DM Looking for bounty hunter and merc ideas!

[Catbucket]

So, I've been running a session for a while now, party is currently level 4, going on level 5 soon, and due to some backstory shenanigans, aswell as some things that happened in the arc we just wrapped up, I plan to have various types of mercs, bounty hunters, asassins and just general ruffians showing up to make some coin off of them.

Rather than just whipping up some generic goons, I thought it would be more fun to gather some ideas for more developed random characters to toss at them throughout this idea, and I thought I'd just see what the online DnD community could think of to toss their way!

[Daithi]

One option I like comes from the UA Mystic. The "Nomadic Mind Discipline" can use "Find Creature" to learn the location of creature within a 1-3 mile range. Lots of other options on the Mystic to flesh out a pretty cool bounty hunter.

It might even be worth taking some kind of spell caster level just to get the Minor Illusion cantrip so they can play Renegade by Styx in the background as he kills the <insert censored word> out of his bounty---

"Oh Mama I can hear you a cryin', you're so scared and all alone
Hangman is comin' down from the gallows and I don't have very long
The jig is up, the news is out
They finally found me
The renegade who had it made
Retrieved for a bounty..."

[Tiadoppler]

A strength-oriented (gnoll?) ranger or a shapeshifted druid who specializes in Grappling. Their motivation is not money, or honor, but simple the sensual pleasure they get from tracking, stalking, ambushing their prey, tasting blood, and feeling the struggling flesh under their paws/claws/talons.

A serial killer (rogue) who's been chased out of one kingdom and has moved far away to avoid the law. They're taking jobs to earn money for a new secret torture cave. They are pathologically incapable of attacking someone without first leaving clues and riddles for the victim to find. If this character is able to corner the PCs, they will monologue as long as the PCs are willing to continue looking interested.

A warlock who collects the blood spilled in any combat to perform rituals to their patron. If they have a sample of a PC's blood, they can use a ritual to track it with great accuracy. For the warlock, these vials of blood are precious keepsakes and collectibles. The warlock's pact also allows these keepsake vials to serve as healing potions in an emergency.

A deluded Oathbreaker Paladin that believes that they can regain their powers by taking contracts in the name of their old deity. Their mannerisms are those of an Oath of Devotion Paladin, but their behavior is obviously influenced by an external force or permanent madness.

[Honest Tiefling]

Someone with a very fearsome reputation is hunting down the PCs. Only hitch is...That's not them. They are pretending to be that famous mercenary/bounty hunter to intimidate the PCs. The actual owner of the name might be pleased or upset at what the characters end up doing...

A certain order of assassins have a very intricate and carefully laid out plan to assassinate the PCs. Only problem is, they are idiots, leading to a very confusing and bizarre mess. Perhaps they have the aid of a village of commoners, who think they are doing the right thing? Either way, hilarity ensues.

Two groups of bounty hunters hate each other, and are racing each other to the prize. A skilled group could make use of this animosity.

A group of bounty hunters is chasing down the PCs...And decides waste not want not! They could inform certain people of the PC's death, provided they join up with the bounty hunters for a time. Getting talented people is such a bother and of course, this person has a goal in mind...Perhaps they want revenge on whoever sent out the contract, so getting their enemies on board as minions makes sense.

[bc56]

An Arcane Archer would be thematically cool as a bounty hunter.

A samurai (ronin) trying to regain his honor.

A rival adventuring party led by a Mastermind rogue with such other evil-seeming types as a whispers bard or fiend warlock.

[Crgaston]

Honey, a half elf Glamor Bard, and Trap, a half orc Rogue with the gladiator background who uses nets and grappling.

[ProsecutorGodot]

My blood hunter is an ex bounty hunter who's order disguised their monster hunting by running a legitimate bounty hunter company.

Nothing says "stop right there" quite like a taser whip.

