How are the hit points of the hound determined for the Shadow Magic sorcerer's Hound of Ill Omen feature (XGtE, p. 51)?
I have read over the feature several times now, and I have a question. Here are the statistics that differ from the MM Dire Wolf stats (emphasis mine):
The hound uses the dire wolf statistics (see the Monster Manual or
appendix C in the Player’s Handbook), with the following changes:
- The hound is size Medium, not Large, and it counts as a monstrosity,
not a beast.- It appears with a number of temporary hit points equal to half your
sorcerer level.- It can move through other creatures and objects as if they were
difficult terrain. The hound takes 5 force damage if it ends its turn
inside an object.- At the start of its turn, the hound automatically knows its target’s
location. If the target was hidden, it is no longer hidden from the
hound.
The question I have is in regard to item 2. It states that the Hound appears with a number of temporary hit points equal to half the sorcerer's level. Which of the following is an accurate interpretation of this line?
-
It only has a hit point total of half the sorcerer hit points.
-
It has half the sorcerer hit points as temp hit points, on top of the hit points that a Dire Wolf would get per the MM stat block?
Best Answer
Option 2: It gets temp HP, on top of a dire wolf's regular HP
All monsters have hit points; otherwise, they would be dead. In the case of the Dire Wolf, it starts with 37 HP (5d10 + 10). On top of that, the Hound gets the temporary hit points equal to half the sorcerer level rounded down.
So, if the sorcerer is level 6, the Dire Wolf would have 37 (taking the average) hit points + 3 temporary hit points over and above that, for a grand total of 40 (37 HP, 4 THP). Note that the temporary hit points are a seperate pool, the PC's maximum hit points have not increased or changed.
The description of temporary hit points in the rules states: