The creatures we fight, the horrors we face, the war we fight in shadow; All of this must be kept secret, lest the chaos we seek to quell be spread throughout the world we protect. Remember your training, stay vigilant, and never, EVER, hesitate in the face of those who would add your heart as part of their collection. Hesitation is weakness; weakness is death. The dead make poor allies and even worse Walkers.

-Grandmaster Saranis Duskryn, First Watcher

 

An Ancient Order

The sacred order of the Abyss Walkers was founded in a lost time out of necessity, in a time where creatures of the Hells and the Abyss ran amuck, the Fey weren't confined to the Feywild, and the eldritch horrors of the Far Realm reached out into the Mortal Coil to enact terrible plots. The world was wild, so the Order was created to tame it. Though those times have long since passed, the Order still exists to this day, watching the skies, walking among us, and waiting in the darkness.

Strange Travelers

Abyss Walkers don't spend every day of their lives meditating in monasteries or training under their Masters. Most of their training takes place in the world around them; no two Abyss Walkers are the same, nor do they have the same exact methods. Some Abyss Walkers live in solitude, away from society so that they wouldn't be bothered and distracted from their work. Other immerse themselves into society to find and root out problems from the source. They ask questions others see as strange, but are rarely suspected of being who they are. Still, all Abyss Walkers are on an quest to protect the world from rampant monsters of the worst kind. It's not a common occurrence due to their numbers, but the next strange traveler you see on the road or in a tavern may just be an Abyss Walker.

At Arms Length

Very few people know of the existence of Abyss Walkers. Their order is ancient and is the subject matter of many books on history and mythology. Most believe that they are simply a legend. It is normal, however, for a Walker to reveal themselves should their services be in dire need. Most people keep their distance from revealed Walkers purely out of superstition. Because of their connection to the Darkness and their ability to manipulate shadows to a certain degree, most people would rather them not be around, despite their necessity.

Warriors such as Paladins and Clerics, however, see them as allies of a different sort. Paladins seek to root out whatever evil wherever it chooses to den. It is common for them to align with Abyss Walkers for a time before respectfully parting ways. Cleric have a similar, if not the same, mentality towards Abyss Walkers.

Others, like Bards, Rogues and Rangers, see Abyss Walkers as optimum partners in certain situations and powerful friends to have around. Rangers and Abyss Walkers work well together because of their tracking abilities and superb knowledge of rare monsters, as well as their abilities to kill them efficiently. Rogues enjoy Abyss Walkers because of their uncanny ability to meld into the shadows and almost vanish from sight. With stealth capabilities that rival those of the best scouts, thieves, and assassins, they make strong allies and terrifying adversaries. Bards simply enjoy the company of strange folk and the stories they tell. This feeling is no different towards Abyss Walkers, especially those that are more traveled than others.

Barbarians, Monks, and other Fighters are relatively indifferent towards Abyss Walkers. They respect the Order for the fighting prowess of Abyss Walkers. Some train under Order Masters to learn new fighting techniques and to hone their craft. Others go as far as to become Abyss Walkers in times of great need or if they feel that their own power isn't enough.

Druids, Warlocks, Wizards, and Sorcerers usually keep Abyss Walkers around for simple conversation, insight, and knowledge, as they travel the world in lue of their eternal quest. At times, they are advisers that are sought after for guidance in experiments or to help gather information on certain creatures. They are often paid for bring in certain creatures alive for experimentation and knowledge gathering. Sometimes they keep Abyss Walkers around simply because they find them to be interesting people and strange companions.

Blood Hunters, however, often antagonize Abyss Walkers because of their relationship with the Darkness despite the common ground they often have with each other. They begrudgingly work together only when there is no other option, as they are usually hostile towards each other. It is not at all uncommon for Blood Hunters and Abyss Walkers to come to blows should they ever cross paths. Despite this, it is also not unheard of for the two of them to form close professional ties and work together for the sake of a common goal. Though both are happy with never crossing each others path, it is unavoidable at times.

Hunter's Bestiary

At 3rd level when you begin your training in the order, you are given a book called the Hunter's Bestiary, a book given to all Abyss Walkers at the beginning of their training.

After a battle, you can inspect a creature and take notes in your Hunter's Bestiary of it's different attributes. Make a Wisdom (Survival) check with a DC equal to 8 + half the challenge level of the creature. On a success, you learn the name of the creature and any 3 attributes about it. On a failure, you learn the name of the creature. If you encounter the same creature again and attempt to gather new information about it, you make the check with advantage.

