Detect Curse (Ex)

At 3rd level a witch hunter gains detect curse. This functions as the detect magic cantrip, except the witch hunter detects and receives information about curses rather than magic. If the curse is also a spell (such as bestow curse), the witch hunter gains exactly the information detect magic would reveal. If the curse is not also a spell (such asMummy Rot), instead of learning the spell’s level he learns the curse’s save DC and instead of learning it’s school of magic he learns its frequency.

Once a witch hunter has focused this ability on a cursed creature or object for 4 rounds, he may make a Knowledge (religion) check to determine the effect of the curse. The DC of this skill check is 10 + (curse’s save DC).

Spellbane (Su)

At 5th level the witch hunter can attempt to use the spellbane power as a standard action. The witch hunter makes a melee touch attack. If it is successful, the target is affected by the spellbane and this counts as a successful use of the ability. Spellbane functions as the targeted dispel ability of the dispel magic spell. A witch hunter may have a number of successful uses of spellbane per day equal to 3 + his Wisdom modifier.

Disruptive

At 7th level the witch hunter gains the Disruptive feat as a bonus feat. The witch hunter does not need to meet the feat’s prerequisites.

Cursebreaker (Su)

At 9th level the witch hunter can use the cursebreaker power as a standard action. The witch hunter makes a melee touch attack. If it is successful, the target is affected by the cursebreaker, which functions as the remove curse spell. This counts as a one use of the witch hunter’s spellbane power.

Witch Focus (Ex)

The witch hunter is always studying lore regarding witches and, in time, learns their powers and weaknesses better than anyone else. At 9th level the witch hunter gains a +1 bonus (type?) to all attack rolls, Knowledge checks, and dispel checks (including those from spellbane, cursebreaker, and greater spellbane) made in regards to a witch or a witch’s powers, as well as a +1 competence bonus to AC against attacks made by witches. These bonuses increase to +2 at 13th level, and to +3 at 17th level.

Advanced Talents

At 10th level, the witch hunter chooses one of the following advanced talents. If he prefers, the witch hunter may instead choose a devotee talent (though he still may not choose any talent more than once). He does so again at 12th, 14th, 16th, 18th, and 20th levels. Advanced talents follow the same rules as devotee talents except where noted otherwise.

Grim Determination (Ex): With this advanced talent, the witch hunter can focus his will to overcome the mystic energy of a potentially lethal magic attack to take less damage than he otherwise would. Once per day, when he would be reduced to 0 or fewer hit points by damage from a spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability (not a weapon, trap, or mundane affliction), the witch hunter can attempt to suppress the magic damage by sheer force of will. To use this ability the witch hunter must attempt a Will save (DC = damage dealt) as an immediate action. If the save succeeds, he takes only half damage from the attack; if it fails he takes full damage. The witch hunter must be aware of the attack and able to concentrate to use this ability. If the witch hunter is flat-footed or prohibited from taking standard actions, he cannot use this ability (despite the fact that using grim determination is not, itself, a standard action). Dumbfounding Blow* (Ex): A witch hunter with this ability can deliver blows that baffle and bedevil his targets. A target struck with a dumbfounding blow takes 2 points of Wisdom damage in addition to the attack’s normal damage. A witch hunter must have selected the canny eye talent prior to selecting this talent. Greater Magic Resistance (Ex): The witch hunter takes 4 hit points less damage from all spells and spell-like abilities (minimum 0). Additionally, when the target of an ability drain or ability damage, the witch hunter takes 2 point less drain or damage (minimum 0). A witch hunter must have magic resistance to select greater magic resistance. The two abilities do not stack. Perplexing Blow* (Ex): A witch hunter with this ability can deliver blows that bewilder and confound his targets. A target struck with a perplexing blow takes 2 points of Intelligence damage in addition to the attack’s normal damage. A witch hunter must have selected the canny eye talent prior to selecting this talent. Slippery Mind (Ex): This ability represents the with hunter’s ability to wriggle free from magical effects that would otherwise control or compel him. If a witch hunter with slippery mind is affected by an enchantment spell or effect and fails his saving throw, he can attempt it again 1 round later at the same DC. He gets only this one extra chance to succeed on his saving throw. Unnerving Blow* (Ex): A witch hunter with this ability can deliver blows that distress and unnerve his targets. A target struck with an unnerving blow takes 2 points of Charisma damage in addition to the attack’s normal damage. A witch hunter must have selected the canny eye talent prior to selecting this talent. Witch Tracker (Ex): The witch hunter gains the scent ability, but may only use it on witches.

