The Able Ranger

by Chris Ashby

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The Able Ranger

A No-Spells Interpretation of the core class and Beast Master archetype, as based on Unearthed Arcana and other reliable source material

-- This interpretation of the Ranger class has as its foundation the core class as presented in the Players' Handbook, overlain with the Unearthed Arcana Ranger without Spells treatment. Elements of the Ranger, Revised are ported in selectively, with the intention to deliver a no-spells ranger that is robust, balanced and flexible -- embodying the essence and thematic vision of the class, to be enjoyed by players and DM's alike.

Class Features

As a ranger, you gain the following class features

Hit Points

  • Hit Dice: 1d10 per ranger level
  • 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: Dexterity, Strength
  • Skills: Choose three from Animal Handling, Athletics, Insight, Investigation, 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) a martial weapon
  • (a) a dungeoneer’s pack or (b) an explorer’s pack
  • A long bow and a quiver of 20 arrows
The Ranger
Level Proficiency Bonus Features
1st +2 Favored Enemy, Natural Explorer
2nd +2 Predator's Edge, Fighting Style
3rd +2 Natural Healing, Primeval Awareness, Ranger Archetype
4th +2 Ability Score Improvement
5th +3 Extra Attack
6th +3 Favored Enemy and Natural Explorer Improvements
7th +3 Archetype feature
8th +3 Ability Score Improvement, Strider
9th +4 Improved Natural Healing
10th +4 Pathfinder, Natural Explorer Improvement
11th +4 Archetype feature
12th +4 Ability Score Improvement
13th +5 Call Nature's Allies
14th +5 Favored Enemy Improvement, Vanish
15th +5 Archetype feature
16th +5 Ability Score Improvement
17th +6 Relentless
18th +6 Feral Senses
19th +6 Ability Score Improvement
20th +6 Foe Slayer

Favored Enemy

You are a master at tracking and anticipating the moves of creatures that you have prepared yourself to face, and your strikes against them are swift and precise.

Through your time in the wild, you have become deeply attuned to all beasts, and your ability to understand, track and even hunt them is uncanny.

Beasts are always classed as your favored enemy. Additionally, after facing another creature type in combat, you can spend time over a long rest preparing for and focusing on that creature type, thus designating it as a favored enemy. Choose from the following creature types: aberrations, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, humanoids, giants, monstrosities, plants, or undead.

At any one time, you may only have beasts plus one other creature type designated as your favored enemy. You have advantage on Wisdom checks to track, perceive or understand their motives, as well as on Intelligence checks to recall information about them. On your first turn during combat, you have advantage on attack rolls or ability checks against any creatures of your favored enemy type that have not yet acted.

Favored Enemy Improvement. At 6th level, when you hit on a weapon attack against a favored enemy, you can re-roll the weapon’s damage dice and use either total. At 14th level, you gain the ability to prepare for and designate up to two favored enemy types at any one time (in addition to beasts).

Natural Explorer

You share a deep connection to the natural world, and you react with swift and decisive action when facing danger. This grants you the following benefits:

  • You have advantage on initiative rolls.
  • Choose one of the following ranger skills in which you are proficient: Animal Handling, Nature, Perception or Survival. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses it.

In addition, you are highly competent when navigating the wilderness. You gain the following benefits when traveling for an hour or more:

  • 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 or with your beast companion, you can move stealthily at a normal pace.
  • You have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to avoid becoming lost by non-magical means.
  • Unless you choose to leave a trail, other creatures have disadvantage on ability checks made to discover a camp you have set up.

Natural Explorer Improvements.
At 6th and 10th levels, you may select a ranger skill in which you are proficient, doubling your proficiency bonus for any ability check you make that uses it.

Fighting Style

The following additional options can be selected for the Fighting Style class feature.

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.

Whirling blades

When you engage in two-weapon fighting while wearing light or no armor, you do not expend your bonus action and add your ability modifier to the second attack. (You can still engage in two-weapon fighting only once each turn.)

Ranger's Prowess

At 2nd level, you gain the ability to use your tactical acumen and physical prowess to achieve astounding feats of martial skill.

