Iouncurain Ranger
Version 0.985 - Condensed
Created by Iceblade [@GMBinder | @Reddit]
Format: DIN A4
Table Of Contents
| Topic | Page |
|---|---|
| P1: Iouncurain Ranger Introduction | 1 |
| P2: Class Features | 1 |
| . Class Table | 2 |
| P3: Ranger Disciplines | 5 |
| . Vigilante | 5 |
| . Hunter | 6 |
| . Druidic Warrior | 6 |
| . Gloom Stalker | 8 |
| . Horizon Walker | 8 |
| . Monster Slayer | 8 |
Cover Art by WOTC
The Iouncurain Ranger (Formerly Malleable Ranger) is a homebrew Ranger designed to work in world where magic is racially tied. This version will thus have a spellcasting variant and a spell-less variant with identical core mechanics with attempts to provide broadly useful ribbons and flavorful rock features. This class will be more malleable and adaptable to changing circumstances such as enemy or terrain.
In the four archetypal paradigm of D&D: warrior, expert, mage, and support; this Ranger is designed to be fighter first and an expert second. This Ranger should be quite adept in the Exploration and Combat pillars of 5e D&D for this class is equal parts Survivalist, Explorer, and Hunter with the strong flavor of Wilderness Guide.
Iouncurain Ranger
Warriors of the wilderness, Rangers are natural survivalists able to survive harsh conditions and find their path through winding terrain. Their wilderness talents make Rangers expert guides through confusing terrain and adept guardians against the dangers of the wilds.
Rangers are also proficient fighters and skilled hunters. Their skills allow them to track down dangerous prey through all manner of terrain. Once found, their combat abilities are such that they can bring down even the mightiest of creatures.
Reconnaissance, preparation, and ambushing tactics are key elements in a Ranger's toolkit. Thus, swiftness, stealth, and knowledge are vital to a Ranger's success. To this end, the Ranger is aided either by druidic spellcasting or specialist survival skills with natural materials.
Class Themes
Rangers are adroit survivalists. They possess an array of diverse skills, wilderness knowledge, and honed instincts that make them adept at surviving and even thriving in the wilds.
Key Mechanics: Survivalist Features, Wilderness Expert, Survival Instinct. The Ranger is the best at surviving dangers with their expertise in wilderness knowledge and survival skills combined with the inherent advantages developed from a life in the wilds.
Rangers are adept hunters. Their senses, stealth, mobility, and fighting ability combine to make the Ranger an expert in setting ambushes or wearing down monstrous foes.
Key Mechanics: Fighting Style, Hunter's Strikes, Primal Instincts, Skirmisher's Stealth. These mechanics and bonuses combine to allow for synergy in tracking and defeating various prey.
Rangers are far ranging explorers. They are not limited by terrain and can readily use their skills and abilities in any environment beyond the walls of civilization.
Key Mechanics: Adept Survivalist, Wilderness Expertise, Spellcasting or Herbalism and Wilderness Crafting. The benefits from their experiences in their Native Terrain are often beneficial far beyond the borders of their native ranges.
Creating a Ranger
As you create your Ranger character, consider the nature of the training that gave you your particular capabilities. Did you train with a single mentor, wandering the wilds together until you mastered the Ranger’s ways? Did you leave your apprenticeship, or was your mentor slain? Does your blood-line have fey roots either recently or long past? Or perhaps you learned your skills as part of a band of Rangers affiliated with a druidic circle, trained in mystic paths as well as wilderness lore.
You might be self-taught, a recluse who learned combat skills, tracking, and even a magical connection to nature through the necessity of surviving in the wilds. You may even be a partisan, fighting a dangerous group or oppressive regime either as an individual or as part of a larger group of freedom fighters or foreign power.
Is your adventuring career a continuation of your work in protecting the borderlands or a significant change? What made you join up with a band of adventurers? Do you find it challenging to teach new allies the ways of the wild, or do you welcome the relief from solitude that they offer?
Class Features
As a Ranger, you gain the following class features.
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d10 per Ranger level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + your
Constitution modifier per Ranger level after 1st
Proficiencies
Armor: Light armor, medium armor, shields
Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons
Tools: Herbalism Kit or the Poisoner’s Kit
Saving Throws: Strength, Constitution
Skills: Choose three from Animal Handling, Athletics,
Acrobatics, Insight, Investigation, Nature, Medicine,
Perception, Stealth, and Survival
Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- (a) chain shirt 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) one martial weapon or (b) one ranged weapon with a quiver or case of 20 ammo
Fey-Ancestry Ranger
| Level | Proficiency Bonus | Fey Ancestry Features | MS | PS | Spells Known | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +2 | Primal Instincts, Hunter's Strikes, Adept Survivalist | 1d4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2nd | +2 | Wilderness Expertise, Fighting Style, Spellcasting | 1d4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| 3rd | +2 | Discipline Feature | 1d4 | 1 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| 4th | +2 | Ability Score Improvement | 1d4 | 1 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| 5th | +3 | Extra Attack | 1d4 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - |
| 6th | +3 | Skirmisher's Stealth, Primal Instincts | 1d4 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - |
| 7th | +3 | Discipline Feature | 1d4 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - |
| 8th | +3 | Ability Score Improvement, Land's Stride | 1d4 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - |
| 9th | +4 | - | 1d4 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | - | - |
| 10th | +4 | Wilderness Expertise | 1d6 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | - | - |
| 11th | +4 | Discipline Feature | 1d6 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 3 | - | - |
| 12th | +4 | Ability Score Improvement | 1d6 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 3 | - | - |
| 13th | +5 | - | 1d6 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - |
| 14th | +5 | Survival Instinct, Primal Instincts | 1d6 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - |
| 15th | +5 | Discipline Feature | 1d6 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - |
| 16th | +5 | Ability Score Improvement | 1d6 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - |
| 17th | +6 | - | 1d6 | 2 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 18th | +6 | Primal Instincts | 1d8 | 3 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 19th | +6 | Ability Score Improvement | 1d8 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 20th | +6 | Master Survivalist, Discipline Feature | 1d8 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
Primal Instincts
At 1st level, your survival training has honed your senses and skills to an uncanny level. You can use your Primal Instincts a number of times equal to your Ranger level divided by 3 (rounded down) plus your Wisdom modifier (minimum 1). You regain any expended uses at the end of a short or long rest.
You can use this feature to heighten your senses and perception to gain one of the following benefits:
Primal Tracking Beginning at 1st level, you can use your Primal Instincts to focus on tracks and other signs of passage. After studying these signs for 1 minute, you gain knowledge of the types and numbers of creatures that left the tracks, their direction of travel, and how long ago they passed. You also gain advantage on Wisdom (Survival) ability checks to track these creature(s) as long you don't lose their trail.
Hunter's Cunning Beginning at 6th level, you can use your Primal Instincts as an action to focus on nearby creatures' behaviors and body language to intuit their motivations and honesty. For the next ten minutes, you have advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks against all creatures you can perceive.
Primal Senses Beginning at 14th level, you can use your Primal Instincts as a bonus action to feel your surroundings on the ground below and through the air above. For the next minute while not incapacitated, you can gain 60 foot tremor sense. Additionally, as long as you are not blinded or deafened, you gain 30 foot blindsight.
