The Amber Hunt

Lumora is a dangerous and old continent, and the ruins the elves left behind, and some even older relics are all incredibly valuable. Most of the continent was reshaped in the great cataclysm, and even accurate maps are valuable. As such many nations have ‘Leagues’ of daring explorers and mercenaries willing to brave the depths of the wilds for treasure and lore. But some people chafe under the control and bonds of national loyalty. Still, the wilds are sometimes too dangerous to brave on one’s own. These so called ‘unaligned adventurers’ often hire themselves out as specialists or guides for the more dangerous journeys. For those who fear the lack of a support network, there’s the Amber Hunt. 

Founded a few decades before the great calamity, the Hunt worked as archaeologists and cartographers originally, though that has grown into more of a traditional adventuring focus as the years have gone on. Because of this, and their generally lax position on rules and regulations within their organization, many unaligned adventurers sign up with the Hunt, putting their lives on the line in order to gather artifacts and lore thought lost to time. 

Rules and Regulations for Hunt Members
 If able, maintain reasonably good relations with the members of your team, most of them will have more backing than you.

Record as much as you can, the wild-lands are dangerous, and any information you bring back could save another.

Your life isn’t worth a payout. If something is too dangerous, retreat. 

Reputation Rewards
    

Grand Adventure
Travel Costs are negated and you get double fame on sessions set in the frontier or Contested Territory

Adventurer Lore
While in the wilderness, you may use your Intelligence (Nature) skill in place of Wisdom (Perception) and Wisdom (Survival) checks. While in ruins, you may use Intelligence (History) in place of Wisdom (Perception) checks, and in place of any checks to spot or disarm traps.

Lay of the Land
You may choose two of the following activities to specialize in, gaining abilities specific to each one:


 * Diving
 * You and all allies within 10 feet of you gain a swim speed of 20 ft. You triple the length of time you can hold your breath.
 * You gain advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) and Wisdom (Perception) checks while in the water.
 * On the turn when you emerge from water deep enough to swim in, you have advantage on attack rolls against creatures out of the water.
 * Camping
 * While tracking, you treat the ground as one step softer than normal, and act as if it has been one less day since your target passed through the area.
 * You may improvise camouflage for yourself in wooded environments by taking 5 minutes to gather foliage from the area around you. For the next 2 hours after you have done so, you count yourself as one step more obscured for the purposes of hiding.
 * You do not have to make checks to climb trees.
 * Trekking
 * You reduce the amount of food and water you require to survive by 1/4th. You are also considered naturally adapted to hot climates and do not have to save against exhaustion from extreme heat.
 * Sandy and unstable surfaces do not count as difficult terrain for you, and you may move across quicksand as if it were solid ground, so long as you do not end your turn in it. If you end your turn standing in quicksand, you sink as normal.
 * You know how to move into a controlled slide on sand. While moving downhill on a sandy surface, your speed increases by 10 ft. and you gain a +2 bonus to AC.
 * Mountaineering
 * You count as acclimated to high altitudes, ignoring any penalties imposed by elevation for heights below 20,000 ft. You gain a climb speed of 10 ft.
 * Your time in the mountains has taught you how the terrain works. Once per short rest, as an action, you may trigger one of the following abilities targeting an area you can see while you are in mountainous terrain:
 * Rockslide - Rocks fall on a 10 foot square, dealing 5d8 bludgeoning damage and knocking all creatures inside prone. Creatures that succeed on a DC 14 Dexterity save take half damage and avoid being knocked prone.
 * Avalanche - Thundering piles of snow fall to cover a 60 foot cube, dealing 3d6 bludgeoning damage and restraining all creatures inside. Creatures restrained in the avalanche cannot breathe until they surface. A creature that succeeds on a DC 15 Strength save as an action frees themselves from restrained, and may begin moving through the snow as though they are crawling and in difficult terrain.
 * Spelunking
 * You have 15 feet of Darkvision
 * Crawling does not impede your movement speed, and you face no penalties for squeezing through a smaller space.
 * While you have digging tools, such as a shovel for earth or a pickaxe for stone, you gain a 5 foot burrow speed.
 * Archaeology
 * You gain +5 to your passive perception for the purposes of locating traps, and gain advantage on saves against traps.
 * You gain proficiency in Intelligence (History) and may apply double your proficiency bonus to checks with that skill
 * You may use Intelligence (History) in place of Intelligence (Religion) and Intelligence (Investigation).
 * Urban Exploration
 * You have a climb speed equal to your speed, but lose this climb speed at the end of any consecutive turn you spend climbing, regaining it only when you spend at least one turn without climbing, or jump from one surface to another.
 * You treat yourself as being lightly obscured while in alleyways.
 * Your jump distance increases by twice your proficiency bonus. In addition, if you fall at least 10 feet before making an attack, you deal additional damage equal to the fall damage you would take. If you hit, you do not take any fall damage.
 * Stormchasing
 * You ignore the effects of heavy precipitation. In addition while in heavy precipitation, enemies beyond 10 feet from you treat you as heavily obscured instead of lightly.
 * When you succeed on a save to take half damage from an effect that deals lightning or cold damage, you instead take no damage.
 * You ignore all penalties for strong winds except the flight restrictions.
 * Polar Exploration
 * You do not have to save against exhaustion from extreme cold, and it takes twice as long for frigid water to affect you.
 * Ice and snow can not be difficult terrain for you, and you do not have to save against falling prone on slippery ice. You gain a 10 foot burrow speed through snow.
 * You may improvise camouflage for yourself in snowy environments by taking 5 minutes to reduce your visibility against the snow. For the next 2 hours after you have done so, you count yourself as one step more obscured for the purposes of hiding.

