Hello, everyone.  Sorry for the late article this week; the workflow involved in designing a class(and its subclasses) from the ground up is a little different than my typical article fare, so I needed to take some extra time to ensure that the class was functioning as I wanted it to. This week, I’ve expanded upon the base Hunter class, adding levels 6-10 to the class progression, and also added the Dragon Quarry subclass, a skilled negotiator who enlists the aid of dragons in their adventures with the promise of wealth. Additionally, I’ve expanded the Beast Quarry subclass to reach level 10 and made some rules clarifications on its features, specifically with regards to the process of taming new beasts.

Hunter

“..and as you can see, for just a fraction of the investment you’ve placed in me, you’ll see tremendous returns.” an elf, coated in opulent silks and gold chains explained to a bemused dragon. If nothing else, this pitiful creature’s ‘business venture’ would prove much more entertaining than an afternoon snack.

Tamers of Monsters

Driven to pursue all manner of creatures, the hunter develops expertise in handling their quarry, and frequently enlist the aid of similar allies in their adventures.

Some hunters may find themselves more comfortable in solitude, surrounded only by the subject of their hunt, but most recognize that there is safety in numbers, and are more than willing to travel alongside other adventurers.

Pursuing Greater Quarries

As a hunter refines their art, they must face greater and greater challenges. This escalation naturally lends a hunter to a life of adventure – after all, the most fearsome of foes dwell where mortals dare not tread.

Creating a Hunter

As you create a hunter, you should consider what drives them to the hunt – are they driven by revenge against a foe that took something (or someone) precious to them? Do they hunt as a noble or sportsmanlike pursuit? Or were they taught from a young age of the monsters that lurk in the world, and find it their duty to slay them?

Quick Build

You can quickly build a hunter using the following suggestions. Your Intelligence should be your highest ability score, followed by Constitution. Second, choose the hermit background.

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Features
1st	2	Hunting Quarry, Hunters’ Command
2nd	2	Hunting Quarry Feature
3rd	2	Analytic Action
4th	2	Ability Score Improvement
5th	3	Extra Attack
6th	3	Hunting Quarry Feature
7th	3	Practiced Patience
8th	3	Ability Score Improvement, Hunting Quarry Feature
9th	4	—
10th	4	Measured Response

Class Features

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d12 per hunter level

Hit Points at 1st Level: 12 + your Constitution modifier

Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d12(or 7) + your Constitution modifier per hunter level after 1st.

 

Proficiencies

Armor: Light armor, medium armor

Weapons: All simple and martial weapons

Tools: Leatherworker’s tools

Saving Throws: Constitution, Intelligence

Skills: Choose 3 from Stealth, Medicine, Perception, and Survival.

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• (a) short sword or (b) any simple melee weapon
• (a) scale mail or (b) leather armor
• (a) a light crossbow and 20 bolts or (b) a shortbow and 20 arrows
• an explorer’s pack

Hunting Quarry

Choose a quarry based on the creatures you prefer to hunt: Beast, Planar, or Monstrosity. Each quarry is detailed at the end of the class description. Your choice grants you features when you choose it at 1st level. It also grants you additional benefits at 2nd, 6th, 8th, and 17th levels.

Hunters’ Command

Each Hunting Quarry provides you with the ability to somehow bring a creature under your control. The creature obeys your commands as best as it can. It takes its turns on your initiative, though it does not act unless instructed. On your turn, you can verbally instruct the creature where to move(no action required by you). You can also use your action to verbally command the creature to take the Attack, Dash, Disengage, Dodge, or Help action, or any action detailed in its stat block(except for the Multiattack action if it has one).

Analytic Action

Starting at 3rd level, you can identify foes with uncanny precision. As a bonus action, you may attempt to discern information about a creature. On a success, the GM will tell you two of the following characteristics of your choice.

• Saving Throw(one attribute of your choice)
• Armor Class
• Damage vulnerabilities (if any)
• Damage resistances (if any)
• Damage immunities (if any)
• Current hit points

The skill used by this check is determined by a creature’s type as follows:

Aberration, Construct, Dragon, Elemental, Fey, Monstrosity	Arcana
Giant, Humanoid	Medicine
Beast, Plant, Ooze	Nature
Celestial, Fiend, Undead	Religion

The DC of this check is equal to 10 + the creature’s CR.

 

Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you cannot increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Extra Attack

Beginning at 5th level, whenever you or a creature you control take the Attack action on your turn, you or the creature you control can attack twice, instead of once.

Practiced Patience

Starting at 7th level, you have learned to remain observant when creatures around you may rush into action. On your first turn in combat, you or a creature under your command have advantage on attack rolls against any creature which acted before you in the combat.

Measured Response

Starting at 10th level, you have honed your sense of timing to deliver swift and decisive action when strictly necessary. If you chose not to use your action on your previous turn, you may take a second action this turn.

Hunting Quarries

There are several foes a hunter can pursue, known as quarries. These quarries include Beast, Dragon, Planar, and Monstrosity

Beast

The natural world is filled with fearsome beasts, and a well-practiced hunter recognizes that the creatures of the wilderness have naturally refined their hunting talents. With this in mind, it is only logical that hunters of a Beast quarry take to training their own beast companions and refining their physical trapping skills.

Bonus Proficiency

When you choose this quarry at 1st level, you gain proficiency in the Animal Handling skill.

Beast Companion

Starting at 1st level, you can call upon the aid of a beast companion to fight at your side in battle, and have trained one such beast companion already. Choose a beast that is no larger than Medium and that has a challenge rating of ¼ or lower. Add your proficiency bonus to the beast’s AC, attack rolls, and damage rolls, as well as to any saving throws and skills in which it is already proficient.

