Ranger Archetype: The Soulstrider
The Soulstrider is a survivor, who finds themselves endlessly drenched in the stench of death. But proximity breeds familiarity, as these rangers learn to use every tool at their disposal, including the very souls of the slain, to stay alive in the most compromised of circumstances.
Other rangers trek into the world to explore the unknown wilderness. Soulstriders make their mark treading the very line that separates life from death.
Entrap Soul
Beginning at 3rd level, you learn to grasp the souls of the recently deceased and bind them to your will. As an action, choose the corpse of a creature within 60 feet you can see that has died within the last 10 minutes. You expend a spell slot to raise a ghastly, shadowy spirit of it at that location. The creature's challenge rating must be no more than twice the level of the spell slot you expended. This feature automatically fails if the creature is a construct or undead, or if you have already used this feature on that creature.
Your ranger level determines the maximum challenge rating of creatures you can bend to your command, as shown in the Bound Spirits table.
Bound Spirits
| Ranger Level | Max. CR |
|---|---|
| 3rd | 2 |
| 5th | 4 |
| 9th | 6 |
| 13th | 8 |
| 17th | 10 |
The spirit is undead, has maximum hit points equal to ten times the level of spell slot you expended, and its AC is 10 + your proficiency bonus + the level of spell slot you expended (natural armor). It also retains its size, speeds, ability scores, skill proficiencies, saving throw proficiencies, senses, languages, and actions it had in life.
The spirit is friendly to you and your allies and always obeys your commands. Once summoned, the spirit remains in your service for an hour or until you dismiss it (no action required) or it dies, at which point it disintegrates into dust.
In combat, spirits act on your turn. On each of your turns, you can use a bonus action to mentally command any spirit you summoned if it is within 60 feet of you. You decide what action the spirit will take and where it will move during its next turn, or you can issue a general command. If you issue no commands, the spirit only defends itself against hostile creatures. Once given an order, the spirit continues to follow it until its task is complete.
Soulstrider Magic
Additionally at 3rd level, you learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Soulstrider Spells table. Each spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of ranger spells you know.
Soulstrider Spells
| Ranger Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | false life |
| 5th | suggestion |
| 9th | bestow curse |
| 13th | phantasmal killer |
| 17th | dominate person |
Duplicate Soul
Beginning at 7th level, you can memorize the composition of souls to replicate them at a later time. When you use Entrap Soul, you can choose to pair that creature with the level of spell slot you expended. Thereafter, you can use Entrap Soul to summon a spirit of the paired creature with the same level of spell slot in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of you without needing a corpse of the creature. You can pair only one creature with each level of spell slot from 1st to 5th, and pairing a second creature replaces the first one.
Shadowy Strikes
Additionally at 7th level, your spirits' attacks count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage, and when your spirits hit a target with an attack, you can use Favored Foe on that target as if you hit it.
Psyche Split
Beginning at 11th level, you've learned to wreak havoc by turning physical bodies into an arena for the destructive clashing of two souls. As a action, choose a summoned spirit within 60 feet you can see and another creature within 5 feet of it. You cannot target constructs or undead with this feature. The target must make a Charisma saving throw against your spell save DC, taking the spirit's current hit points in necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The spirit is then dismissed.
Soul Mirror
Beginning at 15th level, you can tear asunder souls still bound to their mortal coils. When you use Entrap Soul, you can choose a creature that is still alive. If you do so, the target must make a Charisma saving throw against your Ranger spell save DC. On a failed save, you summon a spirit of the creature in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of it, and the target takes half the spirit's hit points in necrotic damage. On a successful save, the target takes twice the level of the spell slot you expended in necrotic damage.