Revised Ranger W/ Preferred UA Class Substitutions

Overview & Creation

This is my preferred version of the ranger class. It contains revised ranger with substitutions from the recent unearthed arcana.

Class Features

Favored Enemy Beginning at 1st level, you have significant experience studying, tracking, hunting, and even talking to a certain type of enemy commonly encountered in the wilds. Choose a type of favored enemy: beasts, fey, humanoids, monstrosities, or undead. You gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with weapon attacks against creatures of the chosen type. Additionally, you have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track your favored enemies, as well as on Intelligence checks to recall information about them. When you gain this feature, you also learn one language of your choice, typically one spoken by your favored enemy or creatures associated with it. However, you are free to pick any language you wish to learn.   Deft Explorer 1st-level ranger feature (replaces Natural Explorer) You are an unsurpassed explorer and survivor. Choose one of the following benefits, and then choose another one at 6th and 10th level. Canny Choose one skill: Animal Handling, Athletics, History, Insight, Investigation, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Stealth, or Survival. You gain proficiency in the chosen skill if you don’t already have it, and you can add double your proficiency bonus to ability checks using that skill. In addition, thanks to your extensive wandering, you are able to speak, read, and write two languages of your choice. Roving Your walking speed increases by 5, and you gain a climbing speed and a swimming speed equal to your walking speed. Tireless As an action, you can give yourself a number of temporary hit points equal to 1d10 + your Wisdom modifier. You can use this special action a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (a minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. In addition, whenever you finish a short rest, your exhaustion level, if any, is decreased by 1. 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.   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.   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.   Extra Attack Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.   Greater Favored Enemy At 6th level, you are ready to hunt even deadlier game. Choose a type of greater favored enemy: aberrations, celestials, constructs, dragons, elementals, fiends, or giants. You gain all the benefits against this chosen enemy that you normally gain against your favored enemy, including an additional language. Your bonus to damage rolls against all your favored enemies increases to +4. Additionally, you have advantage on saving throws against the spells and abilities used by a greater favored enemy.   Fleet of Foot Beginning at 8th level, you can use the Dash action as a bonus action on your turn.   Fade Away 10th-level ranger feature (replaces Hide in Plain Sight) You can use a bonus action to magically become invisible, along with any equipment you are wearing or carrying, until the start of your next turn. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.   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.   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 of your enemies. 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 against one of your favored enemies. You can choose to use this feature before or after the roll, but before any effects of the roll are applied.

Starting 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

Spellcasting

Spellcasting To cast a spell, you must expend a slot of the spell's level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.   Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher The Spells Known column of the Ranger table shows how many ranger spells of your choice that you know. 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. Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier.   Focus You may use a Druidic Focus.   Ranger Spell List   Cantrips (if druidic Warrior) | Control Flames, Create Bonfire, Druidcraft, Frostbite, Guidance, Gust, Infestation, Magic Stone, Mending, Mold Earth, Poison Spray, Primal Savagery, Produce Flames, Resistance, Shape Water, Shillelagh, Thorn Whip, Thunderclap   1st lvl spells | Absorb Elements, Alarm, Animal Friendship, Beast Bond, Cure Wounds, Detect Magic, Detect poison and disease, Ensnaring Strike, Entangle, Fog Cloud, Goodberry, Hail of Thorns, Hunter's Mark, Jump, Longstrider, Searing Smite, Snare, Speak with Animals, Zephyr Strike   2nd lvl spells | Aid, Animal Messanger, Barkskin, Beast Sense, Cordon of Arrows, Darkvision, Enhance Ability,  Find Traps, Gust of Wind, Healing Spirit, Lesser Restoration, Locate Plants and Animals, Locate Object, Magic Weapon, Pass Without Trace, Protection From Poison, Silence, Spike Growth, Warding Bond   3rd lvl spells | Blinding Smite, Conjure Animals, Conjure Barrage, Daylight, Flame Arrows, Lightning Arrow, Meld into Stone, Nondetection, Plant Growth, Protection from Energy, Revivify, Speak with Plants, Tongues, Water Breathing, Water Walk, Wind Wall   4th lvl spells | Conjure Woodland Beings, Death Ward, Dominate Beast, Freedom of Movement, Grasping Vine, Guardian of Nature, Locate Creature, Stoneskin   5th lvl spells | Awaken, Commune with Nature, Conjure Volley, Greater Restoration, Steel Wind Strike, Swift Quiver, Tree Stride, Wrath of Nature

