Master Of The Hunt Hound

Wolves howling, dogs barking, a ghostly image of a powerful antlered man moving through the woods, shrouded in foxfire and exuding fear; these are all the dominion of the master of the hunt.

The Quintessential Barbarian
Author Robert Schwalb
Series Quintessential Series
Publisher Mongoose Publishing
Publish date 2003

A legendary figure indeed, the master wanders the wilds always on the search, always hunting for his quarry. Legends of this fearful warrior echo through time and always with connotations of power and terror. The master of the hunt is a prestige class commanding the lupine kind. His strength lies in his ability to extend his rage to his pack of wolves, thus proving to be a dangerous threat indeed.

Parties of adventurers encounter masters of the hunt usually in the service of a lord who upholds an older and more primitive religion.

The master of the Master Of The Hunt Hound is masculinity personified, although in other cultures, the followers of Artemis, who are female, adequately fit the model of this prestige class. When encountered, the hunter will likely not parley and if those he encounters are not his prey, he will typically ignore them. However, if they happen to be those he seeks, he will relentlessly pursue them until one or both are destroyed.

Hit Die: d10

Requirements

To qualify to become a master of the Master Of The Hunt Hound, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +15
Alignment: Any non-good and non-lawful
Skills: Handle Animal 17 ranks, Knowledge (nature) 6 ranks, Listen 12 ranks, Survival 17 ranks.
Feats: Endurance, Iron Will, Run, Skill Focus (Wilderness Lore), Track
Class Ability: Fast Movement
Special: Just prior to taking the first level in master of the hunt, the character must seek out an alpha male dire wolf having at least as many
Hit Dice as he has levels. Once found, he must defeat the male in unarmed combat to achieve mastery over the pack

Master of the hunt hound class skills

The master of the hunt’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Control Shape (Wisdom), Handle Animal (Charisma), Intimidate (Charisma), Listen (Wisdom), Move Silently (Dexterity), Search (Intelligence), Sense Motive (Wisdom), Spot (Wisdom), Swim (Strength) and Survival (Wisdom).

Skill points at each level: 4 + Intelligence modifier.

Master Of The Hunt Hound
Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1	+1	+0	+1	+1	Pack
2	+2	+0	+2	+2	Aura of Foxfire
3	+3	+1	+2	+2	Scent
4	+4	+1	+2	+2	Collective Rage
5	+5	+1	+3	+3	Lycanthrope

Master of the hunt hound class features

All of the following are class features of the master of the hunt prestige class.

Weapon and Armour Proficiency: The master of the hunt hound is proficient in all simple and martial weapons, but gains no new proficiency in armour or shields. Note that armour check penalties for armour heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket and Tumble.

Pack (Su): Having defeated the alpha male of a dire wolf pack, the master of the hunt hound assumes mastery of the wolf pack he has conquered. Not all of the wolves in the pack will abide by the new leader; some will depart to start their own packs or travel alone. The master of the hunt gains a number of dire wolves equal to 5 + Charisma modifier, or the size of the original pack, whichever is higher. The dire wolf pack befriends the master of the hunt as if he had cast animal friendship except his level never limits the number of wolves there will be in the pack. All dire wolves in his pack are average.

Aura of Foxfire (Su): At will, the master of the hunt hound may summon forth the foxfire glow to form an aura about his body. While foxfire ruins all Hide checks, it does force all foes seeing the master of the hunt to make a will save against a DC 18 or be shaken; they suffer a -2 penalty to all attacks, saves and checks.

Scent (Ex): The master of the hunt begins to change in fundamental nature as he spends more time with his pack. At 3rd level, the master of the hunt gains the Scent.

Collective Rage (Su): The master of the hunt enjoys a psychic connection with his pack. Whenever the master of the hunt enters into a rage, so too does his pack. The rage for the wolves has the same duration as the master of the hunt. Consult the rules governing rage in SRD for details.

Lycanthrope (Su): At 5th level, the master of the hunt assumes the lycanthrope (werewolf) template gaining all the benefits thereof. His character subtype changes to shapechanger. If the character has at least 4 ranks in Control Shape, he retains his normal alignment.