Shadow Mastiff

Shadow Mastiff (CR 12)

Pure Evil - Medium - Outsider

Lore:	Know (Planes)
23		39
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

19

Perception:
29	+19
Passive	Active

Ambush:

10+

on a d20

Senses:

• Standard Senses
• Darkvision 60 ft.
• Scent 30 ft.

Movement Types:

• Walk 50 ft.

Defense

AC

32

Man Def

31

Monster Health
289	144	22
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+14
Refl:	+9
Will:	+9

Strong Against:

• Hardened (½ damage): Tenebrous (energy, rare) or Negative (energy, uncommon) damage

Weak Against:

• Vulnerable (1.5x damage): Light (energy, uncommon) or Sunlight (energy, rare) damage

Offense

Size:	Medium
5 ft.		5 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+19

Man Off

+19

Action

0

Points

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 1x Shadowy Maw +19 (3d10+14/x2)
  as crushing (physical, common)
  plus: Trip

Full Attack (Melee):

• 1x Shadowy Maw +19 (3d10+14/x2)
  as crushing (physical, common)
  plus: Trip
• 2x Darkened Claws +19 (3d6+5/x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)
  plus: 1d6 points of Tenebrous (energy, rare) damage

Standard Attack (Ranged):

Full Attack (Ranged):

Siege Damage: Not siege capable

Statistics

19

STR

15

DEX

19

CON

5

INT

14

WIS

13

CHA

Skills:

• Perception: 19
• Stealth: 24 (in Dim Light)
• Survival: 24 (in Dim Light)
• All other skills: 14 (no ranks)

Languages: Can understand, but not speak, Common and Fuligin

Feats:

• Spring Attack (EFFECT: Move before and after melee attack)

Special Abilities

Shadow Blend (Su) Always On

In any condition of illumination other than full daylight, a shadow mastiff can disappear into the shadows, giving it Total Concealment (automatically miss on a natural result of a 12 or less on the d20, and you must be attacking the square your target actually occupies). Artificial illumination, such as from a lightstone or a Light (Sorcerer/Wizard Spell), does not negate this ability. A Daylight (Sorcerer/Wizard Spell), however, will.

Shadowy Lunge (Su) Move Action 1/Enc, if Shadow Blend is working

If a shadow mastiff is targeted or damaged by an attack of any sort from beyond their melee reach, and their Shadow Blend ability is working, they may use Greater Teleport, up to 60 feet, once per encounter as a move action, to move adjacent to the enemy who dared to attack them. If they attack the enemy with their Shadowy Maw attack in the same round as they use Shadowy Lunge, the target is made flat-footed prior to Shadowy Lunge's attack roll.

Menace (Su) Swift Action

As a swift action, a Shadow Mastiff can exude menace, inspiring fear in nearby enemies. All enemies within 100 feet of the Shadow Mastiff become Startled until the end of the encounter unless they succeed on a Will save, DC 22 (a successful save negates this effect). This is a fear effect. If a creature fails a save while already Startled by a previous use of Menace, they instead become Panicked for one round, after which they are Startled until the end of the encounter. Creatures subjected to Menace can only be forced to save against it up to once per round. Once a creature has rolled a save against Menace, succeed or fail, that creature can ignore the subsequent uses of Menace (but not its effects) until the following round.

Trip (Su) Automatic after successful Shadowy Maw attack

A shadow mastiff that hits with its Shadowy Maw attack can attempt to trip the opponent as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity, rolling their Maneuver Offense (1d20 + 21) against their target's Maneuver Defense. If the attempt fails, the opponent cannot attempt to trip the shadow mastiff in return.

Shadow Mastiff

A shadow mastiff is a creature that looks like a large dog, except that its coat is deep, supernatural black. On a quick glance, a shadow mastiff may pass for an ordinary, if very large dog — 'man's best friend'. However, on closer examination, the horrendous evil lurking in this creature is obvious.

Shadow mastiffs come from some dark place, some place outside this world, a shadowy place where the world is a twisted reflection of our own. This is the Plane of Shadows, where even the best things, like mankind's loyal companions, are twisted and evil.

Shadow mastiffs exude terrible menace at the best of times, and when they make even the smallest of threatening gestures, fear grips the heart of even the most hardened souls.

Combat Tactics

Shadow Mastiffs hunt in packs, and cooperate to efficiently bring down their enemies. Because Menace cannot affect a foe more than once per round, only one Mastiff will use the Menace ability each round.

Shadow Mastiffs also have Spring Attack, allowing them to use their excellent speed to run into a fight, make a bite attack, and run back out. This forces enemies to move up to the Mastiff, possibly provoking attacks of opportunity from their startled allies. Even worse, if someone attacks the beasts from range, then the next round the offended Mastiff will use Shadowy Lunge to exact revenge. More than one hapless Wizard has expired suddenly and terribly after hitting Shadow Mastiffs with a fireball, only to be buried under a swarm of enraged beasts that suddenly appeared adjacent to them...with flanks, and attacking against their flat-footed armor class.

Once enemies move to engage, the Mastiff is usually pretty happy to take full attacks, but may use spring attack to find a flank or reposition themselves. Shadow Mastiffs are not brilliant, but have animal cunning, and a solid understanding of pack tactics, and will use their Total Concealment to try and set up flanks, attack prone foes, and generally be terribly dangerous.

Shadow Mastiffs will flee a combat if clearly outmatched by their enemies, and especially if their Shadow Blend power has been negated.

Out of Combat

Shadow Mastiffs are surprisingly not very popular as pets of other monster clans, mainly because they are nearly impossible to leash or control, thanks to their Shadowy Lunge power. In addition, their temperament is bad in the extreme.

Instead, if Shadow Mastiffs are found with other monsters, they are treated as working companions, not pets, typically housed separately from others and placed strategically in the way of invaders. Given how mean and aggressive a Shadow Mastiff is, they will perform their duty without prompting.

Rewards

XP: 19,200

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 12,875 gp.

Weight: 120 lbs.     Volume: 4.8 cu. ft.

• Shadow Mastiff teeth and skulls are very valuable to collectors.

Optional Treasure Rules: Roll a d20 on Table 1 below once per encounter (NOT per creature). Any items discovered are in addition to the normal treasure for the encounter.

Table 1: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 10	Nothing Found
11 - 14	1 Languid Remnant (tier 1)
15 - 17	1 Pale Remnant (tier 2)
18 - 19	1 Bright Remnant (tier 3)
20	Roll on Table 2
###	Nothing to see here!
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 2: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Languid Remnants (tier 1)
6 - 10	3 Pale Remnants (tier 2)
11 - 14	1 Intense Remnant (tier 4)
15 - 17	1 Blazing Remnant (tier 5)
18 - 19	1 Vital Remnant (tier 6)
20	Roll on Table 3
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 3: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Bright Remnants (tier 3)
6 - 8	3 Intense Remnants (tier 4)
9 - 11	3 Blazing Remnants (tier 5)
12 - 14	3 Vital Remnants (tier 6)
15 - 17	1 Prime Remnant (tier 7)
18 - 19	1 Mythic Remnant (tier 8)
20	1 Empyrean Remnant (tier 9)