Sixth Sense Beginning at 18th level, you can use your Primal Instincts as a reaction to predict attacks made against you. Until the end of your next turn, you gain the benefits of the dodge action.
Hunter's Strikes
At 1st level as a bonus action, you can use one of your primal instincts and select a creature that you can see. Choose one of the following effects to apply to your attacks against that creature for the next minute:
- Marked Strikes - Your attacks deal additional damage as shown in the MS column of the Ranger table. This damage is the same type as the attack. This ability does not stack with leveled spell attacks.
- Precision Strikes - You add a bonus to melee attack rolls as shown in the PS column of the Ranger table.
- Focused Strikes - Your weapon attacks are never made with disadvantage.
Adept Survivalist
As a Ranger, you are adept at surviving in any wilderness region. While in the wilderness, you gain the following benefits:
- You have advantage on survival checks to avoid getting lost or to recover from being lost.
- When foraging for food, you are considered proficient in the survival skill and you gather twice as much food.
- While traveling, you are always alert to danger and do not suffer penalties to passive perception.
- When traveling for more than an hour in the wilderness, your group will not be slowed by difficult terrain.
Additionally, you gain the following benefits in any location:
- During a long rest, you can perform light activity for up to 4 hours and still gain the benefits of a long rest.
- When you take a long rest, you can spend 1 hour to prepare a camp. Each creature that rests in your camp regains one additional hit die up to their maximum + 1 when they finish a long rest. Additionally, any creatures on watch in the camp have +5 to passive perception.
Furthermore, your time in the wilds of your Native Terrain has given you additional benefits depending on your Native Terrain.
Native Terrain
Choose one Terrain type. You double your proficiency bonus when you make terrain-related intelligence checks about your home region or any region with the same terrain type as your Native Terrain.
Arctic
You have extensive experience surviving in cold climates (Tundra, Alpine, or Arctic regions). You have advantage on Constitution saving throws against extreme cold and frigid waters whether magical or mundane. Further, whenever you suffer cold damage, you reduce the damage taken by your proficiency bonus plus Wisdom modifier.
Arid
You have extensive experience surviving in extremely hot and dry regions (Arid, Semi-Arid, or Desert regions). You have advantage on Constitution saving throws against extreme heat and dehydration whether magical or mundane. Further, whenever you suffer fire damage, you reduce the damage taken by your proficiency bonus plus your Wisdom modifier.
Forest
You have extensive experience surviving in heavily forested regions such as dense jungles, rain forests, or temperate woodlands. Climbing does not cost you extra movement. If you gain this benefit or a climbing speed from any other source, you gain an extra 10 feet of movement when climbing as long as the other source's conditions are met.
Grasslands
You have extensive experience surviving in various hilly landscapes or flatlands where distances are vast and sights largely unhindered. You can dash as a bonus action. Additionally, you have advantage on Constitution saving throws for forced marches and extensive running.
Mountains
You have extensive experience surviving in mountainous regions with natural caverns and tunnels. In such lands, climbing with and without equipment has been a major part of your travels. The physical demands have honed your athleticism. You gain proficiency in the Athletics skill if you don't already have it. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses Athletics or involves an intelligence check related to climbing.
Oceanic
You have extensive experience surviving in coastal regions, on islands or ships, or under the seas. Swimming does not you cost extra movement. If you gain this benefit or a swim speed from any other source, you gain an extra 10 feet of movement when swimming as long as the other source's conditions are met. You have advantage on Constitution saving throws related to extended periods of swimming or holding your breathe.
Swamp
You have extensive experience surviving in the dangerous, swampy regions where insects, stagnant water, and poisonous creatures abound. You have advantage on Constitution saving throws against poison and disease. Further, whenever you suffer poison damage, you reduce the damage taken by your proficiency bonus plus your Wisdom modifier.
Feywild
You have extensive experience surviving in various regions of the Feywild. A place of mystery and magic where not all is as it seems at first glance and plane-shifting to and from this plane can leave the average individual lost and confused. You are not easily confused or disoriented and have advantage on saving throws against spells or abilities that cause you to become confused, lost, or suffer any other disorienting effect. Further, you do not lose your memories when traveling to or from the Feywild.
Underdark
You have extensive experience surviving in the dark regions of the Underdark. This time in the lightless realm have boosted your perception in the dark through a combination of training your eyes and honing your other senses. Your darkvision is increased by 20 ft or you gain 30-ft darkvision if you do not already possess darkvision. Additionally, as long you are not deafened, you do not suffer disadvantage on perception checks in lightly obscured conditions.
Urban
You have extensive experience surviving in the dangerous streets and alleyways of major cities. These experiences has given you additional aptitudes. You gain proficiency in Thieves Tools or an additional proficiency in one of following skills: Deception, Insight, Stealth, or Sleight of Hand. Thieves Tools are now considered a Ranger tool and Deception/Sleight of Hand are considered Ranger skills.
Note: If you choose the Druidic Warrior Discipline, your Native Terrain defines your Druidic Magic.
Wilderness Expertise
At 2nd level, choose one of your skill proficiencies from among the list of Ranger skills. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses the chosen skill.
At 10th level, you can choose another of your proficiencies to gain this benefit as long as it is a Ranger Skill or Tool.
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, even if you later get to choose again. You can change your fighting style every time you level up in Ranger.
Archery
You gain a +2 bonus on attack rolls you make with ranged weapons.
Druidic Warrior (Fey Ancestry)
You learn two cantrips of your choice from the druid spell list. They count as Ranger spells for you, and Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for them. Whenever you gain a level in this class, you can replace one of these cantrips with another cantrip from the druid spell list.
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
As long as you are not wearing heavy armor or using a shield, swimming and climbing do not cost you extra movement equal to your normal speed, and you gain a +1 bonus to AC.
Thrown Weapon Fighting
You can draw a weapon that has the thrown property as part of the attack you make with the weapon. In addition, when you hit with a ranged attack using a thrown weapon, you gain a +1 bonus to the damage roll.
Two-Weapon Fighting
When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second Attack.
Unarmed Fighting
Your unarmed strikes can deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier. If you strike with two free hands, you can use your bonus action to attack again without adding your strength modifier to the bonus action attack.
Spellcasting (Fey Ancestry)
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 Spell Rules for the general rules of spellcasting and the Spells Listing for the Ranger spell list. Additionally, you are adept at casting spells with your hands full, you can perform the somatic components of spells even when you have weapons or a shield in one or both hands.
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
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. Additionally, on a long rest, you can change one known spell for another spell of the same spell level.
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 + proficiency bonus + Wisdom modifier
Spell attack mod = proficiency bonus + Wisdom modifier
Hunter's Mark is no longer on the Ranger spell list and has been replaced by the Hunter's Strikes feature. At 3rd level, you choose to emulate the ideals and training of a Ranger Discipline: Hunter, Vigilante, Druidic Warrior, Gloom Stalker, Horizon Walker, Monster Slayer, or Beast Master. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 11th, 15th, and 20th level. At the 3rd level, your previous experiences and research have provided you with extensive knowledge in studying, tracking, and hunting certain kinds of creatures. When you gain this feature, you add two languages of your choice that are spoken from among your Favored Prey. You have advantage on Medicine and Survival Checks against, on or in pursuit of these creatures. In addition, you have advantage and proficiency on any intelligence check to recall or research information about them. Each Discipline has it own sets of options you can choose from for your Favored Prey.
