Making and Running a Bounty Hunter for Your Campaign

[@dragoon4530]

That's assuming the party will run. Which they will never do. Even at level 3 versus a giant purple worm.

[@remainprofane7732]

Parties that don’t flee are the real cowards

[@brittanys9716]

I have a feeling you say this from personal experience XD

[@jamesruth100]

Yeah seeing a party run away is a one in a million event. It's not enough to throw a big ass, functionally invincible for their level, monster at them; players are stupid and think that every encounter must have a win condition that they can achieve right then and there rather than much later. Unless shit is so clearly and blatantly fucked that the only obvious option is running, such as being chased by an entire city's worth of guards, players will almost always stand their ground. In this situation, the barbarian can't rage any more and has taken some damage, but he's still alive and kicking and he's coming for the hunter. The wizard is worthless for who knows how long, so even if he stays you can basically assume him to be a non issue. At most he might run up and try clubbing you but that's unlikely cause he's aware how squishy he is. But the rogue? The rogue wouldn't run if you paid him to. No, if I know players, he's going to run straight up with that dagger and now the hunter has to deal with a weakened barbarian and a non-stop sneak attack machine. The hunter might still win but it's not going to be a clean and easy victory.

[@monsieurdorgat6864]

I mean, at least they're consistent. "WHY WON'T YOU 1v4 US, YOU COWARDLY MONSTER!?" is a bit more defensible when they themselves won't run from anything lmao

[@YinYangLogo]

@@jamesruth100 That's because DMs tend to run retreats incorrectly. Retreating using the rules of combat encounters will guarantee the retreater's death. You need to show/tell the players explicitly that retreat is a valid option if you want them to retreat. Either by having them fight an encounter in which their enemies retreat using mechanics different from combat mechanics (thus showing them that in your games, retreating is a valid option), or you have to explicitly say to them something like "you guys are very unlikely to win this fight and are very likely to all die" or even "you're supposed to run from this fight".

[@unyix2]

This is such a creative way to incorporate a seemingly simplistic plotpoint in a campaign. Anyone else could’ve just summoned up 3 Barbarians/rangers to ambush the party. I really love how you had the NPC study them and come up with counters to all their abilities and tactics overtime. I can’t wait to incorporate a similar sociopath in my campaign

[@weezact7]

That's why I love the opportunity to use enemies that have a reason to know the party's MO. Because it lets you, the DM, pull out all the stops. Though, honestly, if they got ambushed by a group of bandits, had no ammo, and the wizard lost the ability to cast spells, I have no idea why they were still headed to the monster cave at all. It's pretty clear at that point that something is up. I think my group would have turned right the fuck around. Or, at least, buy more arrows before they left. It's not like they're expensive.

[@rianantony]

@@weezact7 the poison kicked in during the trip, but I definitely feel you about the ammo part. "Oops got stolen, guess I'm ammoless forever now" isn't gonna happen

[@masterfreeman117]

I do dislike that he apparently introduced passive checks for stealth without telling the players about it.

[@stranbeeler3673]

@The God Emperor that's how stealth is supposed to work.

[@masterfreeman117]

@@stranbeeler3673 Since when? In the PHB they explicitly talk about a Stealth Check being compared to Passive Perception and never mention anything about Passive Stealth.

[@stalhein62]

I made a tortle bounty hunter wearing blue. When they killed him, his three brothers wearing orange, purple and red turned up. Now I need to make a wererat monk...

[@shadowslayer9988]

TMNT a man of culture I see.

[@WTFisTingispingis]

Cowabunga.

[@Drekromancer]

@@WTFisTingispingis Adventuring party watches the turtles roll up and draw their weapons: *COWABUNGA IT IS.*

[@psychospeech6189]

At first when you wrote a "Tortle bounty hunter wearing blue" I thought You made a Tortle bountyhunter that only targets the Highest level player and takes them out instantly a la blue shell.

[@slywhemwick8071]

While this is an old comment; Imagine the Tortle finding the party on an iced over lake running at the biggest threat. Ducking into their shell and sliding at the target with their shell either covered in defensive runes that knock out targets if they hit them or tons of bladed weapons.

[@isitnotwrittenthat1680]

Other option of course, is another team of adventurers, who have taken a bounty on the players (probably including a paladin who "isnt in it for the money")

[@monsieurdorgat6864]

Honestly I like this option best. It makes a lot of sense that Bounty Hunters are also just dungeon delvers, and party/counter-party balancing is pretty good.

[@erockandroll39]

Adventurers are kinda jack of all trades, capable of combat, exploring underground ruins, tracking outlaws, monster hunting. That being said, if if bounty hunting is common enough that one can do it professionally, then their will be those who specializes in bounty hunting.

[@gantzplayer.n.m4410]

had another group of friends join the session by surprise with their own characters as a group of adventurers coming to "rightuously end the misdeeds of those criminals" and i just sat back and relaxed and watched them kill each other

[@firetarrasque4667]

I always say that Adventuring Parties are one step up from bandits. They aren't heroes, do not trust them, they probably just want money.

[@isitnotwrittenthat1680]

@@firetarrasque4667 depends on the party, 50/50 odds they are actually just bandits.

[@tatersalad76]

Ahhh, bounty hunters. Otherwise known as: the only thing a DM can throw at the murderhobos and have them be extremely smart in taking down the party without them crying about it

[@LupineShadowOmega]

Or you know, another party of adventurers. Bonus points if they are a collection of enemies the party has made over the course of the game.

[@defensivekobra3873]

Your party has somewhat arbitrary standards then

[@VoidplayLP]

@asdrubale bisanzio eh, liches have an infinite supply of bodies so theres no reason not kill the annoying heroes that keep gutting their best henchmen themselves. Even if they die, its not permanent. And of course, when the party reaches the phylactery a lich will make a last stand.

