage Resistance (2) (Tough Skin) [6]
Fearlessness (3) [6]
Higher Purpose (protect the player) [5]
Imbue (3) (Divine; Limited Skill Access (Two Skills)) [12]
Longevity [2]
Medium [10]
MYS: Resistant to Evil Supernatural Powers (+3) [5]
Regeneration (Slow: 1HP/12Hr) (Divine) [9]
Striking ST (10) (Bite Only; Divine) [15]
Supernatural Durability(vulnerable to holy/unholy damage) (Divine) [135]
* = item is owned by another, point value is included in the other item.

Perks [7]
Brave [1]
Covenant of Rest [1]
Fur [1]
No Visible Damage [1]
Penetrating Voice [1]
Standard Operating Procedure (Sleep with One Eye Open) [1]
Sure-Footed (Uneven) [1]

Disadvantages [-322]
Bad Sight (Nearsighted) [-25]
Cannot Speak [-15*]
Chummy [-5]
Colorblindness [-10]
Discipline of Faith (Asceticism) [-15]
Duty (the player) (15 or less (almost always)) (Extremely Hazardous) [-20]
Hidebound [-5*]
Horizontal [-10*]
No Fine Manipulators [-30*]
Overconfidence (12 or less) [-5]
Reduced IQ (-6) (Affects IQ) [-120]
Reduced ST (-1) (Affects ST) [-10]
Sense of Duty (the player) (Individual) [-2]
Short Lifespan (-2) [-20]
Social Stigma (Valuable Property) [-10*]
Wealth (Dead Broke) [-25]
* = item is owned by another, point value is included in the other item.

Quirks [-5]
Insist in attending Mass [-1]
Won't eat lamb [-1]
_Unused Quirk 3 [-1]
_Unused Quirk 4 [-1]
Only answer order in Swedish [-1]

Packages [0]
Domestic Animal [-30]
Quadruped [-35]

Skills [80]
Brawling DX/E - DX+2 14 [4]
Ghostly Weapon (brawling) DX/VH - DX+2 14 [16]
Intimidation Will/A - Will+2 14 [8]
Penetrating Strike (brawling) DX/VH - DX+2 14 [16]
Running HT/A - HT+0 12 [2]
Stealth DX/A - DX+2 14 [8]
Survival (Arctic) Per/A - Per-1 11 [1]
Swimming HT/E - HT+0 12 [1]
Tracking Per/A - Per+5 17 [20]
Urban Survival Per/A - Per+0 12 [2]
Wrestling DX/A - DX+0 12 [2]

Would unkillable make more sense ?
(I left aside any luck/destiny/serendipity on purpose)

Thanks for any suggestions/Criticism.

Celjabba

[Refplace]

Supernatural Durability makes for a very tough and deadly dog.
As the guy is not a front line warrior type maybe a spiritual guide would be better?
If your interested we can supply you with ideas.
But things like Oracle (Affects Others, Divine) could let the player get special info when the dog feels its appropriate.
Love that it wants to attend Mass by the way ;)

[Celjabba]

Originally Posted by Refplace

Supernatural Durability makes for a very tough and deadly dog.
As the guy is not a front line warrior type maybe a spiritual guide would be better?
If your interested we can supply you with ideas.
But things like Oracle (Affects Others, Divine) could let the player get special info when the dog feels its appropriate.
Love that it wants to attend Mass by the way ;)

I forgot to add that the player wanted the dog to be a protector, since indeed he is not a front line warrior. And with 3 relatively squishy player and only one front line, I wanted to give the group a little more tanking power ...

But yes, I am unhappy with the build as it is, and I really want some ideas :)

Oracle is interesting ... but I am not sure 'affect other' is a proper build ? Shouldn't you use 'granted by ally,-40%' on the player sheet instead ?

