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Ranger Archetype - Fey Protector
This archetype is heavily inspired by the Fey Wanderer from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, but modified to suit a specific character design. Most abilities are copied or modified from other ranger subclasses, in an vague attempt to maintain balance.
A fey mystique surrounds you, thanks to the boon of an archfey, the shining fruit you ate from a talking tree, the magic spring you swam in, or some other auspicious event. However you acquired your fey magic, you are now a Fey Protector, a ranger sworn to protect nature across the mortal and the fey realms.
One with Nature
3rd-level Fey Protector feature
Your bond the feywild creates a connection to nature, granting you the following benefits.
- You learn the druidcraft cantrip, which is a ranger spell for you.
- You gain an additional favored terrain.
You also possess a preternatural blessing from a fey ally or a place of fey power. Choose your blessing from the Feywild Gifts table or determine it randomly.
Feywild Gifts
| d6 | Gift |
|---|---|
| 1 | Illusory pixies flutter around you while you take a short or long rest. |
| 2 | Fresh grass and vines sprout from your hair each dawn. |
| 3 | You faintly smell of cinnamon, lavender, nutmeg, or another comforting herb or spice. |
| 4 | Your shadow stands at attention while no one is looking directly at it. |
| 5 | Horns or antlers sprout from your head. |
| 6 | Your hair changes color to match the local climate at each dawn. |
Fey Protector Magic
3rd-level Fey Protector feature
You learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Fey Protector Spells table. Each spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of ranger spells you know.
Fey Protector Spells
| Ranger Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | sanctuary |
| 5th | hold person |
| 9th | slow |
| 13th | aura of life |
| 17th | hold monster |
Sure-Footed
7th-level Fey Protector feature
At 7th level, your bond with the raw natural power of the feywild enhances your familiarity with natural terrain. You gain the following benefits:
- While in your favored terrain, you gain the benefits listed in the Natural Explorer class feature after only 15 minutes of travel rather than an hour.
- While traveling for 15 minutes or more in your favored terrain, you and your allies may move stealthily at a normal pace.
Fey Resistance
11th-level Fey Protector feature
By 11th level, you have learned to stand strong in the face of adversity. You gain one of the following features of your choice.
Ironwood Mind. When you make a saving throw to maintain concentration on a spell, you may make a Wisdom saving throw instead of Constitution.
Escape the Horde. You may Disengage as a bonus action on your turn.
Multiattack Defense. When a creature hits you with an attack, you gain a +4 bonus to AC against all subsequent attacks made by that creature for the rest of the turn.
Natural Reflexes
15th-level Fey Protector feature
At 15th level, you gain one of the following features of your choice.
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.
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.
Stand Against the Tide. When a hostile creature misses you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to force that creature to repeat the same attack against another creature (other than itself) of your choice.
Credits
Created by @0rganics for use in the Big Bounty Elimination Guild.
Version History
v1.0 - 22/11/2021
Initial version completed.
- One with Nature inspired by Fey Wanderer and Drake Warden 3rd-level features.
- Fey Protector Magic inspired by Fey Wanderer 3rd-level feature.
- Sure-Footed is original homebrew.
- Fey Resistance inspired by Hunter and Gloom Stalker 7th-level features.
- Natural Reflexes directly copied from Hunter 15th-level feature.
v1.1 - 25/11/2021
- Fey Protector Magic, removed haste at 9th level
- Fey Resistance, replaced Ironwood Hide with Ironwood Mind.
v1.1.1 - 22/05/2025
- Fixed formatting issues