Ranger, 2nd Variant (5e Class)

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Ranger, Revised

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 + Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + 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 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) two simple melee weapons
• (a) a dungeoneer's pack or (b) an explorer's pack
• A longbow and a quiver of 20 arrows
• If you are using starting wealth, you have 5d4 × 10 gp in funds.

Table: The ranger

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Features	Spells Known	—Spell Slots per Spell Level—
				1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
1st	+2	Natural Explorer, Favored Enemy	—	—	—	—	—	—
2nd	+2	Fighting Style, Spellcasting	2	2	—	—	—	—
3rd	+2	Ranger Archetype, Primeval Awareness	3	3	—	—	—	—
4th	+2	Ability Score Improvement	3	3	—	—	—	—
5th	+3	Ranger Archetype feature	4	4	2	—	—	—
6th	+3	Second Favored Terrain	4	4	2	—	—	—
7th	+3	Ranger Archetype feature	5	4	3	—	—	—
8th	+3	Ability Score Improvement	5	4	3	—	—	—
9th	+4	Cunning Action	6	4	3	2	—	—
10th	+4	Second Favored Enemy	6	4	3	2	—	—
11th	+4	Ranger Archetype feature	7	4	3	3	—	—
12th	+4	Ability Score Improvement	7	4	3	3	—	—
13th	+5	—	8	4	3	3	1	—
14th	+5	Mask of the Wild	8	4	3	3	1	—
15th	+5	Ranger Archetype feature	9	4	3	3	2	—
16th	+5	Ability Score Improvement	9	4	3	3	2	—
17th	+6	—	10	4	3	3	3	1
18th	+6	Feral Senses	10	4	3	3	3	1
19th	+6	Ability Score Improvement	11	4	3	3	3	2
20th	+6	Foe Slayer	11	4	3	3	3	2

Natural Explorer

You are particularly familiar with one type of natural environment and are adept at traveling and surviving in such regions. Choose one type of favored terrain: arctic, coast, desert, forest, grassland, mountain, swamp, or the Underdark. You gain the following benefits when traveling for an hour or more in your favored terrain:

• Difficult terrain doesn't slow your group's travel.
• Your group can't become lost except by magical means.
• 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, you can move stealthily at a normal pace.
• When you forage, you find twice as much food as you normally would.
• While tracking other creatures, you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area.

Favored Enemy

You have gained significant experience studying, tracking, hunting, and even talking to a certain type of enemy commonly encountered in the wilderness

Choose a type of favored enemy: beasts, fey, monstrosities, oozes, plants, or undead. Alternatively, you can select two races of humanoid (such as gnolls and orcs) as favored enemies.

You gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with your weapon attacks against your favored enemies, and you have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track your favored enemies, as well as on Intelligence checks to recall information about them.

You also learn one language of your choice, ideally one spoken by your favored enemy or creatures commonly associated with it.

Fighting Style

At 2nd level, 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.

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.

Two-Weapon Fighting

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

Spellcasting

By the time you reach 2nd level, you have learned to use the magical essence of nature to cast spells, much as a druid does.

Spell Slots

The Ranger table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell's level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

For example, if you know the 1st-level spell animal friendship and have a 1st-level and a 2nd-level spell slot available, you can cast animal friendship using either slot.

Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher

You know two 1st-level spells of your choice from the ranger spell list.

The Spells Known column of the Ranger table shows when you learn more ranger spells of your choice. Each of these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. For instance, when you reach 5th level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1st or 2nd level.

Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the ranger spells you know and replace it with another spell from the ranger spell list, which also must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

Spellcasting Ability

Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for your ranger spells, since your magic draws on your attunement to nature. You use your Wisdom whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Wisdom modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a ranger spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier

Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier

Ranger Archetype

At 3rd level, you choose an archetype that you strive to emulate, such as the Hunter, Beastmaster, or Beastshifter. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 5th, 7th, 11th, and 15th level.

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. You can use this feature in this way a number of times equal to 1 + your Wisdom modifier. When you finish a long rest, you regain all expended uses.

Ability Score Increase

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.

Second Favored Terrain

By 6th level, you have become an expert in navigating the wilderness. Choose a second favored terrain. While in your favored terrain, either the one you already had or the one you gain from this feature, you gain the following benefits:

• You ignore difficult terrain.
• You have advantage on initiative rolls.
• On your first turn during combat, you have advantage on attack rolls against creatures that have not yet acted.

Cunning Action

Starting at 9th level, your quick thinking and agility allow you to move and act quickly. You can take a bonus action on each of your turns in combat. This action can be used only to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action.

