Dog

One of the regrets that I have as a writer is that sometimes the way something has to be “marketed” or “packaged” for sale means that some characters stay and other characters have to go.  When working out the details to Welcome to Mortiston, USA, we (the publisher and I) decided that we wanted to keep the character GAS (Simon Tool), but that we just couldn’t afford the space in the book to give DOG, Simon’s BFF and partner, his own page in the book.  We feared perhaps the critical judgement of “wasting a page” on what some people would just consider a piece of equipment.  Since the book has come out I have been too busy working on the EEP’s and other material to fix this oversight until now. Also, I feel bad that the recent shakeups at SEG have put us behind schedule for Mortiston.  So, for your enjoyment without further ado is DOG.

DOG

Age: 6 (45 in dog years), 2′ 8″, 72 lbs, short night-black fur, amber eyes

Role: Loyal Partner / Retired War Dog

Motivation: To help Simon to protect the good people from the dead ones.

Desire: To keep Simon and Elizabeth safe from the dead ones.

DOG wasn’t always named DOG.  Once, 5 long years ago when he was born, his name was Lord Darth Vader (LDV for short).  Shortly after his first birthday, LDV was selected by the purchasing agent to be a Military Working Dog.  When he arrived at Lackland Air Force Base to begin his training, he was assigned a number, 619. This was to be his name for the next 2 years.

619 excelled in every part of the training.  He was able to pass the initial stress and aggression tests without any problem.  When he began the field training, the instructors were amazed at how quickly 619 learned.  He quickly became a favorite with the trainers.  When a multi-national challenge event was proposed within the UN to compare K9 units across the world, the handlers voted unanimously to make 619 one of the dogs sent to represent the U.S.  The competition was grueling and rated on a scale from 1-100 in three separate categories:  Tracking, Obedience, and Protection.  Any score less than 80 would be an embarrassment.  The biggest worry for everyone was that the competition evaluation was scheduled for just one week after 619 was to be shipped out to his working unit at Fort Benning GA within the 29th Infantry Regiment.  This was when 619 would first meet Simon Tool, his handler and best friend.

Simon loved 619 from the moment from the moment they met and the feeling was mutual.  They simply stared at one another at first.  Finally Simon asked his Sgt. what the dog’s name was and was told:

“619?!?  That’s a number; that’s not a name.  That’s stupid.  Sarge.”

“Stupid or not, Tool, that’s the way it is done.  You want him to have a name, you give it to him.”

“Dog.  That’s what I’m going to name him.  It’s a lot better name than 619.”

“Well, at least you didn’t name him Lenin.  You’re a piece of work, Tool.  Why don’t you and your dog, DOG spend some time getting acquainted.  Throw the kong around some before chow.”

A week later, when the team of Simon and DOG worked through the challenges, the judges evaluated 619′s score to be Tracking 97, Obedience 95 and Protection 99.  He was the highest scoring Belgian Malinois in the competition.  Two weeks later, the pair of them were scouting for IED’s in Iraq.

DOG liked the work that he and Simon did in the war.  He liked being able to find things and help people; he loved being able to play with his best friend and partner.  When the ambush happened, DOG knew the bad people would hurt them, but he didn’t understand how badly.  Since the ambush, Simon is not the same.  DOG doesn’t understand how he failed, he thought he protected Simon from the bad people.  But even though Simon smells OK, DOG knows something is wrong.  Things were not exactly the same between them as they were before.  Perhaps both blame themselves for what happened, but Simon brought DOG home to Mortiston and they began to work through it, as all old soldiers must do.  Then came Z-Day.

DOG knows from the way that Simon is acting that somehow they went back to war and he KNOWS from their smell that the dead ones are bad news.  They are also easy to nose out because they reek like bad meat.  Simon and DOG were working together again like the old days, but it still wasn’t the same until they found the little girl.  Miss Elizabeth Moriarty changed everything. Not only does she smell really great, but since they found her, Simon has been his old self again.  DOG knows he won’t let Simon down this time.  He’ll die first.

DOG truly loves and trusts Simon just as Simon loves and trusts DOG.  They are much like an old married couple together.

LOCATION BY OUTBREAK LEVEL

Level 1 Z-Day — 70% searching for survivors; 30% Fort Quinn
Level 2 The Burn/First 5 Days – OL 1 — 50% any location with
survivors; 50% scrounging.
Level 3 The Dying/Next 90 Days – OL 2 — 50% any location with
survivors; 50% scrounging. Unless PCs intervene, Gas and
Dog will die on Z-Day +56.
Level 4 The Rise/After 90 Days – OL 3&4 — See above. Up to GM if the character is still alive

EQUIPMENT

Weapons: None
Armor: None
Clothes: None
Equipment: Collar, Dog tags, Small pack with radio, Flashlight, 2 glow-sticks, small bottle of water, clip for the M9, 2 granola bars and a small first aid kit.

STATISTICS

OUTBREAK: UNDEAD

Type: Standard
Size: 1
Strength: 15 (d6 damage)
Defense: G-0/R-2
Virus: 0
Speed: Fast (Lv. 4)
Perception: High (Lv. 4)
Sense: H/S/V (50/25/20)
Habitat: Any Terrestrial Biome
Attacks/Special:
Alpha, Bite – 0-5 DoS, Scent, Superb Track
Skills:
Agility, Brawler, Heroic, Search, Tough

SAVAGE WORLDS

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6 (A), Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6
Skills: Fighting d6, Notice d10 Pace: 8; Parry: 5; Toughness: 4
Special Abilities
• Bite: Str+d4.
• Fleet-Footed: Roll a d10 when running instead of a d6.
• Go for the Throat: Dogs instinctively go for an opponent’s
soft spots. With a raise on its attack roll, it hits the target’s
most weakly armored location.
• Size 1: Most dogs are relatively small, but military trained dogs are taught to take advantage of other traits to compensate for their lack of size, plus DOG is not small.

OGL 3.5 MODERN

Medium Animal

Hit Dice: 2d8+4 (13 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 50 ft. (10 squares)
Armor Class: 14 (+2 Dex, +2 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+2
Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d6+1)
Full Attack: Bite +3 melee (1d6+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Trip
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +1
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills: Hide +2, Listen +3, Move Silently +3, Spot +4, Survival +2
Feats: Track, Weapon Focus (bite)

ROTWORLD

APOCALYPSE PREVENTION, INC.

Statistics of Note: Health 21, Stamina 30, Initiative +15, Movement 20, Actions per Round 4, Athletics +5, Intimidation +8, Stealth +6, Survival (Tracking) +10
Combat: Hard Bite (Speed 5, Stamina 3, +6 Strike, 7 (L)): A lunging bite attack, not requiring a Grapple before-hand. Combatants make contested POW rolls to get the animal to let go (DOG gets +7), Dodge +8, Roll +4.