Ranger Discipline
Favored Prey
Discipline Spells (Fey Ancestry)
Starting at 3rd level, you learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the discipline spells table. The spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of ranger spells you know.
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.
Skirmisher’s Stealth
Beginning at 6th level, your speed and stealth in combat make you hard to pin down. You can take the hide action as a bonus action. Additionally, if you are hidden when you roll initiative, you have advantage on your initiative roll and making an attack during the first round of combat does not reveal your location if you otherwise fulfill the conditions needed to hide.
Land’s Stride
Starting at 8th level, moving through nonmagical difficult terrain costs you no extra movement. You also pass through nonmagical plants without being slowed by them and without taking damage from them if they have thorns, spines, or similar hazards. In addition, you have advantage on saving throws against plants that are magically created or manipulated to impede movement, such as those created by the entangle spell. Further, your group leaves no trail when in the wilderness and cannot be tracked through non-magical means unless you choose to leave a trail.
Survival Instinct
By 14th level, you have acquired greater agility. You gain proficiency in Dexterity saving throws.
Master Survivalist
By 20th level, you are a master at surviving in the wilderness in many and varied regions. You double your proficiency bonus for all survival checks and whenever you make an intelligence check about any wilderness region.
Ranger Disciplines
Vigilante
Emulating the Urban Ranger archetype, you are a Bounty Hunter, Revolutionary, or Outlaw who has learned to survive in the urban centers. You use your skills and knowledge from your dealings with humanoids to interact, hunt, and fight them. You can survive and even thrive inside busy towns and cramped cities. As you walk the Vigilante's path, you either side with or fight against authorities and other various organizations.
Bounty Hunter
Instead of tracking various kinds of creatures, your Favored Prey are humanoids. At 3rd level, choose any five races of humanoids to be your Favored Prey. You gain 3 languages spoken from among your Favored Prey instead of just two languages.
Vigilante Magic (Fey Ancestry)
Vigilante Spells
| Ranger Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Charm Person |
| 5th | Hold Person |
| 9th | Zone of Truth |
| 13th | Locate Creature |
| 17th | Modify Memory |
First Strike
At 3rd level, your first attacks in combat always carry an extra punch. Your first successful hit with a melee or ranged weapon attack deals an extra 3d6 damage based on your weapon's damage type.
Urban Survival
At 3rd level, your knowledge and skills gained from a life in urban centers has honed your street smarts. You have advantage on checks involving navigating through cities and towns, and you never suffer from disadvantage on persuasion and deception checks. Additionally, you easily create strong contacts with local factions whether they are regional authorities, criminal organizations, or revolutionaries.
Relentless
At 7th level, you are relentless in harrowing your prey. You have advantage on death saving throws. Additionally, you can use your reaction and one of your primal instincts to gain advantage on a Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution saving throw except for concentration checks.
Opportunistic Strike
At 11th level, whenever a creature you can see within range of your weapon attacks misses with a melee or ranged attack roll, you can use your reaction to attack that creature. If you hit, that creature suffers disadvantage on any weapon attacks it performs until the end of your next turn.
Magically Savvy
At 15th level, you are not easily fooled and see through various tricks and illusions. You have advantage on intelligence checks to discover and break illusions as well as perception checks to detect hidden objects or creatures whether magically or mundanely hidden. You may also use one of your primal instincts to re-roll saving throws against possession or charm effects.
Mind Over Matter
At 20th level, your strong mental fortitude gives you the ability to shake off any effect. Using your reaction and one of your primal instincts, you can break any one negative effect currently impacting you including charm, possession, poison, disease, etc.
Hunter
Emulating the Hunter archetype means accepting your place as a bulwark between civilization and the terrors of the wilderness. As you walk the Hunter’s path you learn specialized techniques to fight the threats you face, from monstrous beast and hordes of skeletons to towering giants and terrifying dragons.
Favored Prey
Choose one of the following sets of creatures to be your Favored Prey.
Wilderness Warden : Beasts, Monstrosities, Plants
Abomination Slayer : Constructs, Monstrosities, Oozes, Undead
Giant Stalker : Dragons, Giants
Hunter Magic (Fey Ancestry)
Hunter Spells
| Ranger Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Fog Cloud |
| 5th | Misty Step |
| 9th | Conjure Animals |
| 13th | Freedom of Movement |
| 17th | Hold Monster |
Hunter’s Prey
At the 3rd level, you gain one of the following features of your choice:
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.
Shake It Off
Once you reach 7th level in this class, you become less susceptible to your enemies debilitating attacks and gain greater control over your body's functions. Whenever you are suffering from the Fear, Paralysis, Poisoned, and/or Stunned conditions, you can use one of your primal instincts at the beginning of your turn to shake off any or all of these effects by rolling the appropriate saving throw(s).
Defensive Tactics
At the 7th level, you gain one of the following features of your choice:
Escape the Horde Opportunity attacks against you are made with disadvantage.
Multiattack Defense When a creature hits or misses 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.
Multiattack
At the 11th level, you gain one of the following features of your choice:
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 Attack You can use your action to move up to half your speed and make a melee attack against any number of creatures that came within 5 feet of you during this movement. You must make a separate attack roll for each target, and this movement provokes attacks of opportunity as normal.
Extra Strikes You gain an additional attack against a creature marked by your Hunter's Strike feature.
Superior Hunter’s Defense
At the 15th level, you gain one of the following features of your choice for free. The other two features can be used at the cost of Primal Instinct per use.
Evasion You can nimbly dodge out of the way of certain area effects, such as a red dragon’s fiery breath or a lightning bolt spell. When you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on the 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 again another creature (other than itself) of your choice.
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.
Foe Slayer
At 20th level you become an unparalleled hunter of your enemies. When you hit an enemy with an attack, you can use three of your primal instincts to deal an additional 5d8 damage and have them make a Constitution saving throw against your spell save/herbalism DC. If the target fails, you choose one of the following conditions to inflict upon them: blinded, deafened, frightened, or stunned. The creature suffers from this effect until the end of your next turn.
Druidic Warrior (Fey Ancestry)
You are the martial counterbalance to the druidic caster. You imbue your martial prowess with the forces of nature to protect the land and natural environment from forces that seek to supplant or destroy it. You may be the martial counterpoint of a druidic circle, a defender of nature's beauty, or an avenger of the natural world against civilization's encroachments.
Favored Prey
Choose one of the following sets of creatures to be your Favored Prey.
Wilderness Warden : Beasts, Monstrosities, Plants
Planes Keeper : Aberrations, Celestials, Elementals, Fey, Fiends
Giant Stalker : Dragons, Giants
Druidic Magic
As a Druidic Warrior, your connection to druids and the fey is much stronger. You gain an additional spell from this feature at Ranger levels 5 and 9. The spells that you gain from this feature are based on your Ranger's Native Terrain as chosen in the Adept Survivalist Feature.
Ritual Casting
You can cast a ranger spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and you have the spell prepared.
Spellcasting Focus
You can use a druidic focus (see the Adventuring Gear section) as a spellcasting focus for your druid spells.