[Specter]

The Subtle Killer
Sorcerer 8, with Mage Armor, Greater Invisibility, Erupting Earth and some other spells. Subtle Spell for metamagic.

This guy can start firing away at the PCs in the middle of a crowd, and they would have to figure out who is casting before they can act on it. Could be fun.

[DragonBaneDM]

How about a powerful spellcaster who uses Geas and other strong enchantment magic on all the party's favorite NPCs into going after them?

They would have studied their prey carefully, and work real real hard to stay behind the scenes, instead sending everything from a knight they assisted to a weak orphan they defended to psychologically mess with the party.

[stennedy]

So, I've been running a session for a while now, party is currently level 4, going on level 5 soon, and due to some backstory shenanigans, aswell as some things that happened in the arc we just wrapped up, I plan to have various types of mercs, bounty hunters, asassins and just general ruffians showing up to make some coin off of them.

Rather than just whipping up some generic goons, I thought it would be more fun to gather some ideas for more developed random characters to toss at them throughout this idea, and I thought I'd just see what the online DnD community could think of to toss their way!

4 bounty hunter ideas here as a group that works together!

Scarlet Searca

Elven Pyromancer / Bounty Hunter

Height: 6’2”

Missing her left arm from the shoulder down. Tall, with a dark brown tan and jet black hair. Angular facial features. Deep blue eyes.

Armor: Red silky dressage with puffed up shoulders and a centered symbol of The bounty hunter organization, The Glithorian League. Symbol consists of two crossed daggers with a gold coin beneath.

Weapons: Scarlet creates melee weapons out of pure fire in her hands, but the shape usually sticks to that of a fire rapier.

Abilities: Scarlet can choose to send pulses of pure searing heat emanating up to 20 feet around her at will, and can slowly heat up any piece of metal within 30 feet of her.

Bio: Scarlet was raised within The Glithorian League, alongside her Elementalist companions. Scarlet was then taken into the personal custody of Trogar Searca, an orcish man famous for his gruesome bounty kills. Trogar taught his cruelty to Scarlet in her young age. At the age of 29, Scarlet lost her arm in a battle with a monstrous beast still at large in the Swamps of Ushnagh. The beast had hundreds of rows of teeth when it opened its mouth, and that is all Scarlet can remember of it, as she was traumatized from the event.

Blinks

Human Electromancer / Bounty Hunter

Height: 5’6”

Pale skinned with radiantly white spiky hair. Wiry build. Constantly appears to be jittering, but is actually just moving at rapid speeds at all times.

Armor: Full black leather wrappings exposed to high winds and cold temperatures in order to allow resistance against the high speed winds around Blinks.

Weapons: Blinks makes use of his extensive martial arts training for battles, and only uses his own body. Blinks vibrates his arms fast enough that they gain additional piercing properties against enemies.

Abilities: Superspeed. Can build up the strength over time to move quickly enough that he appears as several people for a short time. Blinks can create lightning arcs between himself and others due to the massive amount of static electricity he creates.

Bio: Blinks’ potential was seen almost immediately after his body had absorbed the essence of electricity. The boy was taken in and raised under the Rapar Monastery, which exclusively trained assassins for The Glithorian League. Blinks was unable to stop his own superspeed, therefore living at a pace much faster than other living mortals. Due to the massive amount of time he had on his hands, Blinks invested all of his time into his martial arts training, and mastered over 40 forms of fighting. Blinks practices meditation each day to attempt to calm his racing mind slightly.

Brock Hardfoot

Gnomish Stonemancer / Bounty Hunter

Height: 3’ 9”

Blocky facial features. Wide set eyes. Gray, stone-colored and patterned skin.

Armor: Brock always wears a suit of pure stone and earth from the neck down, making them very hard to damage through it by ordinary means.

Weapons: Brock wields two block hammers made entirely out of marble, making the weapons too heavy to lift for most average sized creatures. Using these two hammers, Brock can focus their earthen powers, but they do not necessarily need them.

