Building a tracker NPC!

[Malimar]

So the PCs, trying to follow somebody, found "the greatest tracker in all the land". He led them to where they need to be, then the last session ended with the party about to backstab him (because he's a minor member of the Royal Family, and one of the PCs doesn't like the Royal Family).

I haven't actually built him yet, and at this point the list of things that have to be true of him has enough mutually exclusive things that I think I need some help.

Here are the things that need to be as true as possible of this NPC:

He should have the Track feat and at least a +29 to Survival. (By my calculations, the highest DC he beat, taking 20, was 49. I already mentioned to one of my players that this was fudged and he probably couldn't actually legitimately beat that DC, but if it turns out he can beat it after all, great.)
He is at most class level 5. (This is a low-level world; in general, only the most extraordinary people (read: PCs) even reach level 5 or so, let alone surpass it.) A template or two is permissible, but he appears entirely human. His stats can be any point buy up to 30.
Ideally, he shouldn't be a total pushover (i.e., I hope he lasts at least a round or two) in the fight that's about to start. He's alone, the PCs are in the 3-5 range, and there are anywhere from 3 to 9 of them.
Being a member of the Royal Family (and this campaign being a little Monty Haul to begin with), I'll say he can have up to triple normal NPC wealth. (Though NPCs are limited to level 5ish, there is no CL restriction on the items that exist, so anything he can afford is fair game.)
The party is currently in an unapologetic wutai (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Wutai), so anything from Oriental Adventures, or with that general flavor, is a bonus.


Any ideas?

[Gwendol]

A ranger 5, choosing the archery style, and having magical means of flight. Once fighting starts he takes to the air (surprise!) and fires arrows. Throw in some means of concealement, or whatever, to make him last longer. Give his bow the splitting enhancement.

[A_S]

Human Ranger 1 / Fighter 2 / Swordsage 2

30 point buy:
Str: 14
Dex: 12
Con: 12
Int: 10
Wis: 17 + 1 (level) = 18
Cha: 9

Feats: Skill Focus (survival), Self-sufficient, 3 more to spend on combat stuff

Skills: 8 ranks Survival, 5 ranks Search, 5 ranks Knowledge (nature), assuming he was tracking them through outdoors wilderness (if it was in a dungeon, take Knowledge (dungeoneering), etc.)

Items: Periapt of Wisdom +2, Mask of the Tiger (MIC), 4900 gp left for combat gear (enough for +1 weapon and armor, and some utility items like potions, tanglefoot bags, alchemist's fire, etc.)

Tracking:
+8 (Survival ranks)
+3 (Skill Focus)
+2 (Self-Sufficient)
+2 (Search synergy)
+2 (Knowledge synergy for whatever setting is appropriate)
+2 (favored enemy)
+4 (wis)
+1 (Periapt of Wisdom)
+5 (Mask of the Tiger)
= +29

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You can take Exotic Weapon Prof (bastard sword) as one of your Fighter feats and fluff it as a katana, or just use a short sword as a wakizashi. Swordsage's Discipline Focus will apply to the bastard sword if you choose Diamond Mind, or the short sword if you choose Shadow Hand. Some of the Diamond Mind maneuvers will help out your attack rolls (by treating the target as flat-footed, making touch attacks, or substituting Concentration checks for attack rolls), which will help make up for your mediocre Str (they also do bonus damage). Shadow Hand maneuvers will help out defensively, and give a bit of ninja flavor to the fight.

The Hunter's Sense stance grants the Scent ability, which would fit well with his "tracker" fluff. I'd probably have him use the Child of Shadow stance for combat (grants concealment if he moves, and no iterative attacks means no reason not to move).

His AC should be pretty good (assuming a +1 chain shirt, it'd be 21), all his classes give reasonable HD, saves are respectable with all that multiclassing. Give him some ranks in Hide and Move Silently and he's stealthy, too. Should be a reasonable opponent.

[Iku Rex]

A lens of detection (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#lensofDetection) is 3500 gp and provides a +5 unnamed bonus to tracking. (MIC has it listed as a face item though, same as the mask of the tiger. In that case, you'll have to pay extra to make it slotless, change the slot, or add it to the mask of the tiger.)

If you go with at least 4 ranger levels he'll be able to use spells, like living prints (lv1 rgr, SpC) or, if he has some sort of link to the tracked creature, marked object (lv1 rgr, SpC). The Practiced Spellcaster feat, pearls of power, and/or a metamagic rod of extend spell could help keep living prints up while he's tracking.

An animal companion with Track, like a wolf, could probably "aid another" for a +2 bonus.

A whip feather token (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#whip) can be a sneaky way for a rich NPC to (with a bit of luck) take a PC out of a fight. So can a bead of force (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#beadofForce).

[A_S]

In case you end up using the swordsage:

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Human Ranger 1 / Fighter 2 / Swordsage 2
Medium Humanoid (Human)
Hit Dice: 3d8 + 2d10 + 5 (33 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30 ft.
Armor Class: 21 (+1 dex, +5 wis, +5 armor), touch 16, flat-footed 20
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+6
Attack/Full Attack: +1 katana +8 melee (1d10+4, 19-20/x2) or masterwork composite longbow +6 ranged (1d8+2, 20/x3)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: discipline focus (weapon focus: diamond mind), maneuvers
Special Qualities: AC bonus, favored enemy (human), wild empathy
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +8
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 20, Cha 9
Skills: Balance +5, Concentration +9, Hide +8, Knowledge (nature) +8, Search +5, Survival +25*, Move Silently +8, Tumble +1
Feats: Able Learner, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword), Power Attack, Self-Sufficient, Skill Focus (survival), Track
Challenge Rating: 5
Treasure: (triple standard) +1 katana, +1 chain shirt, masterwork composite +2 longbow, periapt of wisdom +2, lens of detection, feather token (whip), everburning torch, smokestick, alchemist's fire, tanglefoot bag, potion of invisibility, potion of lesser restoration, 3x potion of cure moderate wounds, 100 gp
* Survival = +29 when tracking favored enemies outdoors.

Maneuvers: Clinging Shadow Strike, Emerald Razor*, Sapphire Nightmare Blade*, Shadow Blade Technique*, Stone Bones*, Sudden Leap, Wind Strike
Stances: Hunter's Sense, Child of Shadow*
* = Typically readied/active

[Malimar]

Ooh, that looks fantastic. I would have had trouble building him myself as a swordsage, I don't know ToB anything like well enough, but I think I'll try using that almost exactly as written.


The main guy he was tracking is secretly a demon in half-elf Alternate Form, but his two guards are humans, so I'll say favored enemy (human) applies either way.