[@survivalveteran4031]

Murder hobo tears are fucking delish

[@silverfishjoe4783]

Nah, you can also throw a lot of wraith at them

[@Rawkwilder]

Actually... I wouldn't tell the party that they have a bounty hunter after them, but I would drop hints to MAKE them paranoid.

[@camblycreeper7999]

Can I suggest to seed paranoia: Leave something out of place in places where they aren't supposed to be; and empy glass bottle in a bush, a clam just kind of sitting out in a forest, the perfectly halved severed heads of exclusivly half elves; all held up on spikes. If you throw something in that doesn't make sense, just put it there out of nowhere; justify it later, You can have some suspicion and mild terror. just don't think the items ahead, just decide there is a suspicious otter in the middle of the desert, AND THEN justify why later.

[@miniclip13sa]

@@camblycreeper7999 When you have a party that always asks you to describe a scene that is perfect. "Hey DM what does this patch of forest look like?" "Well there are some bushes around here, a clam over here, an apple tree here."

[@dizzydial8081]

@@camblycreeper7999 Depends on the bounty hunter. A super stealthy hunter that does it professionally wouldn't leave traces of his presence behind. You *could* reveal the cover-up of a trail with a high enough investigation roll. "You find hidden footprints beneath fallen leaves and brush in a patch of moist dirt."

[@camblycreeper7999]

@@dizzydial8081 True, my advice more covers just seeding paranoia out of nowhere.

[@isitnotwrittenthat1680]

@@dizzydial8081 unless of course, they think the parties paranoia would be advantageous, as it could lead to the target slipping up.

[@arcticdino1650]

From my DnD experience, the party would not flee at all, especially since they out number him. Also from my experience the entire team would either be instant wiped because of bad rolls or the barbarian would hurl a crit javelin and end the fight prematurely. Either way the wizard somehow still dies

[@FalconTheCpt]

One of my characters ran odd jobs and frequently took Bounty Quests on Side Story One Shots. One time, my DM used him to punish another Party and, long story short, my Main Mans TPK'd they ass for giving a (stolen) prized competition cow to a butcher

[@kevinbarber2795]

Can you give more details? I’d love to hear how that went down with all players, and what the bounty hunter did.

[@karuthefox1308]

runesmith: a bounty hunter named emperor me: a bounty hunter named 「Emperor」

[@johnpozorski5026]

Exactly what I came to the comments looking for

[@m0rtez713]

OH MY GOD!

[@Haloister]

Correct.

[@unknownentityenthusiast6765]

Entire Equine would be a fun opponent

[@koopagrandfleet]

@@unknownentityenthusiast6765 The Full Stalion would be interesting to see in D&D

[@georgesquillace300]

"We get a crit that pisses off the party and some viewers who empathize too much" DEAD. Take my thumbs and put em up.

[@mistermiles3271]

"bounty hunter" lowercase. Legendary title

[@dreadedpixel9022]

a legendary title

[@Squidboy82]

Epic

[@Runesmith]

An error was made

[@glo_bin]

@@Runesmith *Happy accident FTFY

[@dreadedpixel9022]

@@Runesmith hey as a bounty hunter you gotta make the most of a bad situation ill say this the title is certainly legendary

[@kendrickrochelanzot2053]

Thank you, my party has a few on their tails, so this is most useful to develope or enhance them Edit: there are 10 bounty hunters

[@sentientwaffle535]

WHAT did your party do to get 10 bounty hunters?

[@kendrickrochelanzot2053]

@@sentientwaffle535they killed the disabled son (a giant rat mutant) and husband (black ratfolk) of a giantess who has a large fortune. She is offering 500,000GP for each party member, for a total of 2,500,000GP. A troll who serves the giantess was humiliated by the party, he assembled the team of 10 elite bounty hunters and offered 5,000 extra. So now 2,525,000 GP The price increases as the giantess no longer cares for money, only for her family to be avenged

[@sentientwaffle535]

@@kendrickrochelanzot2053 w-what did the ratfolk do to deserve death?

[@kendrickrochelanzot2053]

@@sentientwaffle535 it is a ehike thing. Basically the rat town has alot to do with the disappearance of the party leader's mom The rat king had guards and the larty took it as a threat, so they killed him and his mentally disabled son and looted pieces of the horde, So the giantess is out for blood The party was chaotic at the first half of the campaign, now they are morally better, but the past haunts them till this day in the form of deadly bounty hunters

[@azathoththeprimalchaos2289]

Would you care to tell us about the bounty hunters. I'm curious what you came up with.

[@jackalbane]

Unfortunately, this is the kind of thing I could only do once for my party. They are the kind of people who if you trap them once, they will spend all of their time looking for traps (+1 hr each room) to be sure that they won’t get trapped again.

[@gantzplayer.n.m4410]

then when they start doing that, make another type of trap that punishes them for taking too long to do stuff, could be a "narrative" trap even

[@jr12471247]

People make fun of the item/spell, but this is exactly the kind of party that should find a Wand of Secrets. Giving them a few charges per day to confirm that there are or are not traps in an area speeds up gameplay without being a solution that just makes creative traps fail.

[@Pingviinimursu]

@@masterfreeman117 Idk, to me it sounded like guiding your players towards a more interesting playstyle. If the party makes searching for and avoiding traps their number one priority in any and every situation, it means they are ignoring something else and I believe you should focus on more than just traps when playing DnD.

[@gantzplayer.n.m4410]

@@masterfreeman117 i don't think so, just keeping them on their toes and keep the game flowing, if because i used one trap or two they spend one hour in each room like Mr armstrong here said, it'd kinda kill the pace

[@masterfreeman117]

@@gantzplayer.n.m4410 You basically put your PC in an impossible situation. You hurt them with traps because they were not careful enough and then you hurt them with traps because they were too careful. How are the players supposed to know what level of caution will not incur the wrath of the DM? If you do not explicitly spell out for your players why you are doing this, you are probably just going to make them even more paranoid and they will try to search for traps even more thoroughly.

