Doggo by

## Doggo

Doggo are, as their name suggests, a race of bipedal dogs. They share many similarities with their 4-legged brethren, physiologically and behaviorally, but no one is quite sure if doggo are descended from dogs or how exactly they are related. Doggo live in the moment and such history has been lost to time. Doggo maintain the diversity of their kin and they credit their successful society to the wide range of skill, talent, and ability that doggo possess. If there is a job that needs to be done, there is a dog who can do it. They form strong pack bonds, often among family, but dogs care not of their pack's origin and many choose their pack among other doggo or even other races.

### Traits
Your doggo character has a number of traits in common with all other doggo.

***Ability Score Increase.*** Your Dexterity score increases by 1.

***Age.*** Doggo have a shorter lifespan than humans, rarely making it past 30 years old. However, they mature quickly within 1 or 2 years.

***Alignment.*** Doggo are eager to please and so lean towards lawful and good alignments, but are vulnerable to chaotic and evil alignments if raised with abuse or neglect.

***Size.*** Doggo can range from heights of 3 feet in the toy breeds to nearly 7 feet for worker and guard breeds. Your size is determined by your breed subrace.

***Speed.*** Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

***Bark.*** When you roll initiative, you can immediately use your reaction to bark. Barking readies allies against impending combat, removing the surprised condition from any ally that can hear your bark. Once you use this feature, you can't bark again until you finish a long rest.

***Bite.*** Your teeth are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. On a hit, the strike deals 1d6 + your Strength modifier piercing damage, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

***Keen Senses.*** You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that that rely on hearing or smell.

***Languages.*** You can speak, read, and write Common, and you can speak Doggish, which is a verbal language.

***Breed.*** Doggo are extremely genetically diverse and come in many different breeds. Choose one of these breed groups that your doggo belongs to.

>
> The breed categories outlined are vague and many breeds can fit in to more than one category. For example, livestock guardian dogs could fit in the Guard category or the Shepherd category. Choose the category you feel best represents your individual doggo's heritage or strengths. 
>
>Don't forget, you can use *Tasha's Cauldron of Everything* to customize your origin to suit your breed better by applying the Ability Score Increases to different ability scores. For instance, a Terrier with the Ability Score Increase changed to add Strength instead of Dexterity could be used for a very tough and hardy mastiff.

#### Guard Breed
Guard breeds are protective and vigilant, capable of noticing, deterring, and neutralizing threats. This leads them to be excel as sentries and soldiers. They are physically intimating, and often that is backed up by strength in combat. Guard dogs are some of the most loyal of doggo, but also sometimes the most rigid.

***Ability Score Increase.*** Your Strength score increases by 2.

***Size.*** Your size is Medium.

***Threatening Presence.*** You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill.

***Vigilant Watchdog.*** You cannot be surprised while you are conscious.

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#### Hunting Breed
Hunting breeds are the most at home in the wild; tracking, hunting, and retrieving wild game. They are highly focused with keen senses and are very agile to keep up with game in rough terrain.

***Ability Score Increase.*** Your Dexterity score increases by 1 and your Wisdom score increases by 1.

***Size.*** Your size is Medium.

***Survival Senses.*** Your keen senses additionally give you advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks that rely on hearing or smell.

***Trailfinder.*** When you make a Wisdom (Survival) check to track, you are considered proficient in the skill and add double your proficiency bonus, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.

***Wild Agility.*** You can move across non-magical difficult terrain without expending extra movement.

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#### Shepherd Breed
Shepherd breeds excel at protecting, guiding, and leading groups; most often livestock or those seeking spiritual guidance or enlightenment, though some take governmental roles and consider their constituency their charge. They are wise and empathetic, sensitive to the needs of their flock or pack.

***Ability Score Increase.*** Your Wisdom score increases by 2.

***Size.*** Your size is Medium.

***Herder.*** When an ally hears your Bark, they can immediately use their reaction to move up to half of their speed without provoking opportunity attacks. This movement can not be ended closer to an enemy than where they started.