The beast does not have hit points. Instead, it has a number of Resolve Points equal to your proficiency bonus. When the beast would take damage from a successful attack or from failing a saving throw, it loses one Resolve Point. If the beast reaches 0 Resolve Points, it flees from combat to nurse its wounds. A beast regains all of its Resolve points during a short rest.

If the beast flees from combat, it can return to you during a short rest.

You may also tame additional beasts during your adventures. You may tame a number of beasts equal to your Intelligence modifier. To tame a new beast, you must attempt an Animal Handling check as an action with a DC equal to 8 + the CR of the beast you wish to tame. This DC increases by 5 for every 10 hit points the beast currently possesses. You may release a beast you have tamed into the wild during a short rest.

Though all of the beasts you have tamed accompany you in your adventures and remain friendly to you, you may only bring one into battle at a time. If a beast companion flees a battle, you may call forth another beast you have tamed as an action.

Trapsmith

Starting at 2nd level, you have developed a knack for building traps to capture prey or to turn a battle in your favor. As an action on your turn, you may assemble one of the following traps within 5 feet of yourself. Each trap occupies a 5 foot space.

You know how to construct the following traps at 2nd level:

Rope Snare. When a hostile creature enters the space of a Rope Snare, it must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or be restrained. It can repeat this saving throw at the end of each of its turns.

Dart Trap. When a hostile creature enters the space of a Dart Trap, thin, poisonous darts embed themselves in a creature’s body. The creature must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be poisoned. It can repeat this saving throw at the end of each of its turns.

Trackers’ Dye. When a hostile creature enters the space of a Trackers’ Dye trap, the trap explodes with an iridescent blue dye which stains exposed fur, skin, or cloth and leaves an obvious trail of droplets. For the next 24 hours, you have advantage on Intelligence(Survival) checks made to track the creature, and the creature cannot benefit from being invisible.

Additionally, starting at 8th level, you have learned to construct the following traps:

Alchemical Gel. When a hostile creature enters the space of an Alchemical Gel trap, they are sprayed with a thick gel composed of alchemical reagents. When setting an Alchemical Gel trap, choose a type of damage: Fire, Cold, Lightning, or Acid. The creature which entered the trap gains vulnerability to that type of damage. If they were resistant or immune to that type of damage, they instead will take that damage normally. This effect lasts until the creature can take a short rest to try and remove the gel.

Smoke Bomb. When a hostile creature first enters the space of a Smoke Bomb, a noxious cloud of smoke engulfs a 10 foot sphere centered on the Smoke Bomb’s location, which spreads around corners. The cloud lasts for 1 minute or until the smoke is dispersed by the wind or by magical means. The area within the cloud is heavily obscured. Creatures within this cloud are blinded until they exit the cloud.

Pheromone Bomb. When a hostile creature enters the space of a Pheromone Bomb, a mist of soothing pheromones erupts from the space. For the next minute, any creature within 30 feet of the Pheromone Bomb which makes an attack or targets a creature with a harmful spell must first make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the creature must choose a new target or lose the attack or spell. 

When a trap requires a creature to make a saving throw, its DC is equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier.

Rending Beast

Starting at 6th level, you have trained your beast allies to deal ferocious damage to a foe. When a creature under your command hits with a melee attack with advantage, if one or more of its damage dice show a maximum possible result, it may roll those damage dice again and add its result to the original damage total. It may continue to roll extra dice in this way until each die has shown less than a maximum result.

Dragon

Long-lived and incredibly powerful, dragons capture the imagination and reflect the ambition of the mortal races.

Skilled negotiators and almost as ambitious as the dragons they hunt, hunters of the Dragon Quarry negotiate the services of fearsome dragons to aid them in battle. In order to enlist dragons’ assistance, these hunters offer up some of the spoils of their adventure to entice the dragon into remaining on their side, and if the danger ever outweighs the potential prize, a hunter may find themselves without a dragon’s assistance.

Bonus Proficiency

When you choose this quarry at 1st level, you gain proficiency in the Persuasion skill.

Aid of Dragons

Also starting at 1st level, you have negotiated the aid of a chromatic dragon, intrigued by the potential wealth you may bring them. Choose a color of dragon from the following: Red, Blue, White, Black, or Green. As an action, you may summon a wyrmling of the color you have selected to join you in battle.

The dragon does not have hit points. Instead, whenever the dragon would take damage, you must succeed on a Cha(Persuasion) check whose DC is equal to half of the damage taken or 10(whichever is higher). On a failure, the dragon departs, concluding that the danger outweighs the opportunities from assisting you. You cannot call upon the aid of a dragon again until you negotiate a new arrangement with another dragon during a long rest, selecting a different type of dragon than the one you previously worked with.

As you continue to adventure, your reputation and negotiation skills continue to improve, and can attract the interest of progressively stronger dragons. At 6th level, you may instead enlist the aid of a young dragon of the color you have selected.

You cannot use the Legendary Actions or Legendary Resistance detailed in the stat block for a dragon under your command.

Bargain with Fate

Starting at 2nd level, you have learned that everything can be negotiated – even luck. You can increase the result of an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw by an amount equal to your proficiency bonus. Once you do so, you must complete a long rest before you can use this feature again.

Any time before you regain the use of this feature, your GM can then reduce an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw by an amount equal to your proficiency bonus(except for one already modified by your Bargain with Fate feature). You then regain the use of this feature.

Hunter of Legend

Beginning at 8th level, you have spent enough time in the company of dragons to utilize a small portion of their legendary abilities.

Once per day, if you or a dragon under your command fail a saving throw, you may choose to succeed instead. You regain the use of this feature when you complete a long rest.

Some artwork © 2015 Dean Spencer, used with permission. All rights reserved.