Stalker of the Black Woods

Stalkers of the Black Woods are a subgroup of hex mages who specialize in the tracking of hexed targets and the engineering of magical traps based on cursed energy. Equal parts hunter, trapper, and sapper, this enigmatic group of woodland arcanists excel at area denial and ranged combat at the expense of the hex mage's usual penchant for social manipulation.

Career

Qualifications

Stalkers of the Black Woods are necessarily hex mages of some degree before specializing. They tend to have experience as outdoorsmen or, alternatively, come from an environment where they were forced to cope with the challenges of surviving in the less hospitable places of the world. Some affinity for ranged weapons is also required to get the most benefits of a Stalker's unique abilities.

Career Progression

Stalkers of the Black Woods measure themselves against one another based on the greatness of the targets they have felled. Stalkers who take pride in bushcraft might compare the scale or wileyness of creatures hunted, those more inclined to act as bounty hunters might compare the prestige (and rewards) connected with fugitives they have apprehended, and sappers might compare the size or impregnibility of structures they have destroyed. The most potent Stalkers of the Black Woods are almost entirely pseudonymous, however, as they have become adept at working their magic in ways that leave no trace of their involvement save for perhaps a calling card. A rare few Stalkers operate in the open as detectives or retrievers of people and valuables otherwise thought lost.

Payment & Reimbursement

Stalkers of the Black Woods often sell pelts or turn in bounties for monetary reward. The talents of these professionals lend themselves well to a life in the wild, and most Stalkers are fully capable of providing for themselves in terms of food and shelter. Most at home in the outdoors, a Stalker of the Black Woods is like a druid or ranger in the sense that they want for little so long as Mother Nature provides.

Perception

Demographics

Stalkers of the Black Woods tend to be loners, though they may work in small teams of picked friends or fellow professionals should the need arise. Stalkers with more evil or chaotic tendencies are especially reclusive, as they are often themselves hunted for transgressions that, because of the nature of their talents, may be considered acts of terrorism. Regardless of moral valence - and despite their focus on technical, rather than social aspects of the craft - Stalkers of the Black Woods are almost universally feared for their ability to strike without being present and tenaciously pursue foes across even tremendous distances.

by Hero Forge

An elven sniper stalks his bandit prey through the Black Woods, a curse-laden arrow at the ready.

Type

Hunting

Other Associated professions

• Hex Mage

Stalkers of the Black Woods in New Generica

The Stalkers of the Black Woods are a loose coterie of hex mages occupying the titular Black Woods far to the east of the Great Lookout Mountains. The Black Woods are a bayou speckled with insular communities built atop stilts or in the canopy to avoid the dangerous ground- or water-dwelling wildlife. A heady mixture of skilled bushcraft, antediluvian occultism, and xenophobia has become ingrained into the culture of Black Woods, and the so-called Stalkers of the Black Woods represent a focus on the occult aspect of that blend. Considered 'preppers' even among their own kind, Stalkers often operate solely or as part of isolated families to try and scare visitors away from their territorial claims. Among larger communities - to the extent any such community could be considered large - Stalkers of the Black Woods serve as sentries and hunters of beasts and fugitives alike.

Game Statistics

Stalkers of the Black Woods in D&D 3.5

Stalkers of the Black Woods represent the application of a hex mage's magic system to the abilities of a ranger. Working best from the rear line, a Stalker of the Black Woods is a ranged attacker who can help track down opponents who try to flee or weaponize stealth against the party.
The Stalker of the Black Woods

Stalkers of the Black Woods are master hunters, survivalists, and sappers who have learned to supplement their skills with curse magic. Such individuals have been known to riddle their home patch of the forest with deadly magical traps and lie in wait for trespassers, raining down arrows that explode with hexing energy when the time is just right. Even surviving such an encounter with a Stalker of the Black Woods does not guarantee safety, for they are also supernaturally proficient at tracking prey. Many an elven settlement employ Stalkers of the Black Woods explicitly for this purpose.
Prerequisites:
Class Features: Hex Glyph
Feats: Track, Weapon Focus (any martial or exotic ranged weapon)
Skills: Spellcraft 8 ranks, Survival 8 ranks, Craft (trapsmith) +4

Class Features:
Class Skills: Climb, Concentration, Craft, Disable Device, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Hide, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (nature), Knowledge (geography), Listen, Move Silently, Profession, Ride, Search, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Spot, Swim, Survival