Second Favored Enemy

By 10th level, you have become accustomed to hunting deadlier game. You gain a second favored enemy, choosing from aberrations, celestials, constructs, dragons, elementals, fiends, or giants. Your bonus to damage against all your favored enemies increases to +4, and you gain one additional language, ideally one spoken by your second favored enemy or creatures commonly associated with it. Additionally, you have advantage on saving throws against effects and abilities used by your favored enemies, including spells.

Mask of the Wild

Starting at 14th level, you can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena. Additionally, when you use your action to take the Hide action under such conditions, you become invisible. You remain invisible until you use 5 feet or more of movement, make an attack, cast a spell, or the heavy rain, falling snow, mist, or other natural phenomenon no longer exists (for example, it stops raining).

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. Once on each of your turns, you can add your Wisdom modifier to the attack roll or the damage roll of an attack you make. You can choose to use this feature before or after the roll, but before any effects of the roll are applied.

Ranger Archetypes

Hunter

Emulating the Hunter archetype means accepting your place as a bulwark between civilization and the terrors of the wilderness. As you walk the Hunter's path, you learn specialized techniques for fighting the threats you face, from rampaging ogres and hordes of orcs to towering giants and terrifying dragons.

Hunter's Prey

At 3rd level, you gain one of the following features of your choice.

Colossus Slayer. Your tenacity can wear down the most potent foes. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, the creature takes an extra 1d8 damage if it's below its hit point maximum. You can deal this extra damage only once per turn.

Giant Killer. When a Large or larger creature within 5 feet of you hits or misses you with an attack, you can use your reaction to attack that creature immediately after its attack, provided that you can see the creature.

Horde Breaker. Once on each of your turns when you make a weapon attack, you can make another attack with the same weapon against a different creature that is within 5 feet of the original target and within range of your weapon.

Extra Attack

Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Defensive Tactics

At 7th level, you gain one of the following features of your choice.

Escape the Horde. Opportunity attacks against you are made with disadvantage.

Multiattack Defense. When a creature hits you with an attack, you gain a +4 bonus to AC against all subsequent attacks made by that creature for the rest of the turn.

Steel Will. You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened.

Multiattack

At 11th level, you gain one of the following features of your choice.

Volley. You can use your action to make a ranged attack against any number of creatures within 10 feet of a point you can see within your weapon's range. You must have ammunition for each target, as normal, and you make a separate attack roll for each target.

Whirlwind Attack. You can use your action to make a melee attack against any number of creatures within 5 feet of you, with a separate attack roll for each target.

Superior Hunter's Defense

At 15th level, you gain one of the following features of your choice.

Evasion. When you are subjected to an effect, such as a red dragon's fiery breath or a lightning bolt spell, that allows you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half damage if you fail.

Stand Against the Tide. When a hostile creature misses you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to force that creature to repeat the same attack against another creature (other than itself) of your choice.

Uncanny Dodge. When an attacker that you can see hits you with an attack, you can use your reaction to halve the attack's damage against you.

Beastmaster

Beastmasters embody a friendship between the civilized races and the beasts of the world. United in focus, ranger and beast fight as one against the monsters that threaten civilization and wilderness alike.

Animal Companion

When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you gain a beast companion that accompanies you on your adventures and fights alongside you. Choose a beast that is no larger than Medium size and that has a challenge rating of at most 1/4. You may choose a beast with a challenge rating of 1/2 or higher if it has the Multiattack action, and that beast would have a challenge rating of 1/4 if it lost its Multiattack and its challenge rating were recalculated accordingly. The beast has the statistics of a normal member of its species, with the following changes:

• Your animal companion uses your proficiency bonus instead of its own.
• Your animal companion adds your proficiency bonus to its Armor Class.
• Your animal companion gains proficiency in two skills of your choice, and all saving throws.
• Your animal companion loses the Multiattack action if it has one.

Your animal companion obeys your commands as best it can. It rolls for initiative like any other creature, but you determine its actions, decisions, attitudes, and so on. If you are incapacitated or absent, your animal companion acts on its own.

When travelling for an hour or more, you and your animal companion can move stealthily at a normal pace.

When you reach 4th level, and every time you gain a level afterward, your animal companion gains one additional hit die and its hit points are recalculated accordingly.

Whenever you gain the Ability Score Improvement class feature, your animal companion can also increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or it can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, your animal companion can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature unless its description specifies otherwise. Alternatively, if you are using the feats optional rule, your animal companion can instead gain one feat.

If your animal companion is ever slain, you can use 8 hours of work and 25 gp worth of rare herbs and fine food to call forth your companion’s spirit and create a new body for it, returning it to life. You can return an animal companion to life in this manner even if you do not possess any part of its body. If you use this ability to return a former animal companion to life while you have a current animal companion, your current companion leaves you and is replaced by the restored companion.