Druidic Warrior Spells
Arctic Spells
| Ranger Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Ice Knife |
| 5th | Snowball Swarm, Gust of Wind |
| 9th | Tiny Hut, Sleet Storm |
| 13th | Ice Storm |
| 17th | Cone of Cold |
Arid Spells
| Ranger Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Create or Destroy Water |
| 5th | Scorching Ray, Flaming Sphere |
| 9th | Create Food and Water, Tiny Hut |
| 13th | Fire Shield |
| 17th | Immolation |
Forest Spells
| Ranger Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Entangle |
| 5th | Barkskin, Spiderclimb |
| 9th | Plant Growth, Speak with Plants |
| 13th | Grasping Vine |
| 17th | Awaken |
Grassland Spells
| Ranger Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Zephyr Strike |
| 5th | Spike Growth, Enlarge/Reduce |
| 9th | Catnap, Haste |
| 13th | Freedom of Movement |
| 17th | Steel Wind Strike |
Mountain Spells
| Ranger Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Earth Tremor |
| 5th | Earthbind, Spiderclimb |
| 9th | Erupting Earth, Fly |
| 13th | Stoneskin |
| 17th | Passwall |
Oceanic Spells
| Ranger Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Create or Destroy Water |
| 5th | Skywrite, Gust of Wind |
| 9th | Water Breathing, Tidal Wave |
| 13th | Control Water |
| 17th | Maelstrom |
Swamp Spells
| Ranger Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Entangle |
| 5th | Lesser Restoration, Protection from Poison |
| 9th | Slow, Sticking Cloud |
| 13th | Sickening Radiance |
| 17th | Contagion |
Feywild Spells
| Ranger Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Faerie Fire |
| 5th | Earthbind, Spiderclimb |
| 9th | Hypnotic Pattern, Major Image |
| 13th | Confusion |
| 17th | Planar Binding |
Underdark Spells
| Ranger Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Disguise Self |
| 5th | Invisibility, See Invisibility |
| 9th | Slow, Nondetection |
| 13th | Greater Invisibility |
| 17th | Seeming |
Urban Spells
| Ranger Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Goodberry |
| 5th | Animal Messenger, Spider Climb |
| 9th | Haste, Tongues |
| 13th | Greater Invisibility |
| 17th | Passwall |
Improved Absorb Elements
At 3rd level, you know the spell absorb elements and can use with the poison damage type. Whenever you cast absorb elements, you can impart the damage of this attack into your next melee or ranged attack.
Additionally, whenever you take acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, or thunder damage, you can use your reaction to cast absorb elements without expending a spell slot. When cast in this way, you do not gain resistance instead you reduce only the triggering damage by 1d6.
Improved Concentration
At 7th level, you can use your reaction and one of your primal instincts to give yourself advantage on concentration checks until the start of your next turn.
Spell and Strike
At 11th level, whenever you cast a leveled spell as an action, you can perform a regular weapon attack as a bonus action.
Primal Protection
At 15th level, as an action, you can use one of your primal instincts to give yourself resistance from one of the following damage types for the next ten minutes: fire, cold, acid, poison, lightning, thunder, force, physical, or psychic. You cannot have more than one resistance from this feature at a time.
Primal Form
At 20th level, you can use your action and three of your primal instincts to transform your body into a primal force of nature. In this form, you gain immunity to one of the following damage types for one minute: fire, cold, acid, poison, lightning, thunder, force, physical, or psychic. All of your attacks while in this form deal that damage type.
Gloom Stalker
Favored Prey
Choose one of the following sets of creatures to be your Favored Prey.
Light Bringer : Aberrations, Fiends, Undead
Abomination Slayer : Constructs, Monstrosities, Oozes, Undead
Gloom Stalker Magic (Fey Ancestry)
Level 3 Feature - See Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Dread Ambusher / Umbral Sight
Level 3 Features - See Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Iron Mind
By 7th level, you have honed your ability to resist the mind-altering powers of your prey. You gain proficiency in Intelligence saving throws. In addition, you can use your reaction to spend one of your primal instincts to gain advantage on a Wisdom or Intelligence saving throw.
Stalker's Flurry
Level 11 Feature - See Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Shadowy Dodge
Level 15 Feature - See Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Master Ambusher
At 20th level, your talent at ambushing foes is top tier. You have advantage on all initiative rolls and stealth ability checks. In addition, you have advantage on all attack rolls made against enemies who are surprised or who do not perceive you.
Horizon Walker (Fey Ancestry)
Favored Prey
Choose one of the following sets of creatures to be your Favored Prey.
Light Bringer : Aberrations, Fiends, Undead
Planes Keeper : Aberrations, Celestials, Elementals, Fey, Fiends
Detect Portal / Horizon Walker Magic
Level 3 Features - See Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Planar Warrior
At 3rd level, you learn to draw on the energy of the multiverse to augment your attacks.
Once per round, you can channel this energy into a weapon attack made against a creature within 30 feet of you. All damage dealt by that attack becomes force damage, and the creature takes an extra 1d8 force damage from the attack. When you reach 11th level in this class, the extra damage increases to 2d8.
Ethereal Step
At 7th level, you learn to step through the Ethereal Plane. As a bonus action, you can cast the etherealness spell with this feature using one of your primal instincts, but the spell ends at the end of the current turn.
Distant Strike
Level 11 Feature - See Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Spectral Defense
Level 15 Feature - See Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Flashing Strikes
At 20th level, once per short rest, you can as part of an attack action, blink in and out repeatedly. All attacks made during your turn are critical hits.
Monster Slayer
Favored Prey
Choose one of the following sets of creatures to be your Favored Prey.
Abomination Slayer : Constructs, Monstrosities, Oozes, Undead
Giant Stalker : Dragons, Giants
Planes Keeper : Aberrations, Celestials, Elementals, Fey, Fiends
Monster Slayer Magic (Fey Ancestry)
Feature Unchanged from Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Slayer's Sense
At 3rd level, you can use one of your primal instincts to peer at a creature and discern how best to hurt it. As an action, choose one creature you can see within 60 feet of you. You immediately learn what the creature's damage immunities, resistances, or vulnerabilities are.
Slayer's Prey
Starting at 3rd level, you can focus your ire on one foe increasing the harm you inflict on it. As a bonus action, you designate one creature you can see within 60 feet of you as your Slayer's Prey. The first time each turn that you hit that target with a weapon attack, it takes 1d6 damage from the weapon.
This benefits lasts until you finish a short or long rest or designate a different creature. Any creature that has been marked by your Hunter's Strikes is also marked as your Slayer's Prey.
Supernatural Defense
Feature Unchanged from Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Magic-User's Nemesis (Fey Ancestry)
At 11th level, you gain the ability to thwart someone else's magic using your primal instincts. When you see a creature casting a spell or teleporting within 60 feet of you, you can use your reaction and one of your primal instincts to try to magically foil it by breaking the caster's mental focus. The creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC, or its spell or teleport fails and is wasted.
Caster's Disruption (Non-Magical)
At 11th level, you gain the ability to thwart someone else's magic using your primal instincts. When you see a creature casting a spell or teleporting within attack range of you, you can use your reaction and one of your primal instincts to break the caster's concentration through an attack. As part of this reaction, you make an attack roll by firing a projectile, throwing a weapon or object, or making a melee attack against the caster. If you hit the target, the attack make a concentration check vs 8 + proficiency bonus + your attack attribute modifier.
