Darkhunter (3.5e Prestige Class)
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Low - Moderate - High - Depraved hunters of things more evil than themselves, Darkhunters turn darkness back upon itself to satisfy their own thirst for blood. 5 5 Moderate Good Good Good Alternate Magic, Other Other
DarkhunterEdit
| “ | "I don't believe that love can bloom on the battlefield... But Death can Blossom, and run wild." | ” |
| —Reaver, Human Darkhunter, Watcher's Memoire | ||
Depraved hunters of things more evil than themselves, they turn darkness back upon itself to satisfy their own thirst for blood.
Becoming a DarkhunterEdit
Darkhunters are those full of bloodthirst and twisted evil inside who still possess just enough in the way of morals to direct all of that evil at things that are more evil. Fighting fire with fire, these guys are the opposite of the Paladin who says things like "If we show our foes no mercy then we are no better than them." However, much like eccentric and very twisted Paladins, they spend their time defending the innocent and so forth - If only to earn respect. After all, people will be bothered if you go around murdering helpless, innocent commoners. But who will miss the villains?
Anyone can be a Darkhunter, from mages and warriors right down to pious healer-clerics and devious rogues. As long as they have the burning seed of darkness inside, they can stoke that flame, help that seed to grow, and unleash the flower of death from within.
| Alignment: | Any Non-good. |
|---|---|
| Skills: | At least 8 ranks in 3 different skills. |
| Special: | Must have shown mercy to nonevil foes and not shown mercy to evil foes, and have kept this record for at least a year. |
| Level | Base Attack Bonus |
Saving Throws | Special | Ability Advancement | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort | Ref | Will | ||||
| 1st | +0 | +2 | +2 | +2 | Detect Evil, Channel Fury, Favored Foe I, Moral Code, Channel: Smite Evil, Aura of Duality | +1 existing features |
| 2nd | +1 | +3 | +3 | +3 | Aligned Armory, Aura of Cruelty, Channel: Black Remorse | +1 existing features |
| 3rd | +2 | +3 | +3 | +3 | Favored Foe II, Channel: Revitalizing Zeal | +1 existing features |
| 4th | +3 | +4 | +4 | +4 | Bleaklight Armory, Channel: Crawling Sins | +1 existing features |
| 5th | +3 | +4 | +4 | +4 | Favored Foe III, Channel: Burning Chains, Death Blossom | +1 existing features |
Class FeaturesEdit
All of the following are class features of the Darkhunter.
Skills: As Darkhunters come from no particular background, assigning a comprehensive class skill list that doesn't include every skill in the game is difficult. Instead, your Darkhunter levels grant you the same number of skill points as, and possess the same class skill list as, the base class in which you possessed the most levels in when you became a Darkhunter. So a Rogue 5/Fighter 2 who became a Darkhunter would gain a number of skill points at each Darkhunter level equal to 8 + their Intelligence modifer (Just like Rogue), and their Darkhunter class would have the same class skills as the Rogue class. Some DMs will apply this same rule to the base saves, hit die and base attack bonus of the Darkhunter class in addition to the skills, so be sure to ask.
Ability Advancement: At each level, choose three class features you already possess from other classes. You gain +1 effective level for those class features; Possibly including: Caster level, spells per day and spells known; Turn undead; Lay on Hands; Familiar; Animal companion; Bonus feats; Sneak Attack; And so forth. You decide which abilities are advanced at each level separately. SRD:Detect Evil
Chosen Ability Score: Upon gaining your first Darkhunter level, you choose one ability score. That ability score is forever after used to determine all aspects of your Darkhunter abilities and cannot be changed.
Detect Evil (Sp): Darkhunters can sense the evil they hunt; Granting them to use Detect Evil at will as a spell-like ability.
Favored Foe (Ex): Against evil creatures, undead creatures and creatures with the Evil subtype, you gain a +2 bonus on damage rolls and Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks. This bonus is treated as a Favored Enemy bonus and qualifies as such. The bonus increases to +4 at 3rd level and to +6 at 6th level.