You gain the ability to use martial exploits, fueled by special dice called martial dice. You gain uses of martial exploits based on your ranger level, as shown in the Martial Exploits table, and regain all expensed uses when you complete a long rest. You can apply the benefits of only one exploit per turn.

Martial Dice. Your martial dice are d6s. At 9th level, your martial dice turn into d8s and at 13th level, your martial dice turn into d10s. Starting at 17th level, when you roll initiative and have no martial dice remaining, you regain one martial die.

Some exploits require a creature to make a saving throw. The DC for such a save is 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier.

Martial Exploits
Ranger Level Uses
2-3rd 3
4-6th 5
7-9th 7
10-12th 9
13th + 10

With this feature, you learn the Heart of the Bear, Lion's Claw, and Wolf's Lunge exploits:

Heart of the Bear. You focus your mind and grit your teeth, pushing aside pain and drawing on wellsprings of energy that blot out the pain of your wounds.

During your turn, you can expend a martial exploit using your bonus action to gain temporary hit points. You gain temporary hit points equal to 4 times your proficiency bonus.

Lion's Claw. You take careful aim at your foe’s head or other sensitive point, unleashing a brutal attack that knocks the target senseless.

When you make a weapon attack, you can expend a martial exploit when you hit with a melee weapon attack. You increase the weapon’s damage by a number of martial exploit dice equal to half your proficiency bonus, rounded up. The target of the attack must make a Constitution saving throw. If it fails, its speed is reduced to 0. At the end of each of its turns, it can make a Constitution saving throw to end this effect.

Wolf's Lunge. You strike with overwhelming strength and accuracy, battering aside your foe’s defense to deliver a deadly strike. When you make an attack, you can expend a martial exploit and roll a number of martial dice equal to 1 + half your proficiency bonus, rounded up.

If the attack misses, you learn the target’s AC and can use the result of one or more martial dice of your choice as a bonus to your attack roll, possibly turning the miss into a hit. Any remaining dice are used as a bonus to your weapon’s damage roll.

Bush Medicine

By 3rd level, you have learned to tap into nature's power to heal. You gain the ability to create and apply healing salves and poultices as a form of bush medicine. You can spend time gathering and preparing wild plants, herbs etc. to create healing salves and poultices. Items that you create cannot be applied by anyone but you, and lose their potency after 24 hours if unused. Application takes 1 minute, thereby expending its use, and the recipient regains a number of hit points equal to 1d6 for every two levels you have in this class (rounded down) + your Wisdom modifier.

You can create a number of healing salves and poultices equivalent to your Wisdom modifier (Minimum 1). You regain all uses of this ability after a long rest.

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.

Ranger Archetype

At 3rd level, you choose an archetype that you strive to emulate: the alternative version of the Beast Master that is detailed at the end of the class description or an archetype as presented in the Players' Handbook. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 11th, and 15th level.

Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level, and again at, 8th, 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.

Extra Attack

Starting at the 5th level, when you take the attack action you can make two attacks.

Strider

Starting at 8th level, moving through non-magical difficult terrain costs you no extra movement, and you take no damage from terrain features such as thorns, spines, or similar hazards.

In addition, climbing and swimming no longer cost you extra movement.

Improved Bush Medicine

Starting at 9th level, you have advantage on saving throws against poison and have resistance to poison damage and immunity to disease.

Additionally, you can use one of your poultices to cure one poison effect on the creature you are applying it to, in addition to restoring hit points.

Pathfinder

By 10th level, your ability to move stealthily is akin to that of an apex predator, and you have mastered the art of helping others to follow quietly in your footsteps. Through careful planning and preparation over the course of at least 10 minutes (including applying natural forms of camouflage such as mud and leaves), you and a number of friendly creatures equal to your Wisdom modifier may replicate the effects of the Pass without Trace spell. You may use this ability once per long or short rest.