Slayer's Counter
Feature Unchanged from Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Master Slayer
At 20th level, your ability to hone on your opponent's weak points is expert. You have advantage on all attacks made against your Slayer's Prey. The damage die used for your Slayer's Prey feature is now 1d8.
Addendum
Rules
Creature Knowledge
Characters who might have knowledge about particular creatures can roll attribute or skill checks to garner additional information about the creature or creature type. Of particular interest are stat block details such as resistances or CR. The following are suggested DCs for particular pieces of information.
DC: 10 + (Target CR - Character Level) + Info Modifier
- [1] DC -2 | All of a Creature's Senses
- [2] DC +0 | The Creature's AC
- [3] DC +0 | The Creature's CR
- [4] DC +0 | Three Damage Resistances
- [5] DC +1 | Three Damage or Condition Immunities
- [6] DC +2 | The Creature's Saving Throws
- [7] DC +2 | One Special Action / Bonus Action / Reaction
- [8] DC +3 | One Vulnerability or Special Weakness
- [9] DC +4 | One Passive Ability or Special Bonus
Any character, especially Rangers, can use their action to draw upon general knowledge and past experiences to attempt to intuit pertinent information about a particular creature. As part of this action, the character can relay this information to their companions. For Rangers querying about Favored Prey, they roll with advantage and proficiency plus intelligence.
If the character is seeking specific information, the DM can increase the DC. If they are only seeking some random information, the DM or player can roll a 1d10 with 1 to 9 providing one of the pieces of information above on a successful roll. If the d10 returns a 10 or 0, however, the character is unable to provide any additional information.
Expanded Animal Handling
Animal Handling can be used by anybody (preferably only those proficient in the skill) to calm down various beasts or de-escalate an encounter with such creatures.
If the creature is actively hostile to the players (not just attempting to intimidate), disadvantage should be imposed. If party members are attacking the beasts, however, no roll should be allowed.
Situational bonuses (such as submissiveness or offers of food) and penalties (such as aggressive behavior) should affect the DC of the check rather than impose advantage/disadvantage in this particular skill challenge.
In the case of the Wilderness Warden, they get advantage allowing them to cancel out the disadvantage from hostile creatures. They can also attempt to handle those monstrosities that more beastial in nature such as Cockatrices.
Beast Master Menagerie
As a special rule, the Beast Master can spend two downtime days to train new beast. Once the Beast Master has more than one companion beast, they can switch between beasts by spending an eight period with the desired beast.
A Beast Master can only travel and work with one beast at a time, so any beasts not currently traveling with the Beast Master must stable the beast somewhere safe and where the beast is taken care of by a trusted individual. The Beast Master must also spend at least one day (downtime or otherwise) with that beast every month in order for the beast to remain friendly, well-behaved, and trained.
A Beast Master can only maintain at most 8 beasts at any one time.
Magic Items
Beast Master’s Amulet
Rare, Attunement, Requires Beast Master Subclass
When you and your beast attune to this amulet, a stronger bond forms between you and your companion. While you are attuned to this amulet, you will always be able to find your beast companion. By concentrating on this amulet, you know the plane on which the companion is currently and when on the same plane, you know the direction and distance in order to get to your companion. Additionally, you can concentrate on the amulet and be provided with all of the same sensations as your beast companion including sight, sound, smell, touch, emotion, etc. Your mind knows that these sensations are coming from a different source and will thus feel no ill effects from sensing them. Your companion also gains the following benefits as long as you are both on the same plane of existence.
- Your companion’s attacks are magical.
- Your companion is safe from death. Whenever your companion’s HP is reduced to zero by any means including disintegration, he is teleported into the necklace and stabilized. Permanent injuries are healed, and the companion will regain consciousness in 1d4 hours with 1 HP.
- Your companion can short and long rest inside of the amulet.
- Your companion senses the outside world through you in the same manner as you would when concentrating on the amulet.
- As long as you are within one mile of your companion, you can use a bonus action to send your companion into your amulet. You can release your companion to a spot with 15 feet of you with a bonus action.
When the Beast Master dies, the amulet loses attunement. If your beast is currently inside the amulet, it will appear in the nearest unoccupied space to the amulet conscious and at full health.
Variant Features
Partisan
Alternative Option for Favored Prey
Instead of choosing a set of creature types, you can instead select a particular faction of Humanoids. This faction may be a criminal organization, a pirate crew, a business enterprise, or even a nation. You are always actively seeking knowledge to give you an edge in your fight to stop or destroy this faction. You only gain one language spoken by the each faction chosen instead of two languages.
You add one faction of humanoids to your Favored Prey at levels 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18.
Hunter’s Mark (Fey Ancestry)
Replaces Hunter's Strikes
At 1st level, you can call on your bond with nature to mark a creature: you know the hunter’s mark spell without it counting against your spells known. You can use two of your primal instincts to cast the spell without expending a spell slot.
Whenever you cast another concentration spell while concentrating on the Hunter's Mark spell, the benefits of the spell are only suppressed while you are concentrating on the second spell. If you fail a concentration check on the second spell, you will lose both spells.
At 6th level, casting Hunter's Mark via this feature no longer requires concentration. At 14th level, the damage from this feature increases to 2d6.
Variant Feats
Dual Wielder
Replaces Dual Wielder
You master fighting with two weapons, gaining the following benefits:
- When you engage in two-weapon fighting while wearing no armor or light armor, you can perform a single off-hand weapon attack as part of your attack action instead of using your bonus action.
- You can use two-weapon fighting even when the one handed melee weapons you are wielding aren’t light.
- You can draw or stow two one-handed weapons when you would normally be able to draw or stow only one.
Grappler
Prerequisite: Strength 13 or higher
You’ve developed the Skills necessary to hold your own in close—quarters Grappling. You gain the following benefits:
- You have advantage on Attack rolls against a creature you are Grappling.
- You have advantage on Grapple checks against creatures one size larger or less.
- As an action, you can shove a creature that you are grappling to the ground with advantage. If successful, you can use your bonus action to make a melee attack against the creature.
Great Weapon Master
You’ve learned to put the weight of a weapon to your advantage, letting its momentum empower your strikes. You gain the following benefits:
- On your turn, when you score a critical hit with a melee weapon or reduce a creature to 0 hit points with one, you can make one melee weapon attack as a bonus action.
- Before you make a melee attack with a heavy weapon or a versatile weapon wielded in two-handed that you are proficient with, you can choose to remove your proficiency from your attack roll and instead double it and apply it to your damage roll.
Sharpshooter
Replaces Sharpshooter
You have mastered ranged weapons and can make shots that others find impossible. You gain the following benefits:
- Both your Short- and Long-Range distances are increased by the Short-Range distance.
- Your ranged weapon attacks ignore half cover and three-quarters cover.
- Before you make an attack with a ranged weapon that you are proficient with, you can choose to remove your proficiency from your attack roll and instead double it and apply it to your damage roll.
Throwing Specialist
You are adept at throwing weapons with both speed and accuracy. You gain the following benefits:
- You can draw a weapon that has the thrown property as part of the attack you make with the weapon as long as it is readily handy such as in a javelin quiver, the side of your backpack, bundled in your off-hand, or sleeved about your person (in your clothes or strapped to your shield).
