Help me pick a good class for an antagonist NPC

[Kelvarius]

So my players are about to encounter a new antagonist. This NPC comes from a line of "hunters" that hunts down dangerous things that threaten, or could potentially threaten, the world. If you've seen Supernatural, that would be an apt comparison. Another could be the Belmont clan in Castlevania. At any rate, the NPC is convinced that one of the players is a threat, and is now in the process of hunting them.

I don't see the NPC as a caster type, or at least not a pure caster, but I might be convinced otherwise.

S/he's a loner, last of the clan, whatever reason to work with no or minimal support. This includes in and out of combat abilities.

S/he needs either the ability to stand and take and dish out damage, or to control the field and deal damage, or some other means to reliably fight alone and not get ganged up on.

The ability to physically track/investigate/sleuth/find clues/etc in order to learn about these threats is a big plus. Though I can DM fiat such things and it's not necessarily something that will come into play, I like it to be more realistic.

Multiple high saving throws is a plus.

Ideally, this will be a recurring character, so being able to escape untenable situations is necessary. But who knows where the dice will land?

The NPC will probably be about level 7 or 8.

My initial thought was Ranger, but I wasn't entirely happy with the choice, so I'm open to suggestions. Any 3.5 source is acceptable. I'm willing to look at other materials.

Thank you for your time and help.

Game on.

Edit: Also worth noting, this isn't a high optimization game, so "weak" options are also helpful suggestions.

[Grod_The_Giant]

A Warblade, maybe? Take some tripping/AoOs feats, maybe splash a little Swordsage for some Setting Sun stuff? Take a dip in Rogue or Ranger or something for skills.

[DrMotives]

Leviathan hunter fits thematically, and has tracking; but the class features won't do much against most PCs.

[Goaty14]

Ranger dipped crusader?

Ref/Fort good saves, track, tank, maneuvers.

EDIT: oops, I meant Ranger 1/Crusader X, NOT Crusader 1/Ranger X

[Kelvarius]

Hmm... I hadn't considered Tome of Battle classes. That could be worth a look or two.

I should also note that this isn't a high optimization game. So "weak" suggestions that fit are also appreciated.

[Nubsternator]

Monk might be a good fit here. I've heard they make great npc opponents. I think it fits most of your criteria as well.

[Zaq]

I feel like a Totemist would work well here. They can work well alone, they've got surprising amounts of versatility, they can both dish it out and take it . . .

[DMVerdandi]

ARTIFICER

Especially as an NPC. Gives you a great excuse to go ham with the gear, and then you can use things like:
* wall spells[delicious] for battlefield control
*create trap(For instant Booby-traps)
*word of binding to hit them with instant shackles
*fog spells
*Buff spells for when he finally gets people in his trap, and goes to town. Divine power FTW, to buff him sky high, and then you can give him a really decent weapon(Mmm, spiked chain) that has crazy enchantments.
*maybe summon/calling spells for Mooks.

Don't think of the spells as "hocus pocus", but as like tools to destroy your opponents, and pull them into your realm.
Even better if you use things like fear and and illusion spells.



Inspiration for what I had in my head is like
- the "The Collector" from the slasher films THE COLLECTOR/THE COLLECTION
-ibiki morino from Naruto
-hunters from Supernatural
-Freddy Kreuger from A nightmare on elm street
-The Pinhead from Hellraiser
-Jason Vorhees

[Bohandas]

Ranger was the first thing that came to my mind, though you said that that doesn;t fit.

If the problem is that the class is too wilderness oriented you could try the Urban Ranger from Unearthed Arcana (also in the SRD IIRC)

Other possibilities:

Scout (complete adventurer)
Rogue
Rogue/Ranger
Ranger/Archivist (heroes of horror)
Factotum
Savant (Dragon Compendium)
Spellthief (Complete Adventurer)
Vigilante (prc from Complete Adventurer IIRC)
Bloodhoind (prc, possibly from complete adventurer)
Fighter/Rogue
Paladin or Paladin of Tyranny
Rogue/Druid
Spirit Shaman (complete divine)

[DrKerosene]

Unholy Scion* (HoH) Bugbear.
Ranger with the FE(Arcanists) and Solitary Hunter options. Maybe a swiftblade. Prestige into Mortal Hunter.

Save the world from the casters. Decent skill points and racial bonuses. Maybe add the Dark/Shadow template for extra tricks.

*Basically acts like a Half-Fiend template.

[PacMan2247]

The Ardent base class from Complete Psionic is only 3/4 BAB with good Will saves, but I've always been a fan of how customizable they are in choice of mantles. The Lurk (same book) would probably be a more along the lines of what you're looking for, and the Bloodhound prestige class from Complete Adventurer seems like exactly what you're looking for, from a flavor standpoint at least.

[mabriss lethe]

I'd go for stacking templates and races to create a "perfectly bred monster hunter" and then once you have a basic layout of your NPCs native abilities, pick a class that highlights them.

You could build (off the top of my head) a Dark/Quor-bred/half-celestial Tiefling NPC Warrior packing nothing but iterations of Animal Devotion as his feats and be a pretty tough customer. Obviously this is just an example. There are better builds, but this builds a flying character that hits like a truck, can disrupt casters temporarily, and be rather tough to kill with a smattering of SR/DR/and energy resistance, with some situational SLAs thrown in and a Smite option.

[Kelvarius]

Ranger was the first thing that came to my mind, though you said that that doesn;t fit.

If the problem is that the class is too wilderness oriented you could try the Urban Ranger from Unearthed Arcana (also in the SRD IIRC)

That was a large part of it, yes. But the Urban Ranger could be fun. Especially with...


Unholy Scion* (HoH) Bugbear.
Ranger with the FE(Arcanists) and Solitary Hunter options. Maybe a swiftblade. Prestige into Mortal Hunter.

Save the world from the casters. Decent skill points and racial bonuses. Maybe add the Dark/Shadow template for extra tricks.

*Basically acts like a Half-Fiend template.

So far, I really like this option and Factotum. I'm also toying with the Artificer and either a Warblade or Swordsage.

And yes, the Bloodhound is almost exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for, thematically.

Thank you, everyone, for all the ideas.