Can one keep a hellhound? Options

[emo samurai]

My hellhound puppy'll have one tilted ear and chase larger dogs down decrepit alleyways! It'll always be my friend and be ready to rip off the head of a mugger and toast his body with his magical fire breath.

But seriously, isn't it theoretically possible to tame a hellhound? Practically anything can become your pet if it's fed and well treated enough, especially intelligent pack animals like hellhounds. Hell, its average intelligence is 4, higher than that of most metahumans. Especially if you have a bound fire spirit to keep it in line; that'll probably help. And since it has magic, you could have a sustaining focus bound to it for the sake of maintaining a physical mask.

[Mr.Platinum]

have you never bumped into security that uses hell hounds?

it's possible bud.

[PBTHHHHT]

Just remember to keep your place furnished with only flame retardent materials and you don't mind the furniture getting chewed up like you wouldn't believe. It's possible as Mr. Platinum said, several corp and other facilities use them as guard animals.

[emo samurai]

Are they bigger and stronger than most dogs? And what's the softest thing they can chew without destroying it? Like, solid steel bars or something?

[BishopMcQ]

[emo samurai]

Because hellhounds are awesome! I see your point; a fire spirit could potentially be MUCH stronger.

[Guest_MK Ultra_*]

Allso, you can´t just domesticate every animal! tigers, lions, fenrier wolves, even normal wolves for that matter, the likes, they will never be as tame as your lill housedog! Thes are wild animals, you can work with them, but never let your attention drop (or else sigfrid & roy would never have had a problem).

Allso most corps wont keep them guard-paranimals like pets, more like wild animals in a zoo.

True Hellhounds are better to controll then others, but they are not tame, someday, they mitght as well eat your face. Or more likely, that of an innocent bystander.

[nezumi]

If NPC guards can do it, PCs can too. As has been said though, you need the skills and equipment, and there's always that chance he'll forget his training for just a moment... (Imagine all the problems pit bull owners have to deal with times ten. Mauling a six year old girl is the least of your worries. Imagine the headlines, 'pet hellhoud mauls bus of nuns - details at 11').

[Talain]

I imagine players might want one for the same reason corp facilities do: Security! They're guard dogs on magical steroids, so if you want a really really safe haven...

[Guest_MK Ultra_*]

My gang character has 3, althoug they are all still puppies (the hounds as well as the gangers I guess).

They are not allowed to be in his squatt allso

[Calvin Hobbes]

Remember that most corporations with hell hounds and other such creatures have either a) entire reams of information on training said creatures, or b) lots of disposable personnel. Because if you don't have A, you'll need B.

As a runner, it's possible for you to have A, but unlike corporations, you're only going to have one disposable person on hand (read: you) and I don't think you can afford that loss.

[Guest_MK Ultra_*]

:D @CH

Well, guess I´ll have to shoot them, when they get too big. Or the shamane nees crittercontroll and 3 spell locks

[stevebugge]

And another thought, feeding a Hell Hound is going to seriously jack up your lifestyle payments.

[Ancient History]

"How do you tell them apart from wolves?"
"They have collars."

Aah...anyone interested in hellhounds as a pet should pick up Awakenings. Boggle the mind with the concept of paranormal daschunds.

[Azralon]

Pfft! Of course hellhounds can be trained. Mind control comes in both cybernetic and magical flavors.

;)

[PBTHHHHT]

invae can also be trained... in a sense...

ask Ares

[Capt. Dave]

[PBTHHHHT]

One fun thing outside of having the hellpuppy for security/intimidation and companionship... you can train them for the illegal pit fights.

Thanks Capt, I now have an image of a distraught runner looking at the remnant of his burnt rolled up newspaper and thinking... now what? As the hellhound pup (almost as large as the runner) sits there looking at him, growling and also making another mess on the floor... :-D

[Guest_MK Ultra_*]

Pitfights! Ah, I knew there would be money in these hounds someday :)

[boskop-albatros]

don't get upset at my two sents but wouldn't a Hellhound shaman have an easier time controling a Hellhound?

[emo samurai]

Hmmm.... What if I had a bound force-6 fire spirit whose sole purpose was to move out of wherever he was and wrestle the hellhound to the ground whenever he got out of hand? Each intervention could be a task. I imagine that would both keep me safe and sufficiently impress the hound.

[Clyde]

Dogs have been bred for millennia with a single, overriding trait in mind - the ability to interpret human behavior. Dogs do very well at reading human beings - other animals don't. If a Hellhound is pretty much a "dog" then I'd say yeah. Certainly the fiction seems to suggest it can be done - check out "Awakenings" for example. The 'hound could probably be housebroken - but that would be an interesting process.

[fistandantilus4....]

PHHBBTTT: been reading threats 2 lately?

AH: you mean the detective story where tha ledy walks into his office with a poodle that is really a hell hound wit ha mask spell? I loved that one. :D

In New Seattle, one of the gangs, the Leather Devils I believe, have two. The gang leader raised them from pups.

My gargoyle shaman has a afew. Used a variant of comtrol pack to keep them in line if they misbehaved. Helped a lot. Named 'em Hel, Sparky, and Cinders. *grin* good 'ol Cinders.

[mintcar]

I would say any character with a bit of instruction (paranimals) skill (is it still called that?) could keep hellhounds as guard animals, or maybe even as pets. Concidering the damage they could cause if their training sliped I would choose a troll character though :) . Makes it a bit safer.

[PBTHHHHT]