Seekers of Knowledge

Explorers pride themselves in their knowledge whether it be ancient civilizations, fantastic creatures, or inhospitable places. The mere rumour of a new discovery in some dangerous place is enough to get most explorers digging around. Explorers make a living finding and selling this knowledge, and the guides and compendiums written by renowned explorers are invaluable to fledgling and seasoned adventurers alike. Because of this endless pursuit of the unknown, many explorers naturally find themselves a part of a larger group of adventurers in order to delve to depths they could not reach on their own.

Confounding Combatants

Due to all their time crawling through perilous places, explorers have a natural knack for narrowly avoiding danger. This makes them very frustrating enemies for their foes. Explorers seem to become emboldened every time they narrowly avoid an enemy's blade or dodge out of the way of a deadly trap. And although explorers can hold their own in a fight, they often prefer to focus on putting their foes into vulnerable positions for their allies to capitalize on rather than to deal the mortal blow themselves.

Creating an Explorer

As you create your explorer character, consider what drives them to explore such dangerous locales. Is it the fame or fortune that comes from unearthing and selling ancient treasure or relics? Or is it the pursuit of knowledge and the thrill of being the first to discover some previously unknown creature or long-lost civilization? Or do they explore for the thrill of exploration itself, and the thought of a place never before seen by mortal eyes that lies just beyond the horizon is enough to keep them moving ever forward.

Quick Build

You can make an explorer quickly by following these suggestions. First, Dexterity should be your highest ability score, followed by Constitution. Choose Intelligence instead if you wish plan on playing the Archaeologist subclass. Second, choose the Sage background.

Multiclassing

You must have a Dexterity score score of 13 or higher in order to multiclass in or out of this class.

Class Features

As an explorer, you gain the following class features

You can use your Adrenaline Points to fuel various features. You start knowing 3 adrenaline features: Numb the Pain, Heighten Reflexes, and Adrenaline Rush. You learn more as you gain levels in this class.

Adrenaline is short lived, and if a minute passes without gaining or using an Adrenaline Point all points fade away. You also lose all Adrenaline Points if you become incapacitated or fall unconscious.

• Numb the Pain. As a reaction to taking damage, you can spend 1 Adrenaline Point to reduce the damage by 1d8 + your Constitution modifier + your Explorer level.
• Heighten Reflexes. Using a bonus action, you can spend 1 Adrenaline Point to add +2 to your AC and Dexterity saving throws until the start of your next turn.
• Adrenaline Rush. You can spend 1 Adrenaline Point to take the Dash action as a bonus action.

Arcane Artifact

At 3rd level you unlock the secrets of an ancient artifact you've acquired at some point throughout your adventures. You choose the form and the history of your arcane artifact, and it is considered an arcane focus for the purpose of casting spells. This artifact allows you to harness the arcane energies around you and bend them to your will.

Spellcasting Ability. This artifact allows you to cast spells. Your spellcasting ability with the artifact is Intelligence as it comes from your knowledge and study of the artifact and its history.

Botany Study

When you choose this Field of Study at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with Herbalism kits and in the Nature skill. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses either of these proficiencies.

Seed Pouch

During your travels you have collected a wide range of seeds from magical and wondrous plants. By 3rd level you have 4 different Seed Varietals, and you gain 2 more each at 7th, 11th and 15th level. The list of varietals is listed at the end of this subclass description.

During a long rest you can cultivate a number of seeds equal to twice your Intelligence modifier (minimum 2 seeds cultivated), turning them into seedlings. You may choose to cultivate as many or as few of each varietal up to your maximum as you see fit (for example, you could choose to cultivate one of each type you have or 4 of a single type).

Each Seed Varietal has a unique effect and growing time, but in every case the seedling is consumed once you plant it, until you cultivate more on a long rest. Once a seed has been cultivated into a seedling, it only lasts until the next long rest before it withers away.

Planting a seed. If the Seed Varietal does not specify it can be planted from a distance it is assumed that you must plant it in a location on the ground within your reach. The look of each plant is up to you.

Due to the magical nature of these plants, the seedlings can be grown in nearly any conditions or material, but the plants, and any effects they cause, only last up to one minute after planting unless otherwise stated, before withering away.

Destroying a plant. Each plant is an object with an AC of 10 and hitpoints equal to your explorer level. The plants have vulnerability to fire and immunity to psychic damage.

