Revised Beast Master

Subclass Analysis

Thematics

This subclass has different thematics from the normal Beast Master. Specifically, it allows for beasts to be used that would not usually be viable, such as the hawk or warhorse, and provides new options for roles for the beast. It also contains flavor options that are not present in the normal subclass. These changes will be detailed in the Ranger’s Companion and Bestial Archetype sections.

Class Overview

The normal ranger in the Player’s Handbooks is well known for being fraught with issues. The most notable of these is that it usually deals low damage, with the beast’s attack often less than the attack that ranger gave up would deal more. This is compounded by the fact that many of the DCs of the beast’s abilities, like the wolf’s Bite don’t increase, making them mediocre at low levels and useless at high levels. In addition, the beast has low hit points and armor class, and will often die in combat. These issue can be solved by choosing a beast that deals good damage and has strong defensive tactics, such as the flying snake and giant poisonous snake, but the large majority of beasts are not viable choices. Additionally, the beast often lacks versatility, although this is an issue that a lot of classes/subclasses face. However, with good choices, a suitable Beast Master can be made.

The Primal Companion feature fixes some the aforementioned issues and adds some new ones. It's much harder to accidentally make an unviable character, and the hit points and versatility of the beast is greatly improved. However, it has the issue of dealing less damage, especially at higher levels. In addition, none of the beasts have any interesting traits or actions, leading to them feeling bland in combat.

This subclass aims to fix these issues. It has adequate damage and defenses. It also lends itself to being able to choose from a variety of beasts, and to make a custom beast that has interesting traits. It also has a much larger degree of customizability that either of the normal classes, lending itself to different playstyles.

3rd Level: Beast Master Magic

All ranger subclasses not in the Player’s Handbook get an expanded spell list; there is no reason this class shouldn’t get them. Animal friendship and dominate beast are situational spells which are only useful around beasts, a generally uncommon circumstance, and won’t make a large difference in most cases. The other three spells grant beast allies, which are obviously thematic. Two spells which may seem to be missing are find familiar and beast sense. Find familiar was not included because it would make the subclass too strong, given the other improvements it has received. Beast sense was not included because it is redundant with the mental bond granted by the revised Ranger’s Companion feature. Three of the spells (four, if the expanded spell list found in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.) are already on the ranger spell list, although they are both spells you are likely to take, so they aren’t useless. Note that normally ranger expanded spells are not those on the ranger spell list, but only two are in this case; the exception here is necessary, due to the nature of the class. Overall, this feature isn’t great, though.

3rd Level: Ranger’s Companion

Many changes were made, but this is the rationale for the major ones.

Allowing Stronger Beasts: This opens up many more options for companions that were notably missing from the subclass, such as the bear and horse. None of the beasts offered by this class are too strong; the giant poisonous snake is available to the subclass normally, and can cover more area (its Bite attack has 10 ft. reach) than any Large beasts and does about as much damage as any CR 1/2 beast, so allowing CR 1/2 beasts won’t improve the subclass much on its own, but will allow for more options. The ability for the DM to allow other creatures allows for the ranger to take something like a blink dog that the player might run into, if the DM allows, although I suspect it won’t be used often, and in the situations in which it is used, the DM may have allow the creature to be used regardless. Other non-beast monsters which are thematically suited to being a Ranger’s Companion (similar to animals and/or known to be able to be trained or persuaded to help humanoids), or beasts that have too high a CR are the ambush drake, crag cat, displacer beast kitten, giant hyena, giant toad, all eight varieties of guard drakes, hippocamp, ice toad, lion, male steeder, mimic, rust monster, tiger, worg, and young griffon (medium). While some of these monsters are stronger than most beasts that can normally be chosen, none of them are so strong that they significantly unbalance the game.

