The Dark Hunter

[mwasek]

I'm looking for comments, criticisms and suggestions for my new monster the Dark Hunter. Thanks.

Dark Hunter
Type: Medium Size Undead
Hit dice: 4d12 (26 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 30 feet
AC 16 (+4 natural, +2 leather armor)
Attacks: Battle Axe +5 Melee
Damage: 1d8+2
Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5ft
Special Qualities: Fast Healing 5, Final rest, Light Sensitivity, Relentless tracking, Summon pack, +2 turn resistance, Undead
Saves: Fortitude +1, Reflex +1, Will +6
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 10, Con -, Int 9, Wis 15, Cha 16
Skills: Wilderness Lore +8, Hide +8, Listen +11, Move silently +8, Spot +11
Feats: Alertness, Tracking
Climate/Terrain: Any land
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 5
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always Neutral evil

The Dark Hunter is an undead creature created by evil spellcasters to track down and destroy their enemies.

From a distance the Dark Hunter will appear to be an entirely normal woodsman or ranger. Up close is a different story. Its skin is a pallid sickly gray. The Dark Hunters eyes are milky white and unblinking. Its clothing is torn and ragged with the earth of the grave still clinging to it. The Hunters lips are sewn shut with strong sinew. It smells of rot and the earth.

To create a Dark Hunter a spellcaster of at least 7th lvl must create or have created a special brass horn worth at least 200gp. She must then acquire the body of a Ranger or Woodsman no more than three days old. Within the mouth of the corpse is placed a body part of the person who will be the Hunters target. The body part is usually hair or nail clippings. The mouth is then almost completly sewn shut with strong sinew. leaving only just enougth room to blow its horn. Before dawn the corpse is placed in a shallow grave and the spells Animate Dead and Summon Monster IV are cast on it. Immediately after sunset the Dark Hunter will rise from its grave and begin to track its target.

Before dawn a Dark Hunter must find someplace to hide from the sun. These hiding places can include caves, under deep water or lonely farmhouses. If anyone is in its chosen hiding place it will try to kill them. If no other alternative presents itself the Hunter will dig a shallow grave and bury itself.

Dark Hunters cannot speak.

The Dark Hunter will attack no one apart from its target unless attacked itself, they are protecting the target or it is trying to secure a hiding place from the sun.

Combat:

If the target has companions the Dark Hunter will order its pack to attack the companions while it goes for the target. When beaten to less than a third of its hit points the Hunter will often "play dead" waiting for its fast healing ability to repair it before attacking again.

Final Rest (Su): If a Dark Hunters target should die for any reason then the Dark Hunter itself will be immediately destroyed.

Light Sensitivity (Su): The Dark Hunter takes 1d6 points of damage for every round it's exposed to direct sunlight. The Daylight spell is not sufficiently powerful to harm it.

Relentless Tracking (Su): The Dark Hunter will always know the direction in which his target lies as long as the target is on the same plane. This ability isn't fooled by Polymorph or any other similar spell. The Nondetection spell and antimagic fields will negate this ability. If Relentless Tracking is negated the Dark Hunter will attempt to track the target through more conventional means.

Summon Pack (Su): Once per night the Dark Hunter can blow his brass horn and summon a pack of four Fiendish Wolves. The pack is under the complete and total control of the Hunter. The pack disappears with the coming of dawn and may not be resummoned again until after dusk.

If the Brass Horn is blown by anyone else while the Dark Hunter is animate it will have no effect. It may be blown one more time after the Hunter is destroyed. If this occurs the summoned pack attacks the person who blew the horn and fights to the death.

Undead: Immune to mind-influencing effects, poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, and disease. Not subject to critical hits, subdual damage, ability damage, energy drain, or death from massive damage.