[@eventhorizon492]

I was literally about run a bounty hunter next session. Thank you so much.

[@dynestis2875]

Are you sure you weren't figuretively about to do so?

[@quinmanley4928]

Reminds me of the time I scared the hell out of my party with four goblins. They had 1 pit trap, a big ass tree to fall over said pit trap, four booby trapped trees to hide in, and the goblins had a 1d6 sneak attack feature. The party was 5 lvl 5 adventurers.

[@Madman1234855]

It's a neat plan, but it essentially relies on the party at no point changing their approach regardless of what happens to them. I think the general idea of having a bounty hunter tail the party and try to set up a tailored ambush is great, but the example is a bit too convenient. Edit: For clarity This whole scheme relies on using passive stealth, the party not using tiny hut, the barbarian raging in every fight, the wizard either failing a CON save or your players not calling you a shit for using an undetectable unsaveable poison, the party not going out for more ammo if it's found stolen, the party going ahead with their quest even though their only spellcaster is effectively crippled and their only ranged attacker is out of ammo, the party either failing or just not making any perception checks at the lair entrance, the wizard not just casting hypnotic pattern (it's S,M only) on their target on their first turn, the rogue not throwing a dagger, the barbarian not evading the traps despite barbarians getting advantage against them, the fighter getting killed in a single crit, and the rogue being played by such a coward that they flee instantly.

[@kylestanley7843]

On the point of the fighter not getting downed with one crit... the barbarian and fighter just got done carrying all the weight in a boss fight just a moment ago in this scenario. They won't be topped up. Everything else? Quite valid.

[@celestialtree8602]

I agree, but at the same time, that's why the observation. The bounty hunter in this scenario (presumably) KNOWS that the party won't change their approach regardless of what happens to them. That being said the rolls are more than a little convenient.

[@bryan0x05]

While valid criticism I think this ignores the point of the video. It's an illustrative example of a creative way of doing a bounty hunter or something of that ilk.

[@nyx7694]

I love how your "Emperor" was dressed as Hol Horse

[@Tovec8]

So this party of four 5th level Adventures without a cleric and with a poisoned unable to talk wizard are going to continue to go into a trapped lair of an optional monster? Why wouldn't they just go back to town as soon as the wizard loses the ability to talk and find a healer?

[@moblinmajorgeneral]

These are all theoretical

[@Tovec8]

@asdrubale bisanzio They're 5th level, they can afford/find a cleric. Else that's the quest not this optional quest. No party I have ever seen is stupid enough to go into an optional fight gimped like that.

[@dondumitru7093]

Totally. Any party I know, when their wizard becomes unable to cast spells, IMMEDIATELY pulls out and goes and fixes that situation. And before that, their camp was robbed and the rogue has no ammo, and they continue forward? No curiosity about who robbed them? Any party I've seen, when they get robbed, that's PERSONAL, they drop whatever else and work on tracking the thief down and make an example of them. Also, the rogue runs away during battle? It seems like the assumption here is that the party is being played by players whose average real life age is something like 7.

[@dondumitru7093]

@asdrubale bisanzio Gimped like their camp was robbed and the thief has no ammo for his preferred weapon. The party doesn't react at all to being robbed, they just continue along?

[@Tovec8]

@asdrubale bisanzio He specifically points out that the optional fight is with 2 of 4 PCs. And one of those is the ONLY caster in the party?

[@Jaydee8652]

“Have you ever hunted someone with a bounty higher than your own?” “Oh I would but I’ve been at the top of the list for sooooo long…”

[@heykalopsia__]

Zora supremacy

[@yozen1995]

Hell yeah.

[@inakimartinezchavana5145]

Next Episode: How to fix your upset D&D group

[@LupineShadowOmega]

Thank you, just grinding your wizard's ability to play under foot isn't going to go over really well unless the party at least has a pretty big buy in here.

[@wesley7411]

@asdrubale bisanzio Yes, learn how to deal with smart enemies by getting ultraganked by an NPC that the DM made sure you never saw coming. Much fun.

[@novavirus7497]

@@wesley7411 if a group blows up half a city, and DOESNT assume there's gonna be people after them, it's on them

[@leopardbunny]

@@wesley7411 This dude's got a point actually. Taking the wizard's spellcasting away with no chance to see it coming and apparently no save to stop it is just a massive dick move toward that particular player.

[@patrickduffin7912]

@asdrubale bisanzio True, but it's kinda a dick move because it removes player agency, which as most people will probably tell you, making you useless, even if it's a smart thing by the DM, is still kinda dickish

[@DERyuga]

I feel like the second trouble hits most parties they go back to town to try to rest up or whatever. Its a great plan, but I think most parties would wait out any status ailments a wizard might be having, and wouldnt split from each other

[@Eggsecuter]

Agreed. If one of my party has a ailment I’m p sure we will resolve that first

[@DERyuga]

Yeah, I think the plan would work best if everything started to kick in once they were trapped in a dungeon like setting where there is no easy way to get out of there and taking rests is dangerous

[@martynicholls5689]

yes, but if the bounty hunter has observed them traveling and fighting for weeks they would realize this, poison the wizard and wait back in the tavern for the players with traps in their rooms or on the way back to the town. This is all theoretical.

[@oddggear8802]

Remember to never foreshadow a nemesis-like NPC to your players, unless you can really trust those players to not start abusing perception check calls from then on.

[@kurtorr2587]

8:10 unless the Wizard placed the spell really poorly, that's not how Hypnotic Pattern works. It only affects creatures who can see it in the 30ft. square.

[@weirdwizard27]

Yeah, the pattern appears for a moment then disappears, and only affects creatures who were within the 30 foot cube designated at the time of casting. There's no lingering hazard, the duration of the spell is just how long it could potentially incapacitate anyone who saw the flash and failed their save. Unless the wizard was a dickhole and included his ally in the cube for some idiotic reason instead of just hitting the bounty hunter with the corner of it or something, that scenario wouldn't have ended that way.

