[5e] The Ranger, Refined

# The Ranger, Refined

##### Refinements made to the *UA: The Ranger, Revised* character class.

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##### Version 1.0

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##### The Ranger
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**— Spell Slots —**

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| Level | Proficiency <br>Bonus | Features | Spells <br>Known | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
|:---:|:---:|:---|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
| 1st  | +2 | Favored Enemy, Favored Terrain | ─ | ─ | — | — | — | — |
| 2nd  | +2 | Fighting Style, Spellcasting | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | — |
| 3rd  | +2 | Ranger Conclave, Natural Explorer | 3 | 3 | — | — | — | — |
| 4th  | +2 | Ability Score Improvement | 3 | 3 | — | — | — | — |
| 5th  | +3 | Extra Attack | 4 | 4 | 2 | — | — | — |
| 6th  | +3 | Favored Enemy improvement | 4 | 4 | 2 | — | — | — |
| 7th  | +3 | Ranger Conclave feature | 5 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — |
| 8th  | +3 | Ability Score Improvement | 5 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — |
| 9th  | +4 | — | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — |
| 10th | +4 | Hide in Plain Sight | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — |
| 11th | +4 | Ranger Conclave feature | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | — | — |
| 12th | +4 | Ability Score Improvement |  7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | ─ | — |
| 13th | +5 | — | 8 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | — |
| 14th | +5 | Vanish | 8 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | — |
| 15th | +5 | Ranger Conclave feature | 9 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — |
| 16th | +5 | Ability Score Improvement | 9 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ─ |
| 17th | +6 | Favored Enemy improvement | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 18th | +6 | Feral Senses | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 19th | +6 | Ability Score Improvement | 11 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 20th | +6 | Foe Slayer | 11 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |

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#### Quick Build
You can make a ranger quickly by following these sugges-tions. First, make Dexterity your highest ability score, then Wisdom. Second, choose the outlander background.

## Class Features
As a ranger, you have the following class features.

#### Hit Points
**Hit Dice:** 1d10
<br>
**Hit Points at 1st Level:** 10 + your Constitution modifier
<br>
**Hit Points at Higher Levels:** 1d10 (or 6) + your

Constitution modifier per ranger level after 1st

#### Proficiencies
**Armor:** Light armor, medium armor, shields
<br>
**Weapons:** Simple weapons, martial weapons
<br>
**Tools:** None
<br>
**Saving Throws:** Strength, Dexterity
<br>
**Skills:** Choose three from Animal Handling,
Athletics,

Insight, Investigation, Medicine, Nature,
Perception,

Stealth, and Survival
___

#### Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background: 
* (a) scale mail or (b) leather armor
* (a) two shortswords or (b) two simple melee
weapons
* (a) a dungeoneer’s pack or (b) an explorer’s pack
* A longbow and a quiver of 20 arrows
___

### Favored Enemy
Beginning at 1st level, you can focus your awareness on a single creature, quickly learning to anticipate its actions and retaliate against its attacks.

As a bonus action, you can designate a creature you can see within 100 feet of you and mark it as your favored enemy. Alternatively, when you attack a creature, you can mark the target of the attack as your favored enemy. Regardless of how you mark a favored enemy, you can you use this ability once during your turn. The target remains your favored enemy until you use this ability again.

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You gain advantage on all Wisdom and Intelligence checks to detect your favored enemy, follow its tracks, and to determine its actions and motives.

Once during your turn, you can make an additional melee or ranged weapon attack against your favored enemy. You gain a number of uses of this ability equal to half your ranger level (minimum of 1, rounded up), and regain all expended uses when you complete a long rest.

If you have a similar ability, such as the *hunter's mark* spell or Slayer's Prey feature, both effects can be active at the same time, but can't be directed at the same target.

Starting at 6th level, you gain advantage on all saving throws made against effects created by your favored enemy.

