Back around the start of the year, we ran the news that the Dragon Warriors licence has been picked up by Serpent King Games. If you're a Legend fan, you've no doubt been waiting impatiently for more DW books and, although it all seemed to have gone quiet for a while, I can assure you that the SKG team have been smelting up a smokin' hoard of real Nibelung gold, metaphorically speaking, in the form of an all-new and frankly rather sensational DW Players Book.The Players Book isn't quite ready for release, but SKG this week offered a little taste in the form of the new Hunter character class, which you can download from their site. He (or she) is a little bit Hooded Man, a little bit Nasir, a little bit Strider and a dash of Legolas too:
All cultures of Legend have Hunters of one sort another. Whether authorized by law, or working as poachers, Hunters stalk the wilderness for sustenance. The wild places of the world are their homes, whether forest, mountain, desert, tundra or any other climate. The Hunter excels at not only surviving in such inhospitable terrain, but in using the terrain itself as a weapon. Most Hunters are content to eke out a living for themselves, their family, or their community. Other Hunters find themselves in the employ of local lords, keeping their domains safe from poachers and assassins. Still others become thrall to the lure of adventure, using their skills for personal gain with a group of roaming vagabonds. Hunters may be found throughout the lands of Legend, even at the highest levels of society. While many nobles are trained as Knights, others excel in the skills of the hunt.
Hunters get tracking and special bow techniques, as well as stealth, traps, sneak attacks, and mastery of terrain. And at higher levels they can whip up a bunch of arrows that Hawkeye would envy. They'll make for interesting PCs and the write-up shows how SKG are fleshing out the reality of Legend with a whole range of new professions and skills that will all be there in the Players Book. Not too long now, hopefully.
I appreciate that the construct time of traps is indicated. Now, we'll destroy our enemies like Conan & Subotai during the Battle of the Mounds or... like Rambo !
ReplyDeleteOlivier
Now you've got me thinking about famous hunters in fiction & myth, Olivier. There's Orion, obviously :) and also John Rambo, Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games), Allan Quatermain, John Locke (Lost), Kraven the Hunter (Marvel comics), Robin Hood and the Merry Men, Nimrod... Any others?
ReplyDeleteAnd what about "Dutch" from Predator? "If it bleeds, we can kill it". The best traps ever!
ReplyDeleteIkaros
PS: I want that quote on my grave! It´s pure logic!
Of course - a real archetypal hunter!
ReplyDeleteErnest Hemingway?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad things are moving along - I went to the SKG website a week or so ago, after realising that the Mongoose version was now OOP, and was a bit worried that the project had stalled.
Props to SKG for releasing the Hunter into the wild... and that's some super-cool moody artwork from Mr. Hodgson, too!
ReplyDeleteTis looking good.
ReplyDeleteNow I want to see more of the artwork Jon H. has lined up for the Players Book.
Me too, Damian. As I've said before, Mr Hodgson is *the* definitive DW artist in my view.
ReplyDeleteDrBargle, if we're having Hemingway we ought to include John Huston too. Which also makes me think: maybe Captain Ahab?
Now that's an adventuring party!
ReplyDeleteHunters? My favourites are hunters of Dead Things. So, I'm going to go with Bram Stoker's Van Helsing and Tanith Lee's Parl Dro.
ReplyDeleteVan Helsing - another good choice, Vradna. If you like vampire hunters, check out The Kiss of Death by Marcus Sedgwick. And there are monster hunters too in D M Cornish's Monster Blood Tattoo books. I don't think I ought to mention Edgar and Alan Frog. Oops.
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