Spellbreaker

At 11th level the witch hunter gains the Spellbreaker feat as a bonus feat. The witch hunter does not need to meet the feat’s prerequisites.

Backlash (Su)

At 13th level the witch hunter gains the backlash ability. Whenever the witch hunter is the target of a spell from the divination or enchantment schools of magic, the creature casting the spell must make a Will save (DC of 10 + the witch hunter’s level + the witch hunter’s Wisdom modifier). On a failed save, the caster takes 2d6 points of damage. Because the backlash takes effect after the spell is cast, it cannot disrupt the spellcaster.

Greater Spellbane (Su)

At 15th level, when a foe strikes the witch hunter with a melee attack, the witch hunter may affect that foe with his spellbane power as an immediate action. This counts as one of the witch hunter’s daily uses of the spellbane ability.

Uncursed (Su)

At 19th level, the witch hunter is immune to all curse afflictions.

Mystic Null (Su)

At 20th level, the witch hunter becomes an expert at ending magic effects. He no longer has a daily limit to uses of the spellbane, cursebreaker, and greater spellbane abilities.

Favored Class Bonuses

Instead of receiving an additional skill rank or hit point whenever they gain a level in a Favored Class, some races have the option of choosing from a number of other bonuses, depending upon their Favored Classes. The following options are available to the listed race who have witch hunters as their Favored Class, and unless otherwise stated, the bonus applies each time you select the listed Favored Class reward.

Archetypes & Alternate Class Features

When a character selects a class, he must choose to use the standard class features found or those listed in one of the archetypes presented here. Each alternate class feature replaces a specific class feature from its parent class. For example, the elemental fist class feature of the monk of the four winds replaces the stunning fist class feature of the monk. When an archetype includes multiple class features, a character must take all of them—often blocking the character from ever gaining certain familiar class features, but replacing them with equally powerful options. All of the other class features found in the core class and not mentioned among the alternate class features remain unchanged and are acquired normally when the character reaches the appropriate level (unless noted otherwise). A character who takes an alternate class feature does not count as having the class feature that was replaced when meeting any requirements or prerequisites.

A character can take more than one archetype and garner additional alternate class features, but none of the alternate class features can replace or alter the same class feature from the core class as another alternate class feature. For example, a paladin could not be both a hospitaler and an undead scourge since they both modify the smite evil class feature and both replace the aura of justice class feature. A paladin could, however, be both an undead scourge and a warrior of the holy light, since none of their new class features replace the same core class feature.

Archetypes are a quick and easy way to specialize characters of a given class, adding fun and flavorful new abilities to already established adventurers. Characters may take more than one archetype if they meet the requirements.

Table: Witch Hunter Archetypes / Alternate Class Features

The Witch Hunter in Your Campaign

It’s easy to color witch hunters as heroes or villains simply by virtue of whether the witches in your campaign are mostly good or evil. Many game groups have built-in assumptions regarding witch hunters based on how such characters have acted in favored literature or other RPG campaigns, and they may use those assumptions to immediately judge any new witch hunter introduced to the storyline. In many ways, these prejudices play to one theme of the witch hunter class—the interconnected relationship between witches and those who hunt them.

This product does not presume that witches or their hunters are uniformly evil or uniformly good. Both witchcraft and the skills used to oppose it are presented from a position of neutrality—skills no different than sword fighting or spellcasting within the context of a Pathfinder Roleplaying Game campaign. Of course, society does not always operate on pure fact and reason, and the witch hunter class gives players and GMs alike a chance to play with themes of paranoia, false accusation, mass fear, alliances of convenience, and the responsible application of power. The class (and its definition of “witch”) does not require such themes be played out any more than the fact a weapons can be made bane against humans requires examination of the good and evil men do. But for groups interested in exploring such ideas, it does lay out an obvious set of tools to enhance such plots.

A GM using this product should decide how the people living in the area the campaign begins in view witches and witch hunters. In lands with generally positive attitudes toward witches, a witch hunter may be known as a “witch slayer” or “inquisitor.” In order to operate within such lands, the witch hunter must garner and maintain a reputation for seeking out and punishing evil, and treating witches as a whole as evenhandedly as they would any other group. Witch hunters may even be presumed to be bigots, and treated as invaders from a foreign culture.

