The Wild Huntsman

Expanded Spell List The Wild Huntsman 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. Wild Huntsman Expanded Spells Spell Level Spells 1st hunter’s mark, hunter’s pace* 2nd pass without trace, wolfbane trap* 3rd frozen lance*, haste 4th dominate beast, locate creature 5th cone of cold, nemesis* Huntsman’s Disciple At 1st level, you gain proficiency in the Survival skill. When you encounter the tracks of a creature, you can summon a spiritual hound to lead you, granting you advantage on checks to track your quarry. It can track targets over water and by scent. The spiritual hound disappears if you roll initiative. Black Ice Also at 1st level, you can call on your connection to the cold winds of the blizzard to carry you to your prey, closing off their escape. As a bonus action, you can move up to 30 feet toward a hostile creature you can see. If you’re mounted, your mount can move instead of you. If you make an attack roll targeting the creature before the end of this turn, polished ice forms in a 5-foot radius centered on the creature, creating difficult terrain that lasts until the start of your next turn. You ignore difficult terrain created by this effect. Pale Rider Starting at 6th level, you learn to summon a loyal steed from the Huntsman’s stable. You can cast find steed without expending a spell slot. When cast in this way, its casting time is one action, and you can choose to have the steed appear underneath you, moving you instantly to the saddle. While you are mounted on the steed, you can choose to redirect any damage that it would take to yourself. Your steed does not recover hit points whenever you cast the spell again, but does recover all lost hit points whenever you finish a short or long rest.
The Black-hearted Killer The Wild Huntsman is a primal thing, dressed in the trappings of a man. It speaks with a voice that sounds like the cracking of ice and soft footfalls upon the snow, demanding a display of strength and prowess from those that come before it. Anyone who impresses the Huntsman is allowed to live, regardless of their former station. Those who fail are killed, with rare exception. The survivors are tasked with aiding the Huntsman in his pursuit, and are gifted a weapon and a quarry, often far beyond any reasonable request. A single hunter armed with naught but a knife is asked to kill a bear, while a party of three might be instructed to hunt down a deadly winter hydra. The Huntsman demands to see the dominance of mortal races over the beasts that lurk within the darkness, and is as merciless as the blizzard at its back. The Horn in the Night For those who manage to kill their quarry, often through wit or guile, the Huntsman is generous in its gifts, granting beasts to command and weapons to wield. Those who manage to triumph through strength of arms or physical might are lauded with an invitation to the Huntsman’s private lodge, accessible through any snowbound glade or windswept peak. There the hunters gather and feast, reveling in their prowess and remarking upon the trophies they have gathered. There is a price to such joy, however, and it is one paid in a grim toll upon the mind. Those who travel to the Huntsman’s domain and call upon this dark elemental as a host find themselves growing ever colder in both body and spirit, becoming as cruel and callous as the lord of the manor itself. Those who retain compassion and benevolence best are those who distance themselves from the Huntsman and seek the company of other mortals. This matters little to the Huntsman, as it cares not for the activities of its riders so long as they come when called, responding to the summons of the Wild Hunt when it rides across the night sky. Humanity or Death Those who go willingly to the Huntsman, seeking it so that they can make a deal or bargain, face the same test as those who are forced into his game. These souls are known as frozen riders, for they inherit a fraction of the Huntsman’s control over ice and snow, while also claiming his hounds and steeds as their own. The eldritch power they wield is as wicked as the weapons they favor and often twists their bodies into mockeries of their former selves. Others, however, are cursed by the Huntsman, having slain a creature that the ambitious master had sought as his own prey. These individuals have their souls torn asunder and the wild creature’s spirit forced inside, making them fight to retain their sanity and control. Bring forth the Huntsman The Wild Huntsman is rarely bound by the planar laws, appearing wherever there is a good hunt to be found, so it is fully compatible with almost any world or setting. When introducing the Huntsman, decide when it arrived, how many are aware of its presence and its deeds, and what creature or task it has arrived to slay or accomplish. How do the people of the world react? How does the landscape change in accordance to its wishes? Does it desire a blizzard to bring devastation, or is there merely a light chill in the air, so that the hunt can occur as nature intended?
104 If your steed has been reduced to 0 hit points, it cannot be summoned again using this feature until you finish a long rest. At 14th level, you can re-summon a fallen steed after you finish a short rest. Hounds of the Hunt At 10th level, you learn to call to the Huntsman’s favored servants. You gain resistance to cold damage, and are not subject to exhaustion gained from cold environments or high altitudes. As an action, you can summon a pack of the Huntsman’s hounds to an empty space within 30 feet of you. These hounds use the statistics adjacent to this feature. These hounds understand your commands and obey you without hesitation. The hounds act on your initiative count. They also gain additional maximum hit points equal to your warlock level. Whenever your pack is reduced to 0 hit points, they vanish into frozen mist. You can also dismiss your hounds at any time as an action, causing them to disappear. If your pack has been reduced to 0 hit points, it cannot be summoned again until you finish a long rest. The hounds recover all lost hit points whenever you finish a long rest. Fimbulwinter At 14th level, the cold winds of the boreal forests come at your call. You, your steed, and your hounds ignore difficult terrain while in cold regions, and your hounds and steed also gain resistance to cold damage. While you are in a cold region, you and creatures you control emit a magical aura that creates icy difficult terrain in a 10-foot radius. Whenever you finish a long rest, you can choose to perform a ritual that will gradually change the climate in a 10-mile radius to become cold and snowbound by an unnatural blizzard for 24 hours. This needs to be performed only once in mountainous or cold environments, twice in temperate regions, or three times in warm, tropical lands to take effect. Creatures not native to the cold have disadvantage on Survival and Perception checks while within the area of your Fimbulwinter once it reaches full effect. Creatures of your choosing are immune to this effect and to any exhaustion from being exposed to a cold environment. If you fail to perform this ritual again before the effect fades, the blizzard will cease one hour later, and the snow and ice will melt as normal.

Traits of the Frozen Rider Those who have made a pact with the Wild Huntsman are often known as frozen riders by other practitioners of the eldritch arts, for obvious reasons. They seek out new prey and hunt for the glory of their master, and may be called upon as bounty hunters or other pursuers of mortals when they are freed from their duties to their patron. Consider adding one or more of these traits to your character when creating a warlock or after slaying a deadly foe in the Huntsman’s name:
d20 Trait 1 You enjoy the outdoors immensely. 2 You harry your foes before killing them. 3 You view other warlocks as kin, even as you challenge them for dominance. 4 You boast of your kills at every opportunity. 5 You take a trophy from everything you hunt. 6 You feel comfortable in cold weather. 7 You prefer to cover your armor in trophies of your past adventures. 8 You frequently mock weaknesses you see. 9 You count actions over words. 10 You love the taste of meat. 11 Your skin is always coated in a thin layer of frost. 12 Your irises become a pale white color. 13 Your blood freezes when exposed to air. 14 Your skin is cold to the touch. 15 Clothing or armor you wear for long periods of time becomes covered in murals of hunting and sport. 16 Your weapons gradually become blackened. 17 A helm or mask appears in place of your face. 18 Spikes of black metal sprout from your skin whenever you are enraged. 19 When you cast a spell, a swirl of snow spirals around you, and the air grows chill. 20 Your beasts bear your mark, and wear it proudly.