Deadly Hunters

Warriors of the wilderness, rangers specialize in hunting the monsters that threaten the edges of civilization — raiders, rampaging beasts and monstrosities, terrible giants, and deadly dragons. They learn to track their quarry as a predator does, moving through the wilds and hiding themselves in brush and rubble. Rangers focus their 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 like a druid. Their magic, like their combat prowess, emphasize speed, stealth, and the hunt. A ranger’s talents and abilities are honed with focus on the grim task of protecting the borderlands.

Lonely 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 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 may be the first line of defense, if not the last.

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 may grouse and whine about hardships of the wild, rangers respond with some mixture of amusement, frustration, and compassion.

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 apprentice-ship, 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 or ranger conclave, 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?

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d10
Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + your

Constitution modifier per ranger level after 1st

Proficiencies

Armor: Light armor, medium armor, shields
Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons
Tools: Herbalism kit
Saving Throws: Strength, Dexterity
Skills: Choose three from Animal Handling, Athletics,

Insight, Investigation, Medicine, Nature, Perception,

Stealth, and Survival

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

Favored Enemy

Beginning at 1st level, you can focus your awareness on a single creature, quickly learning to anticipate its actions and retaliate against its attacks.

As a bonus action, you can designate a creature you can see within 100 feet of you and mark it as your favored enemy. Alternatively, when you attack a creature, you can mark the target of the attack as your favored enemy. Regardless of how you mark a favored enemy, you can you use this ability once during your turn. The target remains your favored enemy until you use this ability again.

You gain advantage on all Wisdom and Intelligence checks to detect your favored enemy, follow its tracks, and to determine its actions and motives.

Arctic

You gain resistance to cold damage, and are unaffected by extremely cold environments.

Coast

You gain a swim speed equal to your speed, and can hold your breath for twice as long as normal.

Desert

You gain resistance to fire damage, and are unaffected by extremely hot environments.

Fen

You gain resistance to poison damage and are immune to disease.

Forest

You gain proficiency in the Wisdom (Perception) skill, and your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses this skill. You also gain a +5 bonus to your passive Perception.

Grassland

Your speed increases by 10 feet, and you are unaffected by non-magical difficult terrain.

Mountain

You gain a climb speed equal to your speed, and you can breathe normally in elevations up to 10,000 feet.

Underdark

You learn Undercommon. If you do not have darkvision, you gain it with a range of 30 feet. If you have darkvision, you instead gain blindsight with a range of 5 feet.

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.

Archery

You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with ranged weapons.

Defense

While you are wearing armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.

Dueling

When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.

Mariner

While you are not wearing heavy armor or using a shield, you have a climbing and swimming speed equal to your normal movement, and you gain a +1 bonus to AC.

Two-Weapon Fighting

When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.

Variant. When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can make your second attack as a part of the Attack action. You still don't add your ability modifier to the damage roll.

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 chapter 10 for the general rules of spellcasting and chapter 11 for the ranger spell list.

Spell Slots

The Ranger table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your 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. For example, if you know the 1st-level spell animal friendship and have a 1st-level and a 2nd-level spell slot available, you can cast animal friendship using either slot.

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.

Beast Conclave

Many rangers are more at home in the wilds than in civiliza-tion, to the point where animals consider them kin. Rangers of the Beast Conclave develop a close bond with a beast, then further strengthen that bond through the use of magic.

No More Multiattack...

Multiattack is a useful design tool that keeps monsters simple for the DM. It provides a boost in offense, but that boost is meant to make a beast threatening for one battle -- a notion that doesn't mesh well with a beast intended to fight with the party, rather than against it. Project Multiattack across an entire adventure, and a beast companion runs the risk of outclassing the fighters and barbarians in the party.

So, in story terms, your animal companion has traded in some of its ferocity (in the form of Multiattack), for better awareness and the ability to fight more effectively in concert with you.

Hunter Spells

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

Hunter's Prey

At 3rd level, you gain one of the following features of your choice. Any time that you gain an additional feature from this Conclave, you may also change your choice for this feature.

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. Any time that you gain an additional feature from this Conclave, you may also change your choice for this feature.

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.

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.

Multiattack

At 11th level, you gain the following actions. You can take these multiattack actions a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier, and regain all uses of this feature when you finish a long rest.

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. 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.