Majo-Kari (3.5e Prestige Class)

Majo-Kari
"To the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart, I stab at thee; for hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!"

The majo-kari (witch hunters) do not exactly live up to their name. Their mission is much broader than simply hunting down old ladies in huts, for the majo-kari are dedicated to hunting down and exterminating evil in all its forms. Whether it be evil creatures, evil outsiders, undead, evil spellcasters, or even evil warlords, you can be sure that, somewhere, a majo-kari is hot on their trail.

Demons, ghosts, spirits, and necromancers are the majo-kari's sworn enemies, and they hate those beings much more than any other. They bring their unique combination of the ranger's tracking prowess and the paladin's smiting abilities together in a unique synthesis that leaves their quarry shaking in their boots.

Becoming a Majo-Kari
Most majo-kari begin their careers as elementalists or spirit shamans. At some point in her career, she encounters and older majo-kari who selects her as an apprentice. After this selection, she learns how to use weapons, armor, various wards against evil, how to detect angry spirits, and how to track evil down unerringly. By the time a majo-kari leaves her master, she typically has a level or two of fighter or rogue. Most who become majo-kari seek the path out of vengeance against evil, though some simply wish to eradicate its stain on the material plane.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the majo-kari.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Majo-kari are proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all armor, but not with shields.

You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a majo-kari, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day, caster level, and spells known.

' (Sp):' At will, the majo-kari can use detect evil'' as a spell-like ability.

 (Ex): A majo-kari applies her Charisma modifier (if positive) as a bonus on all saving throws.

 (Su): A majo-kari of 2nd level or higher can attempt to smite a target as part of making a melee attack. The attempt does not work (at no cost to her other than the attack) unless the target is evil. If the target is evil, she adds her Charisma modifier to hit, and, if successful, she adds her level to damage. She also gains supernatural strength, causing her to not take strength penalties to damage (bonuses still apply).

If the target has less than 4 hit points per class level of the smiting majo-kari after the attack's damage is applied, it is instantly destroyed as though through hit point damage. A single target may only be smote once per majo-kari per day, and the majo-kari cannot smite another target after successfully smiting one until either the first target is defeated or five rounds pass since the last smite. If the attack misses or is attempted on an invalid target, the majo-kari may try again immediately against the same or a different target as soon as she can make another attack.

 (Ex): A majo-kari of 3rd level or higher applies her Wisdom modifier (if positive) as an additional bonus on all saving throws against effects and spells used by undead and creatures with the Evil subtype. This stacks with any bonus provided by Kami's Grace.

 (Ex/Su): Beginning at 3rd level, a majo-kari is immune to fear (magical or otherwise). Allies within 10 feet of the majo-kari gain a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against fear effects. Granting the morale bonus to allies is a supernatural ability.

 (Ex): This functions exactly as the Tome Ranger ability of the same name. Starting at third level and every odd level thereafter, the majo-kari gains a new favored enemy. At 7th level, she gains access to the Advanced Favored Enemy abilities.

She still must meet the desired feat's prerequisites.

 (Ex): A great majo-kari will not rest until their quarry is caught. A majo-kari who is tracking does not need to eat or sleep as long as they continue making the Survival check necessary to keep the trail. They also do not suffer from the effects of fatigue or exhaustion no matter how long they move, even when running, so long as they are still tracking. If the trail is broken or if the majo-kari catches her prey, the majo-kari takes no immediate ill effects, but must wait a period of 1 hour before she may regain the effects of this ability. She may track in the meantime, but does not receive these benefits. This ability is not conferred on any party members or other comrades.

In order to gain the benefits of this ability, the majo-kari must be actively tracking a target via tracking and Survival checks. Simply declaring that you are hunting them does not suffice. A majo-kari only gains the benefits of this ability when tracking a quarry that is undead, is of an evil alignment, or has the Evil subtype.

 (Su): Creatures slain by a majo-kari of 5th level or higher, either from melee attacks or spells, can never rise as undead (thus, undead slain are permanently destroyed).

 (Su): As a swift action, a majo-kari of 6th level or higher can focus on a target and gain information about them as if she had spent three rounds focusing on them with Detect Evil.

