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Hunter of the Chase

by Joaquin Menchaca

The Hunters of the Chase are loosely organized into a order made up exclusively of hunters of Zirchev. Most hunters from the ranks of wronged clerics or fighters, although some rangers (and even a few rogues) have joined the fellowship. Members of other classes are welcome within the order.

The Hunter's of the Chase are a loosely organized order that has formed to protect the liberty, individuality, and self-defence of sentient life within Traladara, now called Grand Duchy of Karameikos by the conquerors. They will use all of their powers of the nature to aid in their cause.

Each hunter acts on an individual basis, as this is both in their nature, but also as a way to protect the order, should an individual hunter become wanted by the law. They don't want the whole order to suddenly become outlawed.

Many hunters fight villainous monsters or humanoids that seek enslave others. In recent times, many hunters are very displeased with the harsh treatment of others by particular maligned barons, patriarchs, and other Thyatian nobles. They have decided not yet move against any individuals. However recently, the hunter's are mobilizing against both the Iron Ring and the Black Eagle Barony, as both of these organizations are unpopular amongst both Traladarans and Thyatian aristocrats alike. Also recently, many Hunters voyage to the Five Shires to both ally and protect hin against Iron Ring and the Black Eagle Barony.

Hit Dice: d8

Requirements

To qualify to become Hunter of the Chase (HuC), a character must fulfil all the following criteria.

Alignment: Any good.
Feats: Weapon Focus (spear)
Skills: Handle Animal (4 ranks), Ride (4 ranks)
Special: The character must be a follower of Zirchev, and has performed some great undertaking in the defence of nature.

Class Skills

The Hunter of the Chase's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Intuit Direction (Wis), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (local) (Int), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Wis), Swim (Str), and Wilderness Lore (Wis). See Chapter 4: Skills in the Player's Handbook for full descriptions of these skills.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Hunter of the Chase prestige class.

Weapon and Armour Proficiency: A Hunter of the Chase is proficient in the use of all simple and martial weapons, all armours (heavy, medium, and light), and shields.

Spells Per Day: A Hunter of the Chase has the ability to cast a small number of druid spells from the druid spell list (see Player's Handbook , page ???). To cast a spell, the Hunter of the Chase must have a Wisdom score of at least 10 + spell level, so a Hunter of the Chase with a Wisdom of 10 or lower cannot cast these spells. Hunter of the Chase bonus spells are based on Wisdom, and saving throws against those spells have a DC of 10 + spell level + Hunter's Wisdom modifier.
When the Hunter of the Chase gets 0 spells of a given level, such as 0 1st0level spells at 2nd level, he gest only bonus spells. A Hunter of the Chase prepares and casts spells just as a druid does.

Track: At 1st level, a hunter of the Chase gains Track as a bonus feat. If a Hunter of the Chase already possesses the Track feat, he gains a +2 synergy bonus to associated skill checks instead.

Insight of the Wild (Ex): When fighting with a longsword or shortspear, a hunter gains a +1 insight bonus to attack rolls.

Kindred Spirit, Hawk: At 3rd level, the hunter gains the services of a specially selected walk. This bird has the basic characteristics of a hawk (as noted in the Monster Manual, page 197), and also has the abilities in a comparable fashion to a wizard's familiar (see the Hawks Special Abilities chart in this article and page 51 of the Player's Handbook). If the hawk is slain, the hunter gains no replacement until he has gained an additional level as a hunter.

Flight of the Wild: Once per day, a hunter can affect a shortspear as if a true strike spell has been cast upon it. If the spear has previously been blessed a cleric of the Church of Karameikos, a cleric of Zirchev, or a druid of Zirchev, its range increment is tripled. The act of imbuing a shortspear with the Flight of the Wild is a move-equivalent action that provokes an attack of opportunity. The effect lasts until the spear is used in combat or for a number of rounds equal to a hunter's class level, whichever comes first.

Kindred Spirit, Wolf; At 7th level, the hunter gains the services of an intelligent wolf. This animal has the basic characteristics of a wolf (as noted in the Monster Manual, page 204), and in addition gains further abilities in a similar fashion to a wizard's familiar (see Wolf Kindred Spirit Special Abilities chart below and page 51 of the Player's Handbook). If the wolf is slain, the hunter gains no replacement until he has gained an additional level as a hunter.

Zirchev's Inescapable Retribution (Sp): Only the most powerful hunters can invoke this ability, the power for which is said to come directly from Zirchev himself. Because of this, they use it sparingly and only against those who are guilty of denying other's their freedom. In the past it has been inflicted upon dictators, brutal military officers, slaveholders, and high priests of certain highly lawful religions.

* The rune of pursuit is burnt into the forehead of the target. This process inflicts 2d8 points of fire damage upon the target. This effect occurs even if the subject made a successful saving throw.
* The target is subjected to a mark of justice spell as though cast by a cleric of the hunter's character level.

The most common behaviour proscribed by the hunter is keeping of slaves. If the target already has slaves, he must release his slaves immediately, renounce slavery, and never keep slaves again of suffer the curse of the mark of justice.

The mark of justice spell can be removed by the means outlined in the spell's description, but the rune of pursuit scar remains until the target is healed by a heal spell or atones for his misdeeds and receives the benefit of an atonement spell.

Hunter of the Chase Advancement

Hit Dice: d8

Class Level	Base Attack	FS	RS	WS	Special	--Spells per Day--
						1st	2nd	3rd	4th
1	+1	+2	+0	+0	Track	-	-	-	-
2	+2	+3	+0	+0	Insight of the Wild	0	-	-	-
3	+3	+3	+1	+1	Hawk Kindred Spirit	1	-	-	-
4	+4	+4	+1	+1	-	2	0	-	-
5	+5	+4	+1	+1	Flight of the Wild	2	1	-	-
6	+6	+5	+2	+2	Wolf Kindred Spirit	3	2	0	-
7	+7	+5	+2	+2	-	3	2	1	-
8	+8	+6	+2	+2	-	3	3	2	0
9	+9	+6	+3	+3	-	4	3	2	1
10	+10	+7	+3	+3	Zirchev's Inescapable Retribution	4	3	3	2

Hawk Kindred Spirit Special Abilities

Hunter Level	Natural AC	Int	Special
3	+1	6	Alertness, improved evasion, share spells, empathic link
4	+2	7	Touch
5-6	+3	8	Speak with master
7-8	+4	9	Speak with animals of its type
9-10	+5	10	-

Wolf Kindred Spirit Special Abilities

Hunter Level	Natural AC	Int	Special
6	+1	6	Alertness, improved evasion, share spells, empathic link
7	+2	7	Touch
8	+3	8	Speak with master
9	+4	9	Speak with animals of its type
10	+5	10	-