Abilities: Brock uses their hammers to be able to pull up and hurl medium sized boulders at enemies up to a range of 60 feet. Their hammers can also be slammed into the ground to force a pillar of earth up under an enemy up to 20 feet away. Without their hammers, brock can cause vicious, uncontrolled earthquakes for a radius up to 30 feet around them. Brock is also incredibly stealth and can blend in with earthy surroundings.

Bio: After his exposure to the essence of earth, Brock was taken in by Huck Snakeskin, a deadly member of the League. Huck taught Brock the arts of stealth and sabotage in his young age. Huck sent Brock on a solo mission to take down the Basilisk of Mount Eris. Finding the help of the young Merlin Ironhand, Brock felled the beast and brought the basilisk’s front teeth back as proof of his deed, which Huck still makes use of for his poisoning missions.

Aquart Gruffjaw

Orcish Hydromancer / Bounty Hunter

Height: 6’3”

Dull green skin. Dark Blue/Black long braided hair.

Armor: Blue cloak and hood covering up the rest of her body most of the time. Brown and green leathers worn underneath the cloak. Occasionally wears a magically enchanted blue cloth mask that allows her to breathe underwater – Gifted to Aquart by the goddess of the sea, Bionn.

Weapons: Aquart attempts to only battle while near bodies of water, as she cannot physically create it herself. When enough water is present, Aquart will conjure pure water elementals to fight for her. If only small amounts of water are available, she will use the water as a physical whip, adding her own potions and poisons into the water to give it varying abilities in combat. Poison whip. Corrosive whip. Necrotic Whip.

Abilities: Aquart can summon and control up to 6 water elementals at a time, and does not drop the conjuration unless she is knocked unconscious. The water whip she can create has an attack range of up to 10 feet. Aquart can also speed her movement up by gliding on water underneath her. Aquart also has the ability to freeze any water she controls, including her water elementals.

Bio: After her exposure to the elemental essence of water, Aquart was taken in by The Glithorian League bounty hunter, Gereena Drake. Gereena was a master necromancer, and Aquart very quickly picked up her summoning skills, using water elementals in exchange for summoned dead. Aquart grew up using her water elementals as company, and usually forms them into certain different humanoid shapes. Aquart regularly spends her time alone, and only comes out of her home in the sewers when she is on a contract.

Let me know if you like 'em

[Lavaeolus]

Lot of ways to take this, and there's been some fun suggestions already. Here's one suggestion:

The bounty hunter is Divination Wizard, but won't initially announce herself. Perhaps she'll pretend to be a fortune teller, or just a friendly bar patron, etc. She can either obviously be a Wizard, or not.

What the players probably don't know, but might've seen if they were really paranoid, is that someone's monitoring the nearby surroundings (via an Arcane Eye spell). This is how she realised they were there. Drop this element if you don't really have a reason why she'd be monitoring the area; if the PCs are known to regularly stop off somewhere, though, or are in a place where many wanted people would enter, this element might be more fun. She could always have found them the old-fashioned way.

Her goal during this encounter will be to either slip something on the players, or outright hand them an item. Maybe also gather some intel. In any case, this is a trap. If the players take the item and keep it on them, she'll turn up with the rest of her bounty hunter group later, having used Locate Object to prepare an ambush and track the party down at a more convenient time.

Note that I've semi-cheated here: a level 5 or so Divination Wizard should not have Arcane Eye (a 4th level spell). NPCs don't have to be bound to PC rules, so I've made the assumption she isn't literally identical to a Divination Wizard 5 -- she probably has much less spells than a PC (for simplicity's sake), and is all-round weaker than a Wizard PC, but picked up Arcane Eye somewhere. You could likewise mix in some other unusual-for-a-Wizard things if you like, if you want to spice up the encounter or her character. But like I said, it's also not strictly necessary for this encounter, so you could just easily have her not know the spell.