- When using a weapon with the thrown weapon property, attacking at long range doesn’t impose disadvantage on your ranged weapon attack rolls.
- Any one-handed melee weapon can be thrown with a range of 20 ft/60 ft.
- Being within 5 feet of a hostile creature doesn’t impose disadvantage on your ranged attack rolls if you are throwing a weapon.
Design Notes:
Base Features and Proficiencies
There was little in the way of changes needed with base proficiencies. The lack of Acrobatics seem odd for a class intended to be dexterity focused, so that was added. Because the class is designed to be versatile in terms in weapons (sword/board, martial ranged, or dual-wielder), I fixed the last item of the equipment.
A more major change come with the Saving Throws. When I think of a Ranger, the first thing I see is a survivalist who is good as handling environmental hazards and having a high endurance. This means Constitution Saving Throws. We can't have Dexterity as well, so the other saving throw has to be strength. Additionally, when I consider a Ranger, I see a rugged tough individual who holds his ground not a wirey, dodgy character. Also, for a GISH character with melee combat being a major focus, concentration save proficiency is a must especially with spells like Hunter's Mark being an expected nearly-always-on spell.
Further, when altering the Ranger, I had in mind for the Ranger a unique mixture of 5/8 Fighter, 3/16 Rogue, 3/16 Druid with features and progression patterned after the Bard, Paladin, and Rogue. The Ranger first and foremost is an able guide in a monster filled wilderness. They need to be able to help their party deal with the mundane challenges of travel (no matter the location) while being quite competent in their own way to deal with hostile creatures.
Primal Instincts
- Many Ranger subclass or class features in various Ranger versions are once per short rest or long rest - lots of feature tracking.
- Consensus Ranger merged some Ranger features into a single pool called Primal Instincts - usable 1+Wis per long rest.
- This method was adapted into a core resource for the whole class.
Primeval Tracking
- Primeval Awareness ate a precious spell slot and gave near useless information (variations just added to DM frustration).
- Hampered further when used in combination with Favored Terrain.
- PA has become Primal Tracking feature with elements from natural explorer and favored terrain.
- Hunter's Mark is gone, so tracking elements are further implemented here.
- Improvement over Hunter's Mark; only need tracks not sight of the creature to give yourself tracking advantage.
- Situational but more potent than simple tracking check.
Hunter's Cunning
- Mike Mearls suggested this Aragon-inspired Insight boosting feature.
- Fits quite well into the perception focused Primal Instincts.
- Boosts the Ranger in the Social Pillar of the game without breaking flavor.
Primal Senses
- Feral Senses was a nice but slightly awkward feature at 18th level.
- Previously, this Ranger had given short-duration Tremor Sense at 14 and shorter duration Feral Sense at 18, but overlap was too high and features were a little fiddly as written.
- Primal Senses is inspired by proposed Superior Senses for the Community Ranger.
- Rational for both is the combination gives boosted senses versus ground and air targets
- Ranger by 14th level is now well-attuned to their surroundings, using for a short time, all senses in seeking their prey and focusing on sounds, touch, smells, and wind differentials.
- In comparison, the Rogue gets an always on 10ft blindsight. [which probably should be boosted to 30 ft anyway]
Regen. Senses
Lastly, there needed to be a strong 18th ability, short-duration ability. The Rogue can ensure enemies do not have advantages on attacks against themselves. For Primal Instincts, it needed to be sense based, so I focused on defensive / restorative ability by letting the Ranger to remove the Blinded and Deafened Conditions.
Hunter's Strikes
Many millions of bits have been spilled over the issues with Rangers and their Hunter's Mark. For the Ranger, Hunter's Mark represents the long-duration death by a thousand sharp needles type of damage versus the Paladin's massive Hammer strike of Smiting. Combat, though, tends to be short with more damage now trumping small damage always. As a result, HM becomes a pain to use and deal with thanks to being too low-damage (esp. at higher levels), constant bonus-action use, and concentration (both checks and impediments to other concentration spells). Hunter's Mark has its duration divided into three categories:
- L1 - good 'til the next short-rest
- L3 - good 'til the next long-rest
- L5 - good into the next day (mainly for tracking)
This more than anything makes the ability feel like it should always be on, cost you one spell slot for the duration, and (thanks to concentration) take precedence over any other concentration spell of which there quite a few. I think the reason for the concentration has more to do with the tracking ability and that the designers don't want it to stack with other concentration spells.
For Hunter's Strikes:
- Make it a concentration-less rider on your attacks
- Remove the tracking focus and gave it to Primal Tracking while also removing the need to actually see the creature in order to gain tracking advantage.
- Ranger should care as much as accuracy as raw damage, so they have both options.
With Archery, yet another bonus to direct accuracy would be way overkill (seriously +1 Arrows, +1 Longbow, +2 Archery, ignore cover and distance disadvantage with Sharp Shooter and take a -5 for +10 damage... archers don't need the help with accuracy). Dual-Wielders, however, could use the help, so Hunter's Strikes provides an accuracy or damage boost to all (2 or 3) melee attacks versus a marked target.
Focused Strikes
For Archers, their bonus to accuracy comes from ignoring disadvantage on attack rolls versus a marked target. To be clear, this ability does not remove or negate disadvantage, so it doesn't stack with advantage. It just means that if you have disadvantage and no sources of advantage, you can ignore the disadvantage anyway. While this ability may seem like it is only good for targets that can turn invisible or hide (which you still need to know what battle-square the creature is located in order to get an attack that will actually hit), it can be used by Archers to deal with certain issues that cause them disadvantage - namely the prone condition. An archer with Focused Strikes on a target ignores disadvantage from either the target being knocked prone and/or the Ranger himself going prone for a ranged defensive benefit.
Limits
- Bonuses too powerful
- Added Primal Instincts cost, which was a pool with a limited draw since the abilities were so situational.
- Mark provides only one kind of bonus on a single target per use.
- Ranger won't use this with every target and attack, only the beefy targets where they can expect to make 2-5 attacks against it.
- Hunter's Strikes with Primal Instincts gives the Ranger a short-rest resource to balance out their long-rest focus on spell slots.
Classes should have more staying power in the day with some classes being mostly on and long-rest classes needing some abilities that recharge on a short-rest. Seriously, long-rest classes need a reason to short rest, since hit-dice is not a strong draw for them. Wizards and Clerics, let the Warlocks and BattleMasters take a breather - they will be so much happier.
Survivalist Features
Natural Explorer and Favored Terrain.
Core class features that are either full ribbons (since DMs probably won't do much with travel) or too situational to see regular use. Favored Enemy (terrible name) is in the same boat. Making these abilities be non-combat ribbons is fine, but you cannot have them be core pillars of the class. This is why the Ranger sucks so hard in play, you feel like a fighter that gained the Hunter and Beast Master as archetype options but lost the key abilities of the versatile third attack and action surge in exchange for Hunter's Mark and Pass without a Trace.
Survivalist Theme
Originally, I dove into the Survivalist as a progression mechanic: Adept, Journeyman, and Master.
- These gave situational travel/exploration (hexcrawl, dungeon, city) benefits related to surprise and danger.
- GMs are probably not using surprise mechanics heavily especially at 6th level and above (even less so with the Ranger automatically making the party surprise immune).
- Journeyman Features were removed because of this and feature bloat.
