One of the more interesting things about the Pugilist is the sheer variety explored in its subclasses. Take the Dog and Hound, for instance.
The new Pugilist class on D&D Beyond from Sterling Vermin is all about being a kind of grimy guy. Pugilists aren’t nobles, not typically; they’re street brawlers, and consistently people who have troubles set before them. They are down, yes, but they are not out.
Pugilists lend themselves well to gritty characters who want to show that they can be “a rowdy” if they want. So if you decide to roll up a Pugilist because you want a character who has that dog in them, consider for a moment a character that also has that dog outside of them, too. Which is exactly what the new Dog and Hound subclass is all about.
The Dog And Hound – Which Is Which?
At its heart, the Dog and Hound is a pet/companion-based subclass. Like the Beastmaster Ranger or the Battle Smith Artificer, it revolves around you being able to fight alongside a companion. In this case, as the name suggests, it’s a cool dog. And here’s where the 5.5E rules update comes into play.
Because classes that rely on companions, or even summon spells that do, have all been sort of unified in the new edition. Now instead of summoning a creature out of the Monster Manual (or potentially new books with monsters in them), features that grant you a companion, be it an animal companion or a demonic ally you’ve called forth, tend to give you access to a single entity. Usually it’s a “spirit” of some kind. You call down a demonic spirit or you make a bond with an animal spirit – so you can then heal it or summon it back again should it fall in combat.
The Dog and Hound differs slightly. The ethos is the same, but as you’ll see in the titular feature, the execution is a little different. It’s one way you can tell it’s a 3rd party class/subclass and not necessarily WotC official. It all starts with Brawler’s Best Friend at level 3. This lets you “summon and form a bond with a wild or stray dog, which draws strength from your bottomless well of resilience.” So it’s just an actual dog. Not a dog spirit. Not a hound-like fey. But an actual dog who gets magically tougher.
Like all companions, though, your companion uses a dedicated stat block. In this case, it’s the Hound. It grows in power as you do, has an AC based off your Constitution modifier, and in a fight can be ordered to Bite a foe, dealing an okay amount of damage but potentially grappling, knocking a target prone, or pushing a target away from the Hound. A nice bevy of tactical options. Of course, it takes your Bonus Action to do so (or you can trade in one of your attacks).
If you don’t order it to do anything, all it can do is Dodge and move wherever. If it dies, you can revive it for 2 Moxie Points, or, a little crueler, you can form a magic bond with a new dog at the end of a Long Rest. But only one Hound at a time.
The other level 3 feature, Mutt with Moxie lets your Hound benefit from some of your Moxie abilities. It can gain temporary hit points, attack in place of you with the one-two punch, and can act whenever you stick and move. It’s a great way to get a little extra mileage out of a combat companion.
Higher Level Hounds
At higher levels, the bond between Dog and Hound deepens. Starting at level 6 you gain Coordinated Attack, which lets you and your Hound fight a little closer. In game terms, this means that if you attack someone near your Hound, your Hound can use a Reaction to give your attack Advantage and make you hit harder. Plus the Hound now deals Force damage, so it can stay competitive against monsters with Resistance.
At level 11, Hound’s Best Friend lets you use your Reaction to swoop in and attack an enemy should they target your Hound. You can only move up to half your speed, but you’ll want to be close anyway. Especially since, with the Hound providing you with advantages in combat, it’s likely they’ll get targeted at least once.
At level 17, the subclass reaches its zenith with Off The Chain. This ability goes off whenever your Hound becomes Bloodied or takes damage while it is Bloodied. You have to use your Reaction (not the Hound’s) but it gives them a huge pile of Temporary Hit Points, boosts your hound’s movement speed, and lets it Bite without needing a Bonus Action. You can do this once per Long Rest for free, and after that it costs 3 Moxie Points.
All in all, not bad. Especially since there’s not too much that is a drain on your Moxie Points, outside of having a few set aside to revive your Hound if you need to. I think it changes up the playstyle of the class, without diluting too much. The Hound serves as a complement to your brilliant brawler.
Check out the Pugilist and all six subclasses at the link below!
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