Ranger 5e Alternate Features

## The Ranger: Alternate Class Features

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 A selection of alternate versions of core class features for ranger players and their DMs to consider, and if so desired use at their table in place of the versions of the same name presented in the *Players' Handbook*.
 
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### Favored Enemy

##### Option 1

You study a creature, making it as your quarry and analyzing with a careful eye. Your study allows you to anticipate the creature’s moves and counter its tactics.

As a bonus action, you can designate a creature you can see within 100 feet of you as your favored enemy. The target remains your favored enemy until you use this ability again.

You gain advantage on all Wisdom (Perception) checks to detect your favored enemy and Wisdom (Insight) checks to determine its motives. You also gain advantage on all checks made to discover and follow its tracks.

Once during your turn, you can choose to make an additional weapon attack against your favored enemy. You can do so a number of times equal to half your ranger level (minimum 1) and regain all expended uses when you complete a long rest.

####
**Favored Enemy Improvement.** Starting at 6th level, you gain advantage on all saving throws made against your favored enemy’s spells, abilities, and effects. Starting at 14th level, once during your turn if you miss a weapon attack against your favored enemy you can make an additional weapon attack against it.

##### Option 2

After assessing a creature or examining traces it has left behind, you can mark it as your favored enemy. Eventually, this allows you to strike deeper and truer against targets you have marked with this feature.

With this feature, you can designate a creature you can see within 60 feet of you as your favored enemy (with no action required by you). Alternatively you can also mark a creature in this way by studying its tracks or other traces it has left for at least 10 minutes. Once you mark a target as your favored enemy, you have advantage on all Wisdom and Intelligence ability checks to detect and track it or to determine its motives.

The target remains your favored enemy until it dies, you use this ability again or you cancel it (no action required).

At 2nd level when you gain the ranger spellcasting feature, you learn the spell *Hunter's Mark*. The spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn’t count against the number of ranger spells you know.

If you cast the *Hunter's Mark* spell on your favored enemy, you may elect to use special version of the spell. If you do so, the spell does not require concentration, and the duration of the spell is reduced to one minute. (When you cast it in this way, the spell cannot be moved to another creature if your favored enemy drops to 0 hit points before this spell ends.)

**Favored Enemy Improvement.** From 6th level, when you cast the *Hunter's Mark* spell on your favored enemy, your

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first attack against it after doing so is made with advantage. Starting at 14th level, if you complete a short rest and have no spell slots remaining, you gain one use of *Hunter's Mark* against your favored enemy.

##### Option 3

You study a creature, marking it as your quarry and analyzing it with a careful eye. Your study allows you to anticipate the creature’s moves and tactics and to strike deeper and truer.

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

You have advantage on Wisdom and Intelligence ability checks to detect and track your favored enemy, or to determine its motives.

As a reaction, at the start of your favored enemy's turn, you can make one melee or ranged weapon attack against it. You can do this a number of times equal to half your ranger level (rounded up, minimum 1). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
####
**Favored Enemy Improvement.** From 6th level, you can also mark a creature by studying for 10 minutes any tracks or traces it has left. Starting at 14th level, when you roll damage for a successful weapon attack on a favored enemy, you can reroll the damage dice and use either total.

##### Option 4

When it comes to the hunt, you are a master planner. You excel at tracking and anticipating the moves of those enemies that you have prepared yourself to face, and your strikes against them are precise and true.

At first level, you choose a type of favored enemy: aberrations, beasts, celestials, constructs, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, giants, monstrosities, oozes, plants, or undead.

You have advantage on Wisdom checks to track, perceive or understand the motives of your favored enemies, as well as on Intelligence checks to recall information about them. When you hit on a weapon attack against a favored enemy, you can re-roll the weapon’s damage dice and use either total.

When you spend time preparing and studying during a long rest, you can choose to replace one of your current favored enemies with a new type of creature you have encountered in combat or interacted with (including its tracks or marks).

**Favored Enemy Improvement.** At 6th and 14th levels, you gain the ability to prepare for and designate an additional creature type as your favored enemy, having two and three 'slots' respectively filled at any one time.

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### Natural Explorer

##### Option 1

You share a deep connection to the natural world, and you react with swift and decisive action when facing danger. This grants you the following benefits:

- You have advantage on initiative rolls. 
- Choose one of the following ranger skills in which you are proficient: Animal Handling, Nature, Perception or Survival. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses it.

In addition, you are highly competent when navigating the wilderness. You gain the following benefits when traveling for an hour or more:
- 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 or with your familiar or beast companion, you can move stealthily at a normal pace.
- You have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to avoid becoming lost by non-magical means.
- Unless you choose to leave a trail, other creatures have disadvantage on ability checks made to discover a camp you have set up.

####
**Natural Explorer Improvements.**  
At 6th and 10th levels, you may select a ranger skill in which you are proficient, doubling your proficiency bonus for any ability check you make that uses it.