[@FatalKitsune]

My homebrew campaign actually has a team of people like Emperor. It's called The Pandemonium Traveling Carnival and the performers in it, all experts in the arcane or weaponry, go from town to town, putting on shows and covertly hunting down rogue adventurers. They also take care of corrupt nobles and shady merchants. The show's strongman/ring master is actually a high level Barbarian. The animal tamer is a Ranger. The woman who juggles knives is a Monk. The stage magician is a Sorcerer. The musical act is a team of three Bards. The high wire act is a pair of sibling Rogues. They typically go to major cities with high-value targets and perform there for a week. As they do, some of the troupe will use down time to recon and research targets in a way similar to what this video describes. They find ways to isolate the target and take them out, typically at the end of the week right before they leave town.

[@tripleh327]

if the premise of the dm strategy is that faced with terrible odds the party will run, it appears to me that he doesn't know murderhobos nobody run even when confronted with the tarrasque

[@peterdickinson4599]

He makes it pretty clear that the BH’s strategy is based on his observations of the party in the example.

[@tripleh327]

@@peterdickinson4599 yes the behaviour of the bounty hunter but pg in a party are not under his control. and while it is true that reasonably escaping and running from bad situation or combat is an option it is also true that murderhobos will never run from a fight they will wipe or tpk before realising that they should have run the problem is that he basiing his strategy outside preparation and first two rounds on the premise that a the party will have a rational response under fire and with bad odds remember you are dealing with murderhobos

[@peterdickinson4599]

@@tripleh327 Not intending to be rude; but did you actually read what I wrote? The DM bases the BH’s strategy on what he/she knows about the party he/she is running the game for. If the DM knows he/she is running a game for a bunch of murderhobos then he/she will adjust the BH’s strategy accordingly - because in-game the BH had spent the last few weeks observing them. It doesn’t matter whether the strategy works or not... unless that DM is the sort of impotent individual who believes the DM’s role is to kill the P’sCs. All that matters is that the encounter happens, that the BH scares Ps, and they know the threat to their PCs is not over.

[@tripleh327]

@@peterdickinson4599 yes i read it and my impressionwas that you didn't read my first comment at all it happens man. no offense taken the dm based his strategy on the premise that the rouge will flee and that the wizard would stand idle without doing anything a level 5 wizard without a ranged weapon is the very definition of how not to ply a wizard and even without a ranged weapons he still has a melee one. if locked with a barbarian 1vs 2 a level 5 even a club become real treaths. that without even considering that the rougue is assume to flee even without real damage and with 2 members of the party still kicking against a single enemy i really hate to broke it for you but the bounty hunter is simply a png controlled by the dm. he can study all he want the in game pg but at the end the human response of the pg is dictated by their controllers human players. there is no way to know how another human bein would react to a given situation especially after several events that each one hold a potentially different response. the plan exposed in video could work in theory but in my 15 years of experience in dnd i have never seen a wizard without speel doing nothing for two turn and a rogue escape in a 1vs 3 engage (a 1 vs 3 in witch the one is not a tarrasque or a uberpower bbeg; and even in that cases the escapes are counted in one hand) you could scare the party in many ways, and i agree with the bh. but if you are minmax encounter like that with preemptive poison, theft of supply rigged stage and false quest you are activily trying to defeat them, not scaring them. you can achieve the same resoult without the entire preparation if you that kind of things you are trying to wipe out your party to save them with a deus ex machina quest givers that saves them, railoroading them in the serivice of a noble (your plot hook) to gain freedom etc. if you are willing to give your bh that kind of preparation you are not trying to give a scare up. you are up to something that said i still think that hoping in 2 out of 4 members of the party fleeing in front a single halfling is beyond hopeful and naive

[@peterdickinson4599]

@@tripleh327 Lots of words. Hyperverbalisation to cover a cognitive dissonance. The DM will adjust the BH’s strategy to the group he/she is playing with. The example in the video was a strategy based on that group; it was not the only way to run a BH. A strategy to deal with murderhobos would be different. The video is about trying to give BH’s more depth; a suggestion for creating more interesting encounters. Your focus on murderhobos is a strawman; you’re creating an argument you want to win - why? I don’t know. But it is a point of your creation, not a part of the content. You want to die on this hill? You go right ahead. I’m done.

[@dimitarmatanski3712]

Anytime I see the bounty Hunter from Darkest Dungeon I just get happy. Thanks Logan :D

[@rubber_mace8707]

I just love the image of a shriveled grey skinned halfling in black robes walking out of a bush towards the poor ranger and turning him inside out with two machetes

[@VivaldinNova]

After being defeated by his granddaughter, our boi palpy binge watch The Mandalorian and decide to become a bounty hunter.

[@user-ft3jq5vi2l]

2:53 Hey what's up everybody SkiDeepReef here and welcome to another D&D greentext

[@AzureIV]

That was a very lucky encounter for the Bounty Hunter. Most games would have ended with him being one-shotted by either the Barbarian or the Fighter in the first turn.

[@snowflake2420]

Not if the bounty hunter is smart. In this scenario, the barbarian is pretty unintelligent and out of rages, the bounty hunter would set extra traps in the fighters way so he can't get to them, and the other two party members have no choice but to run. By the time the fighter escapes to reach the hunter, he'd be alone and left with a choice between facing a CR 5-6 enemy by himself, or saving himself and joining the other party members

[@williamking6787]

@@snowflake2420 Even if the bounty hunter is smart the way this scenario plays out in the video is still crafted specifically to show the party losing, there are ways to deal with something like tongue poison, especially since most parties usually have a cleric, paladin, or some other kind of healer, the vast majority of people in a d&d game would never run away unless they were like the last person left and the right was definitely 100% lost, and in most situations (especially at 5th level) your party would still have a pretty good chance of beating someone like this and the fighter and barbarian would not go down that fast even with the pit traps, also a 5th level fighter can totally 1v1 a gladiator I've done it before, I almost died but I still won

[@AzureIV]

@@snowflake2420 No matter how smart the character is, they are always one dice roll away from death.