Skill Points Per Level: 6 + int mod per level
Hit Dice: d8

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies (Ex):
A Stalker of the Black Woods gains no proficiency with any weapons or armor.
Spellcasting Progression (Ex):
A Stalker of the Black Woods continues to advance in the potency of his hex mage abilities. See the note on prestige classes under the hex mage class features for details.
Spoor Curse (Su):
A Stalker of the Black Woods is equal parts hunter and hexer. At first level, a Stalker of the Black Woods learns to follow the faint magical residue that a person bearing his hex points leaves behind, a spoor normally invisible to sight or scent.
If a creature bears hex points placed by the Stalker of the Black Woods, is carrying an object marked with the Stalker of the Black Woods’ hex glyph, or is under the effect of any of the Stalker of the Black Woods’ hex mage abilities (such as bestow curse), the Stalker of the Black Woods may roll both a survival and spellcraft check to track the target and take the better of the two results (see the Track feat for the relevant DC). All checks made by the Stalker of the Black Woods to track the target also gain a +2 bonus; if the target had hit point damage on the particular part of the trail being tracked, the bonus increases to +4. These bonuses stack with bonuses from other sources (such as favored enemy).
This ability only functions from the point at which the hex points, glyph or ability were placed with the target to the point at which they are removed (either by being expended or being removed by some other effect). Any other sections of spoor left by the target would instead require a standard survival check to follow.
Faerie Fire (Sp):
A first level Stalker of the Black Woods can expend 1 hex point placed on a creature to target them with a faerie fire spell.
Special Animal Companion (Su):
At second level, the Stalker of the Black Woods gains an animal companion in a manner similar to a ranger (minimum effective druid level 1), except that the animal companion of a Stalker of the Black Woods can deliver hex points through touches and natural attacks as if it were an extension of the Stalker of the Black Woods himself (the Stalker of the Black Woods is considered to be the placer of these points). If the Stalker of the Black Woods already has levels in a class that grants an animal companion, he instead adds half his level in this class (minimum 1) to the effective druid level of that class for the purpose of determining the abilities of the existing animal companion, which also gains the ability to deliver hex points as outlined above. If he has multiple classes that grant an animal companion, then he must choose which progression this class feature counts towards at any given level).
Locate Creature (Sp):
A second level Stalker of the Black Woods can expend 7 hex point placed on a creature to target them with a locate creature spell.
Master Trapper (Ex):
At third level, the Stalker of the Black Woods gains a +2 bonus to craft (trapsmithing), disable device, search checks. This bonus also applies to checks made via the hex sense ability to detect and disable magical traps (see above). Master trapper bonuses increase by two every three levels thereafter (+4 at 6th, +6 at 9th, and so forth).
Glyph Blast Radius (Su):
A Stalker of the Black Woods becomes more and more adept at laying pitfalls for his enemies. Normally, hex glyphs only deal their damage to enemies in adjacent squares. Starting at fourth level, a hex glyph set by the Stalker of the Black Woods that is triggered for damage also effects enemies up to 10ft away. This radius increased by 5 feet for every four levels thereafter (15ft away at 8th level, and so forth). In addition, the save DCs for the Stalker of the Black Woods hex glyphs increase by +1 with every 5ft increase in radius (+1 at 4th, +2 at 8th, etc).
Ranged Deployment (Su):
The Stalker of the Black Woods prefers to deal with his enemies at a distance, and becomes increasingly adept at doing so. At 5th level, a Stalker of the Black Woods may make a special attack with a ranged weapon with which he has the corresponding Weapon Focus feat and has attuned himself via the hexed weaponry class feature. The Stalker of the Black Woods may imbue this weapon with the power of his hex glyph. Charging the weapon takes the same action as placing a hex glyph on an object or piece of terrain (see hex mage for details), except that he touches his ranged weapon or it’s ammunition to charge it. Thereafter, at any time of his choosing, he may make a ranged attack with the weapon or ammunition and cause the location where the attack lands to become the center of the stored hex glyph. Stored hex glyphs counts against the total number of hex points a Stalker of the Black Woods can have stored across all hex glyphs until expended, as normal for the hex glyph class feature.
Furthermore, at 10th level, the Stalker of the Black Woods may use this ability to designate the trigger location of a pre-crafted magical trap. The Stalker of the Black Woods imbues the ranged weapon or it’s ammunition with the magical energies that make up the trap, expending gold, experience, and raw materials as normal for item creation. The trap remains quiescent until the ranged weapon attack places it, whereupon it is ready to be triggered immediately.
A stalker of the black wood’s ranged weapon can only hold one magical trap or hex glyph at a time, though if the weapon has ammunition, individual pieces of ammunition may be imbued separately.
Craft Magical Trap (Su):
A 7th level stalker of the black wood can create any magical trap, utilizing item creation feats as normal, so long as his caster level is high enough. He is treated as having the appropriate spells prepared for this purpose.
Discern Location (Sp):
A 10th level stalker of the black wood is an inescapable foe. He may expend 17 hex points placed on a target creature to target that creature with a discern location spell.