Doing this takes a short rest and costs 10 GP worth of ink and 1 page in your Bestiary. Should your Hunter's Bestiary be lost or destroyed, you can replace it over the course of a day with another book and copy down the lost information of up to 5 creatures at the cost of 10 GP worth of ink per page.

Weapon Bond

At 3rd level, you learn a ritual that creates a magical bond between yourself and one weapon. You perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short rest. The weapon must be within your reach throughout the ritual, at the conclusion of which you touch the weapon and forge the bond.

Once you have bonded a weapon to yourself, you can’t be disarmed of that weapon unless you are incapacitated. If it is on the same plane of existence, you can summon that weapon as a bonus action on your turn, causing it to teleport instantly to your hand.

You can have up to two bonded weapons. 

Heightened Fortitude

Starting at 7th level, your body now better retains the effects of the intense physical training you have undergone throughout your time within the Order.

You can add half your proficiency bonus (round up) to any Strength, Dexterity or Wisdom check you make that doesn’t already use your proficiency bonus.

Your training also gives you improved mental fortitude as your sanity has been tested on multiple occasions. You gain proficiency in Wisdom saving throws and advantage on saving throws against charm and fear effects. You also have the ability to decrease the amount of Psychic damage an attack deals to you by a number equal to half your Fighter level rounded down once per round. Also, creatures are unable to telepathically communicate with you unless you allow them to and magic cannot be used to read your thoughts or discern your alignment. You know automatically when someone is trying to communicate telepathically with you or when someone is trying to use magic to read your thoughts or discern your alignment, though you do not know who in the same way.

Grim Understanding

 At 7th level, the knowledge you have on certain creatures and how to track them grows as time passes and your senses are sharpened. You learn their languages and their ways in order to better understand them. You learn the languages Abyssal and Sylvan if you don't already know them.

You also gain advantage on all Wisdom (Survival) and Intelligence (Investigation) checks when tracking any Fey, Fiends, and Aberrations, as well as advantage on all Intelligence (Arcana) and Intelligence (Nature) checks when attempting to gather information on these creatures.

Additional Fighting Style

At 10th level, you can choose a second option from the Fighting Style class feature.

Archery

You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with ranged weapons.

Defense

While you are wearing armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.

Dueling

When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.

Great Weapon Fighting

When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.

Protection

When a creature you can see attacks a target other than you that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll. You must be wielding a shield.

Two-Weapon Fighting

When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.

Touched By Darkness

At 10th level, the darkness of the Abyss seems to seep into your skin and you learn how to weave it in your favor and use it as a weapon towards those who strike you.

While you are in dim light or darkness, you gain Resistance to Necrotic damage, and whenever a creature deals Necrotic damage to you in dim light or darkness, they are forced to take twice the Necrotic damage that you take. This damage ignores resistance and immunity and cannot be reduced in any way. You also gain 30 feet of Darkvision.

All creatures have disadvantage on attacks on you in dim light or darkness if they rely on Darkvision to see you. You also gain the ability to pull the shadows around you as a bonus action while standing in dim light or Darkness, making you invisible for up to ten minutes. This invisibility stops whenever you attack a creature or force a creature to make a saving throw, though you can still take action. This can be done a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1) per short or long rest.

Honed Blades

Starting at 15th level, your understanding of the anatomy of your prey grows to new heights.

Your enemies now fall faster before you. Your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 18–20. All attacks you make against Fey, Fiends, and Aberrations are also at advantage.

Mantle of Darkness

At 18th level, you become a true Abyss Walker, take up the mantle of the Order, and become an unstoppable force of death on the battlefield.

As a bonus action, you can take up the stance that you learned from your masters and those who came before you in order to make your enemies fear you and control the battlefield. Once you take up the stance, you can force up to 6 enemies within 60 feet that can see you to make a Charisma saving throw with a DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier or become frightened for one minute.

Using the same bonus action, you can pull the shadows around you, sacrificing two uses of Touched By Darkness to double your movement speed, impose disadvantage on all attack rolls against you, gain advantage on all attack rolls and saving throws, and any attack you make that hits a creature that is frightened by you is an automatic critical hit. You can do this once per long rest.