Bounty Hunter

Description

The Bounty Hunter is a ruthless mercenary, worshipping little besides the price on his target's head, recognizing few laws save the contractual distinction between "kill" and "capture." He may be found serving the state, capturing criminals and bringing them to justice: or he may serve the shadowy lords of the underworld, avenging the twisted honor found among thieves and criminals. Pursuit of his quarry may take him through a thousand hostile environments, to foreign lands, even to alien planes. He is a hunter of men.
The Bounty Hunter's vocation is rigorous and demanding at every level: physical, psychological, even moral. It requires a sure hand and a stable mind.
To be a Bounty Hunter, a thief must have minimum scores of 11 in every ability except Charisma. One thing that doesn't really matter to a tough, independent thief like this is whether or not people like him.
A further requirement is that the Bounty Hunter be of a nonlawful alignment. The reasons for this are discussed below.

Role

It is important to draw a distinction between the Bounty Hunter and the Assassin, for their vocations are similar.
The Assassin is most often part of a larger network or organization — either a society of Assassins for hire, or a guild or crime family, or even a government.
The Assassin is retained by that organization to discreetly eliminate its enemies; he is strictly a killer. The Assassin also is a predominantly urban figure, though his missions may take him out of that setting on occasion. Most organizations that have Assassins would deny their existence, because of the highly illegal and unpopular nature of their activities.
The Bounty Hunter, by contrast, is a loner. He may be solicited directly by an employer, but more often he simply learns of a price offered for the body (living or dead) of some person and goes after him.
While the Assassin requires secrecy and anonymity, the Bounty Hunter thrives on infamy. Fear leads his prey to make mistakes, and each such mistake brings the Bounty Hunter one step closer to success. While an Assassin is often hired to kill relatively normal, often unsuspecting people, the Bounty Hunter is tracking fugitives — people who know who's after them, and are therefore exceptionally desperate and dangerous.
Pursuit of such people may lead the Bounty Hunter to literally any place, even to other planes of existence (if the prospective reward will make the venture worthwhile), and so the Bounty Hunter becomes adept at survival and tracking in all manner of hostile environments.
Bounty Hunters do not track only fugitives. They may be hired to perform such tasks as kidnapping, freeing kidnapped persons, or (especially at lower levels, when they are still developing their skills) recovering stolen property.
The law and authorities do not always look kindly upon Bounty Hunters, though they will permit their existence so that they, too, may benefit from the manhunters' expertise. For the same reason, thieves' guilds tolerate the Bounty Hunters, despite the fact that almost no Hunter would ever join their ranks.

Weapon Proficiencies

The Bounty Hunter is permitted the use of any weapon. As part of his persona and fearsome public image, a Bounty Hunter will often gain proficiency in a rare or bizarre weapon, such as the khopesh sword or man-catcher. Non-thief weapons take up two of the Bounty Hunter's weapon proficiency slots, but he is granted a bonus slot at 1st level.
Example: Borg Tartan takes the Bounty Hunter thief kit. This means he has 3 initial weapon proficiency slots. Two he fills with a nonthief weapon, two-handed sword, and in the third he takes the hand crossbow.

Nonweapon Proficiencies

Bonus

Tracking

Recommended

Alertness, Animal Handling/Training, Animal Noise, Boating, Direction Sense, Fire-building, Information Gathering, Herbalism, Hunting, Intimidation, Observation, Riding, Set Snares, Survival, Trailing

Skill Progression

Bounty Hunters make frequent use of almost all thief skills, except perhaps pick pockets. Note that "pick pockets" includes all sorts of delicate feats of manual dexterity, such as slipping poison or a "mickey" into a drink. Deadly poisoning is more frequently the province of the Assassin. but a carefully placed, powerful sedative may save a Bounty Hunter a great deal of trouble. To have access to sedatives or understand their use, a Bounty Hunter must have herbalism proficiency.

Equipntent

Besides the usual range of thieily equipment, Bounty Hunters take interest in items for killing and capturing their prey. Special items from the equipment chapter, such as blade boots, death knives, folding bows, and the like, are sometimes taken as favorite weapons. A rope for holding live prisoners is, of course, vital, and it may also be used for setting snares. Blinding powder and incapacitating poisons (paralytic ones or those that make their victim ill and helpless) may also have value.
Bountv Hunters make little use of deadly poisons — that is more the province of the stealthv Assassin. If a Bounty Hunter is out to kill a fugitive, he probably won't be worrying about how messv it will be.

Special Benefits

None

Special Hindrances

None

Races

Members of any race could become Bounty Hunters. Among the non-humans, however, those of mixed blood (e.g., half-elves) favor it most, since they are often outsiders, loners not accepted by either side of their ancestry.

[Complete Thief's Handbook]