Stat Changes: Adding proficiency to weapon damage has been moved to another 3rd level feature. The increase to DCs makes unique features of many beasts, such as the panther or wolf’s ability to knock creatures prone, which may work well at low levels but become useless at higher levels consistently useful throughout. Proficiency in barding was added to reduce ambiguity; barding is clearly intended to be able to be used by most beasts, but only the warhorse actually has proficiency. Adding proficiency to AC for barding was removed to avoid excessively high AC. The hit point increase was clearly necessary; one of the main issues with the normal beast is that it is very easily killed. The reason for giving the normal beast so few hit points is likely because they designers viewed the hit points the beast and of the ranger combined. However, the ranger doesn’t “lose” when both it and its beast die, but when either of them do. That’s when the character stops being effective, and also the point at which there will be a large emotional impact. (The beast isn’t a summoned creature; players will probably care if they die.) Six hit points per level isn’t a high amount; its approximately the same as a most wizards or sorcerers will have, but it is considerably more that their previous hit points, which were extremely low. The hit points are also now based on character level, not class level; this allows for multiclassing without completely destroying the survivability of the beast. The ability for the beast to spend you hit dice also improves its survivability, but it draws from the same pool you do, so it limits the total mount of hit points the ranger can provide. Most available beasts have a Constitution modifier of +0 or +1, and few beasts have a negative modifier.

Actions: The Dash, Disengage, and Hide actions are now able to be performed without using the ranger’s action. Being able to take the Dash, Disengage, and Hide actions for free isn’t going to ruin the action economy. The ability to command the beast to take actions in its stat block most notably allows the beast to take the Multiattack action, which it previously could not take until 11th level, where it would be redundant. Forcing a creature to make a single attack when it would normally be able to make two obviously weakens the creature far below what its CR would suggest, making beasts that have that action poor options. Other actions in stat blocks are the frog’s Swallow and the jaculi’s Spring actions, and the deep rothé’s dancing lights, which both involve making an attack, but aren’t permitted normally. The ability of the beast to take actions to escape from by spells and other effects allow it to avoid being rendered useless by a spell like web or grapples.The feature also now allows the beast to use bonus actions; its ability to do so was previously ambiguous. This is important for beasts like the panther that rely on bonus actions to be effective. In addition, the wording of this section has been changed to allow for the use of abilities like two-weapon fighting or Polearm Master’s bonus action attack.

Many pets, including the Primal Companion, can be commanded with a bonus action. However, by necessity, if commanding a beast only costs a bonus action, it must be weaker than if it replaces an attack. This is fine for a subclass like the Creation bard or Wildfire druid, but the beast that is the defining feature of the Beast Master should be stronger than just adding a little chip damage on the side. This is an issue the Primal Companion has; it does less damage than the ranger itself is doing, even though it’s the defining feature of the subclass.

Mental Bond: This section was added to allow for the feeling of the ranger and beast fighting as a single unit, rather than the beast fighting instead of the ranger. This effectively allows the ranger to use their concentration to make a single weapon attack. You could also compare it to a spell like summon beast. This feature also competes with the beast bond. Both consume a 1st level spell slot, allow for telepathy, and provide increased damage. The telepathic communication of beast bond is not limited in range, but requires line of sight, which the mental bond does not. Although beast bond could potentially provide a greater increase to damage, the mental bond will likely provide more damage, and will still benefit beasts that have advantage, such as a wolf with Pack Tactics, and those with an Intelligence score of 4 or higher, like the ape or giant owl. Beast bond requires you to be within 5 feet of a creature for the beast to gain advantage on attack rolls against it, which precludes its use from ranged rangers. The mental bond also has the advantage of not requiring an action to cast it, which can be a significant advantage.

Traits, Bonds, and Flaws: Traits and flaws were listed in Unearthed Arcana 17, but have not been featured in a published book. They have been added here, and bonds have also been added, as the Unearthed Arcana gave all beasts a single predetermined bond. Two additional personality traits were added, as only six were provided in the Unearthed Arcana, but normal backgrounds give eight. In addition, flaws 5 and 6 were changed, as the were to specific to certain types of animals (i.e. dogs) and were somewhat redundant with flaw 3. While most players will probably give their beast a personality regardless of whether traits, bonds, and flaws are given, these additions will provide inspiration, much as the Suggested Characteristics for player characters will. It also provides quick options for players that do not have much time to create their beast.

