Moonhunter

Raza de Luna, sometimes called Yisweran Larrien: a member of the Chosen of Narramac, and the Godspeaker (although he had turned his back on this calling), felt terribly responsible for this event. He had not killed Enoch when he had the chance and as a result the scourge of lycanthropy was spreading across the land like a disease. Every foe that fell to Enoch's horde contracted the curse, and quickly joined with him. Raza foresaw that soon Salmaynak would fall, and nothing would stop Enoch taking his army far beyond.

As the Salmayans fought their losing battle against Enoch's growing army, Raza cloistered himself away in the abandoned fortress of Gelpar and began creating an army of his own. Many flocked to Raza's banner: dissolute Genbassi, displaced Salmayans and even afflicted lycanthropes who did not see eye-to-eye with Enoch. With the help of the Alberdark (once the Archchancellor of Norandor), his monkish mentor Zookie, and dozens of others Raza became the land's foremost expert on his shapechanging foes. He passed this knowledge on to his followers.

An elite band of warriors were created to oppose the lycanthropes; warriors that could circumvent their foes' deadly powers and abilities. The band is small, but it is growing, and has even scored some victories against the enemy. Raza is very proud of his Moonhunters.

Game Rule Information

The Moonhunter is a new prestige class created for the Iourn setting, although it is easily adapted to other settings. The following game related statistics apply to the Moonhunter. Note that these statistics make use of my house rules, and some work may need to be done to convert the class into standard D&D.

Hit Dice: d8

Requirements

To become a Moonhunter, a character must fulfil all of the following criteria:

Base Attack Bonus: +4
Knowledge (nature): 5 ranks
Knowledge (religion): 5 ranks
Survival: 5 ranks
Feats: Endurance, Track
Spellcasting: Must be able to cast first-level divine spells as granted by one of the Moon Gods.
Special: Must undergo training at the Genbassi fortress of Gelpar alongside Raza de Luna or his deputised agents. When a character qualifies for this class he must give up the first level granted power of his level in cleric.

Class Skills

The class skills of a Moonhunter, and the key abilities for those skills, are as follows: Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (geography - Genbasson) (Int), Knowledge (Local - Genbasson) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Wis), Use Rope (Dex)

Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int Modifier

Class Features

Weapon and Armour Proficiency: Moonhunters gain proficiency in Weapon Group (Bows) if he does already have this feat.

Favoured Foe (Ex): At first level the Moonhunter must select one of the six 'breeds' of lycanthrope as his favoured foe: Creature of Vítaeous, Creature of Terranor, Creature of Zephyre, Creature of Calafax, Creature of Sharrash or Creature of Mortis. The Moonhunter gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills against creatures of this type. Likewise, he gets a +2 bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls against such creatures. He also becomes immune to the curse of lycanthropy from his favoured foe.

At 4th level and every three levels thereafter (7th, 10th etc), the Moonhunter selects an additional favoured foe up to the maximum of six favoured foes at 16th level. Each time he selects a new foe he receives the +2 bonus outlined above to all relevant checks and rolls against that foe. He also receives an additional +2 to be added to all checks for his existing foes. For example, a seventh level Moonhunter would have three favoured foes. He receives a +6 bonus against the first foe, +4 against the second and +2 against the third.

Sure Strike (Su): The Moonhunter can use his special powers to ignore the damage reduction, immunity and regeneration of his favoured foes. Any strike from the Moonhunter, be it with his natural weapons, mêlée weapons or ranged weapons ignores damage reduction and is applied directly to the lycanthropes hit points. This counts as if it was opposite-element damage and cannot be regenerated (although it can be magically healed). Note this ability only works against lycanthropes that are also the favoured foes of the Moonhunter.

Resistance to Attack Form (Su): At third level the Moonhunter gains Resistance against the attack form of his favoured foe. The exact resistance varies depending on the breed of lycanthrope (see below). This ability applies to attack forms of all the Moonhunter's favoured foes.

Protection to Attack Form (Su): At sixth level the Moonhunter gains Protection against the attack form of his favoured foe. The exact protection varies depending on the breed of lycanthrope (see below). This ability applies to attack forms of all the Moonhunter's favoured foes.

Immunity to Attack Form (Su): At eighth level the Moonhunter gains effective immunity against the attack form of his favoured foe. The exact immunity varies depending on the breed of lycanthrope (see below). Unless otherwise stated the immunity does not imply a vulnerability to the opposite element. This ability applies to attack forms of all the Moonhunter's favoured foes. The immunity can be lowered at will.

Confer Sure Strike (Su): At fifth level the Moonhunter gains the ability to confer his Surestrike powers on to an ally who does not have them. This might be another Moonhunter who is facing a lycanthrope that is not his favoured foe, or it could be a character who has no Moonhunter powers. The other character retains the powers for one round per Moonhunter level. Conferring powers is a move equivalent action that provokes an attack of opporunity, and requires the Moonhunter to touch the recipient. It can be attempted once per day at fifth level and one additional time every four levels after than (9th, 13th etc.) Note that only the sure strike ability is conferred. This power grants no immunity to the lycanthrope's powers, nor any bonus to strike it.

Sure Strike 10-ft radius (Su): From ninth level, any ally standing with ten feet of the Moonhunter is considered to have the Moonhunter's Sure Strike ability.

See Also:

• Campaign Log: Ill Met by Moonlight Session Four