My Pathfinder game is on a short hiatus with some scheduling issues, so rather than picking monsters from what I’ve prepped for a session like I did with the Skeletal Champion or Fungus Leshy, I’m taking a stroll through the Pathfinder Bestiaries looking for things that I like. Today, I’m picking a classic dungeon fantasy monster out of Bestiary 2.
The Blink Dog has been a favorite of mine since I started playing D&D back in college. In the days of D&D 3.5, I particularly loved the interplay between the blink dog and the displacer beast. (My love for Pathfinder and Golarion always makes me sad that Displacer Beasts are one of the Product Identity monsters and not included in the OGL)
Stats and Saves
Blink Dogs have a high Wisdom and high Dexterity. Below those stats is their Charisma. Blink Dogs are going to be picky about what fights they get into, especially given the pack hunt after evil threats on the Ethereal Plane mentioned in their Bestiary entry.
If a fight isn’t one the blink dog feels duty bound to enter or it needs to withdraw to return with more support, it makes quick strikes and runs away.
In combat, a Blink Dog has decent saves, with its Reflex and Will being the highest and near equal.
Attacks and Pack Attack
The blink dog only has a single attack action, in its jaws, which are agile so they incur less of a Multiple Attack Penalty.
Where the Blink Dogs attacks really shine is when you have at least three blink dogs in reach of the same target. With the support of at least two other blink dogs, its attack deals additional damage.
Innate Spellcasting
The Blink Dog’s strange connection to the Occult gives it a couple Innate spells it can cast.
Blink is constantly active. GMs planning to use the Blink Dog should be aware of the spell because the Resistance to all non-force damage granted by the spell is not included in the stat block and must be accounted for by the GM. In addition, the Blink Dogs can spend an action to concentrate to disappear and reappear 10 feet in a random direction.
A Blink Dog can also use Dimension Door once per day, teleporting itself up to 120 feet to a location it can see.
Skills
The Blink Dog is skilled in Acrobatics, Stealth, and Survival; the skills go along with the high Dexterity and Wisdom scores.
Overall Tactics
Blink Dogs are obnoxious. They blink in and out of existance, making dealing damage extremely difficult. They pop around the battlefield to different places making the Party’s tactics constantly shift and adapt. They are best used as scrappy fighters harrying their enemies before blinking away to the other side of them.
Though, Blink Dogs might make a better temporary ally for the party than they would an enemy. If the players are tracking down something like an Ether Spider, they could encounter Blink Dogs following the same threat. They might pop in and out of the material plane and offer mysterious help to the adventurers.
Whether serving as allies or foes, the abilities of Blink Dogs suggests that they should always be encountered in packs, and that they should bounce around their foes with their trademark blink abilities. The interplay between their good AC from a high Dexterity, reasonable HP from a decent Constitution, and the fact that they constantly resist all non-Force damage makes them a formidable foe in their packs.
Also: they speak fey. So, talking dogs. Your party will love them. They are the best boys.
Licensing
This post relies on information from the Pathfinder Bestiary 2 (Second Edition) Copyright 2020, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Alexander Augunas, Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, Joseph Blomquist, Logan Bonner, Paris Crenshaw, Adam Daigle, Jesse Decker, Darrin Drader, Brian Duckwitz, Robert N. Emerson, Scott Fernandes, Keith Garrett, Scott Gladstein, Matthew Goodall, T.H. Gulliver, BJ Hensley, Tim Hitchcock, Vanessa Hoskins, James Jacobs, Brian R. James, Jason Keeley, John Laffan, Lyz Liddell, Colm Lundberg, Ron Lundeen, Jason Nelson, Randy Price, Jessica Redekop, Patrick Renie, Alistair Rigg, Alex Riggs, David N. Ross, David Schwartz, Mark Seifter, Amber Stewart, Jeffrey Swank, Russ Taylor, and Jason Tondro.
Used pursuant to the Open Gaming License v 1.0a
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