[@martynicholls5689]

IDK what level 5s you know, but typically a normal barbarian or fighter don't oneshot anyone with 100+hp.

[@ethanmiller5559]

The party lost so easily because on top of the traps and bounty hunters the barbarian also had to fight a gang of thugs and the fighter and barbarian also had to fight a monster without the wizard and with minimal assistance from the rogue. They were mostly dead and had very limited resources before they even saw the bounty hunter. If the party composition was different the plan of attack would account for it. Every class/pc has a weakness.

[@ethanellefson1467]

Runesmith, I absolutely love how your videos give unique and creative insight to making a d&d campaign run in a realistic enjoyable way for me as a forever DM.

[@Sethoshini95]

played something similar last session. Had a few Sahkils stalk the party and hitting them. now, if you don't play PF, Sahkils can phase in the ethereal plane as a move action at will One of the monsters i picked has a 30ft burst that deal 1d3 CON damage, usable every 5 rounds. So... pop in, deal CON dmg, pop out. They got paranoid reeeeally fast

[@Forestdude9000]

This is super useful! I've been wanting to add a bounty hunter with a robot arm so that my players know they can get replacement limbs from the Gnomes if they need to. Also one of my players wants a mech so he could commission one from the tiny tinkerers.

[@Various_forms_of_Doormamu]

How did you know I needed help making a bounty Hunter Runesmith?? Have you been hacking my computer?!??

[@devin5201]

Runesmith knows many things.

[@carl16059]

No hacking required he do the BIG THINK

[@samuellillge9319]

What a perfect time for me to create a revenant for a oneshot that hates the main party, who is also level 5. Amazing.

[@phlojem285]

I need more of this series. I'm in the midst of writing my first homebrew adventure and that guard video really helped me out

[@majesticgothitelle1802]

I would like to know more about your guards

[@lachlanmeijer8706]

Man, a massive thing has happened in my life recently and this has perked up my day massively

[@crsmith6226]

We need a video on why Runesmith has such an amazing voice

[@aaronsirkman8375]

Lots of room for resonance in his big ol' chesteroo, I'd say.

[@rttuo1259]

Everyone looks at the thumbnail, no one looks at the title. You are a true genius.

[@mileator]

1:19 I stripped your guards idea to make wizard cops. The way I've built them, they're visually very fun. They're a bunch of wizards. Stereotypical Wizards. Like Gandalf. Staff hat beard and long robes. However they gird up their loins, and wear plate armor on their chest. They have magical eyes that glow cyan and see infrared. They never go lethal, and shoot skyrim paralysis spells from their staffs unless their field commander tells them to. Which they summon through a teleportation spell that they cast from a scroll. They also have a Spearhead in a holster on their belt that they can whip out and attach to the bottom of their staff, when told to go lethal. 😃 I had a lot of fun building a whole world and class of NPC around your initial dissection of guards. It really got the creative juices flowing. This makes me immensely excited to find out what you have to say about "bounty hunter" and how they can be played.

[@rainycake]

I love these videos. Breaking down battles like this is so entertaining to watch for some reason.

[@Fleshi_Guy615]

Imagine if Samus was sitting in a bar, poring whisky on her visor, when she overhears someone talking to, and call the Mandalorian the *greatest bounty hunter in the galaxy* to which she walks over to him, challenges him to a bounty-battle (Mando gets assigned Ridley, Samus get's Moff Gideon) and this would be a great plot for a crossover. Disney, meet Nintendo, vice versa, now make sweet music together and create a crossover that would blow fan's minds for years to come

[@lordmars2387]

Perfect idea, thank you. Just what my mastermind villain needs.

[@Observer29830]

Bold of you to assume parties leave people to die when they still outnumber the bounty dude 3 to 1.

[@defensivekobra3873]

With what? The wizard probably has never needed to use a proper weapon throughout the campaign, and even if he has something to fight with his dex / str probably are not gonna be that amazing either. As for the rogue they only have a dagger, he is not hidden from the bounty hunter and so his only option for sneak attacking the hunter is to have both the wizard and him within 5 feet of a creature perfectly capable of melee. And the barbarian has barely any hit points and was in a hole when they ran away Even if the party is stupid, they ain't *that* stupid

[@nyx0103]

The party: We outnumber you 4 to 1 The bounty hunter: I like those odds (yes you send fucking Mando after them lol)

[@defensivekobra3873]

@@nyx0103 *3 to 1 becuade he already killed one

[@FreePheoniix]

@@defensivekobra3873 id say most partys are actually THAT stupid.

[@LupineShadowOmega]

@@FreePheoniix I've been in that party, it is true. Heck, I've been the Barbarian in that party. Got brought back up, had a hand full of hp. Killed a monster, stepped over its body and came at the next knowing that I'd probably get knocked back down, but the druid and Rogue are all that is left so if I don't stand up front, no one is. So yeah, definitely that stupid and sometimes you even pull it off.

[@gaburelmesmo3824]

In a campaign, the party was introduced by them all being framed for a crime they didn't commit (Even if some of them did commit a few crimes, just not that one) what proceeds is a prison break as they steal a ship and become pirates, while the Paladin is almost crying as they have pretty much no other choice other than to stick around until they prove their innocence. It doesn't take much time for problems to arrive as soon as they drop anchor, but I was getting kinda tired of just using guard statblocks. It's a great idea to have some bounty hunters/ Corsairs to chase them down sometime, maybe I'll use an enemy NPC they liked, (they fought a Gnoll captain who managed to get away from the party, maybe she became a Corsair)

[@Sherrif_Frog]

This is perfect for my character, as I plan on one of the reoccurring enemies to be a bounty hunter (Long story short they’re a warforged who needs to pay the Artificer who repaired them for repairing them, as well as damages to their tavern when they flipped out over someone hitting a kid)

[@Drekromancer]

Sounds like a hell of a character

[@aliviasutherland4854]

I would like to formally thank you for this guide, which is driving me onward to play a bounty hunter character like this.

