1. Notes

Demon Hunter (Class) (OSRIC)

DEMON HUNTER (OSRIC3)

Demon Hunters are members of a secret society that protects their native lands from demons and the influence of Chaos. They are skilled warriors specially trained in fighting demons, detecting corruption, and containing its aftermath.

Demon Hunters can prepare and safely consume potent alchemical tonics derived from rare herbs.


THE DEMON HUNTER CHARACTER

Minimum Scores: STR 9, CON 12, WIS 12

Hit Die Type: d8 (max 11 at 10th level)

Alignment: Lawful Good, Lawful Neutral, or True Neutral only

Prime Requisite Bonus: 10% bonus to XP if STR is 16+

Armour/Shield Allowed: Leather armour, chainmail; shields

Weapons Allowed: Any

Weapon Proficiencies: 3 (additional proficiency at levels 5, 8, 11, 14, and 17)

Non-Proficiency Penalty: –2 to hit

Weapon Specialisation: Available (see Section 1.3.13)

Initial Gold Pieces: 5d4 × 10


Alignment Restriction

Demon Hunters may only be Lawful Good, Lawful Neutral, or True Neutral. If a Demon Hunter ever shifts to a Chaotic alignment, they lose all special class abilities and become a Fighter of the same level. Regaining Demon Hunter status requires a special quest, at the GM's discretion.


CLASS ABILITIES

Favoured Foes

Demon Hunters deal additional damage when attacking demons, qliphoth, and undead. The bonus applies to every successful attack against these creatures and increases with level.

Levels Damage Bonus
1–3 +1
4–6 +2
7–9 +3
10–12 +4
13+ +5

Relic Sense

By focusing for one turn, the Demon Hunter detects magical relic effects, including corruption, demonic taint, and haunted sites, within 120 feet.

The sense reveals direction and relative strength (low, medium, high). No further details are gained.

Usable once per exploration turn.


Corruption Tracking

Demon Hunters can follow lingering traces of demonic, qliphothic, or undead corruption.

  • Requires one turn examining signs or residue
  • Works only where corruption has occurred
  • Cannot be used to track mundane creatures

Base chance of success:

Setting Chance
Wilderness 33%
Dungeon, ruins, grave site, or corrupted location 50%
Trail less than one day old +15%

Success reveals direction, approximate age, and whether the corruption is intensifying or fading.


Alchemical Tonics

Demon Hunters can prepare and safely consume potent alchemical tonics derived from rare herbs.

  • Drinking a tonic takes one round
  • Effects last 1 hour unless noted
  • Only one tonic may be active at a time
  • A tonic requires access to its associated herb
  • The Demon Hunter may prepare up to three tonics total, but may maintain a larger collection of herbs

TONIC TABLE

Tonic Effect Herb Herb ID Biome
Ash Heart Advantage on saves vs fear Lilywhite H9 Marsh
Bone Binder Undead struck must save or be slowed Wallowmost H17 Forest
Cat Essence +2 initiative, +1 surprise Fenob H4 Forest
Clear Blood Advantage on saves vs poison Lankswith H8 Marsh
Ember Blood Weapons count as magical Arrowhame H1 Mountain
Frost Veil Ignore cold penalties Moonhaw H11 Mountain
Ghostlight Elixir +2 saves vs fear and necromancy Spirithame H15 Mountain
Hunter's Senses Detect movement or breathing within 10', even if invisible Grue's Ear H6 Underground
Iron Mind Advantage on saves vs charm Smottlebread H14 Forest
Mindthread Read surface thoughts of one creature within 5' for 1d6 turns Rigweed H21 Plains
Night Sight See in utter blackness Moonhaw H11 Mountain
Nightwatch Draught No sleep required for 24 hours; no fatigue penalties from missed rest Karstem H20 Plains
Oracle Smoke Brief vision or omen Witch's Oyster H19 Forest
Pain Suppressant Ignore wound penalties; once per dose, stay at 1 HP instead of 0 Hogscap H7 Hills
Quick Pulse Act first next round Wayfarrow H18 Plains
Radiant Salt +2 damage vs favoured foes Spirithame H15 Mountain
Sharp Ear +1 to Listen; detect sound at twice normal range for 3d4 turns Nyanpa Leaf H22 Plains
Stone Breath +2 AC for one encounter Bosun's Balm H3 Marsh
Swallow Draught Heal 1 HP per turn for 6 turns when injured; may be used before combat Marshwick H10 Marsh
Wolf Draught +2 Strength Sallow Parsley H13 Hills

Sequester the Corrupted

When fighting a demon, qliphoth, or incorporeal undead, the Demon Hunter may perform a containment rite to bind its corruption into a vessel called a Torma (Spirit Trap). See the Torma entry for more information.

