Tindelhound

A Ferryman cutting down Tindlehounds, Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition, p. 418

A Tindelhound (known as Tindlehounds in 20th Anniversary Edition) is a type of Whistimmu, or a non-Spectral creature found in the Tempest in Wraith: The Oblivion.

Background

As their name indicates, Tindelhounds superficially resemble dogs. Because of Oblivion's taint, however, these dogs have far more heads, mouths, and eyes than the average canine; the most spotted were ten mouths and fifteen eyes. They are also much larger than the average dog, somewhere around 15 feet at the shoulder. In addition to their maws and size, they have barbed hooks instead of fur, emit green fire from their mouths, and leave a sooty trail behind. As if that weren't enough, Tindelhounds are also fairly intelligent, able to adapt to unusual situations fairly quickly. Luckily for wraiths, most of them shun the Shadowlands, living deep within the Tempest.

Compared to the other kinds of Whistimmu, Tindelhounds are fairly recent creations. The first one was seen coming out of the chest of a tempramental British wraith named Henry Tindel at the end of the Victorian Era; it is said Tindelhounds are an embodiment of Tindel's legendary foul attitude and have carried his name ever since. Tindel's situation has since proven uncommon; most Tindelhounds do not spring forth from the Corpus of wraiths.

Character Sheet

In the second edition, Tindelhounds have a special power which is called 'Hellfire'. This power returns in the 20th Anniversary Edition along with another power called 'Choking Cinders'.

WTO 2nd Edition

The flames from a Tindelhound are extremely hot, and cause two levels of aggravated damage to any wraith who gets in their way. This damage can be soaked, but any wraith snared in the barbs of a Tindelhound is constantly exposed to the flames.

Tindelhound (WTO 2nd Ed)
Physical	Strength 4, Dexterity 5, Stamina 6
Social	Charisma 4, Manipulation 0, Appearance 0
Mental	Perception 4, Intelligence 2, Wits 2
Talents	Alertness 4, Athletics 3, Brawl 3, Dodge 2, Intimidation 4
Skills	Tracking 5
Arcanoi	Argos 5, Moliate 3
Willpower	9
Permanent Corpus	10
Angst	8

WTO20

The flames a tindlehound breathes burn extremely hot, inflicting two additional levels of aggravated damage with a successful bite, or one level of aggravated damage per turn while grappling. Further, the cloud of hot cinders that emanates from the tindlehound’s Corpus envelops opponents in melee range, blinding and distracting them during battle. Wraiths in melee range of a tindlehound suffer a –2 modifier to all dice rolls unless a successful Willpower roll is made each turn.

Tindelhound (WTO20)
Physical	Strength 4, Dexterity 5, Stamina 6
Social	Charisma 4, Manipulation 0, Appearance 0
Mental	Perception 4, Intelligence 2, Wits 2
Talents	Alertness 4, Athletics 3, Brawl 3, Intimidation 4
Skills	Tracking 5
Arcanoi	Argos 5, Moliate 3
Willpower	9
Permanent Corpus	10
Angst	8

Gallery

Wraith: The Oblivion Second Edition, p. 276-277

Trivia

• Tindelhounds may have been inspired by the Hounds of Tindalos from the Cthulhu Mythos writings of H. P. Lovecraft and Frank Bellknap Long. These hounds have the ability to track their human quarry through any barriers, and may materialise from sharp angles.

References

• WTO: Wraith: The Oblivion Second Edition, p. 276-277