[@meme-uj8jd]

That's definitely well thought out, I took shortcuts and made an assassin afflicted with the medusa curse

[@quincykunz3481]

Is it just me, or is Logan getting really good at playing dnd with himself?

[@mastermuffles7097]

I kinda now want to see Runesmith try to make a battle plan for bullywugs. I don't like bullywugs to much but they still deserve more recognition and I think you could probably make an interesting encounter with them with their frog themed abilities.

[@commanderbeepo8066]

I literally just made a Bounty hunter character since my DM is getting tilted at one of our players being a total doorknob.

[@Robin_Robout]

I think the specifics of this chain of events are a little shoddy at points, relying a WHOLE lot on hypotheticals despite it being generally interesting. I think you should have framed this as a bunch of different ideas as to how to screw with a party, as opposed to all this happening to the same party which makes it feel more contrived. -The wizard has a favorite food vendor. -The party doesn’t just wait to complete a non-time sensitive request while the wizard recoups - The party rolls so low the Rogue’s stuff is just pulled off his person at night - The party continues knowing something is playing them - The Barbarian has to use resources in a big fight, so now THREE of four party members are down resources and they STILL persist. - The Rogue backing up to hide even though he has no ranged options instead of moving foreword with his enchanted movement and getting his sneak via ally presence It’s a good video for some ideas, but if your players have THIS level of tactical acumen I don’t think they’ll appreciate your big brain strats to fuck them over.

[@justsomejerseydevilwithint4606]

3:25 put his bolts in ranger ricky's bag, several times, untill robin richie ragged gets violently upset one time. Then steal the bolts before the attack.

[@MrBioWhiz]

Bounty hunters are fun. I have two robot pals in my scifi campaign, one a sentient mech suit and the other a sniper with hover boots, who uses echolocation and smoke bombs to get advantage with his shots against blinded targets, while mech boi adopts a "scorched earth" policy to combat. My party has had several run ins with them, and don't appreciate their presence and ability to show up at the worst possible time

[@benjaminbrand3714]

Love this! I also heard an idea for creating an “anti-party” as a group of unique bounty hunters who work well together and have compatible power and abilities to the party. Either way, could be a great repeat villain depending on how you use them

[@RomaraAhallow]

Really enjoying this series. Thanks for cooking ideas for us!

[@indiana47]

Thanks to Dungeon Dad, I have a few ideas for bounty hunters. One is a rope golem and the other is a gray dragon. The rope golem is pretty in-line with how Emperor acts. The grey dragon treats it like sport and is more like "The Most Dangerous Game" or Predator where they seek out dangerous prey and hunts their hoard consists of trophies from those hunts.

[@mikaelm5367]

This encounter seems designed around a party of *very* inexperienced players...

[@brandonsierra3393]

The weighted hook net Anti magic dust last 1d4+1 rounds in a 30ft radius Potion of invisibility + unseen servant for mis direction Difficult terrain +caltrops for added damage A trained owl bear as an ally and a reason to get the party into the woods to fight and drain resources And finally a scroll of hold person And or command I love the idea of a swell tongue poison (I would describe the food as sour or something to hint and maybe tip the party off)

[@keith3278]

2:22 Unless there's something from one of the post-XGtE books that lets Swashbuckler improve his Passive Perception with Charisma that I don't know about , I'm under the impression you misread an ability.

[@Johnof1000Suns]

The fact he didn’t even need a stat block, yet made the fight with a bounty hunter super interesting was quite cool.

[@henryohenry1504]

These are actually pretty good. Very well planned and executed. I could absolutely see a session going this way

[@h4xx0rren3]

This is perfect, I was thinking of having one chase the party, thx!

[@tyrongkojy]

Thing is my players would abandon the hunt for later as soon as the ammo went missing. And the wizard? DEFINETLY at that point.

[@miguelhenriquecosta]

Yeah. Mine too. Missing ammo would immediatelly put them on alert, because that clearly meant they failed their perception check and someone plans on attacking them. If they didn't return to the city, they'd at least maintain guard as someone crafted new arrows. Wizard can't talk? That's a big nope. They'd be packing an antitoxin each, at least.

[@villinousvagabon8417]

This is super usefull cause im gonna be making a campaign where the party will most likely be at odds with the government or a resistance group depending on how evil they are feeling if they side with the resistence then they will have to deal with only a couple well equipted bounty hunters if they side with the goverment then they have to deal with many more not as well equipted rebels

[@loganwylin]

I’m already running one and the party killed 3 evil government wizards and are now going to be hunted

[@traviscochran9253]

I'm fairly certain Swashbucklers add Charisma to their initiative rolls, not their Perception checks. So the maximum Passive Perception in the editor's note should be 26 (10 + 5 from Alert + 6 from Expertise + 5 from Wisdom).

[@kylethomas9130]

Think you're being to kind to these party members, but then again I build bounty hunters to hunt murder hobos.

[@loganmcmanus1394]

You truly are the best and most entertaining D&D KZbinr

[@ashleycollison2389]

A video so nice I watched it twice. Seriously this series is a god sent.

[@samuelparis7218]

was JUST writing some bounties as a way to get players to possibly explore the world more, great timing

[@MrGreensweightHist]

Made a Doppelganger bounty hunter to send after my players. They watched teh party's behavior. Uncovered their patterns. Then used that to isolate on of them. The bounty hunter lost and had to run, but it left the party paranoid afterwards any time anyone in any town was talking to one of them alone.

