The thrill of the hunt… The promise of payment…
Darkest Dungeon
Prerequisites & Recommendations
Race: Bugbear (Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse)
Class: Level 5 Swarmkeeper Ranger (Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything)
Background: Outlander – Bounty Hunter
Items: Halberd (Weapon)
Flavor: Darkest Dungeon’s Bounty Hunter is a tenacious human that is specialized in tracking and capturing or killing its targets.
A brutally efficient single-target executioner and crowd control specialist. For the Bounty Hunter, planning is key – mark targets for bonus damage or look for opportunities to capitalize on a stunned foe. He can also wreak havoc on an enemy party’s order using his grappling hook, flashbangs and powerful uppercut.
Darkest Dungeon
Combat Skills
The Bounty Hunter has 7 attacks, let’s turn those into D&D 5e features.
COLLECT BOUNTY
Attack: Halberd (1d10 + Strength Slashing damage)
Feature: Favored Enemy (1st-level Ranger feature)
Flavor: Although technically you carry a two-handed halberd, flavor-wise you wield an hand-axe in one hand and a grappling hook in the other. Your basic hand-axe attack should not, even though you can, have a reach of more than 5 feet. We will use our increased reach for other features further down the line. The Collect Bounty skill does more damage to human enemies, you can choose 2 humanoid races with Favored Enemy to imitate this.
MARK FOR DEATH
Feature: Hunter’s Mark (1st-level spell from the Ranger spell list)
Flavor: I think I should not have to explain this, because there is no additional flavor. You can deal additional damage if a creature is marked with Hunter’s Mark in D&D or with Mark for Death in Darkest Dungeon.
COME HITHER
Attack: Halberd (1d10 + Strength Slashing damage)
Feature: Gathered Swarm (3rd-level Swarmkeeper Ranger feature)
Flavor: Your swarm takes the shape of the Bounty Hunter’s grappling hook, your attacks with this hook have a reach of 15 feet (because technically you are a bugbear and use a reach weapon). You can do one of three things with the hook:
- The attack does an additional 1d6 damage.
- You pull the creature up to 15 feet towards you if they fail a Strength saving throw.
- You pull yourself up to 5 feet towards the creature.
UPPERCUT
Attack: Halberd (1d10 + Strength Slashing damage)
Feature: Gathered Swarm (3rd-level Swarmkeeper Ranger feature)
Flavor: Technically you use the Gathered Swarm feature, just like with the Come Hither combat skill. But this time you make an attack with your hand-axe and push the target up to 15 feet back.
FLASHBANG
Spell: Entangle (1st-level spell from the Ranger spell list)
Flavor: At its core, Entangle is a spell that inflicts the Restrained condition and turns the ground into difficult terrain. Effectively it’s more like a flashbang and a smoke grenade combined. It is advised to ask your DM to change the Strength saving throw into a Constitution saving throw, which would be more fitting. Also you are recommended to reflavor all your available spells into throwables.
FINISH HIM
Attack: Halberd (1d10 + Strength Slashing damage)
Flavor: Finish Him is a Combat Skill that most of all does more damage to a creature that is stunned. The Restrained condition does sort of the same thing, increasing the chance of rolling a natural 20, a critical hit!
CALTROPS
Spell: Web (2nd-level spell from the Swarmkeeper Ranger spell list)
Flavor: Another throwable you can use to rile your foes with, are caltrops. Using the 2nd-level spell Web you cover a 20-foot square which does not lightly obscure the area, but it is difficult terrain.