"Now, being that I have a Hochland long rifle aimed at your head, you have a very simple choice to make. You can tell your story to me, or you can tell it to Old Man Morr."
- —Lars Hammett, bounty hunter[2]
A bounty hunter of the Old World
A bounty hunter, sometimes also called a thief-taker, is a mercenary charged by the authorities of the Old World with tracking down wanted criminals, bandits, and fugitives and bringing them to justice.
Role[]
"The lone bounty hunter can go places that ungainly military units cannot."
- —Description of the bounty hunter in Total War: Warhammer.[6a]
The lone bounty hunter can go places that ungainly military units cannot, which makes such mercenaries a useful adjunct to the watch and militia of the various settlements of the Old World.[1a] Local rulers, guilds, courts, and councils pay the bounties.[1a][3a] They may find bounty hunters distasteful and amoral, but they are an effective counter to brigands, Goblin bands, and the like.[1a]
Most bounty hunters are private workers, collecting bounties from various individuals and organisations. Some find work as "thief-takers," capturing stolen goods rather than fugitives. As they build a reputation, a bounty hunter may find permanent work with a single guild or cult, or join a company of bounty hunters to collect on a reward that it would be impossible to take individually.[3a]
Bounty hunters are professional killers who place little value on the sanctity of life.[1a] Although most bounties require their quarry "dead or alive," bounty hunters generally find it easier to bring them in "dead."[3a] They are utterly ruthless, using their formidable skills to track and eliminate their quarries. The poor view them with fear, since more than one peasant has been murdered and passed off as the real culprit by unscrupulous bounty hunters. The authorities view bounty hunters and thief-takers as a necessary evil, but never a welcome one.[1a]
Bounty Hunter Guilds[]
Bounty hunters aren’t typically represented by guilds in the Empire -- they are independent contractors working for the Imperial courts. Bounty hunters' fortunes rise and fall with their track records. Several botched jobs can leave them without money or employment prospects. There are, however, bounty hunter guilds in Tilea and a few southern Imperial cities. Nuln hosts a guild consisting primarily of Tilean bounty hunters, and Averland has several guilds that regulate bounty-hunting missions into the Border Princes.[7a]
Bounty hunter guilds advocate for their members in disputes with warrant agents. Guilds rarely involve themselves in murder trials, however, and will revoke membership from bounty hunters who kill innocents.[7a]
The primary purpose of bounty hunter guilds is to manage and regulate the issuing of arrest warrants. The guild master is known as a "bounty hunter general." Bounty hunter generals are also employed privately by nobles across the Empire, usually on short-term contracts, to manage purges of bandit fiefdoms on noble lands.[7a]
Bounty hunter generals scrutinise independent bounty hunters working in the same region as their own contractors. Local bounty hunters often accuse visiting independents of interference or reckless practices.[7a]
Usually, a firm warning from the bounty hunter general is enough to send independents packing to another city, or bring them into the local bounty hunters guild. Many bounty hunters are loath to join such guilds because they are lone wolves by nature.[7a]
Bounties[]
Bounties are only paid if the warrant conditions are met. In many cases outlaws must be captured alive, particularly if they're wanted for debt evasion or contempt of court. Killing outlaws who are wanted alive can result in being charged with murder. Even if the courts excuse a recklessly violent bounty hunter, accidental killings can tarnish the hunter's reputation.[7b]
Judges and nobles understand that hunting outlaws may result in a final showdown that only one party will survive. Warrants for dangerous escaped convicts or bandits at large are often therefore drafted with separate conditions for returning them dead or alive. In most cases, the reward for capturing outlaws alive is higher, particularly if they possess information that the authorities think could be useful.[7b]
Collecting rewards on dead outlaws requires turning in their heads. These must be sufficiently intact to enable identification by witnesses. If the face was mutilated, then the corpse must be inspected for distinguishing marks. If the body was destroyed the bounty is only awarded if the death was observed by credible witnesses.[7b]
Warrants don't require the bounty hunter to capture or kill the outlaw themselves. Authorities that only use bounty hunters as trackers or informants offer contracts that involve guiding roadwardens to an outlaw camp, or providing information that leads to an arrest. During the arrest, the bounty hunter usually observes from a safe distance to be sure the outlaw doesn't escape.[7b]
Notable Bounty Hunters[]
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Core Rulebook (RPG)
- 1a: pg. 34
- 2: Today is Not the Day I Die
- 3: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Core Rulebook (RPG)
- 3a: pg. 85
- 4: Brunner the Bounty Hunter (Novel) by C.L. Werner
- 5: Lord of the End Times (Novel) by Josh Reynolds
- 6: Total War: Warhammer (PC Game)
- 6a: Bounty Hunter (Follower description)
- 7: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Deft Steps Light Fingers (RPG)