3rd Level: Bestial Archetype

One issue with the Ranger’s Companion feature is that it doesn’t allow you to play many character concepts that you would expect the class to fill. For instance, the idea of a person hunting alongside a hawk is a common archetype; the subclass even gives the hawk as an example monster. However, the way the subclass is designed, the only viable beast is one that focuses on dealing damage. This feature provides the opportunity for many other styles of play. The archetypes have the following strengths:

Defender: The beast effectively picks up a polearm and gets the Cavalier’s 10th level feature. (Or, alternatively, the opportunity attack related benefits of the Sentinel and Polearm Master). This beast will be an effective lockdown build, especially if it is Large. When paired with a ranger that has Sentinel and a reach weapon, the beast and ranger together will be able to control a large area, since the ranger and the beast can use their reactions independently. The beast will also deal a moderate amount of damage, depending on whether enemies provoke opportunity attacks from it or not. Note that this archetype may make the beast a target, and its relatively low hit points may become an issue.

Hunter: Similar to the normal subclass, but with the addition of the -5/+10 benefit of Sharpshooter and Great Weapon Master. This has the potential to provide a significant increase damage, especially with Pack Tactics, or other sources of advantage. Note that using the -5/+10 benefit will not always increase damage, especially with beasts that have a single, strong attack, such as the giant poisonous snake, but works very well beasts that have the Multiattack action.

Mount: Gives the beast a large increase to movement speed. Combined with a beast with a high base speed, such as the giant owl or warhorse, you can achieve a speed of 80. The ability to mount beasts that are the same size as you can allows for some combinations that make sense and are iconic, like a human riding a black bear. However, I would strongly encourage DMs to prevent clearly ridicolous combinations, like a human riding a peacock, or at least reflavor the peacock as a giant peacock. The beast also gets a retreat ability similar to the Mobile feat or the Swashbucker rogue’s Fancy Footwork. Overall, provides very strong mobility.

Sage: The beast gets Magic Resistance, which is generally useful. It also gets spellcasting, similar to the Eldritch Knight or Arcane Trickster, but with a few disadvantages. The beast doesn’t get cantrips, and is limited to the worse ranger spell list, and must share your spells know, of which there are fewer, and some spells you are know may not be useful for your beast, like hail of thorns. It doesn’t have the spell school restriction however. This feature does effectively allow for concentration on two spells at once, but Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster grant creatures the ability to concentrate on spells where they could not before; those subclasses and this one allow for one additional creature to concentrate on spells. In addition, the beast’s concentration saving throws are extremely poor; only 44% of available beasts have modifier of +1 or higher, and only 10% have a modifier of +2. This feature will make your ranger, overall, more spellcasting focused than other rangers. The beast will gain versatility, but not strength in any one particular area, similar to your own spellcasting. The material component restriction won’t affect many spells, but will prevent the casting of revivify and the summoning spells found in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Also note that the beast can’t expend a spell slot to enter the mental bond.

Scout: Allows you or an ally to deal high amounts of damage, especially if they have Sharpshooter and Great Weapon Master, and don’t have a reliable way to gain advantage. As you gain a bonus action attack when the beast helps you, doing so isn’t a worse option than helping an ally, and is likely a better option, although it may be redundant with options that provide bonus actions attack, such as the Crossbow Expert and Polearm Master feats.

Survivor: Allows your beast to play much more aggressively, in a way that would likely result in other beasts dying. Increases your beast’s hit points to approximately match yours, doubling your overall hit point pool from that of non-Beast Master rangers (although, as previously mentioned, having you or the beast drop to 0 hit points is devastating, regardless of how many hit points the other has). The hit point increase from rolling hit dice is meant to be able to properly regain the increased amount of hit points it has. This feature also increases AC, meaning the beast has an overall AC bonus of +4 at this level, up to +9, or to 21 AC with barding. Finally, provides a bonus to saving throws, which is extremely beneficial, since there is only one available beast that has any saving throw proficiencies.

Overall, this feature gives a much needed boost to the subclass, especially to beasts which would otherwise be completely unviable, like the crab, which can now be effective Scouts. One may assume that, with certain beasts that are already strong, such as the giant poisonous snake, flying snake, or black bear, these features may cause this subclass to be stronger than intended, especially in terms of dealing damage.

