Planar Bestiary
Named for the reflective nature of their skin, these many-legged constructs are acquisitive and territorial. Some have found their way to Mechanus, where they stalk modrons, but many wander the wider multiverse, origin unknown.
When a mirrored beast freezes in place, they are hard to distinguish from their surroundings thanks to their enhanced surface. Unless a creature happens to catch their own reflection exactly head-on, the hound may just reflect back more broken ruins to an oncoming viewer.
The hound's reflective defense has the consequence of petrifying unlucky living creatures that trigger it. This means that reflection hounds can accumulate a litter of "life-sized" stone figures in their lairs. Most hounds cull the collection periodically, turning them back to flesh to feed on them; others select the most artistic to save, and set them out for display.
Reflection hounds are called by different names in different worlds, including "glint wolves" and "mirrored beasts."
Motive: Hungers for flesh
Environment: Mechanus or worlds of the Material Plane, alone
Health: 25
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound (6 points)
Armor: 3
Movement: Short; immediate when climbing
Modifications: Speed defense as level 6 due illusory reflections
Combat: The reflection hound attacks twice each round with their claws.
The hound's mirror-like hide grants them several advantages, including the creation of illusory reflections that make them more difficult to target, despite their large size (see Modifications). Their ability to manipulate light that reflects from their body also enables the following.
• Anyone within short range of a reflection hound that sees them also sees their own reflection; on a failed Might defense task, their flesh partly mineralizes, paralyzing them for one minute, or until they succeed on a Might defense task on a later turn to end the effect early.
• In combat, when a character within immediate range attacks the reflection hound, they must avert their gaze (hindering the attack by two steps) or attempt a Might defense task as they catch a close-up reflection of themself. On a failure, they take 5 points of Speed damage (ignores Armor) as a portion of their skin and/or part of an interior organ partly mineralizes. If they are killed by this effect, they are completely turned to stone.
• The reflection hound can release a magical pulse of blinding sunlight from their mirrored carapace every few rounds. Each creature in short range not averting their eyes that fails a Might defense task is blinded for one minute, or until they succeed on a Might defense task on their turn to end the effect early.
A reflection hound can use this blinding flash to revert victims they have previously completely turned to stone back to flesh so they can feed on the remains.
Interaction: Though nearly intelligent as a person and able to communicate via telepathy, reflection hounds normally act like single-minded predators, not people.
Use: A blind wizard has a reflection hound as a steed. A reflection hound makes their lair in a ruin filled with ancient devices of an unknown, vanished civilization.
Loot: The belongings of reflection hound victims can often be found in a reflection hound lair, including an expensive number of loose coins (100-200 gold coins), adventuring equipment, and one or two magic cyphers such as an amulet of retaliation and/or a secret-telling ring.
A creature that doesn't rely on sight to sense their environment treats the hound's Speed defense as level 4 and is immune to all the hound's attacks that rely on reflection.
GM Intrusion: A character sees an illusory reflection, gets confused, and attacks an ally instead of the reflection hound.