Saving Throws. Some of the seeds require your target to make a saving throw to resist the seed's effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:

Seed save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier

Improved Cultivation

At 7th level, you can cultivate seeds quickly in a pinch. You can cultivate one seedling during a short rest, up to your maximum.

Additionally, if one of your plant effects deals damage you can add your Intelligence modifier to the damage roll.

Horticulture Expert

By 11th level, you have mastered the art of splicing and modifying plants to achieve a specific purpose. Each time you use one of your seedlings, you can choose to give it an additional effect, choosing from one of the options below.

Expert Navigator

When you choose this Field of Study at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with Cartographer's tools, Navigator's tools, and your choice of Vehicles (land) or Vehicles (water). Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses any of these proficiencies.

War Map Tactician

By 3rd level, your study of maps allows you to view the battlefield from a bird's eye view and make tactical decisions to turn the battle to your favour. Always the opportunist, you strike when the enemy is most vulnerable. You gain the following features.

Feign Retreat. When you provoke an opportunity attack from an enemy on your turn you can spend 1 Adrenaline Point to impose disadvantage on the roll and make an attack against them as a bonus action with a weapon you are wielding.

Pincer Maneuver. If you attack a creature while one of your allies is within 5 feet of that creature and is not incapacitated, you add your proficiency bonus to the damage roll.

Reposition. When you create an Opening on a creature, you can use the opportunity to allow one willing creature who can hear or see you to use their reaction to immediately move up to half its movement speed without provoking opportunity attacks as long as it is not incapacitated.

Bird's Eye View

At 7th level, through clever positioning and tactics you have learned how to create openings in a foe's defenses from afar. You gain the ability to create an Opening using ranged weapons.

Map Maker

At 7th level, you can spend your downtime drafting maps. As long as you have access to cartographer's tools, you can spend up to 8 hours per day during travel or downtime drafting a map of a region you are familiar with or are currently exploring. Every 8 hours you spend on the map increases its map quality modifier by +1 up to a maximum of +10.

Navigating by map. As long as a creature can read the map, they automatically succeed on any Wisdom (Survival) check to navigate while traveling along roads shown on the map, and they gain a bonus to all other Wisdom (Survival) checks to navigate using the map equal to the map quality modifier. All creatures navigating using the map can travel at a fast pace with no penalties.

Selling maps. Maps are valuable items. The selling price of a map increases with the map quality modifier, with a base gold value equal to the map quality modifier multiplied by 25. However, the true value is whatever someone is willing to pay for it and the price can go up or down depending on where the map leads.

Cartographer's Intuition

At 11th level, you can perform a special investigation of a map to determine the location of a specific place somewhere on it. You can spend 1 hour studying a map to determine the location of a plant, creature, building, or object of your choice that you are familiar with.

By studying the geographic features of the region and applying your deep knowledge of cartography you are able to determine the likely location of many places such as where an encampment of bandits is hidden, the lair of a creature, where a specific herb might grow, or the headquarters of a cultist group in a city.

At the end of the hour you make an Intelligence (Cartographer's tools) check to determine how accurately you are able to pinpoint the location based on the table below. If the map you are using is one of your own, you add the map quality modifier to the check.

Once you use this feature, you can not use it again until you take a long rest.

Coordinated Attack

At 15th level, you have honed your ability to see the whole of the battlefield and work together with your allies to achieve victory. When you take the Attack action against a target, you can use a free action to allow an ally who can see or hear you to immediately make a single weapon attack against the same target using their reaction if they can do so.

Adrenaline-Fueled Psionics

Starting at 3rd level, the adrenaline you thrive off of powers your psionic abilities as well. You gain the features listed below. If a feature requires a saving throw, the DC is equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your intelligence modifier.

• Harrowing Vision. You create a terrible vision in the mind of a creature. As an action you can spend 1 Adrenaline Point to force a creature within 30 ft of you to succeed on Wisdom saving throw or become Frightened of you for 1 minute. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the start of each of its turns to end the effect on itself.
• Mind Reader. You gain advantage on Insight checks against creatures that are within 30 ft of you. Additionally, you can spend 1 Adrenaline Point and target a creature within 30 ft of you. That creature has disadvantage on any attack rolls against you until the start of your next turn.
• Telekinesis. You can target a loose Tiny object within 30 ft of you and move it up to 30 ft in any direction, both horizontally, vertically, or both. Additionally, you can spend 1 Adrenaline Point to increase the size of object you can move up to Large, including willing creatures, but not yourself.