The following chart shows the damage per round of the normal Beast Master, the Beast Master using the Primal Companion feature found in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, and various Revised Beast Master builds, as well as subclasslesss barbarians and warlocks. Base hit rate was assumed to be 60% with +5 to hit and base Constitution save failure rate was 40% with a 13 DC, and these rates were assumes to stay constant if the ability score they depend on is raised at 4th and 8th level. All revised Beast Master builds used the mental bond, and Pack Tactics are assumed to be always active in any beasts which posses it. The -5/+10 benefit was used on all beasts it was available on except the giant poisonous snake, where it was only used for levels 3-7 and 15-20. In addition, the Unbreakable Bond reroll is used on a beast attack roll (or ranger attack roll, for the Scout).

As this graph shows, the subclass is competitive with the normal subclass, and the subclass using the Primal Companion feature. It provides a small to moderate damage increase over these two versions at low levels, and a large damage increase over the Primal Companion Beast Master, while keeping pace with the normal subclass at high levels. It is worth noting that while the feature deals similar damage to the normal Beast Master, it has much stronger defenses and is more versatile than that subclass, presenting a definite improvement over it. Even so, a ranger that focuses solely on damage may have difficulty keeping their beast alive; defensive tactics are usually needed. While it can deal damage if correctly optimized, the subclass is outclassed in damage by optimized damage builds, even straight-classed ones, such as the Arcane Trickster Rogue or Zealot barbarian. It is worth noting that this subclass is able do deal an unusually high amount of damage at 3rd level. This may be an issue at that level, with the character dealing more damage than many other characters, and possibly having a mildy unbalancing effect on gameplay. This 3rd level overtuning is an unavoidable consequence of the improvements to the class which allow it to be balanced overall. One thing worth noting about the velociraptor and wolf is that they can’t benefit from advantage, since they already have it, which may mean that, in practice, they do less compared to other beasts than this graph indicates. Likewise, the damage dealt by the Scout is similarly higher compared to other Beastial Archetypes than one will likely see in practice, although granting advantage to certain player characters could likely provide much more damage than this graph indicated.

3rd Level: Customize Your Beast

While the Primal Companion feature found in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything provides a template allows for the use of beasts that are unavailable or inviable through the flavoring of a generic template, the resulting beasts are not particularly unique or interesting, and may not work with a desired build. This new feature provides a template that allows for the creation of a custom beast that is both optimized and personalized.

For comparison, several existing beasts were converted to their closest equivalent as a custom beast; the points required to do so are listed below.

Constrictor Snake: 8

Crocodile: 7

Flying Snake: 14

Giant Crab: 10

Giant Frog: 8

Giant Owl: 14

Giant Poisonous Snake: 9

Panther: 7

Pteranodon: 10

Warhorse: 9

Wolf: 10

Beast of the Land: 9

Beast of the Sea: 8

Beast of the Air: 11

Note that while most beasts have approximately 9 points, flying beasts have a significantly higher point value. (Changing the cost of flying for the custom beast to bring these beasts in line with other beasts resulted in its cost being extremely low.)

7th Level: Exceptional Training

As the beast can now take the Dash and Disengage actions without being commanded, and taking the Help action as a bonus action would make the Scout too strong, this feature needs to be replaced entirely. The new feature allows for some other issues that the beast suffers to be remedied. One of these issues is that the beast’s attack and damage rolls, and now their save DCs, don’t scale as fast as a normal player character’s; the play can increase their ability scores, while the beast cannot, meaning that they will lag slightly behind. This feature compensated for this issue. In addition, beasts tend to have extremely poor saving throws, as many of their stats are low, and they don’t have proficiency in any saving throws. To a lesser extent, they have the same issue with ability checks. This feature compensates for all these shortcomings by granting a bonus to them. This is not the most exciting feature, but is will provide definite benefits that allow the class to remain competitive.

11th Level: Bestial Archetype Feature

This feature is essentially an extension of the Bestial Archetype feature. Note that, generally, 11th level ranger features are meant to provide an extra attack of some sort. While these features generally work with any 3rd level Bestial Archetype selection, they naturally synergize better with the same selection.

Defender: Provides the ability for the beast to lockdown two creatures, or to reattempt an opportunity attack against a creature that evaded the first one. Combined with the ranger’s own reaction, up to three opportunity attacks can be made per round.