Starting at 17th level, once during your turn, if you miss with a weapon attack against your favored enemy, you can make an additional weapon attack against it.

### Favored Terrain
You are particularly familiar with one type of natural environment and are adept at traveling and surviving in such regions. Choose one type of favored terrain, and you gain the benefits of that terrain at all times.

In addition, you are considered proficient in the Nature skill while in your favored terrain. If you are already proficient in this skill, your proficiency bonus is doubled while in your favored terrain.

At 10th level, you choose an additional favored terrain. You are encouraged to choose a terrain in which you have spent significant time, but you are free to choose any option.

#### Arctic
You gain resistance to cold damage, and are unaffected by extremely cold environments.

#### Coast
You gain a swim speed equal to your speed, and can hold your breath for twice as long as normal.

#### Desert
You gain resistance to fire damage, and are unaffected by extremely hot environments. 
#### Fen
You gain resistance to poison damage and disease immunity.

#### Forest
You gain proficiency in the Wisdom (Perception) skill, and your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses this skill, and you gain a +5 bonus to your passive Perception.

#### Grassland
Your speed increases by 10 feet, and you are unaffected by non-magical difficult terrain.

#### Mountain
You gain a climb speed equal to your speed, and you can breathe normally in elevations up to 10,000 feet.

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#### Underdark
You learn Undercommon. If you do not have darkvision, you gain it with a range of 30 feet. If you have darkvision, you instead gain blindsight with a range of 5 feet.

### Fighting Style
At 2nd level, you adopt a particular style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options. You can’t take a Fighting Style option more than once.

#### Archery
You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with ranged weapons.

#### Defense
While you are wearing armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.

#### Dueling
When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.

#### Mariner
While you are not wearing heavy armor or using a shield, you have a climbing and swimming speed equal to your normal movement, and you gain a +1 bonus to AC.

#### Two-Weapon Fighting
When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.

***Variant.*** When you engage in two-weapon fighting, your <br>off-hand attack can be made as a part of the attack action, instead of using a bonus action. (This variant rule replaces the standard rules for this Fighting Style.)

### Spellcasting
By the time you reach 2nd level, you have learned to use the magical essence of nature to cast spells, much as a druid does. See chapter 10 for the general rules of spellcasting and chapter 11 for the ranger spell list.

#### Spell Slots
The Ranger table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest. For example, if you know the 1st-level spell animal friendship and have a 1st-level and a 2nd-level spell slot available, you can cast animal friendship using either slot.

#### Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher
You know two 1st-level spells of your choice from the ranger spell list. The Spells Known column of the Ranger table shows when you learn more ranger spells of your choice. Each of these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

For instance, when you reach 5th level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1st or 2nd level. Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the ranger spells you know and replace it with another spell from the ranger spell list, which also must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

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#### Spellcasting Ability
Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for your ranger spells, since your magic draws on your attunement to nature. You use your Wisdom whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Wisdom modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a ranger spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

**Spell save DC** = 8 + your proficiency bonus + <br>your
Wisdom modifier

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**Spell attack modifier** = your proficiency bonus + <br>your Wisdom modifier

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### Ranger Conclave
At 3rd level, you choose to emulate the ideals and training of a ranger conclave: the Beast Conclave, the Hunter Conclave, the Stalker Conclave, the Horizon Walker Conclave, or the Monster Slayer Conclave, all detailed at the end of the class description. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level, and again at 7th, 11th, and 15th level.

### Natural Explorer
You are a master of navigating the natural world and wandering the wilderness. Starting at 3rd level, you gain the following benefits:
* Difficult terrain doesn't slow your group’s travel.
* Your group can’t become lost except by magical means.
* Even when you are engaged in another activity while traveling (such as foraging, navigating, or tracking), you remain alert to danger.
* If you are traveling alone, you can move stealthily at a normal pace.
* When you forage, you find twice as much food as you normally would.

