Living on the fringes of civilization means subsistence drawn from the land. For many of the cultures and peoples living within the forests, deserts, and badlands of Faerun, the lands that they forage and hunt upon have been the home to their kin for many centuries. Through the oral history and traditional rituals of the former tribes and druidic peoples, bushcraft skills, hunting arts, and folk medicine are passed down from generation to generation.
A band of bushwhackers is a collection of hunters, bone grinders, trappers, explorers, and mystics who learn all they can from the land and carve out a territory from which they can gather resources. They then trade or fashion these resources into weapons, alchemical serums, and fetishes.
Downtime: Ritual Workings
If you are an alchemist, you spend your time modifying and testing variations of alchemical potions and serums. For each tier of the company, you gain a number of alchemy recipes you don’t already know equal to your Intelligence modifier.
Company Accomplishments
Your company’s prestige increases when you carve out your hunting territory and prove your ability through acts such as the following:
- Discovering an ancient relic or ritual site
- Capturing or killing a dangerous creature
- Fashioning a powerful fetish worth at least 1,500 gp and trading it to a local tribe or kingdom
- Discovering a rare or exotic plant or creature and presenting it to a notable chieftain or lord
- Developing a powerful new alchemical formula or fetish
Prerequisites
Any character can belong to an Occult Bushwhackers company, but it must include at least one bone grinder. Rangers, barbarians, and characters capable of spellcasting or alchemy can become full members of the collective, as all of them have skills that can be turned to hunting, magic, and wilderness survival. Characters of other classes are considered either temporary members who are spending time learning these traditional arts or guards and fighters who are protecting the camp and the goods they trade.
Tier 1 : Poachers
At this tier, either your company is small and only just claiming a portion of the wilderness for themselves, or it consists of wandering hunters who move with the herds they hunt or with the seasons. Your company might be made up of rangers and hunters from a larger tribe that expects you to return after a couple of months laden with furs, meats, and trinkets.
Benefits
Camp. Your company has access to regular hunting grounds, as well as the equipment and pack animals you need to set up camp every night. Your camp consists of tents, a large cauldron for cooking and brewing, and a modest collection of ingredients for your alchemical potions, tonics, and talismans.
Hunting Grounds. Your company has laid claim to a small part of the wilderness and has learned the comings and goings of the beasts that call it home and what plants and flowers grow within its borders. You can replace one proficiency you gain from your race or background with proficiency in the Survival skill.
Tier 2 : Skilled Hunters
At this tier, your company has extended the range of its hunting grounds, perfected a number of alchemical formulas, and gained some notoriety locally as hunters of larger beasts and traders in skins, meats, and other traditionally crafted items. Your skill and renown have attracted others who wish to learn under your guidance or to live within your territory and establish a small tribal camp.
Benefits
Well-Stocked Provisions. Thanks to the hunting grounds you have claimed and tended to and the aid of your followers, your camp is now stocked with many provisions that you can use to fashion fetishes and concoct potions. Even if the camp must be moved to a different location or is itinerant in nature, this benefit represents the provisions your company has gathered from previous hunting grounds. These
provisions are useful to anyone who engages in research and crafting as a downtime activity and can help any member of the company create new formulas and talismans.
As a result, you are considered to have on hand any trivial or common reagent necessary for crafting.
Whipper-In and Kenneler. Your company attracts a number of followers who aid your hunts while learning your trade. You gain 1d8 hirelings who act as kennelers and whipper-ins on hunts while also protecting the camp and hunting and gathering to replenish the stocks of your camp. Hirelings obtained by this benefit must have a challenge rating of 1/4 or lower.
Tier 3 : Big Game Hunters
When your company reaches this tier, you have become known throughout the land for your excellent hunting skills, for your expertise in traditional medicine and alchemy, and for producing some of the finest art, clothing, weapons, and magical items. If your company is part of a larger tribe, you are considered some of its most courageous rangers and mystics. If you are an independent organization, you have a strong reputation with the local tribes, who will turn to you to hunt animals and are willing to trade with you on a regular basis.
Benefits
Improved Provisions. Thanks to your plethora of alchemical ingredients, all harvested from the creatures and plants within your camp, you can prepare much more complex formulas and fetishes. As a result you now have access to uncommon reagents when you perform any crafting activity.
Trophy Hunters. Your prestige as hunters of some of the largest and most dangerous beasts in the lands has brought you significant renown. You gain a +2 bonus to Charisma (Persuasion) checks when dealing with other alchemists and bone grinders.
Tier 4 : Monster Slayers
At this tier, your company is known across the land for its skilled hunters and monster slayers. Whenever a beast ravages the area, the locals seek you out to slay the foul creature. Nobles and chieftains value your skills and company, and you provide sage advice regarding the wilderness, the savage beasts that inhabit it, and matters of the alchemical arts.
Benefits
Master Alchemists. Your skill in the alchemical arts and the fashioning or magical fetishes precedes you. When interacting with others, you can replace Charisma (Intimidation) and Charisma (Persuasion) checks with Intelligence (Arcana) checks, using your knowledge of
folklore, myths, and oral history to sway or terrify others.
Monster Slayers. You are skilled in fighting Large creatures and even those larger than that. Once per turn, you can add your Wisdom modifier to your attack roll against a Large or larger creatures. In addition, you have advantage on saving throws against being frightened by Large or larger creatures.