Hunter

Part assassin, part bounty hunter, the Hunter is someone who will track down anyone or anything, for a price. He is equally at home in the wilderness as he is in the city, a shadow that follows his prey tirelessly and strikes without warning.

Many evil rulers employ at least one Hunter to track down enemies, escape slaves/servants, or to provide the occasional sport. Good and neutral Hunters often act as bounty hunters, either working freelance or for a specific employer. While most Hunters work solo, some gather companions into a party to track down particularly numerous or powerful prey, granting their abilities to their hunting partners as well.

Rangers fill the vast majority of Hunters' ranks; some few Hunters come from clerics of the god(dess) of the hunt, while others are fighters or rogues. Even a few assassins have been known to take levels in Hunter to improve their skills.

Hit Die: d8.

Requirements

To qualify to become a Hunter (Htr), the character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Base Attack Bonus: +8

Skills: Stealth 7 ranks, Perception 6 ranks, Survival 6 ranks

Feats: Combat Reflexes, Track, Weapon Focus

Special: Must have hunted down and killed a creature of equal or greater ECL alone.

Class Skills

The Hunter's class skills are Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (geography, nature)(Int), Perception (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str).

Skill Points Per Level: 6 + Int modifier



Table 1: The Hunter
Level Base
Attack Bonus
Fort
Save
Ref
Save
Will
Save
Special
1st +1 +2 +2 +0 Marked for death, hunter's lore, 1st favored enemy
2nd +2 +3 +3 +0 Favored weapon
3rd +3 +3 +3 +1 Item bond
4th +4 +4 +4 +1 Hunter's mark
5th +5 +4 +4 +2 2nd favored enemy
6th +6 +5 +5 +2 Flesh bond
7th +7 +5 +5 +2 Blood tie
8th +8 +6 +6 +3 Call forth the hunt
9th +9 +6 +6 +3 Blood bond
10th +10 +7 +7 +4 Hunter's strke, 3rd favored enemy


Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Hunter.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Hunters gain no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.

Marked for Death (Ex): Once per day, a Hunter can declare a being or group of beings (who must have ties of association to each other) marked for death. In effect, he declares their status "prey" and his intention to hunt them down. Until such time as the targets are dead or the hunt has been called off, the Hunter applies all class abilities to these beings. A Hunter can have only one target or group marked for death at any given time.

Hunter's Lore (Ex): A Hunter gains double the normal bonus against favored enemies, if they are the subject of a hunt; he also gains a +4 competence bonus to Gather Information, Perception, and Stealth checks, and Track rolls when actively hunting his target.

Favored Enemy: This is identical to the ranger ability of the same name. At 6th and 9th levels, the Hunter can choose an additional favored enemy or apply the bonus to the same favored enemy.

Favored Weapon: The Hunter gains the Weapon Specialization feat with the weapon in which he has Weapon Focus. He need not fulfill the requirements for this feat. If he has Weapon Focus with more than one weapon, he must choose one to Specialize in.

Item Bond (Su): If the Hunter has an item that belongs to his target (the target must have had said item in its possession for at least a month, or the item must be a valued personal possesion), he can spend a full round concentrating on the item. He then gains a sense of the target's general direction relative to himself, if the target is on the same plane. Spells or effects that protect the target from scrying or location (nondetection, for example) prevent this ability; if the target is dead, the ability fails (though the Hunter does not know why). The Hunter can use this ability three times per day.

Hunter's Mark (Su): When a Hunter kills his prey, he can make a mark on himself using that creature's blood. For the next 24 hours (or until the mark is removed), he gains a +2 luck bonus to attack rolls against creatures of that type (for example, if Herne killed a goblin and marked himself with its blood, he gains a +2 bonus against all other goblins). The Hunter can have a maximum of one different mark (only one per creature) per point of his Wisdom bonus at any given time.

The Hunter can also bestow a mark on a companion, if the companion helped him defeat the creature in question. The companion gains the applicable bonus for 24 hours; the Hunter can only bestow one mark per point of his Wisdom bonus on a given companion.

Flesh Bond (Su): If the Hunter possess a small part of the target's body (nail clipping, a lock of hair, etc), he can concentrate on the item for a full round. He then gains any information he could from an item bond (see above), plus the distance to the target (with a 20% margin of error) and the target's general status – alive, dead, undead, or in stasis. This ability is otherwise identical to Item Bond.

Blood Tie (Su): If the Hunter applies some of the target's blood to a ranged weapon, that weapon gains a +20 to strike for one attack (as if he had cast true strike on it). This ability can be used only once per encounter with a given target.

Call Forth the Hunt (Ex): When the Hunter commences a hunt, he can alert his prey (by sending a message, appearing in person and telling him, or some other method). If the target fails a Will save (DC 10 + Hunter's class level + Hunter's Cha modifier), it suffers a -2 morale penalty to attack rolls and saves when fighting the Hunter or his companions. He can use this ability once per day, and only against one specific being or group of beings, which must be intelligent and capable of recognizing the threat the Hunter poses. The penalty lasts for one day per class level, until the hunt has been called off, or the target has been slain, whichever comes first. This ability cannot be used again until one of those conditions has been met.

Blood Bond (Su): If the Hunter tastes a small amount (a few drops) of his target's blood, he gains any information he could from an item bond (see above), plus the distance to the target (to within 10% of the total distance) and the target's status (see Flesh Bond, above). This ability works regardless of any protections the target has active, though artifacts or certain high-level spells like wish will prevent the sensing; as well, if the target is in an antimagic area or on another plane, the ability will not work, though the Hunter will know if it is on another plane.

Hunter's Strike (Ex): This is identical to the Assassin's death attack, except that it can only be used against the Hunter's target.

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