Where magic of any sort is mistrusted (or all but one class of spellcaster is feared or outlawed, as is the case in some theocracies), witch hunters may be hailed as heroes and have a broad range of fond titles such as “mage hound” or “spellslayer.” The witch hunters in such lands often present themselves as champions of the common people, using reason and determination to fight back the frightening supernatural forces that call on powers beyond those of “ordinary” folk. If even divine magic is mistrusted (or too rare from most people to have encountered it), witch hunters may take the place of paladins in the hearts of typical villagers—defenders of the innocent and slayers of the forces of evil.

More complex arrangements are also possible, combining these one-sided views and possibly twisting them. In a kingdom run by disguised hags, witches might be said to represent the nobility and claim to rule with wisdom and justice, but actually be evil tyrants. This turns witch hunters into outlaws, feared by common folk and decried as zealots while actually fighting against the forces of darkness. By the same token, an overzealous order of witch hunters might have once served a role in the defense of the good, but have gone too far in the persecution of anyone practicing witchcraft slaying the benevolent with the malignant. A campaign can be subtle and complex, with the truth and perception of witches changing significantly in various locations. Perhaps the Band of Wolves, witch hunters who operate in the Baron Kingdoms, are grim but needful warriors hunting down necromancers and demonic cultists; but the Sunrise Brothers, witch hunters who dwell in the nearby Orogone Empire, are mad with power, persecuting anyone who dares to cast spells without paying the Brothers a hefty fee for a letter of magical dispensation. The most important thing for a GM is to make sure the campaign’s standard assumptions regarding witch hunters are made clear to all the players, and particularly any player interested in running one. It can be fun to play the lone rational witch hunter, having to fight both the bigotry of your fellows and the forces of evil that seek to destroy you, but only if you know that’s what to expect when you make the character.

Using Witches In Your Campaign

Of course, how a GM uses witches is going to have a major impact on the opinion PCs form about a witch hunter. Witchcraft is not presented as inherently evil in this product, but it is a path that can easily lead to evil. Much as skill with a knife can be used to cut the ropes binding a hostage or to assassinate a noble ruler in a dark ally, witchcraft can be used for good and ill. Sadly, wicked deeds are often more discussed and better remembered by society, and thus witchcraft may gain a reputation it has not truly earned. Even though hags and rakshasa are not the only practitioners of witchcraft, good witches may be forced to operate underground because of the public’s general perceptions.

The definition of witches used throughout this product intentionally paints with a broad brush. It includes many creatures with innate spell-like abilities, which are sometimes called the “original witches.” Character classes that fall under the category of “witch” can be thought to use techniques developed from observing how natural witches work their powers. In some cases, these classes may have only a superficial connection based on their selection of spells (such as clerics and wizards who have chosen a “witchy” domain or school of magic), but the magical effects are closely enough related that a witch hunter’s powers can affect them, too. It’s easy to see how the existence of a class of dedicated hunters might affect the development of witch societies. Banding together for mutual support, some covens might felt driven to seize political power if only out of a sense of self-preservation. After infiltrating the ruling class, the covens might act openly or could prefer to remain a hidden power behind the throne. The more hidden their actions, however, the more witch hunters are likely to be convinced the covens are acting in some dark fashion. Even a coven that originally meant no harm might find itself pushed to perform evil acts to defend itself from the constant threat of witch hunters. Others might take oaths to never even sample dark magic specifically to ensure that they are never tempted into evil.

Witches may even exist in secret societies that directly oppose one another on ethical or political grounds—“dawn witches” swearing to do no harm and “dusk witches” seeking to enslave the weak. Witch hunters could even become the militant arms of such groups, actually fighting for one group of witches against another. But proof that such groups exist would be a far cry from proof that they mean harm, leaving witch hunters who care about justice (rather than merely victory) to take signs of witchcraft as just the beginning of a hunt for truth, rather than a cue that retributive action is required.

Ultimately, in a game where dragons are often color-coded and outsiders easily revealed as good or evil, witches make an excellent group to represent shades of gray. While any group may have individuals that act against the usual proclivities of their kind, witches carry less baggage of player expectation. Fiction is rife with examples of both good and evil witches, and few players will be surprised to discover the same is true in a campaign. This provides the GM many avenues to use good, evil, and neutral witches to create roleplaying opportunities and pose complex questions about who to trust—and who to hunt.