The Harpooner
Some quarry can be felled by a single hunter on foot; taken down by a keen spear or quarrel in the right spot and slaughtered in the field. Harpooner rangers are professional hunters of game that inhabit terrain and environments that allow them to move in three dimensions, away from their land-bound pursuers. Harpooners often lead crews, expeditions or companies specialized in slaying flying or aquatic creatures, and they use their abilities to bring them to dry land and immobilize them while their allies move in for the kill.
Harpooner Magic
3rd-level Harpooner feature
You learn the mending cantrip if you don't already know it. When you cast mending on two pieces of rope, chain or tether of the same material, you may join them together into a seamless whole, such as combining two 10-foot lengths of iron chain into a single 20-foot length. You also learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Harpooner Spells table. These spells count as ranger spells for you, but don't count against the number of ranger spells you know.
Harpooner Spells
| Ranger Level | Spell |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Ensaring Strike |
| 5th | Earthbind |
| 9th | Wall of Water |
| 13th | Evard's Black Tentacles |
| 17th | Control Winds |
From the Hells' Heart
3rd-level Harpooner feature
During a long or short rest, you may attach a length of rope, chain or tether to any thrown weapon that does piercing damage, or to a piece of ammunition fired from a weapon that does piercing damage
When you make an attack with a piercing weapon, you may impose disadvantage on the attack. If the attack hits, your target is grappled. You may only grapple a creature with a ranged attack if you have a length of rope, chain or tether attached to the weapon or ammunition. The grapple ends if your target is further from you than the length of your rope, chain or tether.
You may hold a number of ropes, chains or tethers in each hand equal to your strength modifier.
Remorseless Emperor
7th-level Harpooner feature
As a reaction, you can negate forced movement and effects that would render you prone until the end of your next turn.
For Hate's Sake
11th-level Harpooner feature
You may use your bonus action to pull a grappled creature towards you a number of feet equal to 5 times your strength modifier, or you can use your bonus action to allow yourself to move at full speed when dragging a grappled creature.
White Whale, Holy Grail
15th-level Harpooner feature
When holding a length of rope, chain or tether, you may use an action to tangle a grappled creature, imposing the restrained condition. If you have the extra attack feature, you may replace one of your attacks with a use of feature. You may use this feature a number of times equal to your strength modifier. You regain all uses of this feature when you finish a long rest.
The restrained condition ends if the creature is no longer grappled for the following reasons; because it succeeds on a save to break the grapple, it is moved out of your reach if you are not using a rope, chain or tether, it is moved out of the range of your rope, chain or tether, or because the rope, chain or tether used to restrain it is reduced to 0 HP. The restrained condition also ends if the creature uses its action to burst its restraints, with a DC determined by the material of the rope, chain or tether.
A note on restraints
Not only can a creature still escape from a grapple with an athletics or acrobatics check, but they may also attack the rope or chain binding them, reducing it to 0 HP. It is in the best interests of a Harpooner Ranger to seek out tough ropes, chains or tethers, especially those made with fantastical material or magical enchantments. Per the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide, a rope has an AC of 11, 2 HP and requires a DC 17 strength check to burst. A steel or iron chain has an AC of 19, 10 HP and requires a DC 20 strength check to burst. More exotic materials may have different AC, HP or strength check difficulties, and specific magical items typically list their AC and HP.