***Horse Whisperer.*** You can communicate simple ideas to livestock. They can understand your words, though you have no special ability to understand them in return.

#### Terrier Breed
Terrier breeds are unusually scrappy and spirited, able to persevere despite threat of or actual, serious injury. This quality is often called "game" or "gameness" and benefits their instinct to pursue vermin and small prey into dangerous burrows. They are risk-takers and tend towards more "underground" life paths.

***Ability Score Increase.*** Your Dexterity score increases by 1 and your Constitution score increases by 1.

***Size.*** While bull terriers tend to be on the larger side, some terrier breeds are comparable to toy doggo in size. Your size is Medium or Small, depending on your specific breed. You choose the size when you gain this subrace.

***Fearless.*** You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened.

***Game.*** When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

#### Toy Breed
Despite being the smallest doggo, toy breeds arguably have the largest personalities and are skilled politicians, entertainers, and spellcasters. Toy dogs have cute, juvenile features and this puppy-like visage tends to invoke a desire to nurture and protect the tiny and vulnerable toy doggo.

***Ability Score Increase.*** Your Charisma score increases by 2.

***Size.*** Your size is Small, instead of Medium like most other doggo.

***Speed.*** Your walking speed is 25 feet, due to your small stature.

***Lapdog.*** You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours.

***Puppy Dog Eyes.*** You have advantage on Charisma (Persuasion) and Charisma (Deception) checks when relying on your cute appearance.

#### Working Breed
Working breeds have bounds of energy and are often the laborers on which other dogs rely. They have strong drive and put their all into whatever work they do. They are also well suited to work in the field such as search and rescue, long distance couriering, cargo transport, messengers, and mercy

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work in wartime. Instead of training animals, doggo will commonly have working breeds pull vehicles such as carts or sleds.

***Ability Score Increase.*** Your Constitution score increases by 2.

***Size.*** Your size is Medium.

***Blue Collar Worker.*** You gain proficiency in the Athletics skill.

***Load Puller.*** You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, pull, drag, or lift. You can pull carriages, carts, chariots, sleds, or wagons as an animal could. You can move weight up to five times your base carrying capacity, including the weight of the vehicle.

***Long Hauler.*** When you would gain a level of exhaustion, you can instead shrug it off and gain no levels of exhaustion. You can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

#### Mixed Breed
Mutts, mongrels, or mixed-breeds are doggo whose breed is difficult to determine or define due to cross-breeding. Although doggo are genetically diverse, they can successfully breed with any other doggo, regardless of breed. Historically it was taboo to mix breeds due to a desire to maintain the presence of distinct breeds, but cross-breeding has become more acceptable in dog culture.

***Ability Score Increase.*** Three different ability scores of your choice increase by 1.

***Size.*** Your size is either Medium or Small, depending on your mixed lineage. You choose the size when you gain this subrace.

***Inherited Skill.*** You gain proficiency in one of the following skills: Animal Handling, Athletics, Intimidation, Persuasion, or Survival.

## Credits
Race by Stray Chow Chow (/u/thestray)

<a href="https://www.deviantart.com/filhotedeleao/art/Dog-Woodsman-691854017">Dog Woodsman</a> by Alyne Leonel (filhotedeleao)

<a href="https://www.deviantart.com/filhotedeleao/art/She-Dog-Paladin-717414107">She-Dog Paladin</a> by Alyne Leonel (filhotedeleao)

<a href="https://www.deviantart.com/filhotedeleao/art/Zack-762695186">Zack</a> (Bull Terrier Bard) by Alyne Leonel (filhotedeleao)

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disregard these are just creator notes for themself while balancing
## [Detect Homebrew Balance](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vq1kz6PRAbw5LHy6amH-bNb4OuB8DBXL1RsZROt03Sc/edit#gid=0)