[@miniclip13sa]

I love this video. If done right and you have good players, this could be a truly memorable part of a campaign.

[@miniclip13sa]

I was playing a Dwarf who lived the code of "I will follow all laws, no matter what" and we got cornered by a group of Dragonborn bounty hunters who were here to capture a party member for a murder they didn't commit. The DM was fully expecting it to just be a small cool encounter we have, but I asked them if they have evidence of this bounty and they showed me the papers and I told the party I will not fight the bounty hunters. So I let a party member get arrested and it turned into an amazing sequence of events where we went to a dragonborn city and everything to prove the party members innocence.

[@danieldalton7673]

"We forgot Beefy! Do you think he'll be ok?" "For our sakes, I hope not..."

[@MisterWretham]

I love your narrative legos.

[@tatersalad76]

Favorite use of bounty hunters was after my party robbed a bunch of burning buildings in broad daylight, so they naturally got accused of the arson as well. The party split up and went on a spending spree with their stolen wealth and the bounty hunter (he had a +4 in Intelligence and Wisdom) systematically took them down and brought them to prison one by one.

[@debsenjoyer2149]

I think this concept is also a great example of how varied D&D is based on different party composition. In fairness my party is level 12 and has 5 people, but even if this challenge were buffed significantly it would likely be a very easy fight. My wizard is a war mage with 22 passive perception and ridiculously good con saves, making poison generally ineffective. The bard is less resilient but has a weapon of warning, which makes surprise a non-factor. A monk who is both immune to poison and can easily avoid traps. And finally a warforged fighter with average mental scores but is a nightmare in combat. Oh also an artificer with a scary arsenal and enough firepower to be the guy who blew up half the city without any help. A standard stealth attack like this would be incredibly difficult to impossible against such a party. This doesn’t make it invincible though, just requiring a different solution. Our main power is magic and strategic tactics (except for the bard and artificer who make questionable decisions). Counter the magic with a Rakshasa (who has limited magic immunity) and dominate person a reckless artificer; that turns the fight really bad. Now this is still unlikely to work, as the fighter is patient and careful enough to wait with the spellcasters when necessary to stay in protective range of counterspell and the hits with the force of the sun when he gets close later. Once the fight evens out, a single enemy or small group has little chance against a high level party. That’s not the point though, that encounter would be scary and interesting. If you copy paste this video concept into your campaign, it’s likely that your party will either get stomped or steamroll the enemy once they find their footing. That’s not fun, but using this in context and making it fit your campaign in a fair way makes a great and difficult experience for that party. And at least for me, that’s the fun of the game.

[@smilemore7431]

I now know my next PC, an incredibly old incredibly creepy neutral evil halfling named Emperor.

[@PixiePunk]

Loving these scenario video's! Giving me lots of ideas!

[@kylerhansen253]

Great video, I wish I could do more than like the vid... And I'm kinda broke rn... Annnnyways, super fun idea I would love to see this as an NPC or even a player who plays outside of the rest of the party

[@CitanulsPumpkin]

I think I might be a little meaner than Runesmith. I really like the warlord stat block in the back of Volo's. I also like giving the full array of features from various subclasses to monsters. I also like my homebrew ranger feature variant that replaces favored enemy, favored foe, and hunters mark. So my bounty hunter is starting with a CR 12 stat block. I'm then adding all the subclass features from one of the following; Horizon Walker, Gloom Stalker, Few Wanderer, Swarmkeeper, Oath of the Watchers, or Fathomless Patron. Depending on the skill sets of the party and the terrain they're in. The bounty hunter will also be proficient in two of the colors of mana from Magic: The Gathering. Their favored mana will give them advantage on all Dex, Int, and Wis checks made in the terrains tied to the mana colors, and checks for those stats that deal with creatures tied to those mana colors. It also adds 1d12 to the damage of all weapon attacks made against creatures of those mana colors. Plus they get 4 or 5 bonus languages commonly spoken by creatures of those mana colors. The 2 mana colors will be chosen based off what two colors cover the most PCs. Given that every race, class, background, and terrain type surrounding ones home town can be tied to one of the colors, it's a safe bet every PC will be tied to at least two colors of mana.

[@RealRedRabbit]

I like the idea of the barbarian killing the bounty hunter and then almost die, while trying to stabalize the fighter. After all odds and nearly bleeding out in the forest, the bariarian somehow enters a nearly mind-destroying permanent rage out of pure survival and live. They could become the new BBEG, but one that actively cuts through any enemy it can on the quest to actively hunt down the players who ran away, which is constantly forcing them to move and be on the run from a permanently blindingly enraged force whose only motivation is to kill them for seemingly betraying the fighter and barbarian, and also kill anything that stands in its way.

[@ben10verymad]

Why would the wizard target an area that the barbarian is in with Hypnotic Pattern? It's a 30-foot cube, so it should be easy enough to miss him with. Also, a spell's range only affects its initial casting, not during concentration (unless otherwise stated in the spell). Other than that loved the vid, and am really enjoying all these hypothetically encounter vids!

[@HavocHero]

I use a reoccurring set of bounty hunters in all my games, I call them the Goblin Cool Brothers. A Bugbear Assassin Rogue, a Goblin bow fighter battlemaster, a Goblin Shadow monk, and a Hobgoblin Gloomstalker Ranger. They specialize in sneaking up on a party and dealing a ton of damage in the surprise round in order to down our kill at least 2 party members. I like to use these guys if the party is genociding too many Goblin tribes.

[@ivancarabano]

Wait, are you telling me that the rogue, a shooty character, notices that he doesn't have ammo when he faces the bandits and still doesn't care? And the barbarian uses rage with bandits, just because..... For me this doesn't make any sense.

