Homebrew Ranger

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Overview & Creation

Rough and wild looking, a human stalks alone through the shadows of trees, hunting the orcs he knows are planning a raid on a nearby farm. Clutching a shortsword in each hand, he becomes a whirlwind of steel, cutting down one enemy after another. After tumbling away from a cone of freezing air, an elf finds her feet and draws back her bow to loose an arrow at the white dragon. Shrugging off the wave of fear that emanates from the dragon like the cold of its breath, she sends one arrow after another to find the gaps between the dragon’s thick scales.   Holding his hand high, a half-elf whistles to the hawk that circles high above him, calling the bird back to his side. Whispering instructions in Elvish, he points to the owlbear he’s been tracking and sends the hawk to distract the creature while he readies his bow.   Far from the bustle of cities and towns, past the hedges that shelter the most distant farms from the terrors of the wild, amid the dense-packed trees of trackless forests and across wide and empty plains, rangers keep their unending watch.   Deadly Hunters Warriors of the wilderness, rangers specialize in hunting the monsters that threaten the edges of civilization—humanoid raiders, rampaging beasts and monstrosities, terrible giants, and deadly dragons. They learn to track their quarry as a predator does, moving stealthily through the wilds and hiding themselves in brush and rubble. Rangers focus their combat training on techniques that are particularly useful against their specific favored foes.   Thanks to their familiarity with the wilds, rangers acquire the ability to cast spells that harness nature’s power, much as a druid does. Their spells, like their combat abilities, emphasize speed, stealth, and the hunt. A ranger’s talents and abilities are honed with deadly focus on the grim task of protecting the borderlands.   Independent Adventurers Though a ranger might make a living as a hunter, a guide, or a tracker, a ranger’s true calling is to defend the outskirts of civilization from the ravages of monsters and humanoid hordes that press in from the wild. In some places, rangers gather in secretive orders or join forces with druidic circles. Many rangers, though, are independent almost to a fault, knowing that, when a dragon or a band of orcs attacks, a ranger might be the first—and possibly the last—line of defense.   This fierce independence makes rangers well suited to adventuring, since they are accustomed to life far from the comforts of a dry bed and a hot bath. Faced with city-bred adventurers who grouse and whine about the hardships of the wild, rangers respond with some mixture of amusement, frustration, and compassion. But they quickly learn that other adventurers who can carry their own weight in a fight against civilization’s foes are worth any extra burden. Coddled city folk might not know how to feed themselves or find fresh water in the wild, but they make up for it in other ways.   Creating a Ranger As you create your ranger character, consider the nature of the training that gave you your particular capabilities. Did you train with a single mentor, wandering the wilds together until you mastered the ranger’s ways? Did you leave your apprenticeship, or was your mentor slain—perhaps by the same kind of monster that became your favored enemy? Or perhaps you learned your skills as part of a band of rangers affiliated with a druidic circle, trained in mystic paths as well as wilderness lore. You might be self-taught, a recluse who learned combat skills, tracking, and even a magical connection to nature through the necessity of surviving in the wilds.   What’s the source of your particular hatred of a certain kind of enemy? Did a monster kill someone you loved or destroy your home village? Or did you see too much of the destruction these monsters cause and commit yourself to reining in their depredations? Is your adventuring career a continuation of your work in protecting the borderlands, or a significant change? What made you join up with a band of adventurers? Do you find it challenging to teach new allies the ways of the wild, or do you welcome the relief from solitude that they offer?   QUICK BUILD

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Class Features

level	prof bonus	features	favored enemy #	favored enemy damage die	spells known	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
1	+2	Favored enemy, natural explorer	1	1d4	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	+2	Fighting Style, Spellcasting	1	1d4	2	2	-	-	-	-
3	+2	Ranger Conclave (Subclass), Expertise, Primeval Awareness	1	1d4	3	3	-	-	-	-
4	+2	ASI	1	1d4	3	3	-	-	-	-
5	+3	Extra Attack	1	1d4	4	4	2	-	-	-
6	+3		2	1d6	4	4	2	-	-	-
7	+3	Conclave Feature	2	1d6	5	4	3	-	-	-
8	+3	ASI, Fleet of foot (+10 movement speed)	2	1d6	5	4	3	-	-	-
9	+4		2	1d6	6	4	3	2	-	-
10	+4	Hide in Plain Sight (revised)	2	1d6	6	4	3	2	-	-
11	+4	Ranger Conclave feature	2	1d8	7	4	3	3	-	-
12	+4	ASI	2	1d8	7	4	3	3	-	-
13	+5		2	1d8	8	4	3	3	1	-
14	+5	Vanish	3	1d8	8	4	3	3	1	-
15	+5	Conclave Feature	3	1d8	9	4	3	3	2	-
16	+5	ASI	3	1d8	9	4	3	3	2	-
17	+6		3	1d10	10	4	3	3	3	1
18	+6	Feral Senses	3	1d10	10	4	3	3	3	1
19	+6	ASI	3	1d10	11	4	3	3	3	2
20	+6	Capstone (Replaced)	3	1d10	11	4	3	3	3	2