Channel Fury (Su): Darkhunters possess an ability to channel their bloodthirst into palpable power, allowing them to bring forth supernatural effects fueled solely by rage a certain number of time each day. This is a pool of uses used by all of a Darkhunter's "Channel" abilities. The pool possesses a number of daily uses equal to your Darkhunter level + Your chosen ability score modifier (Min 1). The abilities that consume these uses are as follows:
- Channel: Smite Evil: Gained at first level, activating this ability as a swift action grants you a bonus on attack rolls against evil creatures equal to your chosen ability score modifier, and a bonus on weapon damage rolls equal to your character level. These effects persist until the beginning of your next turn, but the effects are wasted if you don't attack, if the attacks miss or if the attacks are made against a non-evil target.
- Channel: Black Remorse: Gained at second level, you can force remorse upon evil targets, haunting them with the things they've done. Using this ability is a standard action, and affects 1 target per class level as long as they're within Medium range (110ft + 10ft per character level). Each target is allowed a Will saving throw (DC = 10 + 1/2 character level + chosen ability score modifier) to resist the effects. Targets failing their saving throws suffer a penalty on attack rolls, damage rolls, skill checks and Will saving throws equal to your class level for 1 minute per class level. Targets succeeding their saves are immune to the ability for 1 hour; And targets that succeed by 5 or more are immune for 24 hours. This is a [Mind-Affecting] effect.
- Channel: Revitalizing Zeal: Gained at third level, this ability is a standard action with a range of touch. When used on yourself, it grants you Fast Healing and a morale bonus on attack rolls and Will saving throws equal to your class level. When used on a non-evil creature, they are granted Fast Healing equal to your class level, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of the Rage spell. Regardless, the effects of this ability last for 1 minute per class level or 1 minute per two character levels, whichever is higher. This ability cannot benefit evil creatures other than yourself.
- Channel: Crawling Sins: Gained at forth level, this ability allows you to curse a single target within Close range (25ft + 5ft/2 character levels) with a more powerful version of Black Remorse. The target must be evil and fail a Will saving throw (DC = 10 + 1/2 character level + chosen ability score modifier); If they do, they suffer all the penalties of Black Remorse in addition to being Confused and suffering a -2 penalty to Strength and Dexterity. Unlike Black Remorse, however, the duration is permanent until removed via Remove Curse or the Darkhunter who cursed the target chooses to release them. This is a [Mind-Affecting] effect.
- Channel: Burning Chains: Gained at fifth level, you gain the ability to summon chains of sinister flame to bind your victims. Activating this ability is a standard action with Medium range and can affect up to 1 target per class level. Targets are allowed a Reflex saving throw (DC = 10 + 1/2 character level + chosen ability score modifier) to escape the effect before the chains fully form. Those failing their saves are immobilized (Falling to the ground if flying using limbs rather than magical flight, or similarly sinking if swimming), affected by a Dimensional Anchor spell, and the flames burn the captured target for 1d6 damage per round. This damage is untyped damage, but only harms creatures that register as evil via Detect Evil. Captured targets can attempt, once per round, to burst the chains with a Strength check, or to wriggle from of them with an Escape Artist check (DC = 10 + 1/2 character level + chosen ability score modifier for both). If an attempt is successful, the ability's effect on that target ends.
Moral Code: Darkhunters struggle daily to maintain control over the evil within, and walking the line between control and destruction is no easy task. Thus, all Darkhunters adhere to the following, simple, code:
- No Harming Innocents. Darkhunters struggle every day to prevent their desires from running wild and controlling them, and harming the innocent only makes that struggle harder. Maintaining the facade of a hero rather than revealing the monster within is the best - And some might say only - Way to survive.
- No Mercy To Evil. Evil creatures are your targets, the playthings you are free to exercise your darkest, most twisted fantasies upon, and willingly passing up an opportunity to do so deprives you of the satisfaction that keeps your malice from overwhelming your tattered morals completely. And hunger will eventually strip away all control any creature has, man and beast alike.
Aura of Duality: When Detect Evil or Detect Good is used on a Darkhunter, they register as a Cleric of both alignments whose class level is equal to the Darkhunter's character level. So if Detect Evil was used, they'd register as an Evil Cleric, but if Detect Good was used, they'd register as an Evil Cleric.
