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the goo-hound has a metal melting goo all over it's body & can shoot out said goo 1 every 15 menutes
otherwise think standard packmaster dogboy/girl.
what do you fine people think?

Great minds think alike. There is something similar in the works for one of my early 2014 projects.

Any thoughts on what different types of goo that the goo-hounds would be made of or use?

I could see it as a viable mutation of an existing Gorehound. See how you like this.

From the report on the 'Goo-Hound' mutation, as dictated by Alef Krelosh, Geneticist;

My Most Venerable Warlord, as by your command, I have observed the new creature fielded by some Houses in our ongoing conflict with the Most Despised Enemy, The Machine. I have had good fortune in my efforts, and so submit this report;

The 'Goo-Hound', as some in the Resistance Forces have come to call this beast, has a series of specialized bladders coupled with it's sweat-producing glands that enable the Hound to extrude an added enzyme to it's normal secretions, which has proven to be somewhat acidic to the metals used by the Machine's forces. The enzyme causes the normal sweat of the Hound to become slightly more viscous (almost to the consistency of melted butter) and is harmless to the beast and rider; an unfortunate side-effect is that the material takes on a sickly-sweet scent reminiscent of partially rotting apples.

One tactic of spreading the 'goo' has been observed by Resistance forces, is that the Hound runs almost suicidally into the midst of a Machine platoon, stops, then shakes it's entire body as if trying to dry itself after being doused in rainwater. This action flings the acidic compound in wide-spread, multiple directions and onto the Machine's metal-bearing army. The acid, now exposed to it's two catalyzing properties--air and metal--begins to damage the Machine's robots, often resulting in swift incapacitation & destruction within a few minutes. If the beast is fortunate, it escapes retaliation.
Another tactic observed has been that of 'goo-bombing'; the Hound secrets the 'goo', then others simply scoop handfuls of the substance (since organics are immune to the acid) and throw them at the robots, like grenades. The effect is the same; the 'goo' begins to damage the target upon contact until it is destroyed.

The 'goo-hound' also has developed an ability to expectorate (or 'spit-bomb') a large globule of the acid-secretion onto it's target, but can only perform this act once every 15 minutes.

The 'goo' itself is, fortunately, inert when NOT in contact with ferrous materials such as metals, and is thus capable of being deployed as a kind of 'puddle-landmine', for leading the robotic forces of the Machine into a field of small 'goo-pits' for them to simply trample through. The robotic forces have been observed not taking notice of the 'goo' when the substance is inert. Any amount larger than a half-meter 'puddle' has proven to be suspicious to a robot's simple decision-making apparatus and thus avoids the trap.
Another drawback of the 'goo' is it's prolonged exposure to air, as the substance begins to break down & dis-corporate within approximately one-half hour of exposure.

Although I have neither the prestige nor enough of the required standing to influence your wise decisions, My Warlord, I must strongly urge you to consider fielding a small force of these beasts, even as proof-of-concept, so you may witness the advantage this particular Gorehound may bring to our House in our conflict against the thrice-accursed NEXUS and it's forces.

I remain your most Loyal servant; Geneticist Alef Krelosh.

Anybody ever do a sonic goo-hound?

BookWyrm wrote:I could see it as a viable mutation of an existing Gorehound. See how you like this.

From the report on the 'Goo-Hound' mutation, as dictated by Alef Krelosh, Geneticist;

My Most Venerable Warlord, as by your command, I have observed the new creature fielded by some Houses in our ongoing conflict with the Most Despised Enemy, The Machine. I have had good fortune in my efforts, and so submit this report;

The 'Goo-Hound', as some in the Resistance Forces have come to call this beast, has a series of specialized bladders coupled with it's sweat-producing glands that enable the Hound to extrude an added enzyme to it's normal secretions, which has proven to be somewhat acidic to the metals used by the Machine's forces. The enzyme causes the normal sweat of the Hound to become slightly more viscous (almost to the consistency of melted butter) and is harmless to the beast and rider; an unfortunate side-effect is that the material takes on a sickly-sweet scent reminiscent of partially rotting apples.