### Ability Score Improvement
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

### Extra Attack
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

### Hide in Plain Sight
Starting at 10th level, you can remain perfectly still for long periods of time to set up ambushes. On your turn, if you do not spend any movement and take the Hide action, creatures that attempt to detect you take a −10 penalty to their Wisdom (Perception) checks until the start of your next turn.

You lose this benefit if you move or fall prone, either voluntarily or because of some external effect. You are still automatically detected if any effect or action causes you to no longer be hidden. If you are still hidden on your next turn, you can continue to remain motionless and gain this benefit until you are detected.

### Vanish
Starting at 14th level, you can use the Hide action as a bonus action on your turn. Also, you can’t be tracked by nonmagical means, unless you choose to leave a trail.

### Feral Senses
At 18th level, you gain preternatural senses that help you fight creatures you can’t see. When you attack a creature you can’t see, your inability to see it doesn’t impose disadvantage on your attack rolls against it.

You are also aware of the location of any invisible creature within 30 feet of you, provided that the creature isn’t hidden from you and you aren’t blinded or deafened.

### Foe Slayer
At 20th level, you become an unparalleled hunter. Once on each of your turns, you can add your Wisdom modifier to the attack roll or the damage roll of an attack you make against your favored enemies. You can choose to use this feature before or after the roll, but before any effects of the roll are applied.

## Ranger Conclaves
Across the wilds, rangers come together to form conclaves: loose associations whose members share a similar outlook on how to protect nature from those who would despoil it.

### Beast Conclave
Many rangers are more at home in the wilds
than in civiliza-tion, to the point where animals
consider them kin. Rangers of the Beast Conclave
develop a close bond with a beast, then further
strengthen that bond through the use of magic.

#### Bestial Magic
Starting at 3rd level, you learn one of the following spells: *animal friendship*, *beast bond*, or *speak with animals*. You can learn an additional spell with this feature when you reach 5th level, and again at 9th, 13th, and 17th levels.

The spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of ranger spell you know. If a spell gained from this feature has the ritual tag, you can cast it as a ritual.

Starting at 5th level, you can choose  *animal messenger* or *beast sense* with this feature.

#### Animal Companion
At 3rd level, you learn to use your magic to create a powerful bond with a creature of the natural world.

With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 50 gp worth of rare herbs and fine food, you call forth an animal from the wilderness to serve as your faithful companion. Your companion can be any single, unaligned beast that is Large or smaller, and has a challenge rating of 1/2 or less. However, your DM might pick an animal for you, based on the surrounding terrain and on what types of creatures would logically be present in the area.

At the end of the 8 hours, your animal companion appears and gains all the benefits of your Companion’s Bond ability. You can have only one animal companion at a time.

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If your animal companion is ever slain, the magical bond you share allows you to return it to life. With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 25 gp worth of rare herbs and fine food, you call forth your companion’s spirit and use your magic to create a new body for it. You can return an animal companion to life in this manner even if you do not possess any part of its body.

If you use this ability to return a former companion to life while you have a current beast companion, your current beast leaves you and is replaced by the restored companion.

#### Companion’s Bond
Your animal companion gains a variety of benefits while it is bonded to you. The companion loses its ability to cause poison damage, as well as its Multiattack action, if it has either feature.

Your companion acts on your turn. During your turn, you can verbally command your companion to move (no action required by you). You can also use your bonus action to verbally command it to take the Attack, Dash, Disengage, or Help action. If you don't command your companion to take any action, it takes the Dodge action. If you are incapacitated or absent, your companion acts on its own.

In addition, when you take the Attack action on your turn, you can forgo one of your attacks and have your companion use its reaction to make a melee attack. Your companion must be able to see you to take this action.

Your animal companion benefits from your Favored Enemy feature, and you can choose for your companion to make an additional attack against a favored enemy, though the number of times this attack can be made is shared by both you and your companion. Your animal companion also benefits from your Natural Explorer feature.

