Order of the Witch Hunter

The world is full of dangerous magic, and many recoil in the face of such power, fleeing from those who would abuse its might. The Witch Hunter, by contrast, learns to recognize and resist magic, wading through waves of arcane power to reach and end her foes.

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies

Witch hunters are proficient with simple weapons and silent ranged weapons, as well as light armor and light shields. They suffer no arcane spell failure chance for casting in light armor or while wielding a light shield.

Strong-Willed (Ex)

At 1st level, a witch hunter is able to stand strong against magical effects that seek to control, compel, or persuade her. The witch hunter rolls twice and takes the best result when making a Will saving throw against a mind-affecting effect. She can use this ability a number of times per day equal to her Wis mod.

Additionally, the witch hunter gains a competence bonus on Spellcraft checks to identify a spell as it is cast equal to half her bladesinger level.

Defense against the Arcane Arts (Ex)

At 4th level, a witch hunter picks a single school of magic. She gains a +1 insight bonus on saving throws against spells of that school. Every four levels beyond 4th, the witch hunter picks a new school and gains this bonus against spells of that school (to a maximum of five schools of magic at 20th level). Furthermore, each time the witch hunter picks a new school, the bonuses for the schools she has already chosen increase by 1.

Foil Casting (Su)

At 7th level, when an opponent tries to cast an arcane spell within a witch hunter's threatened area, the DC for that caster to cast defensively increases by 2. This increase stacks with the effects of the Disruptive feat. Furthermore, the witch hunter knows where to hit foes to foil casting from a distance. Each time she hits a spellcaster or a creature that uses spell-like abilities with a ranged weapon attack, the DC of any Concentration checks the caster makes increases by 2 for 1 round.

Additionally, if she successfully identifies a spell as it is being cast using Spellcraft, she may attempt to counterspell using dispel magic or greater dispel magic as an immediate action, provided she has one of those spells prepared.

Wracking Dispel (Su)

Starting at 10th level, whenever the witch hunter successfully dispels a spell using break enchantment, dispel magic, or remove curse, she can expend 1 point from her arcane pool to wrack the original caster with pain, dealing 1d4 points of damage per spell level of the effect dispelled. If the target succeeds at a Will save (DC = 15 + level of the spell dispelled + Intelligence modifier) it takes only 1 point of damage per spell level. The witch hunter cannot target the same caster more than once per round with this ability, regardless of how many effects she dispels.

Witch’s Bane (Su)

At 13th level, a witch hunter gains the following arcana.

Witch’s Bane: Any creature that casts a spell within 30 feet of the witch hunter takes a –2 penalty to AC against the witch hunter's attacks and a –2 penalty on saving throws against the witch hunter's spells while this arcana remains in effect. Activating this arcana is a swift action that costs 1 arcane pool point. The aura persist for 1 round per bladesinger level.

Spell Scent (Su)

At 16th level, the witch hunter learns how to sense unique spell signatures, and can follow the trail of a cast spell or spell effect cast back to its source. Once per day, when the witch hunter comes into contact with or is exposed to a spell effect or a magic item, she can spend a full-round action to examine the spell effect or magic item. She can do this even if the spell effect was instantaneous, but must start her examination within 1 round after she experienced the spell’s effect. This examination yields the following information:

• • When the spell was cast or the item created

  • Whether the caster used divine or arcane magic

  • Whether the caster is still alive

  • The direction and approximate distance to the caster, if they are on the same plane of existence.

This information remains available and is updated in real-time for 24 hours.

Impervious (Ex)

At 19th level, a witch hunter becomes immune to the effects of a single school of magic. That school of magic must be the first one she picked for defense against the arcane arts (see above). Neither harmful nor helpful spells of that school have an effect on the witch hunter. If a spell of that school is an area of effect spell, the spell goes off as normal, but the witch hunter is untouched by its effects.