(?) means I've made a guess to its usefulness/value based on the Generic Scale

## Base
| Feature  | DHB |
|:---:|:-----------:|
| ASI +1 | 4 |
| remove allies surprise 1/long | 4(?) |
| advantage on situational (perception hearing) roll | 2
| advantage on rare (perception smell) roll | 1
| 1d6 natural weapon no free hands | 3
| Total | 13
| Total w/ 2 ASI from subrace | 21
notes: Bite is taken from other similar natural weapon traits, +Dex chosen as the highest ability score of the "Mastiff" creature, and Keen Senses taken from mastiff. Keen Senses trait does tend to give Perception proficiency in newer races, but I've used a lot of skill proficiencies in subraces

#### Guard
| Feature  | DHB |
|:---:|:-----------:|
| Skill proficiency | 2 
| Cannot be surprised | 4(?)
| Total | 27
notes: Not sure if cannot be surprised, especially with it's synergy with Bark, is only 4 or if it is higher. Could axe the skill proficiency for balance, but it feels thematic for a guard dog.

#### Hunting
| Feature  | DHB |
|:---:|:-----------:|
| Expertise with subset of skill (tracking) | 2
| Ignore non magic difficult terrain | 3
| Advantage on rare roll (hearing survival)| 1
| Advantage on rare roll (smell survival) | 1
| Total | 28

notes: adding Survival to keen senses gives a bit of syngergy if you get your dog to track with smell or hearing. Not sure if hearing/smell survival would be considered "rare" rolls or not, but it feels really thematic for your basset hound to be able to have expertise and advantage to track something based on scent trail

#### Shepherd
| Feature  | DHB |
|:---:|:-----------:|
| Bark maneuvering attack affects all allies with no advancing on enemies | 4-8(?)
| Total | 25-29
notes: honestly, this one feels hard to judge to judge for me despite me really loving the trait, which is why it's on its own in the subrace. 
Turns bark into something that doesn't need surprise/ambush to be useful (repositioning squishies or getting into a better position without advancing) and is likely more useful when surprised (caught out of position), but can't be used to get closer to the enemy like maneuvering attack could (inverse of "Aggressive" from orc trait where you must end move closer). Really not sure if frequently useful or unusually powerful feature is better for this trait, but I hope at least putting it on its own is safer than sorrier.

#### Terrier
| Feature  | DHB |
|:---:|:-----------:|
| Relentless Endurance (fall to 1hp instead of 0hp 1/long rest)| 4
| Advantage on situational (frightened) roll / Brave | 2
| Medium or small | 0 
| Total | 27

#### Toy
| Feature  | DHB |
|:---:|:-----------:|
| Small size | 0
| 25ft speed | -2
| Move through larger space/ Nimbleness | 2
| Advantage on common roll (cuteness Persuasion) | 4
| Advantage on situational roll (cuteness Deception) | 2
| Total | 27

#### Working
| Feature  | DHB |
|:---:|:-----------:|
| Powerful build | 2
| Pull vehicles ribbon | 1
| Ignore gain exhaustion level 1/long rest | 3 (?)
| skill proficiency | 2
| Total | 28
notes: originally, this was advantage against saves against exhaustion. It turns out...less than half of effects that I could find that impose exhaustion were just granted automatically after some time or event instead of being rolled against, which made it extra useless. I ended up going with ignoring the first exhaustion level gained per day in a Relentless Endurance style trait in effort to make it usable in more circumstances (including, yes, the Berserker subclass!) but exhaustion is still a pretty niche and situational condition

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#### Mixed Breed

| Feature  | DHB |
|:---:|:-----------:|
| Choice of ASI +1 | 4
| Small or Medium | 0
| Choice of skill proficiency | 3
| Total | 28
notes: with lineage/tasha, all ASI can be a "choice" so I don't think the extra point for choice is needed anymore, given a choice of skill prof from related skills of other subraces