I got the first draft of a major project done, so I’m giving some time to more bounty-hunting content. Writing and talking about the UA 2022: Expert Classes document has me thinking about feat design, so I’m starting with a Bounty Hunter feat. After all, in a bounty hunting campaign, the bounty hunting gameplay is explicitly not class-locked.
Bounty-Hunting Stories | Feat & the Tables
Grim Pursuer
Once the chase has begun, it can only end one way.
- You learn the hunter’s mark spell. You can cast it once without using a spell slot, and you regain the ability to cast it in that way when you finish a long rest. You can also cast the spell using your spell slots. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this spell (choose when you select this feat).
- When you cast hunter’s mark, you can target a creature at any range if you are within 5 feet of a footprint created by the creature or some of their blood, as long as the blood or footprint hasn’t been moved, targeted with a spell, or included in the area of a spell.
- When you are the pursuer in a Chase, you gain advantage on ability checks and saving throws you roll for Chase Complications.
(I’m keenly aware that Chase rules don’t come up often and have some Problems that players and DMs need to collaborate to smooth over. Starting with, “if you’re close enough to effectively pursue, you’re close enough to levitate/hold person.”)
In my first post, I had tables for your target, a location along the way, and a twist in the story. This time, I’m creating a table for the client who hires you and a table of colorful bounty-hunting rivals.
The Client
There are some bounty-hunting missions (or whole campaign structures) where you’re never supposed to meet with the client directly, but always interface with the Bounty Hunter’s Guild or whatever. Even in those campaigns, the DM still needs to know who the client is, as it informs how other NPCs behave and affects some of the Twists.
| d10 | Client |
| 1 | The captain of the Palace Guard (knight), who can’t openly send Palace Guards into another noble’s lands |
| 2 | A merchant of “legitimate business interests” (master thief), whose known associates are closely watched by the authorities |
| 3 | An archmage who would face social reprisal for using their full magical arsenal against the target |
| 4 | A young brass dragon who burns with curiosity for something only the target knows |
| 5 | A nimblewrightwho is the sole public proxy of a mysterious figure: a drow inquisitor |
| 6 | A war priest who threatens to spark a religious war if the target is not apprehended and handed over for justice |
| 7 | A decadent noble (cult leader) who is being blackmailed by someone who infiltrated their cult, and can’t move against them openly |
| 8 | A revenant who has been partially entombed in stone, and can’t rest while the target lives |
| 9 | A hag who can’t risk going far from her coven, but needs to know how the target escaped her geas |
| 10 | A deva whose target has escaped to an area warded by forbiddance or similar magic; the deva can only pay in Supernatural Charms |
Rivals
Call of the Netherdeep has one of the better presentations of campaign-length rivals or frenemies. I’d like to expand this section to be on par with that adventure, but that may be outside the scope of this post as a Design Diary. In a bounty-hunting focused campaign, there are multiple recurring rivals, and they form a “party” (maybe with a rotating roster) just like the PCs do, unless the NPCs are individually way ahead of the party in CR. But we all remember that 5e is unkind to solo NPCs versus a party of PCs, right?
| d20 | Rival |
| 1 | The Hound of Vix-ragna, a knight in black-and-blue lacquered plate armor and a blue cloak of protection |
| 2 | Merciful Steel, a nimblewright, who returns in a new and upgraded chassis after every defeat; their three-eyed faceplate remains the same and highly distinctive |
| 3 | Lanrik of the Piercing Eye, a tiefling diviner, who often gains the upper hand with the aid of a flying carpet |
| 4 | Ozillia the Crystalline, a bard noted for deadly aim with her signature crystal knives |
| 5 | Aquilon, an air genasi archer who strikes with icy arrows; uses Unending Breath to appear in unexpected places |
| 6 | Kaethil and Dyzathil, twin drow elite warriors with a telepathic bond; they each hide the existence of the other to surprise their targets |
| 7 | Mugulo, a werewolf, who has bargained with hags so that he only transforms when he gets close to his prey |
| 8 | Suomikhar, a rakshasa, sent from the Nine Hells to hunt those who renege on deals with Hutijin or Mephistopheles; cultured and affable when not on a hunt |
| 9 | Tharost the Harvester, a gladiator famous for his powerful leaps and deadly halberd strikes |
| 10 | Hand of the Fallen Throne, often called simply “Fallen,” a dwarf master thief who hunts down anyone who acquires treasures stolen from the dwarves |
| 11 | Mouth of Chaos, or “Muckmouth,” a gnome conjurer who summons slaadi and has a red slaad’s control gem; sometimes accidentally implants slaadi eggs in captured targets |
| 12 | Samishen Houndmistress, a warlock of the fiend who keeps a trio of shadow mastiffs, which she dotes upon |
| 13 | Taagna Nightscar, an orc warlord of advanced age, gathering treasure for his children’s inheritance; his tales of past battles are always relevant to the mission at hand |
| 14 | Petunia “Pity” Riverstone, a halfling scout who strangely seems to have at least one friend almost everywhere she goes, no matter how improbable |
| 15 | Skud, a redcap who has sworn an oath of service to the Seelie Queen in exchange for many different Supernatural Charms; can pass for a cantankerous old human |
| 16 | Jomun, who pretends to be a goblin that hunts goblinoids, but is in truth a barghest |
| 17 | Feriza, a swashbuckler who is slowly losing her battle for control against her sinister, sentient rapier; if not stopped, she becomes an unusually intelligent bodak |
| 18 | Gesherine, a dragonborn champion with particularly expensive tastes in food, lodging, and romantic partners, so she’s often investigating more than one bounty at a time |
| 19 | The Twisted Blade, often called “Twist,” a knight with a signature flamberge-style greatsword; Twist tries to settle any disagreement or conflict with a duel |
| 20 | Aymara the Herald, an enchanter who only takes nonlethal contracts, but has no compunctions about mind-controlling her rivals into very dangerous situations |
This is a real “make up a weirdo” kind of post, but I hope it helps you fill your campaign with exciting, colorful weirdos. I dunno, maybe I’ll try to expand all of the other tables to use a d20 rather than a d10. It also might be good to split the clients and/or targets between lethal and less-than-lethal bounties? There’s probably also no upper limit on how many twists the user might find helpful, in order to avoid repeating themselves over the course of a campaign.
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Well, like the previous article on this subject, this adds a lot of useful content.
I like that Grim Pursuer does something interesting with the Hunter’s Mark spell and also doesn’t step on the OneD&D Ranger’s Favored Enemy (one of the changes they made that I thought was quite good). In fact, a Ranger would benefit nicely from this feat.
The Rivals and Clients tables are a wonderful collection of NPCs that is useful even if you aren’t running specifically bounty hunter content. I also really like that a nimblewright shows up in both tables. That is one of my all-time favorite constructs, and has been since I first saw them in 3rd edition, so it’s always cool to see interesting uses for them.
I’m glad you like these! As you have guessed, I had One D&D on my mind when I wrote Grim Pursuer, and I wanted to make sure this was as interesting for a Ranger as for anyone else.
It’s absolutely my hope that Rivals, Clients, Locations, and Twists are widely useful ideas for almost any adventuring situation. =)
Oh man, same – the PCs in my Dragon Heist game really liked the nimblewrights and want to help them. The nimblewright art has always been so good, too!
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