General Prestige Class : Leviathan Hunter
"Here be monsters? Ex-cel-lent" - Lillikakooet, leviathan hunter
The leviathan hunter revels in the chase more than most hunters. For him, there is no thrill in pursuing mere beasts, or even monsters of the usual sort. He is an adventurer for whom only the most dangerous prey presents sufficient challenge. He is dedicated to hunting down creatures of the perilous depths. Most folk regard leviathan hunters as reckless or even mad, not understanding that the primal need that drives them is as deep as the ocean itself.
Nearly every leviathan hunter starts out as a ranger, although such a character might have levels of barbarian as well for general toughness and survivability. Many are human, since that race is most prone to thrill-seeking-especially among warrior cultures. Darfellans make outstanding leviathan hunters, given their cultural antipathy to sea monsters, the enemies of the great whales so beloved by their race. Cultures that emphasize bravery or daring feats, such as orcs, also are a breeding ground for such extreme hunters.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Leviathan Hunter, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Skills: Knowledge (nature) 4 ranks
- Feats: Iron Will, Track,
- Base Attack Bonus: +5
- Special: Favored enemy (aberrations, animals, dragons, or magical beasts).
Class Skills
The leviathan hunter's class skills are Climb, Craft (any), Gather Information, Hide, Jump, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (dungeoneering), Knowledge (nature), Listen, Move Silently, Profession (any), Spot, Survival, and Swim.
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
The following are class features of the leviathan hunter prestige class.
Hunter's Insight (Ex): You possess significant bits of knowledge regarding the types of creatures you battle. You gain an insight bonus equal to your class level + 5 on all Knowledge checks made to identify an aberration, animal, dragon, or magical beast or its special powers or vulnerabilities. You gain the same bonus on Survival checks made to track such creatures.
Trophy (Su): You have the ability to wear your enemy and protect yourself from its power. Whenever you slay a Huge or larger aberration, animal, dragon, or magical beast, you can take a body part as atrophy, such as a horn, tooth, or claw. You must have dealt damage to the creature in the encounter that killed it (you can't just watch the wizard blast it and then claim the trophy), and you must harvest the trophy within 1 minute of the creature's death. You must then treat the trophy with a mixture of precious oils and magical preservatives costing at least 500 gp. This process takes 24 hours.
When worn, a trophy grants you a +2 competence bonus to AC and on saves against all creatures of that type. For instance, wearing the claw of a red dragon grants you the bonus against the attacks of red dragons (but not other kinds of dragons).
At 5th level, the bonus to AC and saving throws improves to +4.
A trophy works only for the leviathan hunter who created it. Although you can create many trophies, you can benefit from the effects of no more than one trophy per class level. Simultaneously wearing more trophies than this negates the effects of all trophies.
Fell the Leviathan (Ex): You learn to place your attacks where they will have the most harmful effect against big creatures. Beginning at 2nd level, you deal an extra 1d6 points of damage with any melee attack made against an aberration, animal, dragon, or magical beast of Huge or greater size. This extra damage increases to 2d6 points at 4th level.
Clever Wrestling: You face many creatures capable of crushing you in their tentacles, claws, or teeth. To better resist such attacks, you gain Clever Wrestling as a bonus feat at 3rd level, even if you would not otherwise qualify for the feat.
Immunity to Fear (Ex): You eventually learn to steel your will against the terror that defeats those of less determination. When you reach 5th level, you become immune to fear.
| Leviathan Hunter | Hit Die: d10 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special |
| 1st | +1 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Hunter's insight, trophy +2 |
| 2nd | +2 | +3 | +0 | +0 | Fell the leviathan +1d6 |
| 3rd | +3 | +3 | +1 | +1 | Clever Wrestling |
| 4th | +4 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Fell the leviathan +2d6 |
| 5th | +4 | +1 | +1 | +1 | Immunity to fear, trophy +4 |
Playing A Leviathan Hunter
You live for the hunt. You'd do it on your own if you could, but sometimes the prey is too much even for such a mighty hunter as yourself. You don't hunt down powerful monsters because you hate them, but rather because you need to challenge yourself against their awesome power. If it happens that you also rid a community of a horrible threat, so much the better.
Combat
The hunt for a mighty creature is a ready-made adventure. At lower levels, you'll probably be seeking out lesser prey such as aboleths, bulettes, dinosaurs, or juvenile dragons. It can only help to have a party to back you up with their specialties, although you typically demand the killing blow for yourself. At higher levels, you are ready to take on true leviathans - behirs, dire sharks, dragon turtles, purple worms, krakens, and eventually even the mightiest dragons. The pursuit of such prey is a challenge to strain even your amazing abilities, but the rewards are equally mighty.
You're already specialized in tracking down and fighting dangerous creatures. Many leviathan hunters come from the ranger class, where they gained expertise in a combat style as well as in the ways of their preferred prey. As a leviathan hunter, these abilities become even stronger. When fighting on your own, you can take advantage of your enhanced tracking and evasion to come upon your prey unawares, then deal massive amounts of damage quickly. You can escape from combat readily as well, either to flee if things are going badly or to retreat to a safe distance and finish the job with ranged attacks. As you claim more and more trophies, your ability to withstand the deadly attacks of your enemies grows more potent.
When working in concert with others, you're the one who can lead the party to the target and help them set up deadly ambushes. Once battle is joined, you'll be in the thick of things, clambering onto your foe, striking where it's most vulnerable, and otherwise distracting it to set up attacks by your companions. You are superbly adapted to getting on a monster's flank and exposing it to sneak attacks.