  • Each attempt consumes a prepared vessel
  • Prepared vessels are deposited with The Church

Saints

Demon Hunters venerate saints associated with martyrdom, binding, and vigilance.

  • Immune to fear caused by demons and undead
  • +2 bonus on saving throws vs possession

Saints may demand vows, penance, or intervention through dreams or omens.


Weapon Specialisation (Optional Rule)

Demon Hunters may take weapon specialisation during character creation. Specialising costs two proficiency slots for melee weapons and crossbows, or three proficiency slots for missile weapons other than crossbows. The weapon type must be exact — you cannot specialise in "swords"; you must choose "longsword", "short sword", and so on.

When attacking with your specialised weapon, add +1 to hit and +2 to damage. These bonuses are not magical and do not allow you to strike creatures that require magical weapons to hit.

Specialisation also increases your attack rate. For melee weapons, the specialised attack rate replaces (and does not stack with) your normal Melee Attack Combination progression.

ATTACK RATE WITH SPECIALISED WEAPON

Demon Hunter LevelMelee WeaponPulled Bow (long or short)Light CrossbowHeavy Crossbow
1–63/2RoF 2 (normal)RoF 1 (normal)RoF 0.5 (normal)
7–122/1RoF 3RoF 2 (odd rounds only)RoF 1
13+5/2RoF 4RoF 2RoF 2 (odd rounds only)

HIGHER-LEVEL ABILITIES

2nd Level — Heroic Assault

A heroic assault can only target enemies that could not have rolled 8 or more hit points on their hit dice (a creature with 1d6+1 hit points is a valid target; a creature with 2d4 or 1d8 hit dice is not). When you make a heroic assault, you act on the first segment of the round, regardless of initiative. You can attack one valid target per level you have in the Demon Hunter class. If you make a heroic assault, you cannot also make a regular attack or a Melee Attack Combination in the same round.

8th Level — Melee Attack Combination (3/2)

You can make 3 melee attacks over the course of 2 rounds. Round 1: you attack in segment 1 and segment 10, regardless of initiative. Round 2: you do not get an extra attack, and you attack in the normal initiative sequence. Round 3: the sequence starts over. If something delays your second attack so it would occur after segment 10, you do not get that attack.

This applies to non-specialised weapons. If you have taken weapon specialisation and are using your specialised weapon, your Melee Attack Combination improves to 2/1 with that weapon.

8th Level — Mighty Blow

When you have so many bonuses that the number you need on your to-hit roll is actually negative, convert the negative number to a positive and add it to the damage die.

Example: A 20th level Demon Hunter with 19 Strength and a +5 sword attacks an AC 2 [18] creature. The hunter needs a –8 to hit it, so adds +8 to the damage roll.

9th Level — Sanctum

At 9th level, a Demon Hunter may establish a sanctum used for containment, training, and ritual defense against corruption. This functions as a stronghold. The Demon Hunter may choose to attract followers at this level — typically a mix of junior hunters, investigators, and consecrated clergy.

15th Level — Melee Attack Combination (2/1)

You are able to make 2 attack rolls per round. Each round you can attack in segment 1 and segment 10, regardless of initiative. If something delays your second attack so it would occur after segment 10, you do not get that attack.

This applies to non-specialised weapons. If you have taken weapon specialisation and are using your specialised weapon, your Melee Attack Combination improves to 5/2 with that weapon (from the 3/2 improvement granted at 8th level).


DEMON HUNTER LEVEL ADVANCEMENT

LevelXP NeededHit Dice (d8)To-Hit BonusNotes
102*+0
22,2503+1Heroic Assault
34,5004+2
49,5005+3
520,0006+4
640,0007+5
790,0008+6
8150,0009+7Melee Attack Combination (3/2); Mighty Blow
9225,00010+8Sanctum
10325,00011+9
11650,00011+2†+10
12975,00011+4†+11
131,300,00011+6†+12
141,625,00011+8†+13
151,950,00011+10†+14Melee Attack Combination (2/1)
162,275,00011+12†+15
172,600,00011+14†+16
182,925,00011+16†+17
193,250,00011+18†+18
203,575,00011+20†+19

*Like the Ranger, the Demon Hunter begins with 2 hit dice at 1st level. If you have a Constitution bonus, it applies to both starting hit dice.