[@gingermcgingin4106]

Well the implication with the bandits is that it's an entire street gang/gang of highwaymen, so there's probably enough of them to warrant the RAGE. What I don't get is 1) why doesn't the Rogue have a backup weapon, not even a dagger, & 2) why would he flee from the person who just murdered his best bro instead of trying to force-feed him his own kidneys?

[@keith3278]

@@gingermcgingin4106 1:) At 5:00 Runesmith did say that the Emperor had his "main objective of take all ranged ammunition" then the side objectives of "Easy to snatch Weapons" so maybe Robin did have a Rapier but sleeps with it "Not" on his body because it's not comfortable, making it easier to snatch, unlike his dagger which would be manageable to sleep with. 2:) Robin realized everything was set-up and with no equipment he stood no chance , especially (going by D&D rule of "combat round = 6 seconds") since he just saw (A friend die , their groups mussel get taken care of, and see how easy it was to neutralize Waldo) in not even "Half a minute"

[@jeanrushmer8192]

As soon as they catch site of the bounty hunter, the mandolorian theme kicks in

[@papallegatepoope3010]

My spell jammer DM did this to me! My swashbuckler’s clothes were ruined and I remarked that I found a cozy tailor in the town we were going to. Next session: as we leave a gorilla 🦍 confronts the party given that my mans was a deserter from the elf navy. When our captain wouldn’t allow it the big boi started clobbering us. And before the wizard could cast a spell a dwarf perched above on the roof tops shoots him causing him to flee back into the shop. Meanwhile the captain and I are focused on the gorilla when one of the bounty hunter’s that way laying in wait BASHED me over the head. Knowing a duelist like me would focus on one target. As I’m being dragged away the captain is pre occupied with a wrestling match between himself and the big harambe guy. Total blind side. Loved it

[@DHTheAlaskan]

I actually had a fun take on the bounty hunter. I had a murderhobo player who just would not stop, I tried talking to him, trying to reason that his lawful good alignment wouldn't hold up with slaughter of everyone they met and flat out just asking him to stop. He just threanted to kick me out of his house. So I was venting to one of my other friends out of game and he offered to join the party but make a character tasked with hunting them down. I gave him the basic starting gold for that level and he stocked up on gear designed to take them all down. His finished character was a lawful evil rogue with a few levels into the assassin prestige class (this was 3.5). I got the okay from the host player to bring him in and as soon as the player starts murderhoboing he's immediately caught in a net that had poisoned hooks woven into the mesh. Poison was one that focused on doing wisdom damage and the net was imbewed with hold person. Oder of operations kicked in with the net restraining him, the hooks digging into him letting the poison do its work due to a nat 1 save on the murderhobo and then he rolled a total of 5 after all the wisdom damage was tallied up for the save vs Hold Person. My friend announces that he'd been hired by the local nobility to bring them all in dead or alive. The host/problem player got mad and demanded my friend to leave and I decided I was done with that party.

[@dynestis2875]

What a horrible experience, you made the right call on being done with them.

[@estebanrodriguez5409]

First of all... kudos for the Jojo's reference! I think no NPC would take this kind of job alone, unless his level or CR is on the deadly range for the PCs. Specially when you regard the logistics if he somehow captures one or more party members (even if he is trying to kill them all, he can use one as hostage to lure them into a trap). If he is not going to be alone I would pair him with capable NPCs like scouts and spies (which become really dangerous even when they only have ONE poisoned arrow each, nets, manacles, caltrops... or you can use the "tanglefoot bag" that appears in one of the published adventures). You can use the Veteran or a reskin of the Knight with it's LEADERSHIP power to boost his group. If he is going to be a lone wolf... I would give him class abilities to give him a little more breathing ground... Ranger, Rogue, Oath of Vengance/Oathbreaker Paladin are probably the most straight foward choices. But the real deal is facing a shadowdancer... a Way of Shadows Monk at level 6 can pick them one by one... you can even make them belive they are being attack by a whole group with the teleport ability.

[@HAOSxy]

2:21 some here either made a massive oopsie mixing initiative and passive perception. Charisma there is added to initiative exclusively. With 20 WIS, expertise and Observant it would be a passive perception of 26 :) On the other hand, with a 20 CHA and a 20 DEX it would have a +10 initiative or a +15 with the alert feat. To have all of this at level 5, it would mean that you are using weighted dices.

[@trenchcoatbandit]

im loving the names of the adventurers

[@magmat0585]

Emperor be like "Execute Order 6d6"... I'll show myself out

[@dynestis2875]

I love you.

[@cerealbird6384]

Thanks for the advice I'll be using this in the future

[@shaynecarter-murray3127]

Nice. I always feel like I come away a tiny bit better of a DM from your videos.

[@calebkopp7636]

Me, running a dnd campaign where the party is part of a Bounty Hunter Guild: Yes. Finally I can see if I'm doing this right! I grievously misunderstood this. Still epic owo

[@jbark678]

A level 5 cleric would stomp this situation, but then again, I guess the bounty hunter's research would reveal that beforehand.

[@pinkliongaming8769]

"Especially not a liar who says their character is paranoid" Me: Has been thinking about making a character who is paranoid because they get constant visions of themselves dying

[@doxiedaddy7784]

I’m not first I’m not last But when runesmith uploads I click fast

[@monsterbeastiary9068]

It’s not even a question, that barbarian will survive just through sheer will, and the all consuming desire to kick the asses of his party members.

[@ikeekieeki]

awesomely executed

[@aquamarinerose5405]

I personally have exactly 1 point of contention with this design. the poisoning. It's an extremely smart tactic, but I feel like it's the kind of thing that's basically just a "Fuck you" to that player, forcing them to sit back and watch their party get murdered without being able to actually contribute. The Rogue and their Crossbow Bolts is also a bit similar, but rogues can work well enough with melee weapons, even if it's just a dagger or short-sword they keep in their boot and they're a Sniper, they don't have basically their entire character shut down for the fight.