Dedicated D&D homebrewer Starsail Games has created custom content specifically for dog lovers, sharing their ‘design-a-doggo’ via Reddit on December 18. The homebrew allows you to build a useful (and adorable) animal companion for your adventuring party. To help you “create your own Goodest Boy”, as Starsail Games puts it, the homebrew includes rules for choosing a dog’s size, breed, traits, and even adventure hooks.
The plucky pups described by Starsail Games are more than just fluffy friends; they can play a beneficial role in your campaign. Each of the 21 available canine traits are split between magical and non-magical features, but they all primarily focus on combat.
For example, a Guardian dog can make opportunity attacks whenever a creature within five feet disengages or hits another target. Meanwhile, a Spirit Hunter dog uses magical bites to grapple and knock prone DnD monsters that would usually be immune to the conditions.
It’s not all about fighting, though. The Tracker trait gives your pooch expertise in Perception and the ability to detect creatures ten miles away by smell alone. Additionally, the Homing Sense trait means your dog can tell what direction a creature is in within 50 miles if it gets a whiff of a personal item the creature owns.
The various DnD races seem to have a preference for different dog breeds in this DnD homebrew. Each of these breeds even gets its own adventure prompts as part of the custom content.
The Dwarf 5e race is fond of Mine Dogs, who are adept at squeezing into small spaces and spotting dangerous creatures. A DnD Elf may be accompanied by the supernaturally sensitive Elven Hunting Hound, while the Gnomish Trinket Retriever helps the Gnome 5e species sniff out magic. There’s also the Halfing 5e Riding Mastiff, who make great steeds for pint-sized heroes.
You can see the full dog homebrew in the original Reddit post. Starsail Games has produced a wide range of custom game material, including a DnD Warhammer Skaven homebrew for fans of the rat fiends found in Warhammer Age of Sigmar.
Homebrewing makes pretty much anything possible in D&D, and Starsail Games certainly aren’t the only ones getting creative – check out this DnD One Piece homebrew or this MTG Streets of New Capenna setting build.
For more official D&D content, here’s all of the DnD classes, as well as our favourite DnD backgrounds. Both of these will come in handy for your next DnD character builds.