Saturday Potpourri – The Mage Hunter (Ranger Archetype)

Mage Hunter (Ranger Archetype)

Arcane magic is a corrupted, counterfeit form of divine magic. Casting spells through the use of the arcane arts is nothing less than thievery. Masters of the arcane use trickery to steal their power from the gods. The mage hunter is dedicated to the extermination of the arcane abomination.

The mage hunter is an archetype of the ranger class.

Enemy School (Ex)

At 1st level, the mage hunter selects one school from the classic arcane schools list. He receives spell resistance of 10 + his mage hunter level against spells and effects from that school. This resistance cannot be voluntarily lowered.

At 5th level and every five levels thereafter (10th, 15th, and 20th level), the mage hunter selects an additional enemy school, for which he receives 10 + his level spell resistance.

The mage hunter may not use magic devices that require activation if they cast arcane spells or effects from any of his enemy schools. He may use devices that draw from these schools only if they are divine in nature and origin.

This ability replaces favored enemy.

Enemy School Familiarity (Ex)

At 3rd level, the mage hunter gains familiarity with his enemy school. Whenever the mage hunter witnesses an arcane spell caster casting a spell, he receives a +2 bonus on spellcraft checks to identify the spell being cast if the spell is from one of his enemy schools.

This ability replaces favored terrain.

Anti-Magic Reservoir (Su)

At 4th level, the mage hunter gains a reservoir of anti-magic energy he can draw upon to perform anti-magic exploits. At the start of each day, the mage hunter gains a number of anti-magical energy points equal to his Wisdom modifier (minimum 1). His anti-magic points goes up or down throughout the day, but usually cannot go higher than his Wisdom modifier (minimum 1), though feats and magic items can affect this maximum. The mage hunter may select the arcanist’s Extra Reservoir feat in order to add to his maximum number of anti-magic points in his reservoir. He may also replenish one of his used anti-magic points by delivering a killing blow against an arcane spell casting enemy.

Each anti-magic exploit expends one point from the mage hunter’s anti-magic reservoir. Anti-magic exploits help the mage hunter find, disrupt and destroy arcane spell casters. The following is the list of anti-magic exploits the mage hunter may perform:

  • Detect Magic– The mage hunter detects magic as a divine spellcaster casting the detect magic spell.
  • Disrupt Spell– As a move action, the mage hunter anticipates the casting of a spell. The DC to cast spells defensively increases by +4 for all enemies that are within his threatened area. This increase to casting spells defensively only applies if he is aware of the enemy’s location and is capable of taking an attack of opportunity.
  • Magebane– As a full-round action, the mage hunter attempts to make a disorienting attack against an arcane spell caster. Upon a successful attack, the mage hunter deals damage as normal, and his enemy must make a concentration check or lose any spell or spell-like ability it attempts to cast for the next round. If the mage hunter’s attack misses, he still expends one point from his anti-magic reservoir.
  • Spell Resistance– As a standard action, the mage hunter can gird himself against magical attacks. The mage hunter selects an arcane school that is not one of his enemy schools. For a number of rounds equal to his Wisdom modifier, the mage hunter gains spell resistance equal to 10 + his level against spells and effects from that school.
  • Spell Sunder– As a full-round action, the mage hunter may attempt to sunder an ongoing spell effect, as per the spell sunder barbarian rage power.

This ability replaces spell casting.

Vengeful Target (Ex)

At 11th level, if the mage hunter is the target of an arcane spellcaster’s spell, he gains a +2 bonus to attacks and damage against that spellcaster after the first spell. Each successive spell that targets the mage hunter, up to 3 more times, adds an additional +1 bonus against the spellcaster, for a maximum of +5 to attacks and damage. These bonuses last for one minute after the mage hunter was last targeted by a spell, or until the provoking spellcaster dies.

This ability replaces quarry.

Mage Scourge (Ex)

At 19th level, the mage hunter automatically confirms critical hits made against an arcane spell caster that has targeted him with a spell in the last hour.

This ability replaces improved quarry.

Master Mage Hunter (Ex)

A mage hunter of 20th level becomes a master mage hunter. He can always move at full speed while using Survival to follow tracks without penalty. He can, as a standard action, make a single attack against an arcane spellcaster at his full attack bonus. If the attack hits, the target takes damage normally and must make a Will save or lose all ability to cast spells or use spell-like abilities for the next 24 hours. The DC of this save is equal to 10 + 1/2 the ranger’s level + the ranger’s Wisdom modifier. A mage hunter can use this ability four times per day, but not against the same creature more than once in a 24-hour period.

This ability alters master hunter.



About mmiller

Mike Miller first discovered RPG’s in the days of TSR. The mention of a beholder or mind flayer still twists his guts with nervous dread, though now with a tinge of nostalgia. He had no publishing experience prior to writing for the OGN, but has long enjoyed creating histories and legends for his homebrewed worlds.

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