 

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Starting Equipment

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

• (a) scale mail or (b) leather armor
• (a) two shortswords or (b) two simple melee weapons
• (a) a dungeoneer's pack or (b) an explorer's pack
• A longbow and a quiver of 20 arrows

Class Features   Favored Enemy Beginning at 1st level, you have significant experience studying, tracking, hunting, and even talking to a certain type of enemy.   Choose a type of favored enemy: aberrations, beasts, celestials, constructs, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, giants, monstrosities, oozes, plants, or undead. Alternatively, you can select two races of humanoid (such as gnolls and orcs) as favored enemies.   You gain the following benefits against your favored enemies

• Whenever you successfully make a weapon attack against your favored enemy roll your favored enemy damage die (see on the chart) in addition to the normal damage you would do
• You gain advantage when using survival to track your favored enemies
• You gain 1 language that might be spoken by or used to understand your favored enemies
• (level 6) you gain advantage on charisma checks and insight checks against your favored enemies
• (level 6) you gain advantage on all checks made to recall or research information on your favored enemies
• (level 14) you gain advantage on saving throws forced by the racial abilities and spells cast by your favored enemies

Natural Explorer   You are a master of navigating the natural world, and you react with swift and decisive action when attacked. This grants you the following benefits:   • You ignore difficult terrain. • You have advantage on initiative rolls. • On your first turn during combat, you have advantage on attack rolls against creatures that have not yet acted.   In addition, you are skilled at navigating the wilderness. You gain the following benefits when traveling for an hour or more:   • Your group can’t become lost except by magical means. • Even when you are engaged in another activity while traveling (such as foraging, navigating, or tracking), you remain alert to danger. • If you are traveling alone, you can move stealthily at a normal pace. • While tracking other creatures, you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area.   Fighting Style   At 2nd level, you adopt a particular style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options. You can't take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again.   Ranger Conclave (Archetype)   At 3rd level, you choose an archetype that you strive to emulate, Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 11th, and 15th level.   Primeval Awareness Beginning at 3rd level, your mastery of ranger lore allows you to establish a powerful link to beasts and to the land around you.   You have an innate ability to communicate with beasts, and they recognize you as a kindred spirit. Through sounds and gestures, you can communicate simple ideas to a beast as an action, and can read its basic mood and intent. You learn its emotional state, whether it is affected by magic of any sort, its short-term needs (such as food or safety), and actions you can take (if any) to persuade it to not attack.   You cannot use this ability against a creature that you have attacked within the past 10 minutes.   Additionally, you can attune your senses to determine if any of your favored enemies lurk nearby. By spending 1 uninterrupted minute in concentration (as if you were concentrating on a spell), you can sense whether any of your favored enemies are present within 5 miles of you. This feature reveals which of your favored enemies are present, their numbers, and the creatures’ general direction and distance (in miles) from you.   If there are multiple groups of your favored enemies within range, you learn this information for each group.   Expertise   At 3rd level, choose two of your skill proficiencies. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses either of the chosen proficiencies.   Ability Score Improvement   When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 10th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature. Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.   Extra Attack   Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.   Fleet of Foot   Beginning at level 8, all your movement speeds are increased by 10.   Hide in Plain Sight   Starting at level 10, you can use a bonus action to magically become invisible, along with any equipment you are wearing or carrying, until the end of your next turn. You may use this ability a number of times equal to your wisdom modifier. You recharge all uses of this ability upon finishing a short or long rest.   Vanish   Starting at 14th level, you can use the Hide action as a bonus action on your turn. Also, you can't be tracked by nonmagical means, unless you choose to leave a trail.   Feral Senses   At 18th level, you gain preternatural senses that help you fight creatures you can’t see. When you attack a creature you can’t see, your inability to see it doesn’t impose disadvantage on your attack rolls against it. You are also aware of the location of any invisible creature within 30 feet of you, provided that the creature isn’t hidden from you and you aren’t blinded or deafened.   Capstone