##### Option 2

Your bond with nature is heightened by time spent exploring and navigating the natural world. You gain the following benefits:

- Choose a ranger skill in which you are proficient.  Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses it.  
- Choose one type of favored terrain in which you have gained particular experience: **arctic, coast, desert, forest, grassland, mountain, swamp, the underdark, or urban**. You have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) and Intelligence (Nature) checks related to your favored terrain. Additionally, you gain the following benefits based on that terrain type:

#### Arctic

You gain resistance to cold damage.

#### Coast

You gain a swim speed equal to your speed. If you also gain a swim speed from another feature, your movement speed while swimming increases by 10 ft.

#### Desert

You gain resistance to fire damage.

#### Forest
If you are proficient with the Perception skill, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses it and when determining your passive Perception. If you are not proficient with Perception, you become proficient.

#### Grassland

Your speed increases by 10 ft.

#### Mountain

You gain a climb speed equal to your speed. If you also gain a climb speed from another feature, your movement speed while climbing increases by 10 ft.

#### Swamp

You gain resistance to poison damage and are immune to disease.

#### 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 tremorsense with a range of 20 feet.

#### Urban 
You learn one humanoid language of your choice. If you are proficient with the Investigation skill, your proficiency bonus
is doubled for any ability check you make that uses this skill,as well as when determining your passive Investigation. If you are not proficient with Investigation, you become proficient with it.

####
**Natural Explorer Improvements.**  You choose additional favored terrain types at 6th and 10th level. Alternatively, you may choose to gain advantage on initiative rolls at either level instead.

### Hide in Plain Sight

##### Option
From 10th level, while not moving, you can use your action to become perfectly still, blending into your surroundings. When you do so, Wisdom (Perception) checks made to see you have disadvantage, and you have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide.

### Vanish

##### Option
Starting at 14th level, you can’t be tracked by nonmagical means, unless you choose to leave a trail. Also, as long as you are wearing light or no armor, you can take the Hide or Dash action as a bonus action on your turn.

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### Alternatives to Ranger's Spellcasting

> ##### Alternate Feature
> (**Source: HFH**) At 2nd level, as an alternative to the ranger's Spellcasting feature detailed in the *Player's Handbook*, you may instead choose one of the options below. When you do you gain the use of Poultices (below)

#### Option 1: Mighty Slayer
Some rangers develop enhanced tactical acumen and physical prowess to achieve astounding feats of martial skill. If you select this option, see details for the Mighty Slayer in the next section.
#### Option 2: Wild Companion
Some rangers develop an enhanced bond with the wild, gaining a beast companion to accompany them. Over time, they further strengthen that bond by tapping into nature's magic. If you select this option, see details for the Wild Companion in the next section.

#### Poultices
(**Source: UA-MC**) You gain the ability to create and apply healing  salves and poultices as a form of bush medicine. You can spend time gathering and preparing wild plants, herbs etc. to create healing salves and poultices. Items that you create cannot be applied by anyone but you, and lose their potency after 24 hours if unused. Application takes 1 minute, thereby expending its use, and the recipient regains a number of hit points equal to 1d6 for every two levels you have in this class (rounded down) + your Wisdom modifier.

Once you obtain 9th level in this class, your poultices can also be used to replicate the effects of a *lesser restoration* spell.

You can create a number of healing salves and poultices equivalent to your Wisdom modifier (Minimum 1). You regain all uses of this ability after a long rest.

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## Option 1 details: *Mighty Slayer*
(**Source: HFH**) At 2nd level if you selected this feature as your Gift of the Wild, you gain the ability to use your tactical acumen and physical prowess to achieve astounding feats of martial skill.

You gain the ability to use martial exploits, fueled by special dice called martial dice. You gain uses of martial exploits based on your ranger level, as shown in the Martial Exploits table, and regain all expensed uses when you complete a long rest.

You can apply the benefits of only one exploit to any given attack. If more than one exploit applies to an attack, you select which one to use.

**Martial Dice.** Your martial dice are d6s. At 9th level, your martial dice turn into d8s and at 13th level, your martial dice turn into d10s. Starting at 17th level, when you roll initiative and have no martial dice remaining, you regain one martial die.

Some exploits require a creature to make a saving throw. The DC for such a save is 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier.

##### Martial Exploits
| Ranger Level| Uses |
|:----:|:-------------|
| 2-3rd  | 3 |
| 4-6th  | 5 |
| 7-9th | 7 |
| 10-12th | 9 |
| 13th + | 10 |

With this feature, you learn the Heart of the Bear, Lion's Claw, and Wolf's Lunge exploits:

**Heart of the Bear**. You focus your mind and grit your teeth, pushing aside pain and drawing on wellsprings of energy that blot out the pain of your wounds.

During your turn, you can expend a martial exploit to gain temporary hit points. You gain temporary hit points equal to 5 times your proficiency bonus.

**Lion's Claw**. You take careful aim at your foe’s head or other sensitive point, unleashing a brutal attack that knocks the target senseless.