Subclass Options

Ranger Conclave At 3rd level, you choose to emulate the ideals and training of a ranger conclave:   Beast Master   Animal Companion At 3rd level, you learn to use your magic to create a powerful bond with a creature of the natural world. With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 50 gp worth of rare herbs and fine food, you call forth an animal from the wilderness to serve as your faithful companion. You normally select you companion from among the following animals: an ape, a black bear, a boar, a giant badger, a giant weasel, a mule, a panther, or a wolf. However, your DM might pick one of these animals for you, based on the surrounding terrain and on what types of creatures would logically be present in the area. At the end of the 8 hours, your animal companion appears and gains all the benefits of your Companion’s Bond ability. You can have only one animal companion at a time. If your animal companion is ever slain, the magical bond you share allows you to return it to life. With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 25 gp worth of rare herbs and fine food, you call forth your companion’s spirit and use your magic to create a new body for it. 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.   Companion's Bond Your animal companion gains a variety of benefits while it is linked to you. The animal companion loses its Multiattack action, if it has one. The 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 companion acts on its own. Your animal companion has abilities and game statistics determined in part by your level. Your companion uses your proficiency bonus rather than its own. In addition to the areas where it normally uses its proficiency bonus, an animal companion also adds its proficiency bonus to its AC and to its damage rolls. Your animal companion gains proficiency in two skills of your choice. It also becomes proficient with all saving throws. For each level you gain after 3rd, your animal companion gains an additional hit die and increases its hit points accordingly. Whenever you gain the Ability Score Improvement class feature, your companion’s abilities also improve. Your companion can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or it can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, your companion can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature unless its description specifies otherwise. Your animal companion gains the benefits of your Favored Enemy feature, and of your Greater Favored Enemy feature when you gain that feature at 6th level. It uses the favored enemies you selected for those features.   Beast's Defense At 7th level, while your companion can see you, it has advantage on all saving throws.   Storm of Claws and Fangs At 11th level, your 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.   Superior Beast's Defense At 15th level, whenever an attacker that your companion can see hits it with an attack, it can use its reaction to halve the attack’s damage against it.   Gloom Stalker Conclave   Gloom Stalker Magic Starting at 3rd level, you learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Gloom 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.   Gloom Stalker Spells Ranger Level Spells 3rd Disguise Self 5th Rope Trick 9th Fear 13th Greater Invisibility 17th Seeming   Dread Ambusher At 3rd level, you master the art of the ambush. You can give yourself a bonus to your initiative rolls equal to your Wisdom modifier.   At the start of your first turn of each combat, your walking speed increases by 10 feet, which lasts until the end of that turn. If you take the Attack action on that turn, you can make one additional weapon attack as part of that action. If that attack hits, the target takes an extra 1d8 damage of the weapon's damage type.   Umbral Sight At 3rd level, you gain darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. If you already have darkvision from your race, its range increases by 30 feet.   You are also adept at evading creatures that rely on darkvision. While in darkness, you are invisible to any creature that relies on darkvision to see you in that darkness.   Iron Mind By 7th level, you have honed your ability to resist the mind-altering powers of your prey. You gain proficiency in Wisdom saving throws. If you already have this proficiency, you instead gain proficiency in Intelligence or Charisma saving throws (your choice).   Stalker's Flurry At 11th level, you learn to attack with such unexpected speed that you can turn a miss into another strike. Once on each of your turns when you miss with a weapon attack, you can make another weapon attack as part of the same action.   Shadowy Dodge Starting at 15th level, you can dodge in unforeseen ways, with wisps of supernatural shadow around you. Whenever a creature makes an attack roll against you and doesn't have advantage on the roll, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on it. You must use this feature before you know the outcome of the attack roll.   Horizon Walker Conclave   Horizon Walker Magic Starting at 3rd level, you learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Horizon Walker Spells table. The spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn’t count against the number of ranger spells you know.   Horizon Walker Spells Ranger Level Spells 3rd Protection from Evil and Good 5th Misty Step 9th Haste 13th Banishment 17th Teleportation Circle   Detect Portal At 3rd level, you gain the ability to magically sense the presence of a planar portal. As an action, you detect the distance and direction to the closest planar portal within 1 mile of you.   Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.   See the "Planar Travel" section in chapter 2 of the Dungeon Master's Guide for examples of planar portals.   Planar Warrior At 3rd level, you learn to draw on the energy of the multiverse to augment your attacks.   As a bonus action, choose one creature you can see within 30 feet of you. The next time you hit that creature on this turn with a weapon attack, all damage dealt by the attack becomes force damage, and the creature takes an extra 1d8 force damage from the attack. When you reach 11th level in this class, the extra damage increases to 2d8.   