The Simhata
Essence: 1; Willpower: 6;
Join Battle: 6 dice
Health Levels:
-0x3/-1x3/-2x3/-4/Incap. A simhata will flee after taking 7+ levels of damage, but will never abandon a bonded rider, even if it must sacrifice its own life to save his.
Speed Bonus: +4
Actions: Feats of Strength: 9 dice (may attempt Strength 5 feats); Intimidate: 10 dice; Senses: 5 dice (see Keen Nose); Tracking: 4 dice (see Keen Nose)
Resolve 4, Guile 1
Combat
Attack (Bite): 8 dice (Damage 17)
Attack (Claws): 10 dice (Damage 14)
Attack (Grapple): 7 dice (8 dice to control)
Combat Movement: 13 dice
Evasion 5, Parry 3
Soak/Hardness: 6/0
Special Attacks
Brutal Kick:
Smaller enemies that take 5+ damage from the simhata’s withering claw attacks are knocked back one range band and fall prone.
Savaging Maw:
Any decisive bite attack that the simhata makes against an enemy who is prone or in Initiative Crash adds extra successes to the damage roll.
Swift Advance:
Whenever the simhata moves to keep pace with an enemy it has successfully rushed, it may pay a point of Willpower to reflexively make a decisive attack against that enemy.
Raging Lion-Horse Fury:
Whenever damage fills one of the simhata’s -2 or lower health levels, it enters a state of frenzy. A simhata who witnesses its bonded rider being killed (see below) also enters this berserker state. It ignores wound penalties and gains a point of Willpower on each turn, which must be spent before its next turn to add a success to a combat-related action or to resist influence that would cause it to cease fighting or impede its ability to fight. An enraged simhata will not flee from even the most desperately impossible battles. However, a rider who has bonded to the simhata may attempt to calm its rage with a (Charisma + Ride) roll at difficulty 4, which cannot be placed in a flurry.
Foe-Maiming Guardian’s Fangs (Magical, 1m):
Whenever the simhata makes a decisive bite attack against an enemy who has attacked or threatened its bonded rider, the Exalt may pay one mote to apply the double 10s rule to the damage roll. If he is currently suffering any woundpenalties due to a confrontation involving that enemy, then the amount of his wound penalties are added as bonus dice to the hound’s attack roll.
Merits
Keen Nose: Simhata double 9s on scent-based Perception rolls.
**Predator’s Hunger: **
Whenever a simhata rolls Join Battle against an enemy it could conceivably eat, if it has not eaten within the last day or more, it may reroll any 1s until they fail to appear. A simhata’s master can train it to apply this Merit to all Join Battle rolls as a latent ability byconditioning it to associate battle with being given free rein to devour his enemies.
**Bonding (Latent): **
A wild simhata that is successfully tamed—a task that involves a great deal of hard effort and raw meat—bonds to its rider, forming a Major Tie of loyalty to them. While it may not be well-tempered or easy to handle, its devotion is unwavering, it will accept no other rider, and anyone foolish enough to attack its master will answer to its claws. However, the simhata were bred in the ancient past as war-steeds of the Exalted. Even a bonded simhata will allow an Exalt to ride it if his anima is flaring, and when bonded to an Exalt, the Tie they form is Defining and overrides any existing bonds to un-Exalted riders.
Cloud-Crossing Leap (Latent):
A simhata that has been trained to jump can achieve incredible heights. As long as it has two effective range bands of movement prior to a jump to build up speed, it may pay a point of Willpower to leap a distance comparable to what a Solar can achieve with Monkey Leap Technique (p. XX).