Ranger
When you have lived in the wilderness for so long, studied all the creatures that reside there with tireless precision, tracked down many unwelcome guests, fought great dangers with just a branch or bone, then you start to become a ranger.
--- Ranger Gewarald.
A group of adventurers is trailing trough the woods as a pack of goblins has prepared an ambush up ahead. Loosening the straps around his swords a hooded elf leads the party. Having scouted ahead he already informed the party of the ambush. They are therefore preparing themselves without making it obvious that they know the goblins will attack after the fallen tree up the hill. This information at the end of a long day march came as a welcomed distraction. Not aware of being robbed of the element of surprise, the goblins are about to meet their demise.
Tightly worn animal skin keeps the human warm as she has her arms crossed and plows trough knee deep snow in a blizzard. There is not much to see except for the looming figures of the mountains as she passes between them. Distant howling is barely hearable above the raging wind, but it appears to come closer. It does not take long before the figure of a wolf appears at the edge of her field of vision. She reaches for her belt as the wolf leaps towards her. Joyfully the wolf licks her face as she gives the wolf some dried meat, rewarding the wolf for finding a cave to find shelter for the storm.
Far from cities, at the edge of distant farmland, bordering areas of barbarian tribes and nature protected by druids, rangers stride the borders of the wilderness to keep their unending watch.
Home in the Wilderness
Rangers are dwellers of the wilderness which is represented by the time they have spent in such environment. Some rangers have been born in the wilderness. Some rangers became lost in the wilderness and were raised by natures vagaries. Other rangers secluded themselves finding comfort in a place where natures laws still determine who is the strongest. And a few rangers have been banished from their former living place (and live), having no choice but gain the skills necessary to survive.
Rangers excel in the hunt and act with precision. During the many years spent in the wilderness they have gathered information about both plants and creatures. This enabled them to develop a certain set of skills, using specific materials found in their new habitat to the point where they never lose track of their prey.
On the other hand, their knowledge and methods also make rangers be recognized by beast as being on top of the food chain. This means most rangers are left alone. However, in some unique cases, beast is looking for a friendly relationship.
View of the World
While an outsider might think that rangers and druids share the common goal of protecting nature, there is a clear distinction between the two. Rangers don’t protect nature and receive powerful spells from nature in return, a ranger’s view is to keep natures natural order in balance. This includes keeping creatures in their natural environment.
For this reason, rangers can often be found at the edges of the wilderness hunting down creatures crossing the border to either side, if they do not belong there. This usually means fighting a single type of enemy which has set its goals on the wilderness. This can be tribes looking for food, fey who want to exploit the wilderness, devils looking for new servants or a spawn of undead who have been released near the borders.
Sometimes they face against the expansion of civilization, which usually can be solved with an agreement. The wilderness will be left alone, but in return the ranger will guide passage of people that need to cross the wilderness to other cities. This seems to be a fair deal, but for the ranger this is also an opportunity to keep in extra eye on travelers to make sure they do not disturb the natural order.
Skilled Fighters
In the same line of thought they do not think high of the survival chance of any city people, considering them easy prey for the creatures that dwell in the wilderness. A logical perspective for a ranger which excels in weapon combat, both long and short ranged. Besides they can use weapons of large variety, using what they can find in the wilderness to add upon their personal weapon arsenal.
Adventuring
When picking ranger as your class, consider why you have left the wilderness, your natural habitat, to head out on adventure. There could be a lot of reasons, but they should be important enough to leave the wilderness and stop protecting your home.
To give a view examples, this could be because some creature has terrorized the natural order and you have now chosen to hunt the creature down. You could even be convinced to team up if this would increase the chances of you being able to slay the creature. Another option is a great threat, civilization or creature, that is trying to claim the wilderness you live in as their own. Moreover, it could be that your home was destroyed, and you had no other option then to find a new purpose.
You can choose one of these or use them as inspiration to come up with your own circumstance for why your character has decided to go on an adventure. Besides, it is possible to work together with your DM to define the circumstances concerning the wilderness you call home and how they have affected the setting of the campaign. For example, you could be the guide of the party at the start of the campaign, guiding a party of adventurer’s trough the wilderness you have known for years.