 (Ex): At 7rd level or higher if a majo-kari makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, she instead takes no damage. A helpless majo-kari does not gain the benefit of evasion.

 (Ex): At 8th level, a witch hunter gains aspecialized spell resistance equal to 20 + her hit dice. This spell resistance applies only to evil spells or spells cast by an evil creature.

 (Su): A majo-kari of 14th level or higher gains a second Smite, which can be used just like the first and is recovered independently but in the same way. So she can smite a target twice, or smite a second target before the first is neutralized, but not both at once.

 (Ex): A majo-kari of 9th level or higher who picks up a trail when tracking gains the effects of a find the path spell (with the tracked creature as the target destination). This ability can only be used when the majo-kari is tracking an evil creature, a creature with the Evil subtype, or an undead. This ability cannot be fooled by any means.

 (Su): A 10th level majo-kari cannot lose levels due to energy drain effects or death. Other level- or experience-draining effects still take place.

Ex-Majo-Kari
If a majo-kari ever becomes an undead, gains the Evil subtype, or changes her alignment to evil, she loses her Smite abilities, her tracking abilities, and all her abilities that deal with resisting the effects or spells of Evil and undead creatures. She retains all her other abilities.

Playing a Majo-Kari
Combat: The majo-kari excells in combat, at least when evil creatures are involved. Her smite ability allows her to dish out nice amounts of damage, and her detect evil and later judgement ability means that she will rarely waste a smite attempt. She is able to go toe to toe with some more powerful evil spellcasters thanks to her spell resistance, and a majo-kari gains some versatality in combat through her bonus feats. After 5th level she becomes the necromancer's worst nightmare, able to vanquish undead forever.

Advancement: Some majo-kari multiclass as rangers, but they gain some of the ranger's abilities earlier through this class. Some majo-kari seek to gain a higher understanding of combat, and take levels of fighter.

Resources: Majo-kari have no formal organizations, and they are primarily loners. The rise of a great necromancer or demon summoner could, however, cause many majo-kari to gather in one place and join forces.

Majo-Kari in the World
"Beware the majo-kari, for he shall hunt you and all your progeny down to the ends of creation. And should you choose to meet your fate, you will fall before his blade."

Majo-kari are the stalkers of evil, excelling at discovering it, tracking it, and destroying it. Their skill is legendary, and they are the subject of many popular folktales. The majo-kari's ultimate goal is to rid the world of all evil (specifically outsiders and undead), and they will hunt their prey to the ends of the earth. Rumors of hauntings and demonic sacrifices draw them like flies, and they are never far behind. They are the shadows of the necromatic legions, haunting the nightmares of even the most evil spellcasters.

However, majo-kari rarely take the battle back to the home turf of the demonic legions. Their goal is to rid the world of evil, not the entire universe, and they grudgingly admit that some evil is necessary for all of creation to exist. They prefer to keep outsiders out of the material plane, rather than travelling to the lower planes. Some of them are brash enough to try and take on the immense powers of the Abyss and Baator; however, these majo-kari rarely live for long.

NPC Reactions: Any good or neutral NPCs view the majo-kari with admiration or wonder. They are the subjects of legends, which generally leads to many misconceptions about their powers and what they actually do. Evil NPCs are frightened by maho-kari, or at least wary of them, for they never know when the witch hunters may turn their eye towards them.

Majo-Kari Lore
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can research majo-kari to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Majo-kari in the Game
In a standard campaign, majo-kari make excellent NPCs for the characters to ally with, and they are generally agreeable (and will often work for free) if they are hunting down great evil. PC majo-kari are exceptional only when dealing with things that are evil; as such, a campaign focused on intrigue or stealth is probably not the best time for them.

Of course, the role of the majo-kari takes an entirely different turn if all or some of the PCs are evil, have fiendish classes, or are necromancers. The majo-kari could easily be a villain, a somewhat insane hunter who will stop at nothing to kill the PCs, only because they are evil.

Adaptation: If you are not playing an Eastern themed campaign setting, this can be renamed the "witch hunter," and Kami's Grace would turn into Divine Grace. Other than that, no other abilities would change.

Sample Encounter: It needs one of these, since I suck at writing them.

EL --: I'm bad at making NPCs, too. Sorry.