Hunter: The same as the Bestial Fury feature of the normal subclass. Will provide a strong damage increase, although this increase will be lower for beasts using the Multiattack action.

Mount: Essentially provides a free attack from the beast. This can be used even with ranged-weapon-focused rangers, as this feature combined with the 3rd level Mount feature allow for the ranger and beast to move to an enemy, make an attack, and retreat to a safe distance.

Sage: The same as the normal subclass’s Share Spells feature, but now allowed to work in reverse, since the beast may now be able to cast spells. Useful spells with this feature include: absorb elements, Ashardalon’s stride, cure wounds, longstrider, zephyr strike, protection from poison, protection from energy, freedom of movement, guardian of nature, stoneskin.

Scout: Essentially grants free advantage to an ally. Best used with a character using Sharpshooter or Great Weapon Master, especially one that doesn’t have a reliable way of gaining advantage.

Survivor: Doubles the survivability of the beast against nonmagical attacks. Creatures with magic weapons are relatively uncommon, even at high levels (about 15% of monsters CR 15 or higher), although it is more common for creatures deal addition damage of other types with their weapons, which reduces the effectiveness of this feature.

15th Level: Unbreakable Bond

As Share Spells has been added as an option for the Bestial Archetype Feature feature, a replacement is needed. The concentration protection of this feature will likely not provide a very significant benefit, especially due to the number of spell slots the ranger will have at this level. The reroll provides a relatively small, but extremely reliable benefit to offense, defensive, and skills. The debuff removal is likely to be situational, but extremely useful when it can be used, although its effectiveness is mitigated by requiring actions, and for both you and the beast to not be incapacitated, which could be an issue if both are incapacitated by an area of effect.

Recommended Builds:

On the side of the ranger, there is no direct difference on a build compared to a normal ranger. However, it may be useful for the ranger to synergize their abilities with those of their beast. For instance, a beast optimized for lockdown may benefit from being used alongside a ranger with Polearm Master and Sentinel.

In terms of optimizing beast, there are many strong options. The giant poisonous snake has a good AC, does high damage, and has reach and blindsight. The flying snake does less damage, but has a flying speed and Flyby. Both rely on poison, however, to which many creatures are immune. Poisonous beasts do have the advantage of being able to have their poison extracted, although a reliable way of making the beast incapacitated, such as the feign death spell. The giant dragonfly has a high AC and a flying speed. The warhorse deals moderately high damage and has a high speed. The wolf deals a moderate amount of damage and can knock creatures prone. The tressym has a variety of unique traits. Other beasts that are well rounded are the ape, the jaculi, the giant owl, the fiendish giant spider, and the velociraptor.

There are also beasts that are strong specifically in the context of specific archetypes.

Defender: The beasts with the greatest reach (and the greatest area covered overall) is the giant poisonous snake. Any Large beast is also a good selection, but the constrictor snake and crocodile both restrain creatures on hit, making them especially good choices. The giant crab can grapple two creatures at once, and has a high AC to defend itself. The ape and jaculi have proficiency in athletics, potentially making them good grapplers. Other beasts have similar athletics modifiers, but lack the proper anatomy to grapple, such as the warhorse. If you are using Customize Your Beast, Large size will be extremely beneficial. Pounce and restraining attacks may also be useful, as may increased AC.

Hunter: The highest damage option at low level is the velociraptor at low levels, followed by the black bear, doing the same. At higher levels, the velociraptor deals the most damage, followed by the giant poisonous snake, although the giant wasp deals less damage, but has a fly speed, and the flying snake deals even less damage, but also has Flyby. The snakes also have a good AC, but latter three rely on poison damage, which monsters are frequently immune to. The wolf deals a moderate amount of damage at all levels and has the advantage on knocking creatures prone. The warhorse can also knock creatures prone and potentially deal the most damage of all creatures, but requires the ability to move freely. The ape does strong melee damage and has a ranged attack. If Customize Your Beast is used, Pack Tactics are strong, as is increased damage on attacks. Pounce, and restraining attack are also strong.