The Ranger
| Level | Proficiency Bonus |
Hunter's Mark |
Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +2 | Natural Explorer, Fighting Style |
|
| 2nd | +2 | 1d4 |
Favored Enemy, Brewing, Hunter's Mark |
| 3rd | +2 | 1d4 |
Ranger Archetype, Primeval Awareness |
| 4th | +2 | 1d4 |
Ability Score Improvement, Hunter's Rest |
| 5th | +3 | 1d4 |
Extra Attack, Natural Explorer Improvement |
| 6th | +3 | 1d6 |
Hunting Approach, Favored Enemy Improvement, Brewing Improvement |
| 7th | +3 | 1d6 |
Ranger Archetype feature, Primeval Awareness Improvement |
| 8th | +3 | 1d6 |
Ability Score Improvement, Hunter's Rest Improvement |
| 9th | +4 | 1d6 |
Hunter's Tactics, Greater Natural Explorer |
| 10th | +4 | 1d6 |
Greater Favored Enemy, Hunting Approach Improvement |
| 11th | +4 | 1d6 |
Ranger Archetype feature, Primeval Awareness Improvement |
| 12th | +4 | 1d6 |
Ability Score Improvement, Hunter's Rest Improvement |
| 13th | +5 | 1d6 |
Guardian of Nature, Natural Explorer Improvement |
| 14th | +5 | 1d6 |
Vanish, Favored Enemy Improvement |
| 15th | +5 | 1d6 |
Ranger Archetype feature, Primeval Awareness Improvement |
| 16th | +5 | 1d8 |
Ability Score Improvement |
| 17th | +6 | 1d8 |
Wrath of Nature |
| 18th | +6 | 1d8 |
Feral Senses |
| 19th | +6 | 1d8 |
Ability Score Improvement, Hunter's Rest Improvement |
| 20th | +6 | 1d8 |
One With the Wilderness |
Creating a Ranger
While creating your character background, consider how living in the wilderness has influenced your personality and possibly your ideals and flaws. How do you view the other adventurers? Protective, because you consider them uncapable of surviving. Maybe you just let them do all the talking, so you don’t have to be involved in social encounters. Or are you just using the others to achieve your goal? Furthermore, what is your attitude about sharing your knowledge? Are you naive and just share everything even if not asked for? Or the opposite, do you keep your knowledge a secret and only use it yourself, staying mysterious to the other adventurers. Finally, what flaws have you developed because you were a lone wolf for such a long time? Are you even capable off working in a team? Or do you have a tunnel vision when on the hunt, not paying attention to anyone else? Or maybe you set traps as usual but forget to tell your companions about them, causing hazards for others when scouting an area.
Quick Build
You can make a ranger quickly by following these suggestions. First, make Dexterity your highest ability score, followed by Wisdom. (Some rangers who focus on two-weapon fighting make Strength higher than Dexterity.) Second, choose the outlander background.
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: 1d 10 (or 6) + your Constitution modifier per ranger level after 1st.
Proficiencies
- Armor: Light armor, medium armor, shields.
- Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons.
- Tools: None.
- Saving Throws: Strength, Dexterity.
- Skills: Choose three from Acrobatics, Animal Handling, Athletics, 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
Natural Explorer
Beginning at 1st level, you harness the natural connection you have with the wilderness you resided in before you became an adventurer.
Choose a type of favored terrain which corresponds with your background: aquatic, arctic, desert, forest, grassland, mountain, swamp. Alternatively, you can choose planar as favored terrain, which includes all planes except the material plane.
When you make an Intelligence (Nature) or Wisdom (Survival) check related to your favored terrain, your proficiency bonus is doubled if you are using a skill that you’re proficient in. Additionally, you gain proficiency with all natural improvised weapons.
While in your favored terrain you gain the following benefits:
- You gain a movement benefit as shown in the favored terrain table.
- You ignore difficult terrain.
- If you are traveling alone, you can move stealthily at a normal pace.
- You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks to detect traps or ambushes.
- Even when you are engaged in another activity while traveling (such as foraging, navigating, or tracking), you remain alert to danger.
- Beast don't attack you or your group if you don't attack them.
- You or your group can’t become lost except by magical means.
- Your group ignores difficult terrain for the means of traveling (not during combat).
- You have advantage on Charisma checks to interact with humanoids you are guiding trough the wilderness.
- When you forage, you find twice as much food as you normally would.
- While successfully tracking other creatures, you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area.
You choose additional favored terrain types at 5th and 13th level. As you gain levels, your choices should reflect the types of monsters you have encountered on your adventures.
Fighting Style
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.
| Favored Terrain | Movement Benefit |
|---|---|
| Aquatic | You gain a swimming speed equal to your walking speed. |
| Arctic | You are not affected by the disadvantages of extreme cold. |
| Desert | You are not affected by the disadvantages of extreme heat. |
| Forest | You gain a climbing speed equal to your walking speed. |
| Grassland | Your walking speed increases with 10 feet. |
| Mountain | You gain a climbing speed equal to your walking speed. |
| Swamp | You gain a swimming speed equal to your walking speed. |
| Planar | Your walking speed increases with 10 feet. |
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
W hen you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.
Two-Weapon Fighting
W hen you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.
