Order of the Huntsmen

The Order of the Huntsmen are a group of warriors who are dedicated to keeping their regions safe by hunting down monstrosities that walk upon the soil. Drunk on ancient ethereal mists, these huntsmen are agile fighters armed with a melee weapon in one hand and a firearm in the other, ready for any range of combat. They do not employ shields, but rather take advantage of their mobility in order to avoid attacks, and make use of secrets of old to turn the tides in their favor. The path of a huntsman is one of strife and sacrifice, but one that is rewarding for any that undertake it. By invoking the power of the ethereal mists, you can gain access to the ethereal dreamscapes, gain heightened reflexes and will be able to exploit the weak points of those that you hunt.

Rite of the Hunt

When you join this order at 3rd level, you learn the Rite of the Hunt esoteric rite (detailed below).

Rite of the Hunt. Your rite damage is force damage. While the rite is active, you gain the following benefits:

• You have resistance to psychic damage.
• When a creature affected by your Hunter's Bane strikes you with an attack or spell while this rite is active, it is marked for the hunt until the end of your next turn. The first time on your turn that you attack and hit a creature marked for the hunt, you gain temporary hit points equal to the damage you deal to the target.

Huntsman Training

Beginning at 3rd level, your ancient order teaches the use of firearms, and the use of the hunter's bane against a wider variety of creatures.

You gain proficiency with Tinker's Tools and Firearms, and your Hunter's Bane affects Monstrosities and Aberrations as well as the creature types that it already affects. Additionally, you can reload a firearm as a bonus action if you are not wielding a weapon with two hands.

Additionally, When attacking with a weapon that you are proficient with, you can choose to make a heavy attack, dealing additional damage equal to twice your proficiency bonus on a hit. Afterwards, the next attack made against you is made with advantage. You can do this an amount of times equal to your Proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Artifacts of the Old World

Beginning at the 7th level, you learn to make user of otherworldly artifacts known as the Esoteric Arcanum. At 7th level, you gain the use of a single Esoteric Arcana. You learn one additional Esoteric Arcana of your choice, and you can choose one of the Arcanum you know and replace it with another Arcana, at 9th, 13th and 17th level.

When you use your Esoteric Arcanum, you choose which Arcana to invoke. While invoking Arcanum, you take damage equal to one roll of your hemocraft die.

You can use this feature once. Beginning at 9th level, you can use your Esoteric Arcanum feature twice, at 13th level you can use it three times between rests, and at 17th level, you can use it four times between rests. You regain all expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.

Aria of Lost Souls

Prerequisite: 9th Level.

As an action, you can recite this ethereal melody, rejuvenating all creatures within 10 feet of you with the power of its siren song, including yourself. Creatures within range regain equal to three rolls of your hemocraft die, and if they are affected by the paralyzed, petrified, poisoned or stunned condition, that condition immediately ends. Additionally, if the creature has any levels of exhaustion, their level of exhaustion is decreased by one.

Cosmic Nova

Prerequisite: 17th Level.

As an action, you can focus your energy upon the stars and release a small supernova centralized on your location, spreading in a sphere with a 30 foot radius centered on you. In this sphere, miniature stars fly towards all creatures in the area, forcing them to make a Dexterity saving throw against your hemocraft save DC. On a failed save, the creature takes force damage equal to five rolls of your hemocraft die and knocking them prone. On a successful save, a creature takes half damage and isn't knocked prone

Gift of the Eyeshade

As a bonus action, you cover yourself in black flower petals which mask your presence, making detection next to impossible. For 1 minute, you become invisible, unless you move more than half of your walking speed on your turn, you make a weapon attack or cast a spell.

Hemocurse Grenade

As an action, you can collect your blood maledict energy into a special receptacle, and release the energy in an area within 60 feet of you. When the receptacle hits the area, it shatters, releasing the cursed energy into the ground in a 15 foot square centered on the point of shattering, lingering for 1 minute. Any creature that starts their turn in this area or enter it for the first time on their turn take necrotic damage equal to one roll of your hemocraft die and have their speed halved until the beginning of their next turn.

Heritage Bone

Prerequisite: 9th Level.

As a reaction during any creature's turn except for your own, you can roll your hemocraft die and invoke the quick reflexes of the huntsmen that have you before you to your reaction time that lasts for a short time. For an amount of turns equal to the roll minus 1, you can use your reaction to move up to your walking speed without provoking opportunity attacks, and make a weapon attack as part of the same reaction if you enter a space within reach of a melee weapon that you are currently wielding.

If any of these movements move you outside of an area that is targeted as an area of effect, you are no longer considered a valid target for that effect.

Locket of the Netherbrain

As a bonus action, you can wield this glazed locket to summon the tentacles of an aberrant horror native to the Far Realm, bringing its otherwordly influence upon a creature up to 20 feet away from you. A creature grasped by these tentacles must make a Strength saving throw against your hemocraft DC. On a failed save, the creature takes bludgeoning damage equal to one roll of your hemocraft die and is grappled (Escape DC 20) by you until the end of your next turn. If the creature is still grappled this way during your next turn, you can use your bonus action on your next turn to pull the creature into an unoccupied space adjacent to you, ending the grappled condition and dealing an additional hemocraft die of bludgeoning damage.

These tentacles have 25 hit points, an AC of 15 and immunity to all conditions, acid, poison, force and psychic damage as well as non-magical piercing and bludgeoning damage. If reduced to 0 hit points, they return to the locket, and the target is no longer grappled.

