Bounty Hunter

*"I’m bringing you back. Live, dead. Don’t matter to me. Worth more live, but you seem to be the sort that won’t come quietly. Dead it is, then."*

## Basic

(Core) Bounty Hunters live by tracking down wanted criminals, bandits, and fugitives and bringing them to justice. The lone Bounty Hunter can go places that ungainly military units cannot, which makes such men a useful adjunct to the watch and militia. Local rulers, guilds, and councils pay the bounties. They may find Bounty Hunters distasteful, but they are an effective counter to brigands, Goblin bands, and the like.

Bounty Hunters are professional killers who place little value on sanctity of life. They are utterly ruthless, using their formidable skills to track and eliminate their quarries. The poor view them with fear, since more than one Peasant has been murdered and passed off as the real culprit. The authorities view them as a necessary evil, but never a welcome one.

### Secondary Profile

**Skills:** Follow Trail, Intimidate, Outdoor Survival, Perception, Search, Shadowing, Silent Move

**Talents:** Marksman or Strike to Stun, Rover, Specialist Weapon Group (Entangling), Sharpshooter or Strike Mighty Blow

**Trappings:** Crossbow with 10 bolts, Net, Light Armour (Leather Jerkin and Leather Skullcap), Manacles, 10 Yards of Rope

### **Career Entries**

Bodyguard, Fieldwarden, Hunter, Kislevite Kossar, Mercenary, Pit Fighter

### **Career Exits**

Mercenary, Protagonist, Scout, Targeteer, Vampire Hunter

## Affiliations

While the watch, Imperial army, and the like tend to look down on bounty hunters, they are wise enough to see their uses and maintain ties with them. In fact many bounty hunters were once watchmen or militia members before circumstance or the promise of gold lured them away.

Successful bounty hunters use these ties to get their job done and a wise hunter keeps on good terms with the local watch. Within their own ranks, however, bounty hunters are usually far less cordial. After all, another hunter is someone who is after your bounty.

However, over the years and probably as a result of some unpleasant encounters between bounty hunters, an unwritten code has arisen. Known as “the bounty hunter’s code” or just “the code,” it prohibits a hunter from taking another’s bounty once that bounty is caught. Of course, most hunters will say it is really just a set of guidelines...

On the rare occasions when a large or particularly dangerous bounty is on offer, hunters will team up to get the job done. These bounty hunter gangs are known as “hounds,” and have a reputation for brutal efficiency in the pursuit of their quarry. A hound, however, is usually an uneasy alliance between dangerous men, and lasts only until they complete their task. Then, all bets are off.

## Notable Figures

Bounty hunters have always had a reputation as a dangerous breed among the citizens of the Empire, and a rightly deserved one at that. However, even within the ranks of their nefarious profession, few can live up to the legend of the man known as Siegfried Schols.

Though not much to look at, this small and dishevelled old man is a ruthless and dogged adversary who will tirelessly pursue his prey to the end of the Old World and beyond. In one famous case Schols tracked the infamous murder known as the Nightmare of Nordland across four provinces for more than a year, before finally catching him in a Carroburg gambling den.

It is rumoured that he hid for three day in the den’s privy, knowing that his prey would eventually arrive, before leaping out and slapping him in manacles. Regardless of the rumour’s truth, more than one wanted criminal keeps a keen lookout while visiting the privy.