Call Nature's Allies

Starting at 13th level, when you are in the wild, you can call forth natural creatures, using your attunement to the natural world to convince them to aid you. The DM chooses beasts appropriate to the terrain type to come to your aid from among those that could hear you and that are within 1 mile of you, in one of the following groups:

  • One beast of challenge rating 2 or lower
  • Two beasts of challenge rating 1 or lower
  • Four beasts of challenge rating 1/2 or lower

These beasts approach you from their current location, and will defend you, attacking any creatures that are hostile to you. They are friendly to you and your comrades, and you roll initiative for the called creatures as a group, which takes its own turns. The DM has the creatures’ statistics, and they receive 10 temporary hit points when summoned.

After 1 hour, these beasts return to their previous location. If any beasts which come to your aid are slain (and not revived by you or your companions) then you cannot use this feature again for a period of 7 days, and the type of beast that was slain cannot be summoned again by you.

Vanish

Starting at 14th level, you can’t be tracked by nonmagical means, unless you choose to leave a trail. Also, as long as you are not wearing medium or heavy armor, you can take the Hide or Dash action as a bonus action on your turn.

Relentless

Starting at 17th level, when you roll initiative and have no superiority dice remaining, you regain 1 superiority die

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.

Foe Slayer

At 20th level, you become an unparalleled hunter of your enemies. Once on each of your turns, you can add your Wisdom modifier to an attack roll. If that attack hits, you may also add your Wisdom modifier to the damage roll.

Ranger Archetype

Beast Master, Revisited

This interpretation of the archetype aims to address some of the perceived weaknesses of the PHB version of the Beast Master and avoids some of the overpoweredness of the UA-RR Beast Conclave. It is designed with the no-spells Able Ranger in mind, however, it easily be used with any other version of the core class.

Ranger's Companion

Animal Companion. At 3rd level, your ever-strengthening bond with Nature manifests as animal companion that is no larger than Medium and that has a challenge rating of 1/4 or lower (although your DM might allow exceptions to this criteria in certain circumstances). Your companion uses your proficiency bonus rather than its own, and in addition to the areas where it normally uses its proficiency bonus, it also adds the proficiency bonus to its AC and to its damage rolls. Your animal companion gains proficiency in two additional skills of your choice and 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, subject to the same terms.

Companion's Bond. Your animal companion receives a number of benefits while it is linked to you, but loses its Multiattack action, if it has one. You determine its actions, decisions, attitudes, and so on. Doing so requires no action by you, unless you direct it to take the Attack action, which then requires the use of your action. Through your Extra Attack feature, you also can make one weapon attack yourself when your companion takes the Attack action. If you are incapacitated or absent, your companion acts on its own.

While traveling in the wild with only your companion, you can both move stealthily at a normal pace. When you gain the Land's Stride and Hide in Plain Sight features, the benefits granted also apply to your companion.

The companion can spend its hit dice during a short rest to regain hit points and rolls death saving throws if brought to zero hit points. If your animal companion is ever slain, the magical bond you share with its nature spirit allows you to return it to life. With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 50 gp worth of rare herbs and fine food, you call forth your companion’s spirit and use your magic to create a new body for it. You can return an animal companion to life in this manner even if you do not possess any part of its body.

Your companion shares your alignment, and has a personality trait and a flaw that you select. Your companion shares your ideal, and its bond is always, "The ranger with whom I am bonded is a beloved companion who has my full trust and protection.”

Bound Souls

You and your companion share an otherworldly bond which enables nuanced conveyance and sensory enhancements to flow between you. From 7th level, your companion gains advantage on all saving throws (including death saving throws) as long as one of you is within sight of the other.

In addition, your companion's attacks count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

Beastial Fury

Starting at 11th level, when you command your beast companion to take the Attack action, the beast can make two attacks, or it can take the Multiattack action if it has that action.

Safeguard Companion

Beginning at 15th level, your beast companion is targeted with an attack or spell, you can issue a warning. If your beast companion can hear or see you, it can use its reaction to halve the attack’s damage against it.

Credits

For each optional feature, the source of the material is provided at the start of the entry, as per the following key:

Any class features not mentioned here remain unchanged from the Player's Handbook class version.

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