Breadth of Experience
You may pick two additional activities to specialize in from Lay of the Land

Advanced Activities
You become more skillful in your outdoor activities, choose two of the following abilities. You must possess the base ability to choose the advanced ability;


 * Diving
 * While underwater, you have advantage on attack rolls. Your lung capacity gives you advantage against inhaled poisons and effects such as Stinking Cloud, but not against effects such as chlorine gas that do not need to be breathed in to take effect.
 * Camping
 * Your abilities at camouflage have progressed to the point you can use them anywhere, instead of only in wooded terrain. When you attack a creature while hidden, missed attacks do not reveal your location to your target.
 * Trekking
 * The techniques and innate balance you have on sand extends to other surfaces. You increase your walking speed by 10ft, and may increase your AC by +2 until the start of your next turn whenever you take the dash action. This AC bonus does not stack with the AC bonus from sliding downhill.
 * Mountaineering
 * Belaying and pinning have become second nature to you, and so long as you have a grappling hook in hand, you gain the following abilities:

You may use a bonus action to either:


 * Move 15 ft towards a surface of your choice.
 * Swing horizontally up to 30 ft.

You may use your reaction, if you have a grappling or climbing hook to:


 * Secure the hook on a surface within 5 ft, preventing yourself from being knocked away by strong winds, or falling further than 10 ft.

You must have a surface for the grappling hook to latch onto, and you may make a running jump into or out of this bonus action movement.


 * Spelunking
 * You’ve become so skilled at navigating and surviving in dark places you know how to mask your presence from even those with darkvision. While in dim light or darkness, creatures with non-standard visions such as darkvision, truesight, or other methods of perception treat you as invisible.
 * Archaeology
 * You may take the Search action as a bonus action on your turn.
 * When you make an Intelligence (History) check, you may treat any die result less than 10 as a 10.
 * Urban Exploration
 * When you make a running jump or move at least 30 ft within a turn, you may take the Dodge action as a reaction.
 * When you negate at least 2d6 fall damage by landing an attack, creatures cannot make opportunity attacks against you until the end of your turn.
 * Stormchasing
 * You’ve become an expert at predicting the effects of storms and weather. You gain advantage on saves against effects that deal lightning or cold damage
 * While it’s raining you may use a metal thrown weapon, such as a dagger or shortspear to direct a lightning bolt. Once per turn, when you hit with a ranged weapon attack with one of these metal weapons, you may deal an additional 3d6 lightning damage and 1d6 sonic damage to the creature, as a lightning bolt strikes your target.
 * Polar Exploration
 * You know how to adjust your clothing to gain resistance to the cold. As an action you may adjust your clothes to gain resistance to cold damage until you take an action to readjust them. Doing so in hot weather forces you to save against the heat twice as often.
 * While you are camouflaged within a snowy environment, creatures with alternate sights, such as truesight, darkvision or other perceptions treat you as invisible, and missed attacks do not reveal your location.

Terrain Master
Choose another activity from Lay of the Land. Whenever you complete a long rest, you may change your choice.