Camouflage (a party-based, free adv on survival in exchange for slow speed) suffered the same cut. To be fair, Fey-Ancenstry Rangers have the much better ability with the spell Pass without a Trace and Camouflage is something spell-less Rangers can produce that is less limiting for a daily charge.
Adept Survivalist
Some groups still use some form of travel rules, the Ranger should be better than just proficiency or expertise in survival (esp. if they want to compete with Scout Rogues). For all wilderness environs (so everywhere but dungeons or cities), Rangers get four benefits that help the party.
- Element 1: Rangers have advantage on survival checks versus getting lost or recovering from being lost (in case the GM asks).
- Not as good as never being lost, but it works for all terrains.
- Element 2: Foraging Proficiency in case no survival proficiency.
- With double food, the Ranger might get enough to cover a couple of days with a single foraging roll.
- Element 3: No penalties to passive perception, so no matter what the party or Ranger is doing, the Ranger is keeping a look out.
- Element 4: Party travel in time-scales of hours (i.e. 1 to 10 hours) and not in time-scales of minutes (1 to 10 minutes) or rounds means the party gets to ignore difficult terrain during the entire stretch of time they are traveling including the first hour.
- Note that the element does not say "after traveling for more than one hour", so you gain the benefit for the first hour and every hour beyond.
- Example: Party travels for 3 hours. Stops to forage for food or fights a battle or takes a short-rest. Party travels for another 5 hours and long-rests. No slow down due to Difficult Terrain (except during the battle maybe).
These benefits are nice, but still a ribbon good for only groups that hex-crawl. Thus some other benefits that are generally always helpful were added. During any long rest, the Ranger takes the role of the guide and stands watch. Of course, he still needs to rest, but this Ranger is one of those people that can sleep for four hours and be optimal - or is an elf and can just Trance for four hours. The other four hours are spent with light activity such as staying up on watch. The other benefit is also related to long rests, they can spend an hour to prep a camp. Creatures that use the camp get a free extra hit die. They only get just one extra, so these don't stack long rest to long rest. For simplicity of tracking hit die, the limit is max + 1 total hit die. Also, this makes the Ranger a great boon to camping and adventuring, their camp gives those on watch advantage for passive perception.
Wizard looks at the Ranger, "Okay, you get first and last watch, Druid you take the second, and Rogue, grab the third would you. Unlike Ms. Antlers over there, I've got spells to replenish and need my 8 hours."
Native Terrain
Favored Terrain makes for some nice flavor, but it needs to be have some broader use. So each Terrain choice provides bonuses that are great in that terrain and should be at least situationally useful outside of it. First, the Ranger should a knowledgable expert about his/her home region and terrain type. Second, are the bonuses for each region.
Most terrains provide some kind of bonus on specific saving throws - usually Constitution.
Extreme Environments
- Arctic and Arid give advantage on Con saves versus extreme cold or extreme heat/dehydration
- Con bonus is more useful for cold due to Con saves being a more common save for that damage type.
- On the other hand, dehydration or high temperatures are more common in many terrains than extremely cold air or water.
- Both terrains also gain damage reduction that scales with character level.
- Damage taken is more Character level dependent than class dependent, and cold/fire damage is rarer and larger than physical, so prof + Wis is helpful but not overpowered whether you are a 15th level Ranger or 14th level Bard and 1st level Ranger.
- Swamp is generally better since at low levels.
- Poison damage is more common and lower in value than fire/cold.
- Advantage vs poison and disease is less situational than dealing with the extreme heat/cold.
Mobility Terrains
- Forest removes climbing extra movement costs.
- Stacks with similar features by adding extra climbing movement.
- Oceanic is similar with regards to swimming
- Climbing is more common than swimming (even in ship/island-based adventures)
- Oceanic gains Con save adv to extended swimming (hour + ) and holding their breathe.
- Grasslands gets the better bonus: Dash as bonus action
- Forced March or extended running not as help since chases are rare and forced marches exhaust individuals.
Speciality Terrains
- Mountain gives athletics expertise rather than expertise with climbing checks alone
- Just climbing checks would be too weak.
- Urban doesn't give expertise, but it opens up more options by giving an additional proficiency
- Urban adds two more skills and another tool to the list of proficiencies that the Ranger can use with Wilderness Expertise.
- The added skill expands the options for a Ranger in either the Exploration or Social Pillars of the game.
- Underdark provides some darkvision bonuses.
- And effectively makes the dim-light count as bright light anyway. Obviously, this benefit is only useful if the DM is using darkvision and dim light conditions correctly.
Feywild is the most unusual and was the hardest to develop. I don't want to give racial bonuses from the elves or gnomes since either race is more likely to be a Ranger (and possibly a Feywild one at that). Given how magically crazy the Feywild is with all of its trickster creatures, I chose to give the Ranger advantage on saving throws vs disorienting spell/spell-like effects. Confusion and other such spells don't have a condition, so DM will have to arbitrate whether a spell or ability counts as causing confusion or disorientation. I'm open for suggestions on improving or replacing the Feywild one.
Wilderness Expertise
Since the Ranger is a half-skill monkey, they should be more limited in their skill-monkey abilities. So first, Expertise is cut in half with one expertise at level 2 [same level as half-fighter / half-caster abilities begin]. Second, it can only be applied to Ranger skills and at 10th level, Ranger skills or tools.
Fighting Style
I like opening up the options for non-Asian derived unarmed fighting, so I added Unarmed Fighting here as a style. Thrown weapon from the Variant UA looks effective without being too powerful, and I really liked Mariner as a fighting style for ocean-based campaigns. Since it doesn't stack with heavy armor (meaning you are basically stuck with 1 AC less anyway) and no shields either (removing a potential 2 from your AC considerations as well) a +1 armor with added mobility seems like a fair trade. Druidic Warrior is also a great addition from the UA and fits well with a Druidic-focused Discipline for the Ranger.
Spellcasting
- Ranger already receiving spellcasting improvements, so Known is retained.
- I like the idea that Rangers are less magically inclined than a Druid or Paladin.
- One extra spell known in progression.
- Hunter's Mark is removed as a spell - removing the spell-known tax.
- Each subclass gets 5 more pre-determined spells known with Druidic Warriors getting 8 known spells and a weaker version of Protection from Energy as a subclass feature.
As a result of these changes and adding concentration-less Hunter's Strikes, the Ranger has more options for utility casting both in terms of slots and spells known and can start looking at other attack buffing spells.
Skirmisher's Stealth
Built based on inspiration from a variety of homebrew Rangers, this gives Vanish at a less ridiculously late level and some nice bonuses for ambushes that push the mechanic without requiring massive prep-time.
Land's Stride
Verbatim with the 'no trail left behind' bullet added here. That element is just nicely fitting for a Ranger to not leave a trail. It also fits with the title of the feature.
Survival Instinct
Monks get all Saves, Paladins boost everyone's saves, Rogues get Wisdom Saves at level 14; why not let the Ranger grab Dexterity saves. While the benefit is helpful with Dragons and the high-level spell casters, the feature is admittedly a little late. But Con saves are much more common in the low levels with poison attacks and environmental hazards.
