Enhanced Hunter (3.5e Class)
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Low - Moderate - A ranged weapon focused ranger archetype that uses spell-like abilities and quick weapon enhancements to get the hunt done instead of spells. 20 0 Good Good Good Poor Other Other
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Enhanced Hunter
A professional hunter of the dire, unnatural, and supernatural beasts which crawl in the dark. They know better than to fight these things head on, and use the power of allies, range, and enhanced equipment to keep themselves alive and well.
Making a Enhanced Hunter
Abilities: As a primarily ranged class, Dexterity is ever important. Constitution is important for everyone, and any mental ability score can fuel their spell-like abilities, granting various benefits for whichever you choose.
Races: Any.
Alignment: Any.
Starting Gold: 5d4×10 gp (125 gp).
Starting Age: As fighter.
| Level | Base Attack Bonus |
Saving Throws | Special | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort | Ref | Will | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1st | +1 | +2 | +2 | +0 | Animal Companion, Enhancement (least), Track, Trapfinding, Variable Ability, Wild Empathy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2nd | +2 | +3 | +3 | +0 | Beast Lore, Enhancement, Hunter's Mark (+1 DC, +2 skills, +1d6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3rd | +3 | +3 | +3 | +1 | Mend Companion, Ranged Flanking | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4th | +4 | +4 | +4 | +1 | Enhancement, Steel Trap | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5th | +5 | +4 | +4 | +1 | Disengage, Mend Companion (ranged) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6th | +6 | +5 | +5 | +2 | Enhancement (least or lesser), Ranged Threat | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7th | +7 | +5 | +5 | +2 | Call Companion, Hunter's Mark (+2 DC, +4 skills, +2d6), Woodland Stride | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8th | +8 | +6 | +6 | +2 | Enhancement, Swift Tracker | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9th | +9 | +6 | +6 | +3 | Hide in Plain Sight, Revive Companion | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10th | +10 | +7 | +7 | +3 | Mend Companion (swift), Enhancement | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11th | +11 | +7 | +7 | +3 | Spell Trap, Status | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12th | +12 | +8 | +8 | +4 | Enhancement (least, lesser, or greater), Hunter's Mark (+3 DC, +6 skills, +3d6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 13th | +13 | +8 | +8 | +4 | Bond Wrath, Camouflage | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14th | +14 | +9 | +9 | +4 | Enhancement | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15th | +15 | +9 | +9 | +5 | Mend Companion (greater or immediate) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16th | +16 | +10 | +10 | +5 | Enhancement | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17th | +17 | +10 | +10 | +5 | Death Trap, Hunter's Mark (+4 DC, +8 skills, +4d6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18th | +18 | +11 | +11 | +6 | Enhancement (refresh) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19th | +19 | +11 | +11 | +6 | Scrying Stalker | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20th | +20 | +12 | +12 | +6 | Enhancement, Undying Companion | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Class Skills (6 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Enhanced Hunter.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Enhanced hunters are proficient in all simple and martial weapons, in light and medium armor, and in shields (but not tower shields).
Animal Companion (Ex): Enhanced hunters gain an animal companion as a druid of their level.
Enhancement: Each morning enhanced hunters can carve, scribe, and mark their equipment and gear with magical runes, latent spells and abilities they can activate at any time after as chosen from the Hunter's Enhancement List. They gain one enhancement from the Least enhancement list as an enhancement known. They learn another enhancement at 2nd, 4th, and every even level after. At 6th level they gain access to Lesser enhancements, access to Greater enhancements at 12th, and access to Superior enhancements at 16th.
You can prepare a number of enhancements from your enhancements known equal to 4 + 1/4th your level (max 9 prepared at 20th). When an enhancement is used, the enhancement goes inert until it is refreshed over the course of resting for 5 minutes. As such, it cannot refresh in the heat of battle or a stressful situation. However at 18th level, you are able to refresh your enhancements as a 1 round action allowing you to restore in battle.