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Spellcasting

By the time you reach 2nd level, you have learned to use the magical essence of nature to cast spells, much as a druid does. See Spells Rules for the general rules of spellcasting and the Spells Listing for the ranger spell list.   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.   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.   Spellcasting Ability Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for your ranger spells, since your magic draws on your attunement to nature. You use your Wisdom whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Wisdom modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a ranger spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.   Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier   Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier

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Subclass Options

You may select from the following subclasses

• Beast Master
• Gloomstalker
• Horizon Walker
• Hunter
• Monster Slayer

  Beast Master

3rd	Animal Companion
7th	Beast's Defense
11th	Storm of Claws and Fangs
15th	Superior Beast's Defense

Animal Companion At 3rd level, you learn to use your magic to create a powerful bond with a creature of the natural world. With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 50 gp worth of rare herbs and fine food, you call forth an animal from the wilderness to serve as your faithful companion. You may select any Beast of a CR 1/2 or lower. However, your DM might pick one of these animals for you, based on the surrounding terrain and on what types of creatures would logically be present in the area. You may have your Animal Companion take any action on it's statblock (except any it lost see below), any skill it is proficient in, the hide action, the dodge action, or the dash action. It may also take it's movement without using it's bonus action.   Animal companions gains a variety of benefits while it is linked to you.

• The animal companion loses its Multiattack action, if it has one.
• When using your Natural Explorer feature, you and your animal companion can both move stealthily at a normal pace.
• Your animal companion has abilities and game statistics determined in part by your level. Your companion uses your proficiency bonus rather than its own. In addition to the areas where it normally uses its proficiency bonus, an animal companion also adds its proficiency bonus to its AC and to its damage rolls.
• Your animal companion gains proficiency in two skills of your choice. It also becomes proficient with all saving throws.
• For each level you gain after 3rd, your animal companion gains an additional hit die and increases its hit points accordingly.
• 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.
• Your animal companion gains the benefits of your Favored Enemy feature, It uses the favored enemies you selected for those feature.

  Beast's Defense At 7th level, while your companion can see you, it has advantage on all saving throws.   Storm of Claws and Fangs At 11th level, your companion can use its action to make a melee attack against each creature of its choice within 5 feet of it, with a separate attack roll for each target.   Superior Beast's Defense At 15th level, whenever an attacker that your companion can see hits it with an attack, it can use its reaction to halve the attack’s damage against it.   Gloomstalker

3rd	Gloomstalker Magic, Dread Ambusher, Umbral Sight
7th	Iron Mind
11th	Stalker's Flurry
15th	Shadowy Dodge

Gloomstalker Magic Starting at 3rd level, you learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Gloom Stalker Spells table. The spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of ranger spells you know.

3rd	Disguise Self
5th	Rope Trick
9th	Fear
13th	Greater Invisibility
17th	Seeming

Dread Ambusher At 3rd level, you master the art of the ambush. You can give yourself a bonus to your initiative rolls equal to your Wisdom modifier. At the start of your first turn of each combat, your walking speed increases by 10 feet, which lasts until the end of that turn. If you take the Attack action on that turn, you can make one additional weapon attack as part of that action. If that attack hits, the target takes an extra 1d8 damage of the weapon's damage type.   Umbral Sight At 3rd level, you gain darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. If you already have darkvision from your race, its range increases by 30 feet. You are also adept at evading creatures that rely on darkvision. While in darkness, you are invisible to any creature that relies on darkvision to see you in that darkness.   Iron Mind By 7th level, you have honed your ability to resist the mind-altering powers of your prey. You gain proficiency in Wisdom saving throws. If you already have this proficiency, you instead gain proficiency in Intelligence or Charisma saving throws (your choice).   Stalker's Flurry At 11th level, you learn to attack with such unexpected speed that you can turn a miss into another strike. Once on each of your turns when you miss with a weapon attack, you can make another weapon attack as part of the same action.   Shadowy Dodge Starting at 15th level, you can dodge in unforeseen ways, with wisps of supernatural shadow around you. Whenever a creature makes an attack roll against you and doesn't have advantage on the roll, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on it. You must use this feature before you know the outcome of the attack roll.   Horizon Walker

3rd	Horizon Walker Magic, Detect Portal, Planar Warrior
7th	Ethereal Step
11th	Distant Strike
15th	Spectral Defenses

Horizon Walker Magic Starting at 3rd level, you learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Horizon Walker Spells table. The spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn’t count against the number of ranger spells you know.

