Changes to the Ranger Chassis

The major changes I've made to the CF-UA Ranger are:

• Removed Hide in Plain Sight and its replacement, Fade Away, in favor of moving Vanish to 10th level. HiPS is quite weak and Fade Away is too explicitly magical. Vanish at 14th level also arrives a little late to be useful.
• Deft Explorer is neat, but you eventually get all three elements (at 10th level). I've added a "second level" of each option to represent expertise in those skills, and an extra selection at level 14, so a Ranger can specialize in one or two of them (4/6 options). To do so, I cannibalized Lands Stride, which appears at the same time as the 8th level ASI.
• Similarly, I've spread out the bonus for Favored Foe to follow PHB Ranger progression. The big power is making Favored Foe not use concentration, so that's the 6th level ability - in the CF-UA, getting no-concentration hunter's mark is a huge red flag for Ranger dips. In the late game (14th level), the bonus increases by a die size.
• Removed one 1st and 2nd level spell from Primal Awareness.
• Removed the once/turn limitation on Foe Slayer.
  C'mon WOTC.

Adjustments to Beastmaster:

The beastmaster received a revision in CF-UA, which is somewhere between the PHB and Revised Ranger. I've integrated some elements in the RRBM into the CF-UA and revised unclear language in the UA, as well as changed the balance between the Air and Land Beast; as written, the Air beast has better damage/AC and only marginally less HP.

• Added Bonds, Flaws and ASI improvements from the RRBM. It's quite strange that the CF-UA beast never gains improvements to its stats.
• Balance: Air beast hit die is a d6, so it gains 4x ranger level instead of 5x. Added Conmod back into the multiplier for the HP calculation to align with every other creature in the game. Reduced Conmod.
• Earth Beast strength increased to 15 with a d8 damage die so it deals more damage than the Air. Reduced Conmod. At the first ASI, gaining +1 Str/+1 Con is attractive to increase its HP and damage.
• Ready Companion language clarified: you can forgo an attack to command your beast to act, AND you can use your bonus action to activate Ready Companion. This seems to be the intended mechanic, but it is poorly written.
• Adjusted Exceptional Training for the new paradigm. Added magical attacks at 7th level.
• Added options for the Land Beast to mimic a wolf, spider, boar or snake, instead of standard "charger" feature.

Art: Players Handbook, © Wizards of the Coast

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: None
• Saving Throws: Strength, Dexterity
• Skills: Choose 3 from Animal Handling, Athletics, Insight, Investigation, Nature, Perception, Stealth, and Survival

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• (a) a chain shirt or (b) leather armor
• (a) one melee weapon or (b) two simple melee weapons
• (a) a dungeoneer’s pack or (b) an explorer’s pack
• A ranged weapon and 20 pieces of ammunition

Multiclassing

• Prerequisites. To qualify for multiclassing into the Ranger class, you must meet these prerequisites: Dexterity 13 and Wisdom 13.
• Proficiencies. When you multiclass into the Ranger class, you gain the following proficiencies: light and medium armour, shields, simple and martial weapons, and one skill from the Ranger skill list.

Canny

Each time you take this feature, choose one skill: Animal Handling, Insight, Investigation, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Stealth, or Survival. You gain proficiency in the chosen skill if you don’t already have it, or if you are already proficient in that skill, you add double your proficiency bonus to ability checks using that skill. In addition, you learn two languages of your choice.

Archery

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

Defense

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

Druidic Warrior

You learn two cantrips of your choice from the druid spell list. They count as druid 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.

Interception

When a creature you can see hits a target that is within 5 feet of you with an attack, you can use your reaction to reduce the damage the target takes by 1d10 + your proficiency bonus (to a minimum of 0 damage). You must be wielding a weapon or shield to use this reaction.

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 1d6 + your Strength modifier. If you strike with two free hands, the d6 becomes a d8.

When you successfully start a grapple, you can deal 1d4 bludgeoning damage to the grappled creature. Until the grapple ends, you can also deal this damage to the creature whenever you hit it with a melee attack.

Spell Slots

The Ranger table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your ranger spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

For example, if you know the 1st-level spell animal friendship and have a 1st-level and a 2nd-level spell slot available, you can cast animal friendship using either slot.

Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher

You know two 1st-level spells of your choice from the ranger spell list.

The Spells Known column of the Ranger table shows when you learn more ranger spells of your choice. Each of these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. For instance, when you reach 5th level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1st or 2nd level.

Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the ranger spells you know and replace it with another spell from the ranger spell list, which also must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

Ranger’s Companion

At 3rd level, you gain a beast companion that accompanies you on your adventures and is trained to fight alongside you. Choose a beast that is no larger than Medium and that has a challenge rating of 1/4 or lower, using the appropriate Beast of the Air or Beast of the Earth stat block below. Add your proficiency bonus to the beast’s AC, attack rolls, and damage rolls, as well as to any saving throws and skills it is proficient in. Your beast is proficient in Constitution, Dexterity, and Wisdom saving throws. Its hit point maximum equals the hit point number in its stat block. Like any creature, it can spend Hit Dice during a short rest to regain hit points.

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

The beast obeys your commands as best as it can, acting during your turn. You can verbally or somatically command the beast where to move (no action required by you). When you use the Attack action, you can forgo a weapon attack to verbally command it to Attack or take another action. If you don't issue a command, the beast takes the Dodge action. You can also command the beast with your bonus action to use its Ready Companion reaction.

If you are incapacitated or absent, the beast acts on its own, focusing on protecting you and itself. The beast never requires your command to use its reaction to make an opportunity attack.

If the beast dies, you can obtain a new companion by spending 8 hours magically bonding with a beast that isn’t hostile to you and that meets the requirements.

Your companion shares your alignment, and has a personality trait and a flaw that you can roll for or select from the tables below. Your companion shares your ideal, and its bond is always, “The ranger who travels with me is a beloved companion for whom I would gladly give my life.”

Exceptional Training

Beginning at 7th level, on any of your turns when your beast companion doesn’t attack, you can command the beast to take the Dash, Disengage, or Help action (no action required by you).

In addition, the beast's attacks now count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

Storm of Claws and Fangs

At 11th level, when you forgo an attack to command your companion to take the Attack action, it can make a melee attack against each creature of its choice that it can reach, with a separate attack roll for each target.

Superior Beast’s Defence

At 15th level, whenever an attacker that you can see hits the beast with an attack, you can use your reaction to halve the attack’s damage against it.

Charge

If the beast moves at least 20 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a maul attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 1d6 slashing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a Strength saving throw against your spell save DC or be knocked prone.

Constrict

The beast gains an additional attack, Constrict, which it can use when it takes the Attack action. On a hit, the target takes bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 + the beast's Strength modifier, and must make a Dexterity saving throw against your spell save DC or become grappled. A creature larger than the beast automatically succeeds on its saving throw. The beast can have only one creature grappled at a time. At the start of its turn, the beast deals bludgeoning damage equal to its Strength modifier to any creature that it is grappling.

This beast's speed becomes 30 feet, climb 30 feet.

Pack Tactics

The beast has advantage on its attack roll against a creature if at least one of its allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn’t incapacitated.