Streetwise Stalker
Secrets spread through cities like curious streams. Bounty hunters employ tools of interrogation to track their prey through the urban jungle. Where most rangers thrive in the untamed wilderness, windy mountains, and frozen plains, a select few find more comfort inside the world's populated centers.
Streetwise stalkers most often make their living in towns and cities. Though they are still fully capable hunters in the wild, a streetwise stalker's skill set is best suited for a life among people. This ranger conclaves excels at scouring leads and weaving its way through busy city life.
Personality Traits
Streetwise stalkers often lend themselves to professions that place them close to the hushed machinations of urban society, most often as assassins, bounty hunters, smugglers, informants, and mercenaries. They tend to adopt personality traits molded by the people they mingle with. The following table may be used when building your streetwise stalker character.
D6 |
Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I always know where to look or who to ask for when I need specific tools or information. |
| 2 | I idolize a controversial figure and carefully plan my actions to imitate them. |
| 3 | Gossip is my vice, I trade secrets like other people trade gold. |
| 4 | I'm a hopeless romantic. A pretty smile will always distract me from my job. |
| 5 | A good mystery never fails to intrigue me, even though the desire for answers has led me to dark places I won't soon forget. |
| 6 | I am only loyal to people who prove their worth to me, but will take an arrow to the chest to protect them. |
Optional Rule: Urban Terrain
As an optional rule, you may grant rangers the ability to select 'urban' as their favored terrain. While in an urban setting, a ranger may use manufactured refuse (such as grease and discarded paper) to create their camouflage.
Streetwise Stalker Features
| Level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 3rd | streetwise stalker magic, smoothtalker's charm, fool's bane |
| 7th | weave through crowds |
| 11th | stalker's quarry |
| 15th | danger defense |
Streetwise Stalker Magic
Starting at 3rd level, you learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Streetwise 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.
Streetwise Stalker Spells
| Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | compelled duel |
| 5th | calm emotions |
| 9th | tongues |
| 13th | Mordenkaimen's faithful hound |
| 17th | legend lore |
Smoothtalkier's Charm
At 3rd level, you can use your action and expend one ranger spell slot to enhance your prestige in a social scenario. You select a number of humanoids within 60 feet of you up to the level of the spell slot. For 10 minutes you have advantage on Charisma checks and Insight checks directed at the creatures. A creature that can't be charmed is immune to this effect.
The effect ends on a creature if you do anything harmful to it, or if it uses its action to succeed on a Wisdom (Insight) check against your spell save DC.
Fool's Bane
Also at 3rd level, your attacks are especially punishing to opponents that trip up in battle. When you hit a target with an attack of opportunity, you deal an additional 2d6 damage to it.
Extra Attack
If you are using a variant Ranger different than the one described on page 85 of the PHB, streetwise stalkers get the extra attack feature at 5th level.
Weave through Crowds
At 7th level your familiarity with crowds allows you to nimbly make your way around other creatures. You can occupy the same space as any other creature at least one size larger than you, and moving through another creature's space does not cost you extra movement.
Furthermore, creatures you can see have disadvantage on attacks of opportunity against you.
Stalker's Quarry
Starting at 11th level, using your bonus action, you study a creature you can see to gain keen insight on its capabilities, marking it as your stalker's quarry. This effect lasts for one minute or until you use this feature to mark a different creature instead.
While you can see your quarry, it has disadvantage on attack rolls against you. If your quarry makes an attack against you and misses, you can use your reaction to make an attack of opportunity against it.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once) and regain all expended uses at the end of a long rest.
Danger Defense
At 15th level, while you can see your stalker's quarry, you also gain advantage on all saving throws made against it.
Credits
- Alice Witchfire - concept and author
- JDTMart - Bounty Hunter
- r/UnearthedArcana for their support and review
Version 9
This subclass draws inspiration from the rogue and bard classes as it's meant to represent a practiced socialite. It is inspired by characters such as Han Solo, Luka Redgrave, and Mal Reynolds.
I put a good amount of thought into the spell choices for streetwise stalker magic. Compelled duel and calm emotions are direct analogues of one another. The former is intended as a taunt, the latter is meant to calm down a hostile situation. Tongues is inspired by the vast amount of languages spoken in most cities. Faithful hound is the most controversial spell on the list, but is intended to represent the streetwise stalker's guard dog. Finally, legend lore was a requirement on the list, as it is inspired by the spread of urban legends.
The reason fool's bane doesn't get an increase with damage is because stalker's quarry is carefully worded to let you proc fool's bane on the counter attack. The expectation is that you'll be triggering fool's bane almost every round by 11th level.