Hunter in Darkness

The Hunter in Darkness is an entity that sees all creatures as prey and enjoys instilling fear in its prey.

It prefers intelligent prey over mere beasts, as their fear tastes so much sweeter. Hunters who display impressive prowess for hunting pique its interest. The Hunter in Darkness often bestows its power on such individuals to spread fear further than the Hunter can by itself.

Though your patron isn’t mindless, it cares only for the thrill of the hunt and the spreading of fear. It cares not what you do with the power it grants you beyond that. Your connection with the Hunter can sometimes cause changes in your worldview. You might view every creature you meet as either predator or prey, or you might face problems with a “kill or be killed” attitude.

Expanded Spell List

The Hunter in Darkness lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell.

The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you

Hunter in Darkness Expanded Spells
Spell Level Spells
1st Bloodhound*, hunter’s endurance*
2nd Instant snare*, mark prey*
3rd Clairvoyance, nondetection
4th Harry*, heart-seeking arrow*
5th Killing fields*, legend lore

Savage Hunter

Starting at 1st level, when you reduce a hostile creature to 0 hp, its nearest ally within 30 feet of you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your warlock spell save DC or be frightened of you until the end of its next turn.

The Hunter in Darkness and Your Pact Boons

When you select your pact boon at 3rd level, it is altered by your patron in the following ways.

  • Pact of the Chain. Your familiar is a hunting hound made of shadow, and it uses the statistics of a wolf.
  • Pact of the Blade. Your pact weapon can be a longbow or shortbow in addition to a melee weapon. You must provide arrows for the weapon.
  • Pact of the Tome. Your tome contains descriptions of tracks made by a multitude of creatures. If you consult your tome for 1 minute while inspecting tracks, you can identify the type of creature that left the tracks (such as a winter wolf), though not the creature’s name or specific appearance (such as Frosttooth, the one-eyed leader of a notorious pack of winter wolves that terrorizes the area).

Step Into Shadow

Beginning at 6th level, you can disappear into darkness and reappear next to an enemy. As a bonus action while in dim light or darkness, you can disappear in a puff of inky smoke and reappear in an unoccupied space that is also in dim light or darkness within 5 feet of a creature within 30 feet of you. If that creature is frightened and you attack it, you have advantage on the attack roll. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Strike from the Dark

Beginning at 10th level, your patron’s constant hunger for fear inures you to it. You are immune to being frightened. In addition, when you are in dim light or darkness and you hit a creature with a weapon attack, it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your warlock spell save DC or be frightened of you for 1 minute or until it takes any damage.

Avatar of Death

Starting at 14th level, if you reduce a target to 0 hp with a weapon attack, you can use a bonus action to force each ally of the target within 30 feet of you to make a Wisdom saving throw against your warlock spell save DC. On a failure, the creature is frightened of you for 1 minute or until it takes any damage. If a creature is immune to being frightened, it is instead stunned until the end of its next turn. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Tome of Heroes ©2022 Open Design LLC; Authors: Celeste Conowitch, Jeff Lee, Sarah Madsen, Ben McFarland, Kelly Pawlik, Brian Suskind

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