The Wild Hunt exists in all the lands where Druids and their deities dwell. It is a physical manifestation of “life force” that always takes on the same form. The Hunt is made up of one huge black-skinned man with antlers growing from his head and his pack of hounds.
The Hunt appears whenever there is evil in the land (as in the case of an evil temple or an evil priest of the 12th level or greater coming into the area, or what the DM decides is a grossly evi I act)
When the Hunt passes, the noise of the howling dogs or the Hunt Master’s horn can be heard for miles in the night. If this noise is actively pursued by any being, they will become part of the Hunt when they sight the pack and its master! If the Hunt passes by any given being they must make a magic saving throw (on a 25% chance they will look at the pack) or join the Hunt. When any given being becomes part of the Hunt they may take on one of two roles: they will be the hunters or the hunted!
The Hunt always begins ten miles from the source of evil that “summons” it, and for each mile nearer the source of evil when the Hunt is spotted there is a 10% chance that the observing being will be the object of the Hunt instead of the hunter. The Hunt will always pass close by the source of evil that has created it (never going into a building, but going within inches of the building and passing by). After passing by, it will travel on in a random direction for ten more miles.
There will only be one Hunt on the Prime Material Plane on any given night, and it will always be drawn to the greatest evil in the Celtic area (decided upon by the referee). If the Hunt finds a being to hunt before finding the source of evil, it will attack that being to kill it, and then disappear as it reaches its summoning source. If the Hunt does not find a victim before it reaches the source, it will travel on for another ten miles and every being that sees it and does not make their saving throw vs. magic will have a 90% chance of becoming the hunted!
If after ten miles, no being becomes the hunted, the entire pack will turn on the nearest big game creature around (deer, stag, bear or anything partially dangerous and non-intelligent). All during this hunt, the beings that have come along with the Hunt must travel with the Master, and they must attack whatever becomes the hunted, even if it goes against their alignment! Thus, paladins might have to attack helpless women or the like. All beings that have been taken in as hunters will attack the quarry (whatever it may be) and if they do not succeed in killing the being, the Master and his hounds will take over (but only when all other hunters have been incapacitated) and they will either kill or be killed.
The magic of the Hunt will catch up and sweep along any who become part of it, so that, whether mounted or on foot, they will be able to keep up with the fast pace that the hounds set. The Hunt generally pursues on the ground, but it has the ability to run right into the air to fly over obstacles or especially difficult terrain.
When the hunted being has been run down, there is an instant melee to the death. All participants must fight on to the death to the best of their abilities (no holding back).
The only ways to prevent being killed as the object of the Hunt are to run out of the 10 mile radius of the source of evil, to elude the pack until morning, or to slay the Master and his pack.
All beings that have been in any part of the Hunt have a 50% chance of becoming ensnared again with every sighting of the Master and his pack.
There have been legends of epic battles between the Master and his hounds and some of the greater heroes of the past. In these legends, the Master and his pack have been slain, only to disappear in the darkness and appear somewhere else the next night, proving that the force that creates the Hunt is eternal.
