Ranger Conclave
Rotbearer
Some rangers roam in primeval woods, where the canopy can block out the sun and the forest floor is choked with decaying undergrowth. In such a place, a ranger might turn to those same forces of rot and form a communion with the forest's fungus. Rotbearers can command the powers of decay, debilitating their foes with sickening spores or "empowering" allies with helpful blooms.
Rotbearers almost always discover their powers in the wildest of places, and so rarely come from urban or civilized backgrounds. Their alignments can vary; some rotbearers see fungal decay as a useful tool for good, while others are entranced with entropy and embrace it on its own merits.
Rotbearer Conclave Features
| Ranger Level | Features |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Mycelial Medic, Rotbearer Spells, Spore Spray |
| 7th | Controlling Tendrils, Parasitic Cloud |
| 11th | Mycelial Feast |
| 15th | Fungal Impulse |
Mycelial Medic
When you join the Rotbearer conclave at 3rd level, you can use fungal traces to aid in tracking and triaging creatures. When you examine an injured creature, you can use your action to extend mycelial tendrils into its wounds. If you do so, you gain advantage on the next Wisdom check you make affecting that creature.
Rotbearer Spells
Starting at 3rd level, you learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the table below. The spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn’t count against the number of ranger spells you know.
| Ranger Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | bane |
| 5th | curse of weaknessSDS |
| 9th | stinking cloud |
| 13th | poison blastK |
| 17th | cloudkill |
See Appendix 1 for Spell Sources.
Spore Spray
Also at 3rd level, you learn to unleash blasts of deadly spores against your foes. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can envelop it in a spray of spores, dealing 1d6 necrotic damage. At level 11, the necrotic damage increases to 2d6.
As a bonus action when you use your Spore Spray, you can turn the spray into a 15-foot radius cloud of spores, centered on a point you can see within 15 feet of the target. Any creature entering the cloud on its turn must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC or suffer damage as if affected by your Spore Spray. The cloud persists until the end of your next turn.
You can create an enlarged cloud a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier, regaining all uses after finishing a long rest.
Controlling Tendrils
At 7th level, you can command other creatures through the fungus you spread. When a creature previously affected by your Spore Spray or one of your Rotbearer Spells attacks you, you can use your reaction to force it to make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failure, it must choose another target or lose the attack. Once a creature is affected by this ability, it can't be affected again for 24 hours.
Parasitic Cloud
Also at 7th level, you can imbue your magic into your Spore Spray. When you choose to create a cloud of spores, you can immediately cast one of your Rotbearer Spells as part of the same bonus action, targeting the same area as the cloud. Any creature entering the cloud on its turn immediately becomes a target of the spell. You can cast each of your Rotbearer spells in this way once, regaining the ability after finishing a long rest.
Mycelial Feast
At 11th level, you can sap the strength of other creatures. Over the course of 1 minute, you can extend tendrils of fungus into a willing creature or the corpse of a creature of CR 1/4 or higher, as long as it has died within 1 hour. You gain 1d6 temporary hit points. While you have these temporary hit points, you make attacks with advantage against creatures in the area of your Spore Spray or Rotbearer Spells.
If you used your Mycelial Feast on a living creature, it loses hit points equal to half the temporary hit points you gain.
Fungal Impulse
At 15th level, your spores are able to control even dead flesh. When a creature would die within 1 minute of being affected by your Spore Spray or one of your Rotbearer Spells, you can use your action to momentarily reanimate it. At your direction, the creature can move up to its speed and make one attack in its stat block. This can't be a spell or an ability that has a Recharge property. After making this attack, the creature dies.
After you animate a creature with this ability, you can't do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
Rotbearer Conclave quirks
The following are some optional quirks for a player of this subclass to choose from.
| d6 | Quirk |
|---|---|
| 1 | Your skin is mottled and patchy, with visible mold growths. |
| 2 | Your clothes are sprouting mushrooms. |
| 3 | You keep a shiitake log in your traveling pack. |
| 4 | You never bathe, instead letting your fungus scour you clean. |
| 5 | You love to eat mushrooms, and choose them over any other available food. |
| 6 | You sometimes choose to sleep in piles of rotting leaves and vegetation. |
Appendix 1: Spell Sources
Spells used are available in these collections, all of which are free to use and reference for any purpose.
- Spells That Don't Suck is a set of spells by Omega Ankh and somanyrobots, creating replacements for problematic spells contained in first-party WotC materials. These are marked with SDS.
- So Many Spells is a set of wholly original spells written by somanyrobots. These are marked with S.
- Kibbles' Casting Compendium is the complete set of spells written by KibblesTasty. These are marked with K.
Change Log
v0.1
- Rough Draft
Credits & References:
- Rotbearer Conclave created by somanyrobots Discord | Patreon
Spells
- Curse of Weakness by Omega Ankh and somanyrobots
- Poison Blast by KibblesTasty
Art
- Ranger's Guile, by Steve Prescott © Wizards of the Coast LLC
- Fungal Sprouting, by Brad Rigney © Wizards of the Coast LLC
Background Image Stains
License
© 2025 somanyrobots, CC BY-NC 4.0
Includes spells from Kibbles' Casting Compendium 2.0 by KibblesTasty Homebrew LLC, which is licensed CC-BY and available here.
Includes spells from Spells That Don't Suck by Omega Ankh and somanyrobots, which is licensed CC-BY and available here.
Fan Content Policy
This work is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.
5E SRD Content
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available here.
The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available here.