Lumenscale Comet

As a bonus action, you can channel eldritch energy into a small mote of powerful, alien energy and fire it at a single creature within 120 feet of you, causing it to explode on impact. You make a ranged spell attack against the creature, dealing lightning damage equal to two rolls of your hemocraft die, pushing the creature 20 feet backwards and surrounding the creature in a mysterious energy for 1 minute.

While surrounded in this energy, a creature gains no benefit from being invisible, and has disadvantage on ranged attack rolls while the energy persists.

Ouroboros Bell

Prerequisite: 13th Level.

As an action, you can ring this sinister bell to call upon the viper between realms to consume the area underneath you. When doing this, you mark a 10-foot tall, 20-foot wide cylinder centered on your position. At Initiative count 20 during the next round of combat, the viper emerges from a dimensional rift and chomps down upon the area, forcing all creatures within to make a Dexterity saving throw against your hemocraft save DC or be swallowed for up to 1 minute.

While a creature is swallowed, it is restrained and blinded, and takes acid damage equal to two rolls of your hemocraft die at the beginning of each of its turns. The viper has an AC of 12 plus your Intelligence modifier, and if it takes 25 or more damage during a round from the inside, it regurgitates all swallowed creatures and retreats into the Astral Plane.

Ring of Scarlet Hues

Prerequisite: 13th level.

As part of the bonus action you use to invoke a crimson rite, you can use the ring to imbrue the weapon with scarlet blood to enhance its effects, lasting for the 1 minute after the rite is completed. While imbrued, the weapon's reach is increased by 5 feet, and the weapon's rite damage is increased by one roll of the hemocraft die plus your Intelligence modifier.

Once per turn when hitting a creature with an imbrued weapon, you can take damage equal to an additional roll of your hemocraft die and force all creatures in a 15-foot cone behind the target to make a Dexterity saving throw against your hemocraft DC, or take fire damage equal to the weapon's rite damage.

The Mad One's Scream

Prerequisite: 17th Level.

As a bonus action, you can unleash a bloodcurdling scream originating from a modifiying factor in your own throat, attempting to cause a mental lapse in creatures within 20 feet of you. Creatures of your choice within range must make a Charisma saving throw against your hemocraft save DC. On a failed save, the creature is frightened for up to 1 minute. If the creature was within 5 feet of you, it is also knocked 5 feet away from you.

Whenever a creature frightened in this way makes a weapon attack against you, you can reduce the damage taken by an amount equal to a roll of your hemocraft die plus your Intelligence modifier.

A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a successful save.

 

Mistwalking Soul

Upon reaching 11th level, you gain an amount of control over the ethereal mists, and can manipulate them for your own safety. You gain the ability to combine blood with the mists to regain your own lost vitality.

You have three mist echoes, and gain an additional echo at 15th and 18th level. As a bonus action, you can consume one of these echoes, regaining hit points equal to a roll of your hemocraft die plus your Constitution modifier, and gain advantage on Constitution saving throws until the end of your next turn. You regain all expended mist echoes when you finish a long rest.

Additionally, when taking a long rest, you may choose to enter the Huntsman's Dream, taking your choice of objects within 5 ft. of you along with you. The dream takes the form of a small demiplane resembling a cemetery containing hundreds of headstones bordered by a metal fence, with only the ethereal mists being visible past it. In the middle of the cemetery is a wooden cabin, which is empty save a Living Doll.

During your time in the Huntsman's dream, your body on the Material Plane is in a state of suspended animation. While here, you can interact with the realm as if it was real, and all changes to it carry on to your next visit. Any action you take here will be remembered once you awaken as if you had been dreaming. Alternatively, you can spend your rest communing with the Living Doll. When doing so, you cannot do anything else during that stay in the dream, but rather, you can either ask the Doll a question and receive an answer in accordance with the divination spell, or see through the doll's eyes onto the material plane in accordance with the scrying spell. Once you awaken from the dream, you gain the benefits of a long rest.

Blood Curse of the Mist

At 15th level, you gain the ability to use the ethereal mists to malevolently affect creatures, turning the flow of their blood against them. You gain the Blood Curse of the Mist for your Blood Maledict feature. This doesn’t count against your number of blood curses known. 

Blood Curse of the Mist

Prerequisite: 15th level, Order of the Huntsmen

As a bonus action, you attempt to infect a creature within 30 ft. of you with the essence of pure ethereal mist. The creature must make an Intelligence saving throw, or go feral until the end of their next turn. While feral, a creature's Intelligence and Charisma scores are reduced to 1 (but retaining their saving throw bonuses), they can't speak or understand language and are unable to cast spells, and must use their action to make a melee attack against the creature closest to them.

Amplify. This curse lasts for 1 minute, and at the end of each of the creature's turns, it can make the save again, ending the effect on a success. Every time the creature fails the saving throw, it takes 3d6 psychic damage.

 

Eviscerator of the Macabre

Upon reaching 18th level, you reach the pinnacle of the huntsman's techniques for exploiting the openings left by their quarry.

Whenever you are attacked by a creature marked for the hunt that is within 10 feet of you and you have a hand free, you can use your reaction to roll your hemocraft die and cause an intentional misfire of a loaded firearm to attempt to parry the attack. You gain a bonus to your AC against the triggering attack equal to the roll, potentially causing the attack to miss. If the attack misses, the creature is stunned until the end of your next turn.

When a creature is stunned by way of this parry and is within 5 feet of you, you can use an action to make a special melee weapon attack against the creature, exploiting a momentary opening. On a hit, the attack deals 6d12 plus your Blood Hunter level as necrotic damage to the creature, as well as knocking the creature prone. Any condition that has the creature incapacitated is then removed. You can use this feature twice and regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.