Night Hunter (Atari: The Last Cities)

Legacy of the Chosen Night-Hunter

Not all who walk the Wilds return — and fewer still return with a shadow at their heels. The Night Hunters are not born, nor trained, but chosen. Their path begins with the gaze of a beast not made of flesh or bone, but of shadow and spirit. These beings are known as the Kindreds—entities who have wandered out of the Shadowlands and into the Wilds, slipping into the edges of mankind’s world where the veil is thinnest.

No one is quite sure why Kindreds seep out of the Shadowlands, or what stirs them to cross into the mortal realm. When they do, it is an eerie sight for all: unknown, mysterious, unsettling. Their forms blur between human and animal — some wearing personas with uncanny humanlike features, others stalking as wolves, foxes, owls, or panthers wrought of living shadow. Whatever guise they take, all who witness them feel the weight of something older than the Last Cities themselves.

Scholars of the Last Cities claim that Kindreds appear in three phases, each marked by the hue of their gaze, called a Leer:

Blue Leer — calm, curious, almost gentle in their manner. Such Kindreds often linger at the edges of campfires or ruins, as if studying mankind with patient fascination.

White Leer — ambiguous, inscrutable, neither hostile nor kind. A White Leer’s intent is clouded, and those who encounter them often leave with more questions than answers.

Red Leer — dangerous, chaotic, and violent. These Kindreds are predators in truth, attacking with aggression and malice. Adventurers say to flee at all costs should the night glow red.
Yet, every so often, a Kindred does not attack. It chooses. Sightings suggest that Kindreds can perceive potential hosts—souls whose hearts echo their own nature. But this choice is not immediate. A Kindred will stalk its chosen for days, sometimes weeks. During this time, the host is plagued with vivid dreams or relentless nightmares. They feel eyes on them even in safety, a creeping awareness that they are being watched. Some report catching fleeting glimpses of the Kindred while walking streets, working at markets, or even doing something as mundane as laundry — only to turn and find nothing there. This haunting is no accident: it is the Kindred testing, watching, and learning, weighing the worth of its potential master.

When the bond is made, host and Kindred entwine—two become one. Man and beast move in harmony, hunting the night together. The bond is not servitude but equality: the Kindred does not obey; it walks beside. Should the host fail the trial, their body breaks under the strain and the Kindred moves on. Rare still are the times when a host tries to resist the bond — in such cases, the Kindred reacts violently. Some will turn on the host in a frenzy, attempting to kill them outright. Others wither into nothingness, fading like smoke back into the Shadowlands, leaving behind only silence and dread.

There are whispered warnings, however: the bond of a Red Leer Kindred is perilous. If such a creature ever chooses a host—and that host bears ill intentions—the result could spell disaster for all. Adventurers tell stories of hunters consumed by their own shadows, and scholars debate whether such a union is a curse, a corruption, or something worse.
Thus, the Legacy of the Chosen Hunter lingers in whispers across the Last Cities. Are Night Hunters blessed, their Kindreds guardians against the darkness? Or are they cursed, carrying fragments of the Shadowlands into the world of men? The only truth is this: where a Night Hunter walks, suspicion follows, and the beast that walks beside them is both proof and omen.

Level 3: Summon Kindred Spirit

3rd-level Night Hunter feature

You can summon the Kindred spirit bound to your soul. As an action, you can summon your Kindred spirit.

The spirit appears in an unoccupied space of your choice that you can see within 30 feet of you. Each creature within 10 feet of the spirit (other than you) when it appears must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or take 2d6 necrotic damage.

The spirit is friendly to you and your companions and obeys your commands. See this creature’s game statistics in the Kindred Spirit stat block, which uses your proficiency bonus (PB) in several places. You determine the spirit’s appearance. Some spirits take the form of a humanoid figure made of gnarled branches covered in shadow, while others look like beasts wreathed in shadow.

 

In combat, the spirit shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. The only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another action. That action can be one in its stat block or some other action. If you are incapacitated, the spirit can take any action of its choice, not just Dodge.

The spirit manifests for 1 hour, until it is reduced to 0 hit points, until you use this feature to summon the spirit again, or until you die.

Level 3: Stalker's Instinct

You gain Advantage on Stealth checks in dim light/darkness within 30 ft of your beast. You also gain proficiency in Perception or Survival.

Stalker's Instinct: Perception

You have keen senses that pick up all the night has to offer. You gain proficiency in Perception.

Stalker's Instinct: Survival

Time spent in the Wilds has honed your survival instincts. You gain proficiency in Survival.

Level 9: Umbral Ambusher

You can use your reaction to let your Kindred spirit make an attack against a creature within range; if the attack hits, target must Wis save (DC {{savedc:wis}}) or be frightened until the end of your next turn.

Level 13: Improved Umbral Ambush

When a creature fails a Wisdom saving throw against your Kindred spirit's Umbral Ambush feature, it is frightened even if it is immune to the frightened condition.

Level 17: Apex Predator

Your Kindred spirit's attacks ignore resistance and immunity to necrotic damage. When you successfully Sneak Attack a creature it deals and additional 2d6 necrotic damage. Also, when you kill a creature you and beast can turn invisible for 1 minute, as though affected by the spell invisibility. You can only use this ability to turn invisible once per short or long rest.