Witch Hunter
You have dedicated your life to seeking out and exposing the agents of evil wherever they hide. You are an agent of a powerful church, a representative of the local government, or possibly a deputized freelancer. You may be truly dedicated to your cause, or simply do it for the thrill of the hunt. Whether you are feared, respected, or despised, one thing is certain: you get results.
Primary Quarry
There is one sort of malefactor that you are particularly keen to expose and destroy. Roll on the table below, or choose one of the following threats to designate as your primary quarry (or create your own):
d8 Quarry
1 Witches
2 Devil worshippers
3 Demon cultists
4 Necromancers
5 Far Realm cultists
6 Shapeshifters
7 Dragon cultists
8 Vampires
Skill Proficiencies: Insight, Intimidation
Tool Proficiencies: Disguise kit
Languages: One of your choice
Equipment: A warm woolen cloak, a badass hat, a tattered treatise on the loathsome habits of your primary quarry, a symbol of your authority, a disguise kit, a set of common clothes, and a belt pouch containing 15gp.
Feature: Vested Authority
Witch hunters are treated with respect (and more than a little fear) as they travel the land, for no one wishes to attract their attention, or their ire. When you present the symbol of your authority in the declared pursuit of your duties, you and your associates can expect to be given reasonable food, drink, and lodging at no cost in most establishments, as well as the cooperation of most locals and low-level government officials (burgomeisters, mayors, town councils). You may not always find nobles and royalty so accommodating, however (especially if they have something to hide).
Suggested Characteristics
Witch hunters are by their nature loners, though they may travel and work with a small circle of trusted colleagues, specialists, and hirelings. Though they serve the common good and protect the innocent from evil, they are often as feared and shunned as those they hunt.
d8 Personality Trait
1 I pay extremely close attention to anything said to me.
2 My authority cannot be denied by mere bureaucrats and functionaries.
3 I do not speak until I have studied someone thoroughly, head to toe.
4 The smallfolk are right to fear me, for none of their secrets are safe from me.
5 My demeanour is jocular and friendly, but my cold eyes tell a different story.
6 I try to keep people off guard by suggesting they may have something to hide.
7 I always answer a question with a question.
8 When I find the object of my hunt, I prefer to let my associates take care of the dirty work.
d6 Ideal
1 Order. I do what I must to protect the rightful order of things. (Lawful)
2 Greater Good. Everything I do is in the service of the people of this land. (Good)
3 Power. I will gladly take advantage of these uncertain times to better myself. (Chaotic)
4 Balance. The scales of good and evil must not be allowed to go out of balance. (Neutral)
5 Fear. Those who stand in the way of my mission will be eliminated. (Evil)
6 Destiny. I have been called to destroy a great evil, and I will never turn from my mission. (Any)
d6 Bond
1 Nothing is more important to me than serving my order.
2 Once I have given my oath, I will die before I break it.
3 First and foremost, I always look out for number one: myself.
4 I want nothing more than to earn the respect of the common folk.
5 My companions are the only people I can truly trust in this world.
6 A terrible enemy killed my betrothed. I will not rest until they are avenged.
d6 Flaw
1 There is nothing I won't do to accomplish my mission.
2 I frequently take advantage of the authority given to me.
3 I knowingly condemned an innocent to death. Their blood is on my hands.
4 Once I have located my target, I will never stop pursuing them, no matter the danger.
5 I know in my heart of hearts that I can never truly trust anyone.
6 I am a fraud; if I am ever discovered, my life will be in grave danger.
Hi Direach!
Interesting character background. There does seem to be though, a merging of fantasy with reality in the way that this class is viewed. They are feared, and this was true in our own world, for the Witch Hunts and Inquisitions were terrible evils that are remembered to this day. Hysteria, betrayal, torture, execution, accursed sins that should never be forgotten.
In a fantasy realm though, the situation may be a little different. I mean, in our world, the concept of the Satanic Witch and Devil Worshippers was a relatively late medieval invention I believe. The 'Black Mass' was obviously a mockery of the Catholic rite, and so cannot predate that form of worship for example. Not until modern times when people intentionally took on these practices and rituals, were there that kind of 'Witch' in the world, from my limited understanding.
In D&D though, cultists are real. Demons are real. Devils are real. And evil 'Witches' are real too. So, the fantasy Witch Hunter actually is performing a great good in combatting this sort of thing. Likewise, in a fantasy world, there are magical means to divine alignment, intent, there are clairvoyant artifacts, torture may, or may not be a common way to get information or confessions. It's certainly never been a good way to discover 'Truth'.
Would the fantasy Witch Hunter truly be feared and avoided? Or would she be seen as a kind of crusader, a type of paladin or cleric? Would their methods be humane and effective, or would they be terrible and violent, sadistic and cruel?
