Suggest a feat for a witch hunter

[akbearfoot]

This reminds me of old times....back when people wanted to play 1E barbarians and then completely ignore the RP restriction that they hated all magic. Totally gloss over the fact that they'd rather use the wizards skull as an ashtray then sit down and eat dinner next to him.


Or more recently, the guy that said he wanted to take the mage hunter line of feats, then started looking through the PHB for spells his character could take that weren't based on caster level, like True Strike. Hrmm....yeaah

I must confess I caught myself trying to do the same thing once, where I wanted to play a druid with the much revered Ashbound Summoning feat, in a game where we knew we'd be spending lots of time in Sharn, with a sorcerer and a psion in the party. But then I got to read about them in the religions of ebberon book, lol. Didn't quite work out.

If you want to play the melee oriented rogue....go for a Rogue/Cleric and then take the Black Flame Zealot Prc. It's a 10 level class, with Medium BAB, 2 good saves, half caster progression, 3d6 sneak attack progression, and some other nifty abilities. Including a neat capstone ability that obliterates the body of anyone killed with your sneak attack, requiring true resurrection, or wish FOLLOWED by resurrection to revive them. Fits well with the whole 'destroy the impure ones' mentality....I think its one of the few classes that gets Poison Use that isn't required to be evil.

 

[jasin]

This reminds me of old times....back when people wanted to play 1E barbarians and then completely ignore the RP restriction that they hated all magic. Totally gloss over the fact that they'd rather use the wizards skull as an ashtray then sit down and eat dinner next to him.

I don't think I'm glossing over any roleplaying requirements...?

Or more recently, the guy that said he wanted to take the mage hunter line of feats, then started looking through the PHB for spells his character could take that weren't based on caster level, like True Strike. Hrmm....yeaah

I don't see any problem with this. Mage hunters can be magic-haters, but it's not required.

In fact, there's a pretty strong trope of a witch hunter whose frequent contact with black magic and a bit of pragmatism leads him to adopt a few tricks from his opponents, than a few more, then it grows into an interest in itself... and eventually you have a new cult leader. It happens all the time in Legend of the Five Rings and Warhammer.

If you want to play the melee oriented rogue....go for a Rogue/Cleric and then take the Black Flame Zealot Prc. It's a 10 level class, with Medium BAB, 2 good saves, half caster progression, 3d6 sneak attack progression, and some other nifty abilities.

Shadowbane inquisitor is similar, but more oriented towards investigation than assassination, and targeted at Good rather than Evil characters, so it works much better for me.

Including a neat capstone ability that obliterates the body of anyone killed with your sneak attack, requiring true resurrection, or wish FOLLOWED by resurrection to revive them. Fits well with the whole 'destroy the impure ones' mentality....I think its one of the few classes that gets Poison Use that isn't required to be evil.

It's not? Non-Good then? Or am I misremembering completely?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Really, a Witch hunter doesn't have to have a hostile relationship with all arcane casters.

Some could even be on excellent- or at least civil- terms with arcane casters.

I could easily see them as playing a societal role analogous to the Internal Affairs departments of law enforcement agencies- they're the ones who bring the rogues to justice, "watching the watchmen," as it were.

While some arcane casters would regard such people with distrust, regardless, wiser ones would recognize the Witch Hunters as a necessary evil, and might even work alongside them.

 

[irdeggman]

Really, a Witch hunter doesn't have to have a hostile relationship with all arcane casters.

Some could even be on excellent- or at least civil- terms with arcane casters.

I could easily see them as playing a societal role analogous to the Internal Affairs departments of law enforcement agencies- they're the ones who bring the rogues to justice, "watching the watchmen," as it were.

While some arcane casters would regard such people with distrust, regardless, wiser ones would recognize the Witch Hunters as a necessary evil, and might even work alongside them.

Absolutely.

In the Birthright setting there was a human culture (or subrace) called the Khinasi who absolutely worhed magic and knowledge. They did have the "5 Oaths" which all wizards had to take and violation of would lead to pretty much a death sentence (especially by any wizard who had taken them). Part of the oaths was not communicating with the dead or using necromantic magic.

