Umbral Hunter (3.5e Monster)

Author: Eiji-kun (talk) Date Created: 2-15-15 Status: Complete Editing: Clarity edits only please

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	Umbral Hunter
Size/Type:	Small Outsider
Hit Dice:	14d8+56 (168 hp)
Initiative:	+12
Speed:	40 ft, fly 80 ft (good)
Armor Class:	27 (+8 deflection, +8 dex, +1 size), touch 27, flat-footed 19
Base Attack/Grapple:	+14/+10
Attack:	Shadowstrike +23 ranged (7d6+8, 20/x2) or Mwk Dagger +23 melee (1d4+8, 19-20/x2)
Full Attack:	Shadowstrike +22/+17/+12 ranged (7d6+8, 20/x2) and Mwk Dagger +23/+17/+12 melee (1d4+8, 19-20/x2)
Space/Reach:	5 ft/5 ft
Special Attacks:	Hunter Rays, Possession, Shadowstrike, SLAs, Spirit Rip
Special Qualities:	Aura of Ineffable Darkness, Distortion Barrier, Extraordinary Health, Flicker Step, Immunities, Improved Evasion, Light Blindness, See in Darkness, Shadow Meld, Slippery Mind
Saves:	Fort +13, Ref +17, Will +12
Abilities:	Str 10, Dex 26, Con 18, Int 17, Wis 17, Cha 27
Skills:	Bluff +17, Concentration +17, Hide +17, Knowledge Local +17, Knowledge The Planes +17, Listen +17, Move Silently +17, Spot +17, Spellcraft +17, Survival +17, Use Magic Device +17
Feats:	Flyby AttackB, DarkstalkerLoMB, TrackB, Stealthy, Improved Initiative, Combat Expertise, Weapon Finesse, Improved Weapon Finesse
Environment:	Shadow Plane
Organization:	Solitary or Pack (2-6)
Challenge Rating:	14
Treasure:	Standard
Alignment:	Usually Evil
Advancement:	15-28 HD (Small), or by character class
Level Adjustment:	—

The air grew darker and the candles flickered as their lights dimmed to a barely perceivable glow. It was too late, they have come for you to take what they are owed...

Strange creatures from the Plane of Shadow, they appear as indistinct humanoids made of smoke of the blackest pitch. They appear to be wearing some manner of flared and spikey clothing, especially around their neck, back, arms, and legs, though this may simply be a part of their body. When they speak, a rare event, it is a raspy whispering cold wind which only brings threats and messages of reprisal.

After all, these creatures are not natural, but the result of fiendish dabbling. It is said in the past a group of shadow worshiping rogues (or perhaps roguish warlocks, it never was clear) made pact with a yugoloth who had been banished to the plane of shadow for some unknown act. The pact granted power, glory, and fame as pacts often do. Upon their demise, the daemon enslaved their souls into his personal army of shadowy assassins. They serve their unholy master, and are sold out in turn to over forces typically to locate and obtain stolen goods and services from the lower planes, and the umbral hunters take strange satisfaction in it, often extending the hunt of things become interesting and involving others in the hunt of their target to bring additional torment. The fiend may still be active, for new umbral hunters continue to pop up over time.

Umbral hunters appear slightly larger than they actually are due to the smoke which boils off their forms, when they actually stand slightly shorter than dwarves and taller than gnomes. They are known to speak Common, Abyssal, and Undercommon, and seem to weigh very little at an average of only 60 lbs.

Combat

Umbral hunters track their prey and set up ambushes to maximize the environment to their advantage, often attacking at the worst possible time such as immediately after combat with others. They also employ their spirit rip abilities on friends and family of their target both to get close and to torment their target by forcing them to fight or even kill the loved one, before snuffing out the target's life.

Umbral Hunters are best at range, with only a dagger to help them in melee. They are not afraid to retreat if things get too heavy.

Aura of Ineffable Darkness (Su): The umbral hunter is eternally cloaked in shadow. They radiate an aura of darkness out to 20 ft centered on them, which reduces light levels down one step. Normal light becomes shadowy illumination. Shadowy illumination becomes total darkness. Total darkness becomes supernatural darkness, which blocks even darkvision (but not See in Darkness). They may toggle it on and off as a free action on their turn.

Distortion Barrier (Su): Umbral hunters add their Charisma modifier as a deflection bonus to AC (minimum +1).

Extraordinary Health (Ex): Umbral hunters always receive maximum hp per HD.

