Big Game Hunter
by Zed

Class: Any
Tag: BGH

Introduction

The Big Game Hunters are a loosely knit society of somewhat eccentric individuals from various walks of life. Unlike more conventional hunters that kill only what they need to survive and do so without overly disturbing the environment, these hunters are obsessed with one thing only: to get the "biggest gun" they can get their hands on, and collect as many trophies with it as possible.

In the slang of the Big Game Hunters, a crossbow is a "gun". More conventional hunters that rely on stealth or skill might use a bow or a spear to hunt for game, but not the Big Game Hunters! These hunters rely solely on the stopping power of their huge caliber weapons to bring down their targets. Moreover, they kill purely for sport, and don't seem to care whether any use is made of the bodies they leave behind. The typical Big Game Hunter is arrogant and extremely confident in the power of their weapon and their ability to use it, but otherwise their personalities vary across a fairly broad spectrum; some are brash and condescending, while others are outgoing and will regale companions endlessly with accounts of their various expeditions, and still others will be reserved and hardly say a word other than that which directly concerns the hunt.

Rules

Frequently, Big Game Hunters will venture to distant lands, with whose terrain and wildlife they are not familiar, in search of new hunting thrills and experiences. In these cases, a BGH will often take with him a guide that knows the local area and game. When a BGH visits a new region (Act), he must choose whether he will hire a guide (mercenary) that is local to the Act. If he chooses not to acquire a local guide, or if he is not yet eligible to hire a guide from that Act, or is in an Act where no guide can be hired, and his current guide dies, he may not resurrect it unless he is about to hire a guide to replace his current one, or unless he begins hunting again in the Act from which his guide originated (potentially at a different difficulty level.) A BGH may not travel back to an already-completed Act for the sole purpose of resurrecting a fallen guide, although he may do so if he is planning to hunt in that region for a time.

Big Game Hunters are happy to travel with non-hunters under normal circumstances and bore them to tears with tales of their exploits or show off their proficiency with their guns. They will happily accept gifts of all sorts, including non-gun weapons and shields if they currently have a merc that can make use of the gift.

Items

BGHs have no restrictions with respect to armour, jewelry, or charms, other than those mentioned below.

Weapons
A Big Game Hunter will always use the most damaging gun he owns that he is capable of using, even if the most damaging gun is inferior in other ways to another gun he might own. He may choose whether to include elemental damage in the calculation, however. Additionally, a more accurate weapon may also sometimes be chosen over a more powerful weapon, providing that the difference in their average damage is less than 10%.

A Big Game Hunter may also carry a backup gun in case his primary gun becomes jammed or otherwise is not working. The above restriction does not apply to the backup gun; however, this is not a license to use the backup gun all the time! Where feasible, the highest-damage gun should be used in preference to the backup gun.

Shields
BGHs may of course not use shields.

Enchantments
Items that cause damaging spell effects on hitting a monster or when hit by a monster should not be used, so as to avoid the possibility of monsters being killed by a means other than the gun. This includes thorny items. Items that cause non-damaging spell effects like curses are ok, and items that add elemental damage to the gun are similarly desirable. Exception: Damaging spell effects are allowed if they are a property of the gun itself.

Skills

A Big Game Hunter must always use their gun to make their kills. They may not use any skills that cause damage to monsters directly, although they may use skills to improve their effectiveness with their gun, with some exceptions. Big Game Hunters may also (generally) not summon minions, which they feel only impede their view of their targets and generally get in the way. Some classes are impacted more by this than others, as follows.

Amazon
Amazon Big Game Hunters will not use skills that kill with magic, rather than with the pure power of their gun; thus they do not use any elemental arrow attacks. They will also not suffer anything that reduces the stopping power of their guns, so multishot is out (any real Big Game Hunter uses slugs, not shot!) The Javelin and Spear tree may not be used, and they also may not summon Valkyrie, although Decoy is acceptable. Nevertheless this leaves the Amazon BGH with a variety of powerful skills to choose from, making them easily some of the most accomplished BGHs around. Some Amazon BGHs choose to further handicap themselves in order to provide more of a challenge.

Assassin
Assassin Big Game Hunters are quite rare, as most members of the order of Mage Slayers have much more sense than to join a BGH expedition. The occasional Mage Slayer that does fall into the social circles of the Big Game Hunters never really fits in, and there are only 4 skills that such Assassins will typically use while in BGH society: Burst of Speed, Fade, Venom, and Cloak of Shadows. Oftentimes these BGH Assassins will find themselves only part-time Big Game Hunters, and will spend the remainder of their time among other social circles (i.e. crossed with another variant -- BGH rules are relaxed as appropriate to that variant.)

Barbarian
A Barbarian makes a fine Big Game Hunter; although none of his combat skills other than Leap are of use, all of his Warcries with the exception of Warcry are acceptable, which tends to make him a popular figure in BGH expeditions. Barbarian BGHs may also take Increased Stamina and Speed as well as Iron Skin and Natural Resistance to round out their abilities.

Druid
A Druid BGH is almost unheard-of, as the philosophy of the BGH is almost diametrically opposed to the philosophy of the typical Druid. Any Druid that were to become a BGH would be under the most severe of restrictions. He might be able to summon a Carrion or Solar Vine to consume the bodies of any his gun killed, or shield himself from the elements with Cyclone Armor. A Druid BGH could also be accompanied by a pack of hunting dogs (Spirit Wolf) or practice falconry (Ravens). Going on Safari is dangerous business, so hunting dogs are bred to be tough; however, their purpose is to flush and distract game, not kill it themselves and potentially ruin its value as a trophy. (Dire Wolf may be gotten to boost Spirit Wolf life, but may not be summoned.) No natural spirit would accompany anyone with such a casual disregard for wildlife as a BGH, and a Druid BGH would not deign to use an elemental damage spell or shift into a melee-only wereform; he prefers to use his gun!