Something along that line would very easily be in-line with a "witch hunter" character who uses magic.

I think that themeaticaly a level in ranger would work very well to help define the character - you could probably work out a special "favored enemy" describing "witches" and work with the DM on fine-tuning it.

 

[akbearfoot]

Sorry for not being clear. I didn't really thin you were doing anything wrong. It just reminded me of some of the good ones I remember who were doing things wrong.

Although I think its obvious metagame cheeze to try to play a spell-caster with 'anti-magic' feats. The mage hunter feats in particular are rediculously powerful, and really make no sense for spell casters. But then again, they wouldnt be feats that just anyone could take in my world....they'd have to be trained by some group of people like the Ashbound from ebberron or similar.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Although I think its obvious metagame cheeze to try to play a spell-caster with 'anti-magic' feats.

Well, you're entitled to your opinion, but I'm afraid I must disagree.

"It takes a thief to catch a thief." as the saying goes- why not the same for spellcasters. Indeed, it makes even more sense- who moreso than an arcanist would be wise to the ways arcane spellcasters?

Likewise, there is the saying "You always become the thing you hate the most." In this sense, though, it may be more a case of stylistic hate- Sorcerers hating the Wizards who codify The Gift; Wizards hating the Sorcerers who squander The Art. Perhaps someone's village was wiped out by an arcane caster, and took up the arcanist mantle to destroy that person- IOW, "Magic Conan."

 

[jasin]

Although I think its obvious metagame cheeze to try to play a spell-caster with 'anti-magic' feats.

Is this symmetric for non-casters? For example, is it metagame cheeze to play a melee warrior with anti-melee feats, such as Combat Expertise?

The mage hunter feats in particular are rediculously powerful,

Indeed. And that's where the problem is, rather than in the concept of a spellcaster who specializes in fighting spellcasters.

 

[Thanael]

1) As I recall, there is also the mage-hunter PrCl somewhere out there, which makes the PC a bit more effective at taking down arcane casters. That might be a good choice for you. It may, however, be only in a FR book.

There's the Mage-Killer in Magic of Faerun, but there's also the Occult Slayer in Complete Warrior. (A nice example of an Occult Slayer is Sir Phineas Aldman by Loonook)

But if I understand the OP right he's heading for Shadowbane Inquisitor. But qualifying for it will take quite a few more levels to hit BAB +5.

@jasin: You might be interested in the Cleric dead level enhancement by WotC. As for feats, how about Smiting Spell from PHBII ?

 

[Carpe DM]

Cool concept; here's a build I used along similar lines. I was more the party healer (and, indeed, nobody died during that campaign) but the clutch component of twin spell, divine metamagic, and then pick your broken spell to twin, worked pretty well.

In the game I DM, most Witch-Hunters are either Church Inquisitors (necessary, since Shapechange and Greater Metamorphosis are gleefully abused by the PCs) and Ranger / Occult Slayers. A Ranger / Occult Slayer with a bow, multishot (which can be readied as a standard action against a cast), and the Dragon Magazine feat that lets you threaten spellcasters with a ranged weapon is simply hilarious. Combine that with the Mage Slayer line of feats and you have some ugly ugly stuff.

best,

Carpe

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

I would be hesitant about targetting Shadowbane Stalker with a cloistered cleric multiclass. I played a shadowbane inquisitor for a while in a friend's high level game. Like you, I was going for a witch hunter feel, though with a little more lawful and a little more good than Frankthedm's example. What I found, however, was that while the class lent itself well to combining cleric and rogue abilities in combat, it pretty much only worked as combining a melee sneak attacking powerhouse with cleric buffs and heavy armor to make up for the lost BAB and lost sneak attack progression vis a vis a real rogue and the lost caster levels and spell levels vis a vis a real cleric.

Cloistered cleric nerfs your proficiencies, armor, and BAB, so it seems like it would make the combo more difficult to pull off.

For a cloistered cleric/witch hunter, I would be tempted to just go with a straight-up cleric/church inquisitor and take care of any rogue stuff either entirely with the church inquisitor skill list and cross-class ranks or with a single level of rogue.