Favored Enemy
Beginning at 2nd level, you harness all the knowledge you have gathered on a particular kind of enemy. Combining your adventuring with your observations of this enemy you hone your skills to perfection.
Choose a type of favored enemy: beasts, constructs, fey, monstrosities, plants, or undead. Alternatively, you can select two races of humanoid (such as gnolls and orcs) as favored enemies.
You have advantage on Intelligence checks to recall information about them and you ignore the disadvantage penalty for making a ranged attack past the normal range against your favored enemy.
When you gain this feature, you also learn one language of your choice that is spoken by your favored enemies, if they speak one at all.
You choose one additional favored enemy, as well as an associated language, at 6th and 14th level. As you gain levels, your choices should reflect the types of monsters you have encountered on your adventures.
Additionally, you can attune your senses to determine if any of your favored enemies are 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 approximate numbers, the general direction and the general distance (in miles) from you. If there are multiple groups of your favored enemies within range, you learn this information for each group.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.
Brewing
Beginning at 2nd level, you combine your knowledge about herbs and plants with tools you discovered while adventuring.
You gain proficiency with the Herbalism Kit. You can use this kit to create normal health potions, spending 25 gp worth of herbs and other ingredients. Your DM can ask you to make an Ability Check using the Herbalism Kit when creating a health potion.
Discuss with your DM how you have acquired the Herbalism Kit. Did you find it alongside a track, on a dead body of a druid or do you have to complete a quest to obtain one?
At 6th level, your body has become adept to identifying even the most deadly poisons. You have advantage on saving throws against poison and have resistance to poison damage. Besides, you gain expertise in the Herbalism Kit.
Additionally, you can use your Herbalism Kit and 25 gp worth of herbs and other ingredients to make a potion that can cure poisons and disease. Make a Ability Check with your Herbalism Kit, the checks total stands for the potency of the potion. If the checks total equals or exceeds the DC for the poison or disease, the creature that takes the potion is no longer effected by it.
Hunter's Mark
Starting at 2nd level, you are able to mystically mark a creature as your quarry, using your skills to hunt it down.
As an action you can make a Wisdom (Perception) check to mark a creature that you see or hear. Alternatively, you can mark a creature after you made a successful Wisdom (Survival) check to track that creature. The creature remains marked by you, until you mark another creature with this feature, you fall unconscious or finish a short or long rest.
You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks to perceive the marked creature and Wisdom (Survival) checks to track the marked creature. Besides, you deal an extra 1d4 damage to the target whenever you hit it with a weapon attack, which increases as you gain levels as a ranger, as shown in the Hunter's Mark column of the Ranger table.
You can mark a total number of creatures equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Ranger Specialization
At 3rd level, your tireless precision an experience are combined in a specialized way of hunting. Choose a specialization: the Trapper is detailed at the end of the class description or one from another source.
Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 11th, and 15th level.
Primeval Awareness
Beginning at 3rd level, your dominance over beast has developed beyond the bounds of the wilderness which is your home. Your general knowledge of beast allows you to communicate simple ideas with them.
As an action, you can read a beast which reveals it's mood, intent, whether it is affected by magic of any sort and its short-term needs. Additionally, when you use this ability you can expend one use of this feature to intimidate the beast you read. A beast intimidated in this way will not attack you or your companions anymore, and retreat to a save distance.
If you or your companions ever attack the beast, the beast will no longer be intimidated. You cannot use this features option against a beast that was in a fight the past 10 minutes or against a beast that has been intimidated by this feature before.
At 7th level, you gain an additional use for this feature. Your communication has improved to the extend that you are able to let beast transfer your messages over great distances.
You can expend a use of this feature, using a beast to deliver a message. Choose a Tiny beast you can see within range, such as a squirrel, a blue jay, or a bat. You specify a direction, a distance in miles, and a recipient who matches a general description, such as “a man or woman dressed in the uniform of the town guard” or “a red-haired dwarf wearing a pointed hat.” You also speak a message of up to twenty-five words. The target beast travels for an number of hours equal to twice your ranger level, covering about 50 miles per 24 hours for a flying messenger, or 25 miles for other animals.
At 11th level, you gain an additional use for this feature. When you are in your favored terrain, you can unleash a cry for aid, which the beast in the direct vicinity will respect. The DM chooses beasts appropriate to the terrain to come to your aid from among those that could hear 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
- Eight beasts of challenge rating 1/4 or lower
These beasts approach you from their current location. They are friendly to you and your companions and will fight alongside you. In combat, you roll initiative for the called beast(s) as a group, which takes its own turns. They obey any verbal commands that you issue to them (no action required by you). If you don't issue any commands to them, they attack any creature that is hostile to you.