Necromancer
A Necromancer Big Game Hunter is one that prefers to entrap or otherwise manipulate his prey before he delivers the final shot with his gun; he seems to enjoy watching them struggle and will often play with them for a few moments before dispatching them. This makes him seem a bit sick and twisted even to other BGHs, but they welcome him nonetheless because of his unique abilities. All curses are allowed, as are Bone Armour, Bone Wall, and Bone Prison.

Paladin
Another popular figure in BGH expeditions, the Paladin BGH is a follower of Zakarum that left Kurast in disgust around the time of the corruption of that region by Mephisto, and drifted aimlessly for a time before falling in with BGH society. None of his combat skills are of use in his new occupation, but all of his auras are useful other than Holy Fire, Holy Shock, Sanctuary, and Thorns, which can cause damage by a means other than his gun.

Sorceress
A Sorceress makes for an uncommon BGH, as this is another class that does not fit well into BGH society. She may only use the following skills: Warmth, Enchant, Fire Mastery, Frozen Armour, Teleport, and Energy Shield; some Sorceress BGHs will bend the rules of BGH society and learn Static Field, their rationale being that it only weakens monsters and kills are still made with the gun. A BGH sorceress is another individual that may find themselves spending only part of their time in BGH circles (and have relaxed restrictions as appropriate to the rules pertaining to another variant.)

Probably the best BGHs as far as actually being able to hit things with their guns are the Amazon and Paladin BGHs, as none of the others have +AR or +%damage skills that affect guns. The others, however, get some interesting skills that complement a ranged attack nicely, such as Howl, Grim Ward, Dim Vision, Terror, Teleport, and Cloak of Shadows; with sufficient +AR gear, any BGH should be able to be successfully played at least through Nightmare difficulty.

Expeditions

Big Game Hunters will often go on an Expedition (also known as a Safari) wherein they hunt to get trophies to hang on the walls of their abodes. BGHs also use these expeditions as times to get acquainted with one another, and to share tips and pointers for using the various weapons of their trade. An expedition can consist of any number of Big Game Hunters, and non-BGHs may also accompany them providing they respect the BGH protocols described below. An expedition can be done in any one Act at a time, and consists of each member of the expedition killing 5 bosses in that Act single-handedly; these bosses must all be killed in separate regions of the Act, though multiple members of an expedition may each kill a single boss in the same region of an Act. An Act Boss counts as 3 bosses towards this total.

There are certain protocols that must be observed while on an expedition. For a boss to be counted in an expedition member's total, that boss must be "called" by that expedition member before it or any of its minions are slain. From that point onward the caller may only target that boss until it is dead, and no other expedition member may target that boss. Note that shots going astray by accident or a monster walking in front of a shot are not frowned upon, but an effort should be made to avoid this where possible. If the boss is accidentally killed by someone other than the caller, however, that boss can not be counted toward the caller's total. Similarly, if the caller accidentally fails to target the boss and thereby kills something other than the boss, that boss may not be counted towards his total.

Any expedition member that reaches his "bag limit" gains the ability to use new classes of weapons, as follows (for normal difficulty):

- Act 1: May use magical (blue) or socketed Light Xbows, and magical (blue) Xbows.
- Act 2: May use rare Light Xbows, socketed Xbows, and magical (blue) Heavy & Repeating Xbows.
- Act 3: May use any Light Xbows, rare Xbows, and socketed Heavy & Repeating Xbows.
- Act 4: May use any Xbow and rare Heavy & Repeating Xbows.
- Act 5: May use any Heavy or Repeating Crossbow.

Repeat for Nightmare, substituting equivalent Exceptional weapons, and for Hell, substituting equivalent Elite weapons. Also note that a new BGH may use any magical or normal (blue or white) Light Crossbow.

BGH Philosophy

Picture a somewhat corpulent middle-aged British aristocrat in Africa, in the late 1800s or early 1900s, with khaki short sleeve shirt and knee-length shorts, wearing a pith helmet, riding a horse through the savanna, accompanied by several friends and several male Negro (to use the terminology of the time) guides, plus pack animals. Off in the distance, they spot an African elephant, say, or a lion. They travel in that general direction until they get close enough (which is not very close at all,) careful enough to keep downwind so as not to spook the large animal but not carefully enough to avoid scaring off any other animal that might be along their route, and then the so-called "hunter" pulls out a large bore rifle and kills his target in cold blood. They then proceed to the carcass and take the head as a trophy, as well as anything reasonably valuable from the body (e.g. tusks, or skin for a rug,) and leave the meat to the jackals. Afterwards, they might take tea in China that they brought with them -- after all, there are some luxuries you don't do without, even while on safari!

A BGH is not a primitive hunter that is out to gather food. He (or she) is usually a self-absorbed elitist neer-do-well that lives off of old money while participating in a "sport" that most real hunters would consider cruel and wasteful. This is someone with a complete disdain for the natural world, who seeks to prove his mastery over it by taking down the biggest creatures he can find. It doesn't take any particular skill to be a BGH, all it takes is the right attitude and a love of self (and of boasting); oftentimes less skilled BGHs will have to take multiple shots in order to score a hit, or torment their targets with a dozen or more bullet wounds rather than killing them cleanly and mercifully with as few shots as possible. Similarly, BGH are not known for their skill at stealth, as their prey are usually among the top predators and largest animals of the region, which usually are unwary of BGHs and other adventurers, thinking they have little to fear.