Houndmaster (5e Subclass)

You hone your skills of the natural world, gaining the service of a trusty warhound. Trappers, mercenaries, and bounty hunters are among those that pursue this archetype, while others would like a guard while plundering a shop of its riches, or just to have some company while searching a long lost dungeon for treasure. In addition to improving your survival skills and knowledge, you learn how to exploit a foe's weakness, work together with your warhound to best your enemies, and even establish an unbreakable bond with your warhound, forever linking its life to yours.

Bonus Proficiencies

When you choose this archetype at the 3rd level, you gain proficiency in Animal Handling and Survival.

You also gain proficiency with shields and one martial weapon of your choice.

Fighting Style

At the 3rd level, you adopt a fighting style of your choice from one of the following options.

Archery - You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls made with ranged weapons.

Defense - While you are wearing armour, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.

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

Great Weapon Fighting - Whenever you roll a 1 or a 2 on a damage die with an attack you made with a two-handed weapon, you can reroll the die, but you must use the new roll.

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

Warbeast - Your warbeast gains a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls.

Man's Beast Friend

Also at the 3rd level, you can create a powerful bond with a warbeast, choose a Large or smaller beast with a challenge rating of 1/2 or lower. With 8 hours of work and ceremony, and an expenditure of 50gp, you call forth a spirit from the wild to serve as your warbeast. You can only have one warbeast at a time. If your warbeast is ever slain, you can return it to life with 4 hours of ceremony and work, and an expenditure of 25gp.

Your warbeast gains a variety of benefits while it's linked to you.

• Your warbeast has the statistics of the chosen creature, though it is a Celestial, Fey, or Fiend(your choice) instead of a beast.
• Your warbeast uses your proficiency bonus rather than its own, gains proficiency in two skills of your choice, and gains proficiency with all saving throws.
• Your warbeast adds your proficiency bonus to its AC, and to its damage rolls.
• Your warbeast's number of hit die is equal to your character level.
• Your warbeast's maximum hit points are equal to (5 + its Constitution modifier) times your character level.
• Your warbeast can increase one ability score by 2, or two ability scores by 1, whenever you gain the Ability Score Improvement class feature.
• Your warbeast can use its bonus action to take the Dash action or the Disengage action on each of its turns.

Your warbeast obeys your verbal commands as best it can. It rolls for its own initiative, but you determine its actions. Your warbeast has been trained to accept a rider, and when it uses the Disengage action while bearing a rider, the rider's movement doesn't provoke opportunity attacks. It retains its place in the initiative order, and bearing a rider puts no restrictions on the actions it can take, but it still acts on your command on each of its turns. If you choose to make it a controlled mount while riding it, it acts under those parameters.

You decide what your warbeast looks like, including height, weight, coloration, hair length, sex, and other distinguishing features. Your warbeast shares your alignment and has a personality trait and flaw of your choice, and one of each of its own choice. Your warbeast shares your ideals, and its primary and foremost bond is always "The rogue I wander the realms with is a dear companion for whom I would gladly give my life." If you are unable to issue commands, your warbeast will attempt to protect you with its life, and remove you from combat when possible.

Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo the Ability Score Increase part of this class feature to take a feat of your choice instead.

Vicious Attack

Starting at 9th level, your warbeast knows how to exploit a foe's weakness. Once per turn, your warbeast can deal an extra 2d6 damage to one creature it hit with an attack if it has advantage on the attack roll. The warbeast doesn't need advantage on the attack roll if you hit the same target with a weapon attack since the end of the warbeast's last turn, and the warbeast doesn't have disadvantage on the attack roll.

The damage increases to 3d6 at 13th level, and 4d6 at 17th level.

Spirit Bond

Also beginning at 9th level, You share a telepathic bond with your warbeast. You both roll initiative, taking the highest roll, and both you and your warbeast take each of your turns on that initiative roll.

As long as you and your warbeast are on the same plane of existence, you both gain the following benefits.

• You share a telepathic bond with your warbeast. You no longer need to issue verbal commands.
• You and your warbeast have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing and smell.
• As an action or a bonus action, you can look through your warbeast's eyes and/or hear what it hears until the start of your next turn, gaining the benefits of any special senses that it has. During this time, you are deaf and/or blind with regard to your own senses. You can end this as a free action, even when it's not your turn.

Rend and Tear

At 13th level, you learn how to cripple your foes with precise strikes, and your warbeast learns how to debilitate enemies with deadly efficiency.

When you deal damage with Sneak Attack, or when your warbeast deals damage with its Vicious Attack, the target must make a Constitution saving throw.

In either case, on a failed save, the target has disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws made until the end of its next turn.

Rend and Tear DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Dexterity modifier

Greater Spirit Bond

At 17th level, the spirits of you and your warbeast has merged into one. Now effectively one spirit in two bodies, you have intrinsically linked to each other, and any injury sustained by one is suffered by the other.

As long as you and your warbeast are on the same plane of existence, you gain the following benefits:

• You have resistance to all damage.
• Whenever you take damage, your warbeast takes the same damage. This damage cannot be reduced. You do not take damage if your warbeast takes damage this way.
• You regain 3 hit points at the end of each of your turns.

As long as you and your warbeast are on the same plane of existence, it gains the following benefits.

• It has resistance to all damage.
• Whenever it takes damage, you take the same damage. This damage cannot be reduced. Your warbeast does not take damage if you take damage this way.
• It regains 3 hit points at the end of each of its turns.
• Your warbeast has the evasion feature.

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