As part of the bond that you share, your companion's abilities are amended from its original statistics. Its highest ability score is set to 16 unless it is already higher, and its Constitution score is set to 14 unless it is already higher.

In addition, your level determines some of your companion's statistics. It uses your proficiency bonus rather than its own, and adds this bonus to its AC, attack and damage rolls, two skills of your choice, and all saving throws.

For each level you gain after 3rd, your animal companion gains an additional hit die and increases its hit points accordingly.

Whenever you gain the Ability Score Improvement class feature, your companion’s abilities also improve. Your companion can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or it can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, your companion can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Finally, your companion shares your alignment, and has one or two personality traits, and a flaw that you can roll for or select from the Companion's Traits table. Your companion shares your ideal, and its bond is always, “The ranger who travels with me is a beloved companion for whom I would gladly give my life.”

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> ##### No More Multiattack...
> Multiattack is a useful design tool that keeps monsters simple for the DM. It provides a boost in offense, but that boost is meant to make a beast threatening for one battle -- a notion that doesn't mesh well with a beast intended to fight with the party, rather than against it. Project Multiattack across an entire adventure, and a beast companion runs the risk of outclassing the fighters and barbarians in the party.
> 
> So, in story terms, your animal companion has traded in some of its ferocity (in the form of Multiattack), for better awareness and the ability to fight more effectively in concert with you.

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#### Magic Companion
At 7th level, your companion's attacks are considered magical for overcoming resistances and immunities.

#### Bestial Fury
Starting at 11th level, when you command your companion to take the Attack action, the beast can make two attacks, or it can take the Multiattack action if it has that action.

#### Spell Sharing
Beginning at 15th level, when you cast a spell targeting yourself, you can also affect your beast companion with the spell if the beast is within 30 feet of you.
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##### Companion's Traits
| d6 | Trait |
|:----:|:-------------|
| 1  | I'm dauntless in the face of adversity.  |
| 2 | Threaten my friends, and you threaten me. |
| 3 | I stay on alert so others can rest.  |
| 4 | People see an animal and underestimate me. I use that to my advantage.  |
| 5 | I have a knack for showing up in the nick of time. |
| 6 | I put my friends' needs before my own in all things. |

| d6 | Flaw |
|:----:|:-------------|
| 1  | If there's food left unattended, I'll eat it.  |
| 2 | I growl at strangers, and all people except my ranger are strangers to me.  |
| 3 | Any time is a good time for a belly rub.  |
| 4 | I'm deathly afraid of water.  |
| 5 | My idea of hello is a flurry of licks to the face. |
| 6 | I jump on creatures to tell them how much I love them.  |

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### Hunter Conclave
Some rangers seek to master weapons to better protect civilization from the terrors of the wilderness. Members of the Hunter Conclave learn specialized fighting techniques for use against the most dire threats, from rampaging ogres and hordes of orcs to towering giants and terrifying dragons.

#### Hunter Spells
Starting at 3rd level, you learn an additional spell
when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown
in the Hunter Spells table. The spell counts as
a ranger spell for you, but it doesn’t count against the
number of ranger spells you know.

##### Hunter Spells
| Ranger Level  | Spell |
|:---|:----------|
|  3rd  | *expeditious retreat* |
|  5th  | *magic weapon* |
|  9th  | *haste* |
|  13th  | *compulsion* |
|  17th  | *hold monster* |

#### Hunter's Prey
At 3rd level, you gain one of the following features of your choice. Any time that you gain an additional feature from this Conclave, you may also change your choice for this feature.

**Colossus Slayer.** Your tenacity can wear down the most potent foes. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, the creature takes an extra 1d8 damage if it’s below its hit point maximum. You can deal this extra damage only once per turn.

**Giant Killer.** When a Large or larger creature within 5 feet of you hits or misses you with an attack, you can use your reaction to attack that creature immediately after its attack, provided that you can see the creature.

