Hunter's Mark

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• Level: 1
• School: Divination
• Class: Ranger
• Casting Time: Bonus Action
• Range: 90 feet
• Components: V
• Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour

You magically mark one creature you can see within range as your quarry. Until the spell ends, you deal an extra 1d6 Force damage to the target whenever you hit it with an attack roll. You also have Advantage on any Wisdom (Perception or Survival) check you make to find it.

If the target drops to 0 Hit Points before this spell ends, you can take a Bonus Action to move the mark to a new creature you can see within range.

Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. Your Concentration can last longer with a spell slot of level 3-4 (up to 8 hours) or 5+ (up to 24 hours).

Tactical Usage

Opening Combat Priority: Cast Hunter's Mark with your first bonus action to establish long-term damage enhancement. The concentration duration allows one casting to affect multiple encounters, providing excellent spell slot efficiency for rangers.

Target Selection Strategy: Mark high-HP enemies likely to survive multiple attacks. The 1d6 force damage bonus becomes more valuable against creatures that will absorb many hits rather than being eliminated quickly.

Tracking Enhancement: The advantage on Wisdom (Perception and Survival) checks for finding the target makes Hunter's Mark valuable for pursuit scenarios, investigation, and maintaining contact with specific enemies across encounters.

Spell Combinations

Favored Enemy Synergy: Combine with ranger's Favored Enemy features for enhanced damage and tracking against specific creature types. The spell amplifies your natural hunting abilities against preferred targets.

Archery Fighting Style: Rangers with archery fighting style gain +2 to ranged attack rolls, making Hunter's Mark more reliable for consistent damage application through improved hit chances.

Action Surge Multiplication: Multiclass fighters can use Action Surge to make multiple attacks in a turn, each potentially benefiting from Hunter's Mark damage if they hit the marked target.

Material Component Details

Verbal Component Only: Hunter's Mark requires only a verbal component, making it extremely reliable to cast. No somatic or material components mean you can cast it while holding weapons, shields, or other equipment.

Stealth Compatibility: The lack of somatic components allows casting while maintaining stealth or when movement would compromise positioning. The verbal component can be whispered or incorporated into natural sounds.

Quick Casting: The minimal components allow rapid casting as a bonus action without interfering with combat positioning or equipment management, maintaining your tactical flexibility.

Creator Notes

Encounter Duration Impact: Hunter's Mark's ability to transfer to new targets when the original dies extends its utility across multiple phases of complex encounters or sequential combat situations.

Damage Scaling Consideration: The consistent 1d6 damage per hit remains relevant throughout most levels, though it becomes proportionally smaller compared to increasing base weapon damage and other features.

NPC Usage: Rangers, bounty hunters, or tracker NPCs with Hunter's Mark become persistent threats that can pursue player characters across encounters and maintain damage pressure.

Environmental Interactions

Tracking Applications: The enhanced Perception and Survival checks apply to finding the marked creature specifically, not general tracking. This makes the spell excellent for maintaining pursuit or locating specific individuals.

Duration Scaling: Higher-level spell slots dramatically extend duration from 1 hour to potentially 24 hours, transforming the spell from combat enhancement to long-term tracking and harassment tool.

Transfer Range: When the marked target dies, you can immediately mark a new creature within range, maintaining damage enhancement throughout complex encounters with multiple phases or waves of enemies.

Common Rulings & Clarifications

Attack Roll Requirement: The bonus damage only applies to attacks that use attack rolls and hit. Spells requiring saves, area effects, or other damage sources don't trigger the Hunter's Mark damage.

Force Damage Type: The damage type is force, which has very few resistances or immunities, making Hunter's Mark damage consistently applicable across diverse creature encounters.

Concentration Management: Like all concentration spells, Hunter's Mark can be lost through damage or other concentration effects. Protect your concentration through positioning and defensive measures.

Alternative Applications

Urban Tracking: In cities or civilized areas, Hunter's Mark can help track suspects, fugitives, or persons of interest through crowds and complex environments with enhanced Perception and Survival checks.

Investigation Support: The tracking bonuses apply to finding the specific marked creature, making the spell useful for investigation scenarios where you need to locate particular individuals.

Dueling Enhancement: In single combat or dueling situations, Hunter's Mark provides consistent damage enhancement that can accumulate significantly over extended engagements.

Related Spells

Hex: Warlock equivalent with similar mechanics but necrotic damage and ability score disadvantage effects. Multiclass characters might potentially access both, though both require concentration.

Favored Foe: Optional ranger feature that provides similar benefits without spell slot cost but with limited uses. Compare resource economics based on encounter frequency and duration.

Divine Favor: Paladin spell providing radiant damage bonus to all attacks rather than marked targets. Choose based on whether single-target focus or multi-target application better fits encounter needs.

Scaling Analysis

Early Levels (1-6): Hunter's Mark provides excellent value when ranger spell slots are limited and the damage bonus represents a significant percentage of total damage output per turn.

Mid Levels (7-12): Remains effective as rangers gain multiple attacks per turn, multiplying the spell's damage contribution. Extended durations from higher-level slots provide excellent resource efficiency.

High Levels (13-20): While base damage bonus becomes smaller relative to total output, the tracking benefits and resource efficiency through extended durations maintain the spell's utility.

Narrative Flavor

Marking Ritual: You focus intently on your chosen quarry, speaking words of hunting and pursuit. A faint magical mark appears briefly on the target - visible only to you - creating an supernatural connection between hunter and prey.

Enhanced Awareness: Your senses become supernaturally attuned to your marked target. You notice subtle details about their movement, breathing, and presence that would normally escape attention, gaining almost predatory awareness.

Force Impact: When your attacks connect with the marked target, they carry extra supernatural force that manifests as concentrated impact. The magical energy appears as brief flashes of translucent energy at the moment of contact.