Advancement
There is no formal organization of leviathan hunters, since there are few such elite warriors left in the world. Nevertheless, news of one hunter's success spreads quickly among the others, and this grapevine also brings news of legendary creatures that no one has been able to take down. It's typical to hear a leviathan hunter speak of such a challenge in admiring terms: "Yep, ol' Blackhorn got away again. He's a clever one." Even if it's you the monster in question escaped from, there is no shame in telling tales of its prowess. The glory will be that much greater when someone finally finishes off the beast.
Leviathan hunters cross paths in outfitters' shops or caravansaries on the edge of the wilderness, where they are eager to swap tales of high adventure over a meal and drinks. This camaraderie goes with a fiercely competitive spirit, but one of friendly rivalry rather than a cutthroat win-at-all-costs mentality. Advancement in the class generally goes hand in hand with making ever more impressive kills, increasing your bragging rights as well as your combat prowess. The two are of nearly equal importance.
A leviathan hunter tends to focus on closely related kinds of creatures. One might bean expert in sea monsters who hunts down krakens and other horrors of the deep, while another might prefer to hunt dangerous prey in a particular extreme environment such as the frostfell. Some hunt a single kind of prey (such as dragons) across all terrains, while others try to pursue as many different kinds of creatures as possible. Whatever your taste, you set a goal for yourself, then try to exceed it. If you've finally run ol' Blackhorn to ground, your next target is going to be something even more difficult and impressive.
Resources
The most important resource for a leviathan hunter is the hunters' grapevine. Other leviathan hunters are continually passing along tales of mighty creatures (usually of a kind or in places that they do not deal with). In turn, you'll probably have tales to tell of your own. Your prestige within this fellowship rises as you defeat such monsters, which ensures that you'll hear of new challenges, often before lesser hunters do.
Some leviathan hunters turn a profit from their life's pursuit, coming to the aid of people being threatened by terrible beasts and claiming substantial rewards. If you're this kind of hunter, jobs will come your way steadily - there's always a kingdom looking to free itself of a dragon or a port that needs to rid its harbor of some horror. The downside of such a reputation is that you can be harassed by petitioners, and if you are choosy about your assignments you might incur the ill will of those you decline to help.
Leviathan Hunters In The World
Whether there's a leviathan hunter among the PCs or a famed figure whose name is on everyone's lips, it's easy to build an adventure around one.
Organization
The fellowship of leviathan hunters is informal, but they all have certain needs in common. When a hunter is setting out after his chosen prey, he always needs supplies. Often he needs assistants as well. A PC leviathan hunter has the party but might still need bearers, guards, translators, and so on. An NPC hunter might advertise for such services. Enterprising merchants set up outfitting centers in areas near the wilderness, as well as in port cities (anything might be out there, in or across the ocean). Some of the most reputable outfitters are retired leviathan hunters themselves.
A typical leviathan hunter spends most of his days researching the target of the next expedition. He needs to learn the lay of the land or water around the creature's lair, familiarize himself with its routines and favorite prey, and assemble provisions and survival gear appropriate to the area. This means visits to libraries as well as consulting with travelers from the target area - especially other leviathan hunters. The kill itself, though exhilarating, is all too brief. And thus the hunter turns to a new target.
The famed leviathan hunter Marbek is the subject of many a tall tale. He is always said to be on the trail of legendary creatures. Plenty of people claim to have seen him, but nobody can precisely describe him. Most hunters dismiss these stories as mere folktale but secretly envy the reputation of this mythical man. A few hunters have made Marbek himself the object of their pursuit. Obviously, this is not the same as hunting a dangerous beast-killing Marbek is not the goal. But the hunter who can bring proof of this legend's existence - or, better yet, join him in a hunt - is assured of fame nearly as great as Marbek's.
NPC Reactions
The common people adore leviathan hunters, and often have a friendly or even helpful attitude toward them. They are the celebrities of their world. Stories of a leviathan hunter's deeds are sung by bards, magnifying his achievements in the retelling. A leviathan hunter can expect to be mobbed by children wanting to hear stories of his exploits and by adult hangers-on who want a souvenir of the encounter. People will buy him drinks and offer him all manner of things. But of course, they want something in return, such as endorsement of a business or a promise to support an aspiring political figure. Those who fancy themselves leviathan-hunter material will try to sign on to an upcoming expedition. And if the hunter is not seen as sufficiently appreciative, the adoration might sour into backbiting and complaints.
Then too there are those who see leviathan hunters as a grotesque outrage against the natural order. Druids in particular have no love for those who hunt down beasts simply because they can, whether or not the creatures pose a threat. The elders of a druidic order might place an order of death on one so presumptuous as to enter their domain on such a mission. The relatives of a slain monster might also declare a blood oath to destroy their kin's killer, perhaps even sending agents after him far from their home.
Leviathan Hunter Lore
Characters with the Gather Information or Knowledge (local) skill can research leviathan hunters to learn more about them.
- DC 10: Leviathan hunters are experts at tracking down and killing really dangerous creatures. There aren't many of them, but they usually know each other.
- DC 15: Nobody knows more about what the most terrible monsters can do - as well as how best to kill them - than a leviathan hunter.
- DC 20: The greatest leviathan hunters wear trophies from the many beasts they've slain over the years. These trophies protect them from their prey. Marbek, it's said, has dozens of such trophies.
Just mentioning the name "Marbek" will bring out tales of the legendary hunter's exploits as well as stories of other hunters who have passed through the area. Any local minstrel should have a repertoire of such tales.
Source: Stormwrack