If both kinds of 'Witch Hunters' exist in your world, no problem
Your write up makes perfect sense, and please forgive my misunderstanding. In that case there would be very good reason to worry when one of these types appears on the horizon.
I appreciate you trying to get that dark mysterious terror aura for your background though, it's evocative and fun (in a fantasy game), that in itself is justification enough
Nice article, truly!
Gerry
I wanted it to cover a range of possibilities, like the backgrounds in the book. There's no reason you couldn't have a completely legit, friendly witch/demon/vampire hunter, or a thoroughly corrupt, wicked, pitiless one (though I would hope a player character would at least fall somewhere in between). It's up to the DM to decide what kind of witch hunters prevail in their campaign, and how the NPC population tends to view them.
But regardless of their true intent, I think it's fair to say that when someone of authority shows up in a small town and announces that they are on the hunt for a monster hidden in their midst, it's going to make the locals more paranoid and suspicious. It could even be a paladin in shining armour, and people are still going to get nervous. Is their neighbour the monster? Are they in danger? What secrets will get revealed when someone starts poking around in their little town?
Still, you also have the option of being less conspicuous in your investigation (disguise kit, insight). You may not be able to cow the local innkeeper into giving you free food and lodging if you're being covert, but you also won't tip off the cultists that someone's in town to flip over their rock.
Hopefully folks will like it enough to consider using it. Thanks for giving it a read, and for your thoughts.
Wouldn't it be more helpful to have a way to detect the traces of magic (Arcana) than to be able to work out what happened at the scene of an attack? I mean, what good does Investigation do for this background?
Hi all,
After I wrote my reply I realized I had not taken into account the relative scarcity of Magic, both Divine and Arcane in some campaigns. The ability to use 'Good' Magic to combat 'Evil' Magic would be determined by the setting. In my campaign, the Church is very powerful, and clerics are plentiful, but that is not true in all games. If it were as rare as in the movie 'Dragonslayer' or 'Excalibur', common women and men who are called to be Witchhunters would be forced to resort to more primitive and mundane methods of investigation, and might actually be brutal if they felt the ends justified the means. But in a setting like 'Harry Potter' or the game 'Magic: the Gathering' where Magic is plentiful and readily accessible, hopefully at least some Witch Hunters would rely on these more 'Humane' methods. But that also brings up an interesting point.
If evil 'Witches' are a constant menace to society, they might very well instill a sense of paranoia about the Arcane in their neighbors. A witch hunter who used Magic to combat Magic might very well be as distrusted as a cultist by a peasant or commoner. Even the Church might be feared more than loved, if it were a dark and frightful world full of fiends and lurking demons. A fear of -all- things supernatural might be a common thing with 'normals'.
I like this background even more as I think about it, Direach's background inspires one not only to play an interesting character, but to ask questions that can lead to some very interesting world builds.
Likewise, in a fantasy world, there are magical means to divine alignment, intent, there are clairvoyant artifacts, torture may, or may not be a common way to get information or confessions.
Undrhil wrote:
I really like the concept!
I'm not sure about the emphasis on disguise though. Thinking through the fantasy examples of witch hunters: Helsing (both the Dracula one and the anime one), Warhammer 40k witch hunters, whitecloaks from The Wheel of Time, the Spanish Inquisition; few of them seem very discrete or subtle. I think usually witch hunters weild intimidation and fear just as much as they do true power. So I would maybe rethink think emphasis on disguise.
Also, one the flaws of the profession can be summoned up by that awesome Nietzsche quote: "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you."
Many witch hunters end up succumbing to the seductive power of the forces they fight, and secretly maintain a double-life, so I'd recommend that show up in the list of flaws.
I thought about that, RC, but ultimately I decided that that didn't work as well as a flaw as it would a development in the game. And it's sort of covered in the last listed flaw: "a fraud" could be that they are a complete sham, with no real authority at all, or it could mean that they are indeed a wolf in sheep's clothing, the very thing they purport to hunt (with the same threat to their life if discovered).
I thought about disguise, too. The problem is there aren't very many other tools that suit such a career, apart from wooden boots and thumbscrews! And I wanted to broaden the available options, so that one could choose to act with more subtlety. Sometimes you need to conk someone over the head and steal their robes to get into the dark ritual site without being noticed.
In hindsight, I realize that I need to revisit the Vested Authority feature. Unlike the existing backgrounds, this is written much more like a current occupation than "where I came from". Granted, this profession lends itself well to current adventuring, and there don't tend to be a lot of retired witch hunters. I'll tinker with it and see if I can come up with something that works better as a post-career perk.
Nicely done.