3rd	Protection from Evil and Good
5th	Misty Step
9th	Haste
13th	Banishment
17th	Teleportation Circle

Detect Portal At 3rd level, you gain the ability to magically sense the presence of a planar portal. As an action, you detect the distance and direction to the closest planar portal within 1 mile of you. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.   Planar Warrior At 3rd level, you learn to draw on the energy of the multiverse to augment your attacks. As a bonus action, choose one creature you can see within 30 feet of you. The next time you hit that creature on this turn with a weapon attack, all damage dealt by the attack becomes force damage, and the creature takes an extra 1d8 force damage from the attack. When you reach 11th level in this class, the extra damage increases to 2d8.   Ethereal Step At 7th level, you learn to step through the Ethereal Plane. As a bonus action on your turn, you can cast the Etherealness spell with this feature, without expending a spell slot, but the spell ends at the end of the current turn. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.   Distant Strike At 11th level, you gain the ability to pass between the planes in a blink of an eye. When you use the Attack action, you can teleport up to 10 feet before each attack to an unoccupied space you can see. If you attack at least two different creatures with the action, you can make one additional attack with it against a third creature.   Spectral Defense At 15th level, your ability to move between planes enables you to slip through the planar boundaries to lessen the harm done to you during battle. When you take damage from an attack, you can use your reaction to give yourself resistance to all of that attack's damage on this turn.   Hunter

3rd	Hunter's Prey
7th	Defensive Tactics
11th	Multiattack
15th	Superior hunter's Defense

Hunter's Prey At 3rd level, you gain one of the following features of your choice.   Colossus Slayer Your tenacity can wear down the most potent foes. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, the creature takes an extra 1d8 damage if it’s below its hit point maximum. You can deal this extra damage only once per turn.   Giant Killer When a Large or larger creature within 5 feet of you hits or misses you with an attack, you can use your reaction to attack that creature immediately after its attack, provided that you can see the creature.   Horde Breaker Once on each of your turns when you make a weapon attack, you can make another attack with the same weapon against a different creature that is within 5 feet of the original target and within range of your weapon.   Defensive Tactics At 7th level, you gain one of the following features of your choice.   Escape the Horde Opportunity attacks against you are made with disadvantage.   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.   Steel Will You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened.   Multiattack At 11th level, you gain one of the following features of your choice.   Volley You can use your action to make a ranged attack against any number of creatures within 10 feet of a point you can see within your weapon’s range. You must have ammunition for each target, as normal, and you make a separate attack roll for each target   Whirlwind Attack You can use your action to make melee attacks against any number of creatures within 5 feet of you, with a separate attack roll for each target.   Superior Hunter's Defense At 15th level, you gain one of the following features of your choice.   Evasion When you are subjected to an effect, such as a red dragon’s fiery breath or a lightning bolt spell, that allows you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on a saving throw, and only half damage if you fail   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.   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.   Monster Hunter

3rd	Monster Hunter Magic, Hunter's Sense, Slayer's Prey
7th	Supernatural Defense
11th	Magic-user's Nemesis
15th	Slayer's Counter

Monster Slayer Magic Starting at 3rd level, you learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Monster Slayer Spells table. The spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of ranger spells you know.

3rd	Protection from Evil and Good
5th	Zone of Truth
9th	Magic Circle
13th	Banishment
17th	Hold Monster

Hunter's Sense At 3rd level, you gain the ability to peer at a creature and magically discern how best to hurt it. As an action, choose one creature you can see within 60 feet of you. You immediately learn whether the creature has any damage immunities, resistances, or vulnerabilities and what they are. If the creature is hidden from divination magic, you sense that it has no damage immunities, resistances, or vulnerabilities. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.   Slayer's Prey Starting at 3rd level, you can focus your ire on one foe, increasing the harm you inflict on it. As a bonus action, you designate one creature you can see within 60 feet of you as the target of this feature. The first time each turn that you hit that target with a weapon attack, it takes an extra 1d6 damage from the weapon. This benefit lasts until you finish a short or long rest. It ends early if you designate a different creature.   Supernatural Defense At 7th level, you gain extra resilience against your prey’s assaults on your mind and body. Whenever the target of your Slayer’s Prey forces you to make a saving throw and whenever you make an ability check to escape that target's grapple, add 1d6 to your roll.   Magic-User's Nemesis At 11th level, you gain the ability to thwart someone else's magic. When you see a creature casting a spell or teleporting within 60 feet of you, you can use your reaction to try to magically foil it. The creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC, or its spell or teleport fails and is wasted.   Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.   Slayer's Counter At 15th level, you gain the ability to counterattack when your prey tries to sabotage you. If the target of your Slayer’s Prey forces you to make a saving throw, you can use your reaction to make one weapon attack against the quarry. You make this attack immediately before making the saving throw. If the attack hits, your save automatically succeeds, in addition to the attack’s normal effects.