†After 11th level, no further hit dice or Constitution adjustments are gained. Instead you receive a fixed +2 hp per level. Each level beyond 11th requires 325,000 additional XP.

Favoured Foe Bonus by Level Band

Levels  Damage Bonus
1–3 +1
4–6 +2
7–9 +3
10–12 +4
13+ +5

DEMON HUNTER SAVING THROWS

Level Aimed Items Breath Weapons  Death/Paralysis/Poison  Petrifaction/Polymorph  Spells (Unlisted)
1–2 16 17 14 15 17
3–4 15 16 13 14 16
5–6 13 13 11 12 14
7–8 12 12 10 11 13
9–10 10 9 8 9 11
11–12  9 8 7 8 10
13–14  7 5 5 6 8
15–16  6 4 4 5 7
17–18  5 4 3 4 6
19+ 4 3 2 3 5

(Aimed Magic Items = rods, staves, wands)


DEMON HUNTER TO-HIT TABLE

Uses the Fighter/Ranger/Paladin shared to-hit table (OSRIC3 Table 1.3.4.4C / 1.3.9.4C).

Level AC 10 [10] AC 9 [11] AC 8 [12] AC 7 [13] AC 6 [14] AC 5 [15] AC 4 [16] AC 3 [17] AC 2 [18] AC 1 [19] AC 0 [20]
1 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
2 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
3 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
4 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
6 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
7 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
8 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
9 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
11 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
12 –1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
13 –2 –1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
14 –3 –2 –1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
15 –4 –3 –2 –1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
16 –5 –4 –3 –2 –1 0 1 2 3 4 5
17 –6 –5 –4 –3 –2 –1 0 1 2 3 4
18 –7 –6 –5 –4 –3 –2 –1 0 1 2 3
19 –8 –7 –6 –5 –4 –3 –2 –1 0 1 2
20+ –9 –8 –7 –6 –5 –4 –3 –2 –1 0 1

DEMON HUNTER HERB FORAGING

Demon Hunters are trained to sense places where specific banes, wards, and purifying plants take root. Unlike rangers, they do not gather casually. Each search is deliberate, exhaustive, and final.

A Demon Hunter may attempt to locate one specific herb while exploring a hex.

When a Search Occurs

  • A Demon Hunter may attempt one herb search per hex, per herb.
  • The attempt represents the full course of exploring that hex.
  • Searching does not consume extra time beyond normal hex exploration, but it precludes searching for other herbs in that hex.

If the search succeeds, the herb is found and the hex becomes a permanent source of that herb. Only one source of a given herb can exist in any particular biome.

If the search fails, that herb does not exist in that hex. It may not be searched for again in that hex by any means. This result is absolute.

Base Chance of Success

Demon Hunter Level Chance to Locate Herb
1 20%
2 30%
3 40%
4 50%
5 60%
6 70%
7 80%
8 90%
9 100%
10+ 110%

At 100%, success is automatic unless modified downward. At 110%, the Demon Hunter can overcome moderate penalties.

Universal Penalties — apply each once if applicable; these are the only modifiers.

Overworked Land (–20%): The hex has been heavily impacted by frequent travel, settlement, repeated harvesting, war, fire, mining, or long-term occupation.

Magical Suppression (–20%): The hex lies within 2 hexes of a ley marker, standing stones, mandala infrastructure, or a major ritual stabilization site.

Resolution

Apply penalties to the base chance. If the final chance is 0%, the herb is not present — no roll. Otherwise, roll percentile dice; success occurs on a result equal to or under the final chance.

Outcomes

Success: The Demon Hunter identifies a stable, renewable source of the herb. The hex may be marked as containing that herb. Others may harvest it later with normal rules, but only Demon Hunters can discover new sources.

Failure: The herb does not exist in that hex. No further attempts are possible. This represents exhaustive certainty, not missed chance.

Failure does not indicate error. It indicates absence.