Thanks

Celjabba

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Celjabba

I forgot to add that the player wanted the dog to be a protector, since indeed he is not a front line warrior. And with 3 relatively squishy player and only one front line, I wanted to give the group a little more tanking power ...

But yes, I am unhappy with the build as it is, and I really want some ideas :)

Oracle is interesting ... but I am not sure 'affect other' is a proper build ? Shouldn't you use 'granted by ally,-40%' on the player sheet instead ?

Thanks

Celjabba

OK but then that means the dog will be the likely front line warrior.
That might make the Pcs feel under utilized.
Affect Other means its up to the ally when to grant it and granted by ally means it is in the PCs control and both are vulnerable to the ally being taken out.
Probably need a higher IQ for the dog to do much like that but it could sense the owners distress and help him. Or he just gets messages from God when petting the dog.

[Flyndaran]

To know any language requires IQ 6 at a minimum.
Also, woof is a language?

Minor quibble: real dogs aren't black/white colorblind. They are simply dichromatic to our trichromatic, which has been suggested as just a quirk.

[Celjabba]

Originally Posted by Refplace

OK but then that means the dog will be the likely front line warrior.
That might make the Pcs feel under utilized.

With IQ 5 , he will be limited in tactical choices. I don't think he will upstage the crusader.
But I may downgrade his damage potential and switch the points to more guidance-like advantages.

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

To know any language requires IQ 6 at a minimum.
Also, woof is a language?

Minor quibble: real dogs aren't black/white colorblind. They are simply dichromatic to our trichromatic, which has been suggested as just a quirk.

I know next to nothing about dogs, except the fact that they have nasty teeth and don't like me.

Quirk:dichromatic it is, then.

And you are correct on the language IQ requirement.
As I said, my brain is offline today.
I will keep the adamic language, as it is supernatural, and drop the 2 others.

Thanks

Celjabba

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Celjabba

With IQ 5 , he will be limited in tactical choices. I don't think he will upstage the crusader.
But I may downgrade his damage potential and switch the points to more guidance-like advantages.


And you are correct on the language IQ requirement.
As I said, my brain is offline today.
I will keep the adamic language, as it is supernatural, and drop the 2 others.

Or bump up the IQ, it is a Divine Servitor after all.
IQ6 or 7 would be like a supernatural Lassie :)
The thing about Supernatural Durability is it keeps going and going.
That is the Psycho killer advantage for guys like Jason in Friday the 13th and that one guy Chuck Norris finally beat by dumping him in a well and setting him on fire with gasoline. Forget the movie, it was really remarkable.

[Tinman]

You may want to take a look in the Dungeon Fantasy- Allies book.
On p.8-9 they have a "Hound" ally upgadeable to "Timber Wolf".
It's about a 70 pt template but it's an excellent starting point & the dog's tough as nails.

In the MH campaign I'm GM-ing the Witch wanted an animal ally to guard his house/sanctum. I started with the Tmber wolf ally from DF & slaped on a "Fae" lense (based off of, mostly, demons in MH-3 with a vulnerability to iron based off the Lycanthropes, also in MH-3). It's real tough.

If you are interested, I can post the stats. I'm planning to use a few of those "Fae Hounds" when the PC's run into the "Wild Hunt". Muahhhaaaa!!!! >:)

[gilbertocarlos]

Dogs have many disadvantages in combat, for one, they don't use armor and don't do very high damage, and that is combined with short range attacks, even with High ST, he will need someone backing him up in combat.

Also, all characters, be they human, dogs, etc... start with all attributes=10, if the dog have IQ6, he gains 80 points from that, start the sheet from scratch, not from a template, or, if you do start from a template, calculate the point cost of the template before.

[Tinman]

Originally Posted by gilbertocarlos

Dogs have many disadvantages in combat, for one, they don't use armor...

Well, they can be given armor. However a major drawback is the unarmed attack. If he attacs somone with a ready melee weapon & they succed on a parry the dog could take a lot of dammage with no chance to defend.