Courtly Hunter (Legendary Hunter Archetype)

This is an alternative to the original Courtly Hunter, based on the Legendary Hunter.

While most hunters are masters of the wildlands and frontiers, courtly hunters are at home in cultured urban areas. They and their animal companions are much more refined, using their skills to navigate courtly intrigue rather than trailblazing in the wilderness.

Class Skills: A courtly hunter adds Bluff, Knowledge (nobility), Perform, and Sense Motive to their list of class skills, instead of Knowledge (geography), Knowledge (nature), and Survival

This ability alters skills.

Courtly Companion

A courtly hunter’s animal companion is touched by an outside influence like the fey or the natural forces making up the leshys. They answer to the spell commune with nature and is granted their own intelligence. The companion’s type changes to magical beast (augmented animal), but this doesn’t change any of its statistics and it counts as an animal, not a magical beast, for the purposes of determining all effects, prerequisites, and so on.

Additionally, the animal companion has an Intelligence score equal to a wizard’s familiar of the hunter’s level. Levels in other classes that grant animal companions do not stack with the courtly hunter’s levels for determining the abilities of the animal companion.

This ability alters animal companion.

Subtle Companion

The courtly hunter gains the following training.

Subtlety Training (Sp)

The courtly hunter and their animal companion have developed a mystic bond that allows the animal companion to take on a smaller more subtle form to more easily operate in urban areas. They can transform their companion into a similar Tiny animal. For example, a tiger could be turned into a Tiny house cat, a wolf into a Tiny dog, etc. This functions as a polymorph effect, and the animal companion gains the associated bonuses and penalties for the size change.

To activate this training, the hunter makes a Handle Animal check as a swift action. The animal companion remains as a Tiny animal for a number of hours equal to the Handle Animal check result divided by 4 (minimum 1). The animal companion may resume their normal form at any time before the expiration of the effect with a standard action.

This ability replaces the companion training gained at 1st level.

Information Gatherer

The courtly hunter depends on information. At 2nd level, they add 1/2 their hunter levels to Diplomacy checks to gather information. This replaces Track.

Crowd Stride

At 5th level, the courtly hunter and their companion are frequently in areas filled with crowds of people. As such, they have learned to navigate the crowds without issue. The courtly hunter and their animal companion may move through crowds or on stairs without any penalty to their movement.

This replaces natural stride.

Performers

At 8th level, the courtly hunter has to use performance as a way to impress those in court and to cozy up to those who might have information they need. The courtly hunter and companion gain a bonus to Perform checks equal to 1/2 the Hunter’s levels.

This ability replaces swift tracker.

Master of the Court

At 20th level, the courtly hunter may activate subtlety training as a free action without a Handle Animal check and it lasts until the animal companion resumes its normal form as a standard action. Also, the hunter gains a second animal companion, the second companion may be of any kind available to them but their level is considered 4 lower for the purpose of the progression of that second companion. The hunter may also have separate companion trainings active for the second animal companion, but this requires a separate activation of the ability to use. Both may benefit from the same companion training using only one activation of the ability.