When you make a weapon attack, you can expend a martial exploit when you hit with a melee weapon attack. You increase the weapon’s damage by a number of martial exploit dice equal to half your proficiency bonus, rounded up. The target of the attack must make a Constitution saving throw. If it fails, its speed is reduced to 0. At the end of each of its turns, it can make a Constitution saving throw to end this effect.

**Wolf's Lunge**. You strike with overwhelming strength and accuracy, battering aside your foe’s defense to deliver a deadly strike.
When you make an attack, you can expend a martial exploit and roll a number of martial dice equall to 1 + your proficiency bonus.

If the attack misses, you learn the target’s AC and can use the result of one or more martial dice of your choice as a bonus to your attack roll, possibly turning the miss into a hit. Any remaining dice are used as a bonus to your weapon’s damage roll.

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## Option 2 details: *Wild Companion*
 
(**Source: HFH, UA-RR**) At 2nd level if you selected this feature as your Gift of the Wild, you form a bond with a nature spirit that manifests as a beast companion no larger than Medium and with a challenge rating of 1/4 or lower.

Your companion uses your proficiency bonus rather than its own. In addition to the areas where it normally uses its proficiency bonus, your companion also adds its proficiency bonus to its AC and to its damage rolls, as well as to all saving throws and to any skills in which it is proficient. Its hit point maximum equals the hit point number in its stat block or five times your ranger level, whichever is higher.

Starting at 5th level, the beast’s attacks count as magical for purposes of overcoming resistances or immunities.

**Companion's Bond.**
Your animal companion receives a number of benefits while it is linked to you, but loses its Multiattack action, if it has one.

The beast acts as you wish, using your initiative count. Your companion understands your speech, and you can intuit basic concepts and statements as long as you can see or hear it. If you are incapacitated or absent, the beast acts as you wish.

Like any creature, it can spend Hit Dice during a short rest to regain hit points. If brought to zero hit points then you roll death saving throws for it as with a PC. If your animal companion is ever slain, the magical bond you share with its nature spirit allows you to return it to life. With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 50 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.

Your companion also receives certain benefits for as long as it is linked to you. 
 - While traveling through your favored terrain with only your companion, you can both move stealthily at a normal pace.  
 - When you gain the Land's Stride and Feral Senses features at 8th and 18th level respectively, the benefits granted also apply to your companion.

Your companion shares your alignment, and has a personality trait and a flaw that you select. Your companion shares your ideal, and its bond is always, "The ranger with whom I am bonded is a beloved companion who has my full trust and protection.”

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### *Opt 2 Wild Companion with Beast Master archetype* 
(**Source: HFH, UA-RR**)
Additionally, if you select *Option 2: Wild Companion*, and also choose the Beast Master ranger archetype, then the following archetype features work differently for you.

#### Ranger's Companion
You do not gain the Ranger’s Companion archetype feature. 
#### Improved Wild Companion
- You gain proficiency with the Animal Handling skill, or if already proficient, your proficiency bonus is doubled for ability checks you make that use that skill.
- Your beast companion’s challenge rating can now be 1/2 or lower. If you opt for a companion with a challenge rating of 1/4 or lower, you can increase one of your companion's ability scores by 2, or you can increase two of its ability scores by 1 each. 
- Your animal companion gains proficiency in two additional skills of your choice.
- For each level you gain after 3rd, your animal companion gains an additional Hit Die and increases its hit points accordingly, as adjusted by its Constitution modifer, if any. Whenever you gain the Ability Score Improvement class feature, your companion’s abilities also improve, as governed by the normal rules.

#### Exceptional Training
You do not gain the Exceptional Training archetype feature. 
#### Beast's Defense
From 7th level, your companion gains advantage on all saving throws as long as one of you is within sight of the other. 
#### Share Spells
You do not gain the Share Spells archetype feature.
#### Beast's Agility
At 15th level, whenever your companion takes damage from a source that it can see (including weapon attacks, traps or spells) it can use its reaction to halve the damage taken.

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 ##### Variant: *Spirit Companion*
 If you and your DM wish to emphasize the spiritual aspect of the Companion's Bond, you can adopt this variant rule: Through a ritual involving 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 25 gp worth of rare herbs and fine food, the nature spirit of your companion assumes the form of another beast type, subject to the Wild Companion (or Improved Wild Companion) guidelines above. This variant rule allows for greater flexibility in campaigns or adventures involving diverse settings, terrains and challenges.

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### Credits

For each optional feature, the source of the material is provided at the start of the entry, as per the following key:

- Unearthed Arcana, *[The Ranger, Revised](https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/unearthed-arcana-ranger-revised)* 2016 ("UA-RR")

- Mike Mearls *[Happy Fun Hour](https://thinkdm.org/hfh/revised-ranger-2018/)* Nov 2018 ("HFH")

- Homebrew elements, which are my own unless otherwise cited ("HB")

- [Matt Colville's Ranger](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59b345e82994caee6bd4c397/t/5c5a32e31905f4a645c10cde/1549415139097/Matt%E2%80%99s+Ranger.pdf) 2019 (HB-MC)