Demon Hunter

While any fighter may defeat undead with no more difficulty than he would face against any living opponent, devils and demons are often more than he can handle. Enter the demon hunter, a warrior who roams the land in Search of invaders from the Lower Planes. Early demon hunters studied their fiendish foes and developed several methods to increase their chances of defeating them, channelling holy power into their blades and divine will into their words in order to repel, weaken and ultimately destroy the most powerful servants of evil. These champions of light may be specialists under the service of a paladin order or a good deity’s church but, more often than not, they are solitary travellers who learned their powers from another demon hunter.

The Quintessential paladin
Author Alejandro Melchor
Series Quintessential Series
Publisher Mongoose Publishing
Publish date 2002

Demon hunters need a combination of divine might and combat prowess so that they are not butchered by the first demon they encounter, making multiclassed fighter/clerics a viable choice but paladins are much better candidates, as they combine the strength of their sword arm with the strength of their faith.

Hit Die: d10.

Requirements

Alignment: Lawful good.
Base Attack Bonus: +7 or higher.
Base Will Save Bonus: +3 or higher.
Feats: Spell Penetration.
Special: Turn undead.

Class Skills

The demon hunter’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Constitution), Craft (Intelligence), Diplomacy (Charisma), Handle Animal (Charisma), Heal (Wisdom), Knowledge (Arcana) (Intelligence), Knowledge (religion) (Intelligence), Knowledge (the planes) (Intelligence), Profession (Wisdom), Ride (Dexterity) and Spellcraft (Intelligence).

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Intelligence modifier.

The Demon Hunter
Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Spells per Day
1	+1	+0	+0	+2	Turn outsiders, Smite Evil	+1 level existing class
2	+2	+0	+0	+3		+1 level existing class
3	+3	+1	+1	+3	Warding Blade	+1 level existing class
4	+4	+1	+1	+4		+1 level existing class
5	+5	+1	+1	+4	Improved Smite Evil	+1 level existing class
6	+6	+2	+2	+5	Disrupting Blade	+1 level existing class
7	+7	+2	+2	+5		+1 level existing class
8	+8	+2	+2	+6	Banish	+1 level existing class
9	+9	+3	+3	+6		+1 level existing class
10	+10	+3	+3	+7	Destroy Evil	+1 level existing class

Class Features

Armour and Weapon Proficiency: Demon hunters are proficient with all simple and martial weapons. They are proficient with all types of armour and with shields. Note that armour check penalties for armour heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently and Tumble. Also, Swim checks suffer a -1 penalty for every 5 pounds of armour, equipment, or loot carried.

Spells per Day: The demon hunter continues to gain ability as a divine spellcaster. For each level gained as a demon hunter, the character gains new divine spells as if he had also gained a level in whatever divine spellcasting class he belonged to before becoming a demon hunter. The demon hunter does not, however, gain any other benefits of his former divine class, such as improved chance of turning or rebuking undead. In other words, to determine the number of spells that a demon hunter can cast per day, simply add his level of demon hunter to the level of his previous divine spellcasting class. Characters with more than one divine spellcasting class must decide which class to assign each level of demon hunter to for purposes of determining spells per day.

Turn outsiders (Su): The demon hunter can use his turn undead ability to turn creatures with the outsider type and the evil descriptor. He spends one of his normal turning attempts targeting outsiders, rather than undead, but he must choose which kind of creature he wants to affect if he faces a group that includes both undead and outsiders. The turning check is the same as when turning undead, but the demon hunter adds all his divine classes to his demon hunter level to determine turning damage. This only applies when turning outsiders, not undead. paladins may add their full paladin level for turning outsiders rather than subtracting two as when they turn undead.

When successfully turned, outsiders are stunned for one round per demon hunter level. If the demon hunter’s divine class levels (including his demon hunter levels) are double any target outsider’s HD, the outsider is instantly banished to his home plane.

Smite Evil (Su): Once per day, a demon hunter may attempt to Smite Evil with one normal melee attack as per the paladin class feature. If the character already has this ability from another class such as the paladin, he adds an additional +1 sacred bonus to both attack and damage rolls, but does not increase the number of times that he can attempt this.

Warding Blade (Sp): Once per day per Charisma modifier, the demon hunter can concentrate for a full round to imbue his weapon with holy power and emanate a warding aura similar to a magic circle against evil. This aura extends 10 feet around the demon hunter and moves along him, ending one round after he attacks with the weapon. If he spends two uses of warding blade at the same time, the demon hunter can gain Spell Resistance equal to 10 + his demon hunter level + his Charisma modifier, instead of the magic circle effect.

Improved Smite Evil (Su): At fifth level, the demon hunter has improved his capacity to damage evil creatures. He can either use his normal smite evil ability an additional time per day, or he can inflict damage equal to double his level. He still only adds his Charisma modifier once to his attack roll.

Disrupting Blade (Su): Once per day per Charisma modifier, the demon hunter may charge his weapon with holy power. If he deals at least one point of damage to an outsider, the power is discharged and the demon hunter reduces the creature’s Spell Resistance by an amount equal to his demon hunter class level plus his Charisma modifier, negating its Damage Reduction at the same time. This disruption lasts for one round per demon hunter level.

Banish (Sp): The demon hunter presents his Holy symbol forcefully and spends two turning attempts against a single outsider creature. The effect is the same as a banishment spell, but it ignores a creature’s Spell Resistance and adds the character’s Charisma modifier to the saving throw’s DC.

Destroy Evil (Su): The demon hunter has reached the pinnacle of his power when dealing with evil outsiders. If the target creature is brought to -10 hit points or below by the character’s Smite Evil or Improved Smite Evil ability, before the damage for the weapon making the blow is subtracted from its hit points, it is instantly and permanently destroyed, not merely sent back to its home plane.

Multiclass Note: paladins can gain levels in the demon hunter class and still be able to advance as paladins.