Flicker Step (Ex): Umbral hunters discorporate into a swarm of shadowy fragments when moving. They do not provoke attacks of opportunity for movement.

Hunter Rays (Sp): Umbral hunters can fire a swarm of tiny but potent beams out en masse as a standard action against a target within 100 ft. Make an ranged touch attack roll against a target. These beams deal 1d6 damage per HD (14d6), but are very slow as they zig-zag chaotically in the air. At the beginning of the umbral hunter's next turn they attack the last square of the target, which if the target has moved means they miss. However even if they miss (either because they miss the touch AC or the target moved from its square) it will continue to chase its target forever, across all distances, and even across planes, moving the required distance to hit the target next round. Only total cover can stop it, forcing the beams to crash into the impeding object. An umbral hunter will often use this to force an opponent to move each round or risk taking damage, even sometimes stacking multiple castings to chase their opponent down.

Immunities (Ex): Umbral hunters are immune to Cold, and to spells with the [Shadow] descriptor.

Improved Evasion (Ex): As the rogue ability of the same name.

Light Blindness (Ex): Abrupt exposure to bright light (such as sunlight or a daylight spell) blinds umbral hunters for 1 round. On subsequent rounds, they are dazzled as long as they remain in the affected area.

Possession (Su): If an umbral hunter successfully uses spirit rip (see below), it can then possess the still-living body and make it its own. In this state it cannot use its natural supernatural and spell-like abilities, but retains its feats, skills, BAB, saves, and effective HD. It otherwise gains the ability scores and inherent abilities of its body, such as claws or wings, but doesn't gain any class features the possessed creature may have had. It retains the original body's hp as its own separate pool of hp.

The umbral hunter otherwise looks and speaks identical to the original creature. However it lacks the mannerisms of the possessed creature, and their eyes look strange, non-reflective, and dark. It is only a DC 15 Sense Motive check to realize the creature is possessed if within 5 ft, and DC 20 if farther away.

Any method which ends or suppresses possession functions as normal, but the creature can also be freed of possession either through death or being knocked unconscious. All damage goes to its host body, the possessing umbral hunter cannot be targeted. This forces out the umbral hunter in the closest available space, and permits the original owner's spirit to re-possess their body as a standard action.

Umbral hunters often spirit rip and possess loved ones to cause additional anguish to their target.

See in Darkness (Ex): The umbral hunter can see through any darkness as if it was well lit.

Shadow Meld (Ex): Whenever within shadowy illumination, the umbral hunter becomes partly incorporeal and has a 20% miss chance, even against magical effects (but not against ghost touch weapons, positive energy, negative energy, or force). In complete darkness it gains a 50% miss chance. This applies even if creatures can see through the darkness or otherwise ignore concealment.

Shadowstrike (Su): The umbral hunter can warp the shadows around it to produce attacks made out of shadowstuff. As long as it is within dim illumination or lower, it can deal 1d6 per two HD + it's Charisma modifier in damage as a ranged attack. Attacks can appear as anything, such as lashing tentacles, giant claws, ghostly swords, and so forth and vanish as soon as they appear. Shadowstrike can target any creature within a range of 60 ft with no range increment.

An umbral hunter can choose to deal non-lethal damage at no penalty with shadowstrike.

Slippery Mind (Ex): As the rogue ability of the same name.

Spell-Like Abilities (Sp): At will-arcane mark, invisibility, locate creature, shadow cache^SpC, minor image (DC 20); 3/day-dimension door, shadow conjuration (DC 22), shadow well^SpC (DC 22), shadowfade^SpC (DC 23); 1/day-blindness/deafness (DC 20), fear (DC 22), hallucinatory terrain (DC 22), shadow binding^SpC (DC 21), shadow evocation (DC 23), shadow spray^SpC (DC 20). The saving throws are Charisma based.

Spirit Rip (Su): This ability works like the death attack of an assassin, but it has a range up to 30 ft away and can only be done with shadowstrike. After 3 rounds of study, the umbral hunter can make an attack and the target must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 HD + Charisma, or DC 25) have their soul torn from their body, leaving an empty but still living shell. They remain outside of their body as a ghost for 1d6 rounds, or until the body is possessed (see above). On a successful save, they simply take damage from a normal shadowstrike attack.

If the body is possessed and hijacked, the spirit of the original owner is stuck on the Ethereal Plane unable to interact with the world short of supernatural ability to communicate or travel the planes. Even then they are without their body and incorporeal. They can do little but watch as their body is puppeted around, and they have 24 hours to return to their body before the link between body and soul weakens and they die.

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