One tactic of spreading the 'goo' has been observed by Resistance forces, is that the Hound runs almost suicidally into the midst of a Machine platoon, stops, then shakes it's entire body as if trying to dry itself after being doused in rainwater. This action flings the acidic compound in wide-spread, multiple directions and onto the Machine's metal-bearing army. The acid, now exposed to it's two catalyzing properties--air and metal--begins to damage the Machine's robots, often resulting in swift incapacitation & destruction within a few minutes. If the beast is fortunate, it escapes retaliation.
Another tactic observed has been that of 'goo-bombing'; the Hound secrets the 'goo', then others simply scoop handfuls of the substance (since organics are immune to the acid) and throw them at the robots, like grenades. The effect is the same; the 'goo' begins to damage the target upon contact until it is destroyed.

The 'goo-hound' also has developed an ability to expectorate (or 'spit-bomb') a large globule of the acid-secretion onto it's target, but can only perform this act once every 15 minutes.

The 'goo' itself is, fortunately, inert when NOT in contact with ferrous materials such as metals, and is thus capable of being deployed as a kind of 'puddle-landmine', for leading the robotic forces of the Machine into a field of small 'goo-pits' for them to simply trample through. The robotic forces have been observed not taking notice of the 'goo' when the substance is inert. Any amount larger than a half-meter 'puddle' has proven to be suspicious to a robot's simple decision-making apparatus and thus avoids the trap.
Another drawback of the 'goo' is it's prolonged exposure to air, as the substance begins to break down & dis-corporate within approximately one-half hour of exposure.

Although I have neither the prestige nor enough of the required standing to influence your wise decisions, My Warlord, I must strongly urge you to consider fielding a small force of these beasts, even as proof-of-concept, so you may witness the advantage this particular Gorehound may bring to our House in our conflict against the thrice-accursed NEXUS and it's forces.

I remain your most Loyal servant; Geneticist Alef Krelosh.

Very Well Written and intriguing BookWyrm!!
I think you sculpted a wonderful prototype Gore hound derived from Abe's description. Its functional and game balanced. The only thing I would suggest is that the goo does marginal damage, not instantaneous damage and takes a certain amount of time to burn into the robot, perhaps upon a random roll table can cause different affects. Almost could be treated like an acid node or spray weapon. Should be fair enough, because some players may be Techno-Jackers ,so if it takes out machines quick and easily it could potentially be unbalancing towards TJs. All said and done I can imagine a massive chow/Shar pei like Gore hound with a large robust mastiff build to endure the barrages it would sustain with that chow or Shar pei face and wrinkles with pores that ooze the acidic goo between the folds and wrinkles. When it does its goo blossom, the folds and wrinkles sling the goo everywhere and can rinse free as needed or concentrate the folds into focused goo funnels like a dripping fountain for troops to gather the goo to hurl.

Downtime for regenerating more goo, the ease of detecting and tracking this specific Gore hound, the risks it takes to close in on adversaries, being so specialized for attacking machines and not rival blood feuding Splicers and the metabolism of this gore hound would be an interesting set of balances as, well.

It would certainly need a force field or stealth field or something to balance out its exposure and risk, imho and anything else could be purchased.

honestly, instant AOE damage vs machines only is pretty hard to unbalance more than it already is.

so long as there is the option of spore dischargers, you're competing with an unlimited ammo, good (but not to the point of being artillery) range, huge AOE, with a DoT component to follow up that makes the damage absolutely ridiculous, especially for hit and run (it goes somewhere between "really good" to "completely ridiculous" depending on whether you allow the DoT to stack... which tbh you probably shouldn't, it's already plenty good).

any bio-enhancements available for the goo-hounds?

Any pictures of the goo-hounds out there?

abe wrote:Anybody ever do a sonic goo-hound?

We could call it the “boo-hound”!!!!