Aligned Armory (Ex): Beginning at second level, all weapons you wield, as well as your unarmed strikes/natural attacks, overcome damage reduction as if they were both Evil and Good. You can also wield alignment-specific magic items, such as a Holy sword, as if you were Evil or Good, whichever is more beneficial. You still count as your actual alignment for the purposes of spells like Holy Word, though.
Aura of Cruelty (Su): Your bloodlust for evil creatures comes to the surface when you come face-to-face with your prey, slowly sapping their vitality. Creatures you know are evil take 1 point of untyped damage each round as long as they remain within 30ft of you. Evil creatures you aren't aware of, or don't know the alignment of, ae unaffected. You can toggle the aura on or off at will.
Bleaklight Armory (Su): Weapons you wield and armor you wear take(s) on a sickly pale aura, shedding dim light out to a radius of 10 feet. On a successful hit, your weapons deal 1d6 additional untyped damage to Evil creatures, which increases to 1d8 against undead and creatures with the Evil subtype. Creatures who successfully strike you in melee with natural or non-reach weapons also suffer this effect. You can toggle this effect on or off at will.
Death Blossom (Su): Beginning at 5th level, once per day, you can attempt to overwhelm an evil foe with the cruel wildfire you hold within. This ability requires a standard action to use and has Medium range. The target must make a Will saving throw (DC = 10 + 1/2 character level + chosen ability score modifier) or instantly be destroyed. This is not a Death effect, thus ignoring immunity to Death effects, but only affects evil targets, including undead and creatures with the Evil subtype. If the target fails, a rose erupts from their mouth, bleached-bone white of petal and sooty black of stem. The rose grows down their body and spreads outward at a rate of 5ft/round until it's overgrown a 50ft radius around the target. The rose is immune to fire and electrical damage, and it only takes half damage from acid, sonic and cold. The being cannot be raised as undead or returned to life by anything short of divine action as long as the rose remains.
The Death Blossom is a Colossal-sized Plant creature, with hit dice equal to your character level at the time of the rose's creation, the Good and Evil subtypes, and an alignment the same as your own. The rose possesses the following traits:
- Strength, Constitution and Wisdom equal to your chosen ability score, with Dexterity, Intelligence and Charisma scores of 1. It is immobile, rooted deep within the perfectly-preserved corpse of the slain creature.
- AC 1 + a Natural Armor bonus equal to your chosen ability score.
- Damage Reduction X/Adamantine, where X is the rose's hit dice.
- Natural Reach of 10ft. It can only attack creatures within its area or up to 10ft outside its area.
- The Death Blossom's natural attack deals 4d6 piercing, slashing and bludgeoning damage with a x3 critical multiplier. A critical hit causes the target to bleed, dealing 1d6 damage per round until magical healing is administred or a DC 20 Heal check is made.
- Feats: Power Attack, Cleave, Great Cleave and Improved Grapple. It possesses these feats regardless of hit dice and never gains any feats beyond these.
- Skills: The Death Blossom possesses ranks in Spot and Listen equal to its hit dice +3.
- Entangling Overgrowth: All squares the Death Blossom occupies are treated as difficult terrain created by overgrowth, and creatures within as Entangled, as if by the Entangle spell cast by a Druid of the Death Blossom's HD.
- Blindsight out to 10ft beyond its occupied area.
Ex-DarkhuntersEdit
Showing mercy to an evil creature or knowingly bringing nonlethal harm to a being known to be good will result in you questioning your life choices and your morals; In game terms, this means you lose all Darkhunter class features except base attack bonus, hit points, skills, save bonuses and ability advancements, and cannot gain Darkhunter levels until you receive an Atonement spell.
Likewise, changing to a Good alignment represents you suppressing and controlling your bloodlust, becoming a sheep rather than a wolf, and you lose class features and the ability to gain Darkhunter levels until you change back to a non-god alignment and Atone.
Lastly, if you knowingly slay a good being or beings, or knowingly unleash evil upon the world, you lose control over your bloodlust, permanently losing class abilities and the ability to gain Darkhunter levels as you now hunger for the blood of the innocents you once tried so hard not to harm.
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