Coordinated Attack

Starting at 5th level, when you use the Attack action on your turn, if your companion can see you, it can use its reaction to make a melee attack.

Beast's Iron Will

Starting at 7th level, your animal companion has advantage on all saving throws while it can see you.

Beast's Whirlwind Attack

Starting from 11th level, your animal companion can use its action to make a melee attack against each creature of its choice within 5 feet of it, with a separate attack roll for each target.

Beast's Uncanny Dodge

Starting at 15th level, when an attacker that your animal companion can see hits it with an attack, your animal companion can use its reaction to halve the attack's damage against it.

Beastshifter

Design Note: This ranger archetype is based off of the wild shape ranger from the revised 3rd edition's Unearthed Arcana.

Druidic

You're not a druid, but you've spent enough time with them learning the art of the Wild Shape, so you've learned their language. You can speak the language and use it to leave hidden messages. You and others who know this language automatically spot such a message. Others spot the message's presence with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check but can't decipher it without magic

Wild Shape

Starting from when you take this subclass at 3rd level, you can, on your turn, as a bonus action, magically assume the form of a beast that you have seen before. You can use this feature two times, and you recover spent uses when you complete a short or long rest.

Your ranger level determines the limitations on what beasts you can transform into. You can transform into a beast with a challenge rating equal to or less than your ranger level divided by 4, rounded to the nearest whole number, and that does not have a fly or swim speed. Starting from 7th level, you can transform into a beast that does have a swim speed, and starting from 11th level, you can transform into a beast that does have a fly speed.

You can stay in your beast form for a number of hours equal to the maximum challenge rating of beast you can transform into. You then revert to your normal form unless you spend another use of this feature. You can revert to your normal form earlier by using a bonus action on your turn. You automatically revert if you drop to 0 hit points, fall unconscious, or die.

While you are transformed, the following rules apply:

• Your game statistics are replaced by the statistics of the beast, but you retain your alignment, personality, and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. You also retain all of your skill and saving throw proficiencies, in addition to gaining those of the creature. If the creature has the same proficiency as you and the bonus in its stat block is higher than yours, use the creature's bonus instead of yours. If the creature has any legendary or lair actions, you can't use them.
• When you transform, you assume the beast's hit points and Hit Dice. When you revert to your normal form, you return to the number of hit points you had before you transformed. However, if you revert as a result of dropping to 0 hit points, any excess damage carries over to your normal form. For example, if you take 10 damage in animal form and have only 1 hit point left, you revert and take 9 damage. As long as the excess damage doesn't reduce your normal form to 0 hit points, you aren't knocked unconscious.
• You can't cast spells, and your ability to speak or take any action that requires hands is limited to the capabilities of your beast form. Transforming doesn't break your concentration on a spell you've already cast, however, or prevent you from taking actions that are part of a spell, such as hunter's mark, that you've already cast.
• You retain the benefit of any features from your class, race, or other source and can use them if the new form is physically capable of doing so. However, you can't use any of your special senses, such as darkvision, unless your new form also has that sense.
• You choose whether your equipment falls to the ground in your space, merges into your new form, or is worn by it. Worn equipment functions as normal, but the GM decides whether it is practical for the new form to wear a piece of equipment, based on the creature's shape and size. Your equipment doesn't change size or shape to match the new form, and any equipment that the new form can't wear must either fall to the ground or merge with it. Equipment that merges with the form has no effect until you leave the form.

Improved Multiattack

Beginning at 5th level, when you take the Multiattack action while in your wild shape, you can make one additional attack with your least damaging attack. For example, if you are transformed into a brown bear, your bite attack deals 8 damage on average, compared to your claw attack's 11, so you would gain an additional bite attack, for a total of two bite attacks and one claw attack.

Shifting Attacks

Starting at 7th level, your attacks in beast form count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

Fast Movement

Your time spent in your beast forms has taught you how to move like a beast even while in your normal form. Also starting at 7th level, your speed increases by 10 feet while you are in your normal form and aren't wearing heavy armor.

Elemental Form

Starting at 11th level, you can Wild Shape into an air, earth, fire, or water elemental by expending two uses of the feature instead of one.

Master of Myriad Forms

At level 15, you learn the spell alter self, and can cast it without expending a spell slot. This spell counts as a ranger spell for you, and does not count against the number of spells you can know.

Multiclassing

Prerequisites. To qualify for multiclassing into the ranger class, you must meet these prerequisites: Strength 13 or Dexterity 13, and Wisdom 13

Proficiencies. When you multiclass into the ranger class, you gain the following proficiencies: Light armor, medium armor, shields, simple weapons, martial weapons, one skill from the class’s skill list.

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