When you level, you can change out your enhancements known for other enhancements known of the same level.
Track: Enhanced hunters gain Track as a bonus feat.
Trapfinding: Enhanced hunters gain trapfinding as a rogue.
Variable Ability: Some enhanced hunter's abilities have DCs, and each enhanced hunter can choose which mental ability score their class abilities are based off of. Choose between Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma. Beyond changing the DCs, you gain the following benefits.
- Intelligence: You roll twice on any Knowledge checks or Beast Lore checks and take the better for the purposes of identifying creatures. If you still fail, you can try again later after 24 hours.
- Wisdom: If you spend at least 10 minutes observing an area, you gain a +4 circumstance bonus on any Survival checks made within. When you make a successful Survival check to track, you can also determine what the creature was doing when they passed by this area, though no specific speech is transmitted.
- Charisma: You and your animal companion can understand each other perfectly as if you shared a language. You can push your animal companion (as per Handle Animal) as a free action, and all handle animal checks are reduced by 5.
Wild Empathy (Ex): Enhanced hunters gain wild empathy as a druid.
Beast Lore (Ex): The 2nd level enhanced hunter must know the nature of their prey. They gain a special knowledge check with a score of 3 + their class level + Intelligence which can be used to identify any six types of your choice. For example you can choose Aberration, Animal, Dragon, Magical Beast, Monstrous Humanoid, and Fey, and make checks against them as if they were actual knowledge ranks.
Hunter's Mark (Su): The 2nd level enhanced hunter seeks prey. As a swift action they can target any creature within line of sight with a hunter's mark. This illuminates them with a faint glow as if under faerie fire, but only for the enhanced hunter. They gain +1 DC, +1d6 damage, and +2 on any skill checks made against the subject of the hunter's mark. This penalty lasts until the creature is defeated or surrenders. You cannot easily dismiss or change a hunter's mark when granted, for if you break the mark early (a free action) you take a -1 cumulative penalty to attack and skill checks until you next rest. You can break a mark without penalty 3 rounds after a creature flees the battlefield.
While normally you can only have a single mark at any one time, over the course of 1 minute you can set a second mark to any known creature. The creature need not be present, and after it is set you have a specific hunter's mark against that one creature. Breaking this second mark is more serious, invoking a -5 penalty that decreases by 1 each day. You may break this mark without penalty once the creature is defeated or surrenders, or hunting the creature becomes impossible for more than 24 hours.
At 7th, 12th, and 17th the bonuses of the hunter's mark increase by +1 DC, +1d6 extra damage, and +2 additional skill check.
Mend Companion (Sp): A 3rd level enhanced hunter needs to take care of their companion. They are able to heal their companion a number of times equal to 1/2 their class level with a standard action touch. Their companion restores 1d8 plus their class level in damage, and they gain an additional +1d8 every time their hunter's mark ability improves at 7th, 12th, and 17th (4d8 plus class level).
Starting at 5th level, they are able to heal their companion out to a range of 30 ft, and at 10th level they can do so as a swift action.
At 15th level, you can expend two uses of mend companion to use it as an immediate action, or two uses to perform greater mend as a standard action, which carries the restorative benefits of the heal spell in addition to healing the maximum possible damage.
Ranged Flanking: At 3rd level enhanced hunters gain Ranged Flanking as a bonus feat.
Steel Trap (Su): The 4th level enhanced hunter keeps traps on hands for more tactical hunts. As a standard action the enhanced hunter can place down a trap anywhere in their reach, producing a trap with a Disable Device and Search DC of 10 + 1/2 your HD + your chosen mental ability score. It takes up a 5 ft square, and any creature passing over it is subject to an attack roll equal to your highest attack roll against 3d6 bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. and cause 1 point of bleeding each round until fixed with a DC 15 Heal check or any magical healing. In addition, the creature gets a Reflex save with the same DC as the Disable Device and Search. On a success they are entangled but can remove the effect as a move action. On a failure, they are entangled and unable to move from the square without first making a DC 20 Strength check or DC 25 Escape Artist check as a standard action. The trap can be broken (hardness 10, 5 hp per level, AC 5) as well.
