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I am considering setting up a hound archon cohort for a monk of Torag in the Rise of the Runelords campaign I run. The monk is played by a 13-year-old boy who could maaaaybe use a little nudge now and then to remain on the path of Law and Goodness, and I'd like to do it in game. The way I envision the cohort is to have the party encounter the hound archon in the guise of a stray dog who then starts following the monk around (near the beginning of Book 3). The player has three dogs IRL, there isn't a chance in the world that he won't insist the party let him keep the dog. Eventually -- probably when they encounter the
So, the question:
I would prefer not to reveal any of the hound archon's abilities before that encounter unless absolutely necessary (e.g., to avoid a TPK), except possibly creating a little mystery about how Spot keeps disappearing and reappearing suddenly ("Hey, how did he get ahead of us when we're on horses?"). But the Bestiary says that the hound archon's Magic Circle Against Evil ability is "constant." Does that mean the archon can't turn it off, or just that it can leave it on without concentrating on it and, if it is turned off, reactivate it as a swift action? If it really means always on, I can probably finesse the dice rolls so that the party doesn't quite realize what's going on, but at some point they will certainly figure out that they do better in battle when they stick close to Spot, and keeping track of it without having it written down anywhere visible to the players will be irritating (plus I'll have to boost the CR of some of the encounters to keep things from getting too easy). If the archon can turn it off, though, I could justify that as part of the archon's assignment to give the monk a gentle nudge (with a bark, nip, or quizzical look) when needed, not to rub his face in the fact that Torag thinks he needs a minder.
Any thoughts?
A normal dog will not last long in combat. The party should not be surprised that the dog has learned to avoid combat. Thus the dog stays at least 10' away from anyone when combat happens. This prevents the party from discovering the protective aura.
Later, when he is revealed, he can help in combat.
/cevah