Psionic Opening

Also at 3rd level, when you create an Opening on a creature you can choose to create a break in their mental defenses rather than their physical ones and create a Psionic Opening instead. The Psionic Opening lasts until the start of your next turn, or until the next spell is cast against the creature. While the Psionic Opening remains, the creature has disadvantage on Wisdom, Intelligence or Charisma saving throws and if it fails a saving throw against an effect that deals damage, it takes additional damage equal to your Create Opening damage. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all uses after a long rest.

Forced Projection

By 7th level, you gain the ability to psionically force a creature's soul out of their body. When you touch or hit a creature with a melee attack you can spend 2 Adrenaline Points to force them to make a Wisdom saving throw against your Psionics DC. On a failure, the creature's soul is separated from their body and the creature falls unconscious for up to 1 minute, or until it takes damage. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns to end the effect.

You cannot create an Opening and use Forced Projection with the same attack.

Once you successfully use this feature, you cannot use it again until you take a short or long rest.

While a creature suffers this effect, their soul floats in the Ethereal Plane, connected to their material body by a silver cord. The creature's soul can move anywhere within 30 feet of their body and can see and hear things around them, but they cannot interact in any way and are invisible except to those with Truesight or who can see the Ethereal Plane.

Mind's Eye

Also at 7th level you gain the ability to cast the Clairvoyance spell without requiring components. You can't do so again until you finish a long rest.

Mind Fortress

At 11th level your mastery over your mind give you protection against mental attacks. You gain resistance to psychic damage and you can expend 1 Adrenaline Point to give yourself advantage on a Wisdom, Intelligence, or Charisma saving throw.

Ego Death

At 15th level, you can sever the link between body and soul. When a creature's soul is separated from their body due to your Forced Projection feature, you may use an action to psionically sever the silver cord connecting them. The creature must make a Constitution saving throw. If they fail their soul is separated from their body and they die instantly. If they succeed they take psychic damage equal to twice your Create Opening damage and are returned to their body.

Bonus Proficiency

When you choose this Field of Study at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the following skills: Animal Handling and Nature. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses either of those proficiencies.

Animal Friend

At 3rd level, you can perform a 1 hour ritual, which can be done during a short rest, to attract and bond with a creature that isn't hostile to you. When you complete the ritual you gain an animal companion who is friendly to you and obeys your commands.

Your animal friend can be any beast that is no larger than Small and has a challenge rating of 1/4 or lower, or one of following Special forms: Pseudodragon, Archeopteryx (stat block at the end), Myconid Sprout, or Tressym. Your animal friend gains additional hitpoints equal to your Explorer level.

In combat, the animal friend shares your initiative, but goes immediately after you do. You can verbally command it to move or take any action on its turn (no action required by you) but it cannot take the Attack action unless you use your action to command it to do so. If your animal friend hits a creature with a melee attack, you can also have it create an Opening against that target.

Combat Training

Starting at 7th level, when you take a long rest you can select a number of nearby beasts who are friendly to you up to your Intelligence modifier (minimum 1) and those creatures all gain increased maximum hitpoints equal to twice your explorer level. This replaces the additional hitpoints gained by your Animal Friend.

This feature has no effect on creatures temporarily assuming the form of a beast due to a spell or other effect.

Anatomy Study

At 7th level, you have gained a near encyclopedic knowledge of creatures of all kinds. When you see a creature that is either a Beast or a Monstrosity you may use your Action to make an Intelligence (Nature) check contested by the creature's Charisma (Deception). If you succeed, you recall your choice of of the following information about the creature:

• One of the creature's damage vulnerabilities, resistances or immunities
• One of the creature's condition immunities
• The ability of its highest or lowest saving throws. If there is a tie between saving throws the DM chooses which to reveal.

Once you use this feature, you cannot attempt it again on a creature of the same species for 24 hours.