You can do this at will, but can only have one steel trap in effect at any one time. Additional uses causes the previous one to vanish. You can choose to have a trap that deals nonlethal damage or forgo the bleeding damage when you set your trap. An enhanced hunter never triggers their own trap.
Disengage (Ex): A 5th level enhanced hunter knows the value of positioning and running to safety, and often has to handle large and powerful monsters that they must fight. The first 15 ft of an enhanced hunter's movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity, so long as they end up in a space not threatened by others.
Ranged Threat: At 6th level enhanced hunters gain Ranged Threat as a bonus feat.
Call Companion (Sp): A 7th level enhanced hunter can summon their animal companion anywhere within their reach as a move action as if using greater teleport, up to 3/day.
Woodland Stride (Ex): A 7th level enhanced hunter may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at his normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment. However, thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that are enchanted or magically manipulated to impede motion still affect him.
Swift Tracker (Ex): Beginning at 8th level, an enhanced hunter can move at his normal speed while following tracks without taking the normal –5 penalty. He takes only a –10 penalty (instead of the normal –20) when moving at up to twice normal speed while tracking.
Hide in Plain Sight (Ex): While in any sort of natural terrain, an enhanced hunter of 9th level or higher can use the Hide skill even while being observed.
Revive Companion (Sp): A 9th level enhanced hunter can return their companion back to life 1/day as a 1 round action. The companion returns at 1/2 hp, and at least 1 in any damaged or drained ability scores. Non-permanent effects, diseases, and poisons are purged. The body must be intact as per raise dead.
Spell Trap (Su): The 11th level enhanced hunter can choose to make a spell trap instead of a steel trap. It takes the form of an invisible rune which, when triggered, detonates in an explosion of energy up to 20 ft (minimum 5 ft) dealing 1d6 acid, cold, electrical, or fire damage per level with a Reflex save for half. You also gain the benefits of an alarm spell which the enhanced hunter can sense at any distance, so long as it is on the same plane. You can choose for forgo the explosion (making it a simple alarm trap), and you can set the trap not to go off at certain visual cues or certain individuals. Spell trap counts as steel trap for all other purposes.
You can now have two traps (of either kind) active at the same time, and choose which traps vanish when you make more.
Status (Su): As a standard action, the 11th level enhanced hunter can target any creature within 30 ft and gain the effect of status upon them, DC 10 + 1/2 HD + chosen ability modifier, Will negates. A successful save confers immunity for 24 hours, unless they are the target of a hunter's mark in which case you may attempt it multiple times. Status lasts for 24 hours once placed. It is common for hunters to use status on their allies, and attempt to status opponents who are fleeing.
Bond Wrath (Su): The 13th level enhanced hunter shares a tight bond with their companion. In any round where the animal companion was attacked by a creature (regardless if the attack was successful), the enhanced hunter gains a +2 morale bonus on attack and damage rolls against that creature for 1 round. This also applies in reverse, with the animal companion gaining a bonus against those attacking their master. If the companion or master dies, this becomes a +4 bonus and persists for the rest of the encounter.
Camouflage (Ex): An enhanced hunter of 13th level or higher can use the Hide skill in any sort of natural terrain, even if the terrain doesn’t grant cover or concealment.
Death Trap (Su): Once per day, the enhanced hunter can turn one of their normal traps into a death trap. When a creature fails a save against a death trap, they immediately die. Alternatively, you can choose to render them paralyzed for 1 hour. On a successful save, they are instead treated as if they failed a save against the steel or spell trap in question. The death effect only occurs against the initial target of the trap, no matter how many other creatures were harmed by it.