**Horde Breaker.** Once on each of your turns when you make a weapon attack, you can make another attack with the same weapon against a different creature that is within 5 feet of the original target and within range of your weapon.

#### Defensive Tactics
At 7th level, you gain one of the following features of your choice. Any time that you gain an additional feature from this Conclave, you may also change your choice for this feature.

**Escape the Horde.** Opportunity attacks against you are made with disadvantage.

**Multiattack Defense.** When a creature hits you with an attack, you gain a +4 bonus to AC against all subsequent attacks made by that creature for the rest of the turn.

**Steel Will.** You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened.

**Uncanny Dodge.** When an attacker that you can see hits you with an attack, you can use your reaction to halve the attack's damage against you.

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#### Multiattack
At 11th level, you gain the following actions. You can take these multiattack actions a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier, and regain all uses of this feature when you finish a long rest.

**Volley.** You can use your action to make a ranged attack against any number of creatures within 10 feet of a point you can see within your weapon's range. You must have ammunition for each target, as normal, and you make a separate attack roll for each target.

**Whirlwind.** You can use your actoin to make melee attacks against any number of creatures within 5 feet of you, with a separate attack roll for each target.

#### Superior Hunter's Defense
At 15th level, you gain one of the following features of your choice.

**Evasion.** When you are subjected to an effect, such as a red dragon's fiery breath or a *lightning bolt* spell, that allows you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you suceed on a saving throw, and only half damage if you fail.

**Stand Against the Tide.** When a hostile creature misses you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to force that creature to repeat the same attack against another creature (other than itself) of your choice.

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## Change Log
Briefly, these are the changes made from the previous iterations of this class: 
 
##### Core Class
* 1st-lvl features = *Favored Enemy* (Mike Mearls' "Hunter's Eye") & *Favored Terrain* (Mearls' "Natural Explorer")
* Added Fighting Style options, including TWF variant
* The original *Natural Explorer* feature is now at 3rd lvl
* Removed *Primeval Awareness*, as it is now redundant
* *Extra Attack* is a core class feature
* Removed *Greater Favored Enemy*
* Removed *Land's Stride*/*Fleet of Foot*
___

##### Beast Conclave
* Added *Beast Master Magic* to match w/ *XGtE* subclasses
* *Animal Companion.* Expanded options: any unaligned beast of a CR 1/2 or lower (no Multiattack or poison dmg)
* *Companion's Bond.* Added content to explain companion's interaction w/ Ranger's action options; removed *Coordinated Attack*
* *Companion's Bond.* New ASI progression
* Added *Magic Companion* feature at 7th level
___

##### Hunter Conclave
* Added *Hunter Spells* to match w/ *XGtE* subclasses
* *Hunter's Prey.* Added option of changing feature choice at 7th, 11th, and 15th levels. 
* *Defensive Tactics.* Added option of changing feature choice at 11th and 15th levels. 
* *Defensive Tactics.* Added **Uncanny Dodge** option. 
* *Multiattack.* Removed choice option, allowing the ranger access to both actions; tied usage to Wisdom modifier. 
* *Superior Hunter's Defense.* Removed **Uncanny Dodge**.

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> ## Credits
> This class Revision was compiled and edited by Reddit user **u/JPGenn**. 
> <br>
> ##### Content Credits
> * The Ranger class (*Player's Handbook* p.89-93)
> * The *UA: Ranger, Revised* (UA, WotC)
> * Mike Mearls' *Happy Fun Hour (11/27/2018)*.  
> <br>
> ##### Art Credits
> - Homebrew Stains by DracoExe [Imgur]
> - "[Ranger](https://geekandsundry.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Rogue-Ranger-Archetypes-FI-970x545.png)" © WotC (Magic: The Gathering)
> - "[The Ranger](http://images2.imagebam.com/97/f7/75/1a24c8935445924.png) © Wotc
> - "storm" © Wotc