V2

• Dungeon Delver changed to any skill checks.
• Trap Sense passive perception changed from double proficiency to add Intelligence modifier. Changed to advantage on any skill checks.
• Create Opening damage changed from double damage to 1 additional damage die to reduce sneak attack shenanigans.
• Added Painful Opening at lvl 5 to increase damage of class.
• Lvl 6 Create Opening removed. Replaced with lvl 9. Improvement changed to extra damage dice instead of additional attacks.
• Removed lvl 6 Trap Sense Improvement.
• Elemental strike is now passive ability to change damage types.
• Hero's Spirit is now passive ability to drop you to 1hp instead of going down.
• Removed lvl 9 Expertise.
• Added Crypt Crawler at lvl 6.
• Removed Perfect Vulnerability.
• Moved artifact collector from lvl 20 to lvl 18.
• Added Adrenaline Surge capstone ability.

V3

• So much...
• Both previous subclasses removed and remade into the Archaeologist subclass.
• Added Zoologist subclass.
• Added Cartographer subclass.
• Added Coordinated Offense as lvl 2 ability
• Changed subclasses from Artifacts to Fields of Study
• Moved Dungeon Delver, I Know A guy and Artifact Collector into subclass features for Archaeologist
• Removed most other previous subclass features
• Crypt Crawler now called Cavern Crawler to better fit new vibe
• Painful Opening now called Incisive Strike
• Added Razor's Edge at lvl 14
• Added Battle Rush at lvl 18

V4

• Removed advantage on Create Opening
• Create Opening low lasts until the beginning of your next turn
• Added spell table to Archaeologist subclass
• Added Multiclass requirements
• Removed image on Archaeologist page to fit :'(

V5

• Swapped Create Opening and Adrenaline Rush to avoid 1 lvl multiclass dips for a very good defensive ability. Also gives a unique combat option at level 1.
• Changed scaling of Create Opening to use a number of d8s rather than extra damage dice. This keeps damage more predictable between allies, even though it now feels more like a sneak attack clone. The average damage per round now follows much more closely with Fighters and Rogues through all levels
• Removed Incisive strike. Allows for all the damage to be in the one hit by an ally. If it feels bad that all your damage happens off your turn, consider rolling the extra Create Opening damage instead of your ally.
• Changed intelligent Defense to half of Intelligence modifier.
• Added Restraining Strike, as Create Opening Improvement no longer exists

V6

• Changed Animal Friend to not use the Find Familiar spell to not allow weird interactions that the familiars allow that weren't intended for Animal Friend. Now gain some extra HP for your friend.
• Added Combat Training at level 7 to allow the animal friend to trigger Create Openings.

V7

• Major Revision!
• Completely reworked all adrenaline focused abilities to use Adrenaline Points instead of temporary HP
• Added Adrenaline Fueled Attack at lvl 5 to give an opportunity for Explorers to do damage on their own
• Create Opening no longer requires a bonus action, dual wielding can allow Explorers a second change and creating an Opening as well as reaction openings
• Made "Opening" a keyword to make some text easier to understand
• Restraining strike now restrains and requires a save instead of contested roll
• Subclass bonus proficiencies now get expertise
• Razor's Edge is a stay-alive mechanic rather than teammate support
• Cavern crawler only gives 1/2 movement climbing speed

V8

• Big update! Updated all the art, design style and added 2 new subclasses!!!
• Restraining Strike moved to level 5 feature, replaced with Daredevil
• Incisive Strike AP cost upped to 2 - Openings should primarily be used by teammates to promote teamwork
• Removed the ability to gain AP from taking damage - offered too many opportunities to gain AP
• Razor's Edge can only be used once per long rest instead of on a long or short rest
• Adrenaline Rush (9th level feature) renamed Fight and Flight to avoid overlap with Adrenaline ability of the same name
• Intelligence Defense removed and replaced by Hysterical Strength
• Prep Time renamed Field Research and the 2nd part of it removed since it would be unfun for DMs <3
• Adrenaline Surge renamed Surging Adrenaline and now gives essentially the freedom of movement spell while you have adrenaline and you ignore exhaustion
• Archaeologist removed Dungeon Delver and added History Buff which is bonus proficiencies and a language. Dungeon Delver was awkward since it make PP very strong and gaining advantage on a check when you dont know if its there is weird.
• Added Arcane Opening to Archaeologist to mirror Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster features
• Combined Bonus Proficiency into Expert Navigator for Cartographer

Art Credits

• Written and designed by gregolopogus
• All art generated using Midjourney AI with a paid subscription.