Night Stalker
Working from deep within the shadows, the Night Stalker plies his trade. These paragons of silent and unseen murder have achieved a level of perfection in the feared art of Assassination that in some cultures would be revered as a strange form of ascension into a dark divinity. Legends are whispered about how killers, mercenaries, and warlords have theirs saints too, the gift of divine inspiration not being only limited to goodly mortals. The Night Stalker understands, however, that their skill has come at a heavy price, much higher than even the very powerful are willing to pay. This champion of killing darkness has given their life to the pursuit of the perfect kill, spending countless hours in training learning how to meld form and grace with power and the manipulation of darkness.
The path to becoming a Nightstalker is unclear, as the few other Night Stalkers in existence do not seek out apprentices and rarely accept trainees. As part of their training, many Night Stalkers must seek out an immortal bathed in eternal night, a journey that is considered impossible by even the mightiest of Wizards and Clerics. A mortal embarking on this path can simply go mad from the rigors of training, as every day involves a trial of life and death, a process that continues for years. There is no quitting the path of the Nightstalker. Once training has begun, attempting to leave results only in death at the hands of the darkness they attempted to wield.
Currently, there are no Night Stalkers in organized society. Partly because such a person must keep their profession a secret should they wish to avoid angering the forces they have allied with, but more so because once a Night Stalker’s training is complete, the knowledge and hardening they have gone through makes it impossible to look at the mundanity of mortal existence with anything more than contempt, disgust, or at best complete apathy.
Night Stalker I
The first stage of Night Stalker training involves the destruction and then agonizing rebuilding of the physical body past mortal limitations. All of this is done in complete blackness, so the body can also begin to relearn how to see in much the same way it will have to relearn to move. The skill they gain from this training allows them to wield any weapon with dexterity rather than strength. This mastery of movement increases their speed dramatically and allows them to hide among the shadows freely as if they were walking in broad daylight.
Lastly, they learn the most feared ability of their profession, the Brutal Assassination. This skill allows them to potentially slay an unawares target in a single strike. As the Night Stalker grows in experience, this ability, more so than any weapon, becomes the perfect tool for murder.
Prerequisites
- Martial Rank 6, Stalker and Brute Disciplines
- Shadow Rank 1
- Mental Rank 3
- Backstab Class Feature
- Relentless Slaughter Class Specialty
- Stealth Rank 5 and Tumble Rank 5
- Hidden Combatant Stance and Cleave Techniques
- Improved Initiative and Sprinter Feats
- Weapon Proficiency in at least one Rank 3 Two-Handed Blade.
- You must have an Experience Rating of 5 or higher
- Cost: 3 Destiny Points
Features
Night Stalker II
The Night Stalker has mastered seeing without sight, and no darkness limits their vision. They walk among the shadows with ease and can slip in and out of them at will. This supernatural blending of flesh and darkness also allows the Night Stalker to create a clone known as an Umbral Decoy, comprised of the murderer’s own shadow. While not as resilient as the Night Stalker, it can fight almost as hard, as if it were an extension of the warrior’s body. This ability is extremely taxing, however, and is normally reserved for a battle that must be ended quickly.
The Brutal Assassination Power improves in its deadly efficacy, and now has a better chance to inflict severe injuries, enough to disable almost any target.
Prerequisites
- Night Stalker I
- Martial Rank 7
- Shadow Rank 2
- Cost: 2 Destiny Points
Features
The Decoy has Hitpoints equal to twice your Healing Value, but otherwise has statistics equal to your own (i.e. Defenses, Skills, Movement, Saving Throws, ect). It can utilize any of your Basic Martial Techniques, Physical Maneuvers, Mental Methods, and Class Feature Abilities (though not Talent abilities), but you must pay any Energy costs associated with the use of those abilities. The Decoy's attack bonus is equal to your own, and it has visual duplicates of all your equipment (worn at the time of manifestation). While it gains the benefits of any Item Bonuses imparted by your magic items, it cannot otherwise utilize the abilities granted by such items. Similarly, any attempts to remove items from the Decoy (either through theft or disarming) fail, as the item immediately discorporate into a shadowy mist and return to the Decoy's form.
The Decoy is indistinguishable from you, except through the use of abilities that can pierce magical forms of concealment (such as True Seeing or Deific Sight), which will cause the Decoy to appear semi-translucent.
You maintain a mental link with your Decoy at all times, allowing you to communicate with it. It understands your instructions and desires implicitly, and will act accordingly, even if you are unconscious. The Decoy can interact with simple physical objects and can transport items (anything you can carry), though the items are left behind if the Decoy is dismissed, dispelled, or disrupted.
When the Decoy is reduced to 0 hitpoints, it immediately discorporates and this ability is disrupted. The Umbral Decoy functions as a Simple Monster with regard to Injuries. The Decoy cannot be targeted by abilities with the Healing Keyword.Night Stalker III
The Night Stalker perfects their meld with darkness. They move with terrifying quickness, a simple adjustment taking them swiftly across an area as fast as the shadows themselves. This binding of shadows also allows them to move interchangeably with their clone, the line between the physical and the ephemeral forever blurred. Their sight has now grown completely in tune with nothingness, and the Night Stalker can now see in pitch black without restriction, gaining Blindsense.
Finally, Brutal Assassination becomes perfected, and the Night Stalker can now end an unwary mortal target with a single stroke, knowing exactly where to strike a body to render it inert.
Prerequisites
- Night Stalker II
- Martial Rank 8
- Cost: 2 Destiny Points