Master Survivalist
A purely ribbon capstone representing that the Ranger has gained a lot of knowledge about surviving in any terrain. The survival expertise is nice, but completely useless in the upper level and doubly so at level 20 - so pure ribbon. Since the hard-hitting, combat-related features are in the subclasses, it is only fitting that the Ranger gains their capstone from their Discipline's Capstone.
Ranger Disciplines
Favored Prey
Favored Enemy suffered from a few problems.
- DM-dependent Ribbon masquerading as a core class feature.
- Took up valuable space during level progression and player decision making.
- Even with combat bonuses, the options were too limited and encouraged the player to meta-game and DM to adjust encounters for specific monster types.
- The options were far from equal with each other - you would never pick Plants or Fey for instance.
My first attempt removed the core class focus away from Favored Prey. You gain a suite of creature types in one decision, which would be easier for a GM is include semi-regularly and from early in the game. These groups also varied in number of creature types, one suite may have two common and one rare creature type while another may have a mixture of 5 rare and uncommon ones. Additionally the feature gave a minor combat bonus plus strong knowledge capabilities and out-of-combat utility versus these creatures. Further, each suite provided a bonus useful against a variety of creatures rather than just those within the creature suite. This feature was still problematic:
- Too much class space for the feature - would be insane to put on a character sheet.
- Stronger overlap with subclasses than the terrain choice ever had.
- The Creature Knowledge feature was a little odd as a regular in-combat feature and all characters should be able to make such checks.
- Knowledge feature was changed to a general rule with Rangers being better at it with Favored Prey
- Favored Prey suites were condensed into a ribbon options within each Discipline.
Each Ranger Discipline gains one of a small set of Favored Prey suites that are thematically fitting for that Discipline. The benefits should largely be treated as little more than a Paladin's Divine Sense.
There are three facets to Favored Prey in terms of usability and these aspects should be the guide for making your choice beyond pure roleplay reasons:
- (1) Advantage on Survival in pursuit is for tracking these kinds of prey down.
- (2) Advantage on Intelligence checks is meant to represent both knowledge and research ability.
- Rangers are better at getting general world/background information, personality details, and stat-block elements like AC, resistances, or special abilities.
- (3) If harvesting rules are employed, than they probably use Survival and/or Medicine checks to harvest rare materials like a Dragon's Heart or a Manticore's Hide.
Vigilante
The Bounty Hunter or Urban Ranger type character. Inspired by Features from 3.5 and Mike Mearls HFH crafting, this Discipline is about hunting humanoids. This is the only Discipline that gets to pick humanoids and gets 5 races and three languages out of the gate. The spells are focused on dealing with humanoids, and their abilities ensure they aren't easily stopped in tracking down and capturing/killing their quarry.
First Strike
Out of the gate, the Urban Ranger gets extra damage on their first hit in a combat. With many combats lasting 3 rounds, this ability balances with other Disciplines that get 1d6 or 1d8 each round; though more damage early is usually better.
Urban Survival
This gives the Ranger some capacity for dealing with urban terrain, which the base features of the Ranger are not as strongly suited toward.
Relentless
At 7th level, all subclasses get a Primal Instinct fueled defensive feature. For the Vigilante, they get advantage on a saving throw in response to a physical check. Also, the Death Saving Throws makes the Ranger tougher to keep down.
Opportunistic Strike
The 3rd tier upgrade lets you use your reaction to more easily get your third attack regularly each round. Based on the wording, this ability is best used when the targeted creature misses with a reaction-attack before its turn with your turn coming after its turn. Note while this ability lacks a save for the creature, the disadvantage only works on weapon attacks, so it doesn't bother beasts or many monstrosities or dragons or spellcasters.
Magically Savvy
Creatures with magic will attempt to use it to slow down or hide from the Ranger, but the Vigilante is wise to such tricks. Also, attempts to subvert their will don't always stick with this limited form of indomitable vs Possession and Charm effects.
Mind Over Matter
Most Disciplines get an offensive capstone, the Vigilante gains a debuff remover. Any negative condition applied to them specifically can be removed whether it is a powerful effect like possession or a simple issue poison. Obviously, if you are blinded because it is dark, this won't remove the blinded condition.
Hunter
The Hunter is a clunky pain to fix because of how they decided to rebuild the Ranger's subclasses. The Hunter build is clearly set up for anti-horde, anti-giant, or anti-single target fighting. Hunter feels like a generic, traditional sort of Ranger, so their Favored Prey options reflect more traditional treats: big fadeland creatures (dragons/giants), common creatures you would find in any wilderness terrain (beasts/monstrosities/plants), or magically created creatures (constructs/undead with unnatural monstrosities and the weird oozes found in dungeons).
The spells are more generic Ranger as well giving Fog Cloud and Conjure Animals for managing large groups of enemies; Misty Step and Freedom of Movement for mobility or retreat; and Hold Monster for any kind of single target.
Hunter's Prey
Feature is unchanged. The spread of options is interesting. The first one is free rider damage while the other two give you a situational bonus attack and require being in melee with Giant Killer even costing a reaction on top.
Defensive Tactics and Shake It Off
The Shake It Off feature may need to be looked into. Steel Will was just weaker and too situational compared to the other two feature options, so it was easy to remove. Additionally, I needed to a add something at this level that provided a Primal Instinct fueled feature. In place of Steel Will, you gain a limited number of conditions that you can just remove with a reaction and primal instinct. The issue is that there are now two features for Hunters at this level.
Is Shake It Off weak enough to keep with Defensive Tactics or should Defensive Tactics be made resource based?
It is hard to remove Escape the Horde due to Whirlwind Attack at level 11, however.
Multiattack
Volley is obviously good if enemies are close together, but only really helps Ranged Characters (preferably those with lots of ammo - where's a javelin quiver when you need it?)
Whirlwind Attack was just terrible, you either needed to get yourself in the middle of an enemy pack or intentionally get yourself surrounded. Obviously Escape the Horde helps, but being surrounded is bad for someone without a shield and heavy armor. The Consensus Ranger fixed the Whirlwind by allowing some movement, so you can get three or four or five creatures suffering an attack a piece. At level 11, however, are you really fighting creatures with low enough hitpoints to be bothered by a single attack. For that matter, you are probably fighting spread-out monster groups equal to the party in size with each creature being either beefy or defensive and all with special abilities or tons of hit points. The days of fighting a dozen gobos ended at level 5 when the wizard started hurling fireball during the first round.
Thus, I added a single target option. To avoid this feature just turning into a second extra attack ala fighter, I limited it to only work with creatures marked by Hunter's Strikes. In other words, the creature with high AC and/or high HP that you are sure to get lots of attacks on during the battle.
Superior Hunter's Defense
Nothing particularly wrong with these. Adding primal instincts though took a bit of thinking, but giving the Hunter the option to use one of the other two features on the fly at the cost of a Primal Instinct seemed like a good idea. Get one feature for free and the other two cost Primal Instincts per use. Stand against the tide might actually see some use. With these subclass features using primal instincts, the feel and ability use would spread out each Ranger from each other.
Foe Slayer
Adapted from Consensus Ranger, since this was a long rest feature, I added a high Primal Instinct cost. I also removed the less than 50 HP auto-kill and Incapacitated condition. Also, since this is level 20, getting to do 5d8 two or three times in a combat in place of your other abilities before your next short rest shouldn't be too much. Especially given what full casters are doing with their six 6th to 9th level spells at level 20.