After 1 hour or when you are leaving the terrain which the beasts normally reside in, these beasts return retreat back into the wilderness. The DM has the creatures’ statistics.
At 15th level, you are acknowledged as a guardian of the wilderness. When you use the option of this feature which allows you to unleash a cry for aid, you can choose to have fey creature(s) come to your aid instead of beast(s). The DM has the creatures’ statistics.
Using an option of this feature while the same option is still active, will cancel the active option of this feature. Independent of which option of this feature you use, you can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
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.
Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.
Hunter's Rest
Starting at 4th level, you can use you natural sense for danger and combine it with your skill set as a ranger, to create small traps that alarm you of unwanted presence.
You can spend 10 minutes setting up audible traps in a small area, provided that you have access to natural materials that make sound when stepped on, like twigs. You can cover the border of a circle with a 20 feet radius or a fill a surface area of 125 square feet. When a creature steps into a part of the audible area, you are alarmed by the sound, as long as you are within 100 feet. You can use this feature as part of a short or long rest without interrupting it.
At 8th level, you have become skilled in camouflaging hazardous terrain. When using this feature you can instead take 1 hour to set up hazardous traps in the area you choose. The area becomes Difficult Terrain and when a creature moves into or within the area, it takes 2d4 piercing damage for every 5 feet it travels. The hazardous traps on the ground are camouflaged to look natural. You cannot set hazardous traps in an area with audible traps or the other way around.
At 12th level, you have become attuned to the wilderness and are able to channel it's desire to expand trough plants. You gain the ability to cast the plant growth spell, but only as a ritual.
At 19th level, you can become one with the wilderness and gather knowledge about surrounding territory as a wilderness spirit. You gain the ability to cast the commune with nature spell, but only as a ritual.
Extra Attack
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
Hunting Approach
Beginning at 6th level, you have learned your allies how to move around stealthy. When you make a Dexterity (Stealth) check, your proficiency bonus is doubled if you are proficient. Additionally, your allies can use your Dexterity (Stealth) result when moving stealthily as long as they remain within fifteen feet of you.
At 10th level, you have shared your knowledge on how to cope with moving across difficult terrain. Your allies are not affected by non-magical difficult terrain while they are within fifteen feet of you.
Hunter's Tactics / Flurry
Starting at 9th level, you
- aow
Greater Natural Explorer
Starting at 9th level, you have traveled trough a large variety of terrain, gathering the knowledge to adept to all kinds of terrain. In addition to your favored terrains you can adept to one more type of terrain, as specified in the Natural Explorer feature.
To adept to another type of terrain in this way, requires you to take a long rest in that type of terrain. When adapted to a type of terrain in this way, the terrain is considered to be your favored terrain and you gain all associated benefits. You can adept to only one type of terrain in this way and you loose your adaption whenever you leave your favored terrain.
Greater Favored Enemy
At 10th level, you have gathered knowledge on creatures that a normal adventurer would not want to encounter. Besides, you encountered many different types of favored enemies, more then you are able to hunt at the same time.
When choosing a type of favored enemy you can now also choose one of the following options: aberrations, celestials, dragons, elementals, fiends, giants, oozes. Additionally, you can change one type of favored enemy whenever you gain a ranger level, but you can not change the language you have gained from choosing a favored enemy.
Choose a type of favored enemy. You gain all the benefits against this chosen enemy that you normally gain against your favored enemy, including an additional language.
Your experience as an adventurer gives you the following benefit against all your favored enemies. Whenever you use your Hunter's Mark feature to mark one of your favored enemies you don't expend a use of this feature.
Guardian of Nature
Starting at 13th level, you become a spirit of the wilderness, which allows you to transforms into a powerful guardian. The transformation lasts for a number of minutes you choose. You can use this feature for a number of minutes equal to half your ranger level + your Wisdom modifier (minimum of one), and you regain all expended use when you finish a long rest.
You choose one of the following forms to assume: Primal Beast or Great Tree.
Primal Beast. Bestial fur covers your body, your facial features become feral, and you gain the following benefits:
- Your walking speed increases by 10 feet.
- You gain darkvision with a range of 120 feet.
- You make Strength—based attack rolls with advantage.
- Your melee weapon attacks deal an extra 1d6 force damage on a hit.
Great Tree. Your skin appears barky, leaves sprout from your hair, and you gain the following benefits: . You gain 10 temporary hit points.
- You make Constitution saving throws with advantage.
- You make Dexterity- and Wisdom-based attack rolls with advantage.
- While you are on the ground, the ground within 15 feet of you is difficult terrain for your enemies.
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.
Wrath of Nature
Starting at 17th level, you
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.
One With the Wilderness
at 20th level, you