Scrying Stalker (Sp): The 19th level enhanced hunter can cast greater scrying as a standard action at will without the need of a focus, but only to spy upon creatures affected by the hunter's mark. A successful Will save (DC 17 + chosen ability modifier) renders immunity for 24 hours before it can be tried again.
Elf Enhanced Hunter Starting Package
Weapons: Longbow.
Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 6 + Int modifier.
| Skill | Ranks | Ability | Armor Check Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Handle Animal | 4 | Cha | — |
| Hide | 4 | Dex | 0 |
| Listen | 4 | Wis | — |
| Move Silently | 4 | Dex | 0 |
| Survival | 4 | Wis | — |
| Tumble | 4 | Dex | 0 |
Feat: Point Blank Shot.
Gear: Leather Armor.
Gold: 40 gp
Campaign Information
Playing a Enhanced Hunter
Religion: Unlike rangers, enhanced hunters need not revere nature at all. If anything, nature is often the source of what they hunt, and as a result such things are oft in opposition.
Other Classes: You usually are seen as the ranger sort, and to that end you work well. You can often moonlight as a rogue too, or even an assassin.
Combat: You are a ranged combatant, while your animal companion keeps them busy in melee. Obtaining means of firing into melee without penalty is advisable.
Advancement: Generally enhanced hunters wish to stay single classed unless they are breaching into specific, often ranger themed, prestige classes or pairing it up with other martial classes such as the fighter or rogue.
Enhanced Hunters in the World
| “ | Each bullet has a name, a story, and a home within the heart of a beast. | ” |
| —Ozzt, Nightsprite Enhanced Hunter, Hunter's Journal | ||
Daily Life: Enhanced hunters usually need to deal with terrible things outside of civilization that no one happy would want to think of, and as such much of their time is dedicated to researching the nature of their next kill.
Organizations: In lands plagued with monsters, it is not uncommon for hunting guilds to be populated by enhanced hunters and other of their sort.
NPC Reactions: Depending on the nature of the hunt, the enhanced hunter is either a vital protector of a town or a dangerous person who cannot be trusted. Dress and behavior can dictate how the enhanced hunter comes off as.
Enhanced Hunter Lore
Characters with ranks in Knowledge Local can research Enhanced Hunters to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.
| DC | Result |
|---|---|
| 10 | Enhanced hunters become focused trying to take down a creature, and usually used a combination of ranged weapons and animal allies to reach that goal. |
| 15 | Enhanced hunters can carve "enhancements" on their weapons, gear, and tools. With but a command these enhancements spring to life in battle when they need it most. |
| 20 | Enhanced hunters can support their companion in tough times and lay deadly traps for creatures to stumble into for ambushes. |
| 30 | Powerful enhanced hunters level let a mark get away, and are said to always know where they run. They can also refresh the enhancements they produce, and keep their animal companion alive against major threats. |
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| Eiji-kunv |
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| Article Balance | High + |
| Author | Eiji-kun + |
| Base Attack Bonus Progression | Good + |
| Class Ability | Other + |
| Class Ability Progression | Other + |
| Fortitude Save Progression | Good + |
| Identifier | 3.5e Class + |
| Length | 20 + |
| Minimum Level | 0 + |
| Rating | Undiscussed + |
| Reflex Save Progression | Good + |
| Skill | Balance +, Climb +, Concentration +, Craft +, Disable Device +, Escape Artist +, Gather Information +, Handle Animal +, Heal +, Hide +, Intimidate +, Jump +, Knowledge +, Listen +, Move Silently +, Open Lock +, Profession +, Ride +, Search +, Sense Motive +, Sleight of Hand +, Speak Language +, Spellcraft +, Spot +, Survival +, Swim +, Tumble + and Use Rope + |
| Skill Points | 6 + |
| Summary | A ranged weapon focused ranger archetype that uses spell-like abilities and quick weapon enhancements to get the hunt done instead of spells. + |
| Title | Enhanced Hunter + |
| Will Save Progression | Poor + |