Mount: The warhorse is tied for the highest speed, and does moderate damage. Flying speeds are also beneficial, and the giant owl and pteranodon both have the same speed as flying speed and have Flyby, but are both Large and Medium respectively. The giant bat and giant dragonfly have the same speed and are Large, but don’t have Flyby, although the latter is very strong defensively. If using Customize Your Beast is used, the clear choices are increased speed, flying speed, and Flyby. Large size may also be necessary, of you are Medium.

Sage: As maintaining the beast’s concentration is likely to be important, beasts with high Constitution scores are likely to be strong. The ape and black bear have a +2 to Constitution and are strong beasts overall. The flying snake, giant owl have Flyby, which also helps with concentration. High AC beasts are also useful in maintaining concentration; see the Survivor recommendations below. Apart from maintaining concentration, there aren’t any traits of beasts that provide a strong benefit to spellcasting. If Customized Your Beast is used, increased AC, flying speed, and Flyby are all useful in maintaining concentration, as previously mentioned.

Scout: Almost any beast can work well for this class, but those with flying speeds and blindsight are best. Proficiency is another factor; preexisting proficiency in Perception and Stealth can result in very high modifiers for those skills. The owl, flying snake, giant owl, and pteranodon all have a high flying speed and Flyby, which makes them exceptional choices. The jaculi has proficiency in perception and stealth, and has advantage on stealth checks and has blindsight out to a range of 30 feet. The giant bat has blindsight out to a range of 60 feet. The fiendish giant spider has proficiency in perception and expertise in stealth. The almiraj, eagle, hawk, blood hawk, and giant owl all have good perception modifiers and advantage on perception checks that rely on sight. The tressym can see invisible creatures, and has a variety of other traits. If Customized Your Beast is used, Keen Senses, darkvision, and blindsight are useful is enhancing the beast’s scouting capabilities, as are proficiency in Perception and Stealth.

Survivor: The beast with the highest AC, at 16, is the giant dragonfly, which also has the ability to use its reaction to halve damage against it, and has a good Dexterity saving throw and a flying speed of 60. The giant crab and giant snail both have an AC of 15, although the latter requires an action to activate (although the AC increase has no time limit, so it is entirely possible to keep permanently activated). The giant crab has the ability to grapple targets on hit, however. Monsters with slightly lower AC but slightly higher saving throws are the giant poisonous snake and the flying snake, with the latter also having Flyby. The fastieth also has the a good AC and can periodically take the Dodge as a bonus action. The fiendish giant spider has many resistances and immunities. If Customize Your Beast is used, increased AC is the obvious choice. Flyby is not recommended, as you want the beast to be in the middle of combat. Pounce, restraining attack, and Large size are also useful in drawing attacks.

Magic Items: The best magic items for a Beast Master ranger won’t change too much from those of a normal ranger. One item worth noting is the mirror of life trapping, which allows you to carry around the beast discretely or in smaller spaces. Items like the helm of telepathy or ring of animal influence are also useful to speak to the beast, although rangers can already cast speak with animals once per long rest using the Primal Awareness optional class feature.

The beast isn’t able to benefit from many items that require being held, such as weapons or rods, although a beast like an ape may be able to do so. Some useful magic items from core books are the following (apart from items dedicated to beasts, armor, which could be worn as barding, necklaces, and items that work while on your person were all considered viable for use): adamantine armor, amulet of health, armor of invulnerability, barrier tattoo (very rare), blood fury tattoo, ghost step tattoo, horseshoes of a zephyr, horseshoes of speed, Ioun stones of agility, mastery, protection, strength, lifewell tattoo, mithral armor, periapt of proof against poison, periapt of wound closure, scaled ornament, saddle of the cavalier, scarab of protection, spellwrought tattoo, shadowfell brand tattoo, stone of good luck, teeth of Dahlver-Nar. The dragon-touched focus and ruby weave gem are useful for the Sage.

This list isn’t comprehensive, and excludes many items which some DMs will allow the beast to wear, such as rings or belts. Two other items of note are the insignia of claws, which is the only way to increase the attack and damage rolls of the beast’s natural weapons, and the badge of the watch, which increases AC by +2.

Any feedback on this subclass is welcome!