Ethereal Step At 7th level, you learn to step through the Ethereal Plane. As a bonus action on your turn, you can cast the Etherealness spell with this feature, without expending a spell slot, but the spell ends at the end of the current turn.   Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.   Distant Strike At 11th level, you gain the ability to pass between the planes in a blink of an eye. When you use the Attack action, you can teleport up to 10 feet before each attack to an unoccupied space you can see.   If you attack at least two different creatures with the action, you can make one additional attack with it against a third creature.   Spectral Defense At 15th level, your ability to move between planes enables you to slip through the planar boundaries to lessen the harm done to you during battle. When you take damage from an attack, you can use your reaction to give yourself resistance to all of that attack's damage on this turn.   Hunter Conclave   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.   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 melee attacks 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 a 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.   Monster Slayer Conclave   Monster Slayer Magic Starting at 3rd level, you learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Monster Slayer Spells table. The spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of ranger spells you know.   Monster Slayer Spells Ranger Level Spells 3rd Protection from Evil and Good 5th Zone of Truth 9th Magic Circle 13th Banishment 17th Hold Monster Hunter's Sense At 3rd level, you gain the ability to peer at a creature and magically discern how best to hurt it. As an action, choose one creature you can see within 60 feet of you. You immediately learn whether the creature has any damage immunities, resistances, or vulnerabilities and what they are. If the creature is hidden from divination magic, you sense that it has no damage immunities, resistances, or vulnerabilities.   You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.   Slayer's Prey Starting at 3rd level, you can focus your ire on one foe, increasing the harm you inflict on it. As a bonus action, you designate one creature you can see within 60 feet of you as the target of this feature. The first time each turn that you hit that target with a weapon attack, it takes an extra 1d6 damage from the weapon.   This benefit lasts until you finish a short or long rest. It ends early if you designate a different creature.   Supernatural Defense At 7th level, you gain extra resilience against your prey’s assaults on your mind and body. Whenever the target of your Slayer’s Prey forces you to make a saving throw and whenever you make an ability check to escape that target's grapple, add 1d6 to your roll.   Magic-User's Nemesis At 11th level, you gain the ability to thwart someone else's magic. When you see a creature casting a spell or teleporting within 60 feet of you, you can use your reaction to try to magically foil it. The creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC, or its spell or teleport fails and is wasted.   Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.   Slayer's Counter At 15th level, you gain the ability to counterattack when your prey tries to sabotage you. If the target of your Slayer’s Prey forces you to make a saving throw, you can use your reaction to make one weapon attack against the quarry. You make this attack immediately before making the saving throw. If the attack hits, your save automatically succeeds, in addition to the attack’s normal effects.   Primeval Guardian Conclave   Guardian Magic Starting at 3rd level, you learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Primeval Guardian Spells table. The spell counts as a ranger spell for you, and it doesn’t count against the number of ranger spells you know.   Primeval Guardian Spells Ranger Level Spells 3rd Entangle 5th Enhance Ability 9th Conjure Animals 13th Giant Insect 17th Insect Plague   Guardian Soul Starting at 3rd level, you gain the ability to temporarily grow and take on the appearance of a treelike person, covered with leaves and bark. As a bonus action, you assume this guardian form, which lasts until you end it as a bonus action or until you are incapacitated.   You undergo the following changes while in your guardian form:   • Your size becomes Large, unless you were larger.   • Any speed you have becomes 5 feet, unless the speed was lower.   • Your reach increases by 5 feet.   • You gain a number of temporary hit points at the start of each of your turns. The number equals half your ranger level. When the form ends, you lose any temporary hit points you have from it.   Piercing Thorns At 3rd level, your command of primal magic allows you to enhance your attacks with thorns. Once during each of your turns, you can deal an additional 1d6 piercing damage to one creature you hit with a weapon attack.   Ancient Fortitude At 7th level, you gain the endurance of the ancient forests. Your hit point maximum and current hit points increase by 2 per ranger level when you assume your guardian form. This increase lasts until you leave the form; your hit point maximum then returns to normal, but your current hit points remain the same, unless they must decrease to abide by your hit point maximum   Rooted Defense At 11th level, you gain the ability to twist and turn the ground beneath you. While you are in your guardian form, the ground within 30 feet of you is difficult terrain for your enemies.   Guardian Aura Starting at 15th level, your guardian form emanates a magical aura that fortifies your injured allies. When any ally starts their turn within 30 feet of your guardian form, that ally regains a number of hit points equal to half your ranger level. This aura has no effect on a creature that has half or more of its hit points, and it has no effect on undead and constructs.