Base Class: Ranger
A Monster Trainer Ranger has dedicated their life to the taming and training of all manner of creatures which roam every plane of existence. They form a deep bond with the creatures they tame and use potent magic to augment the natural abilities of these creatures.
Creature Bond
When this feature is gained a creature type is chosen. This creature type should make sense in accordance with the rangers backstory/history. It should be a creature type that the ranger has seen regularly and spent significant time either hunting or being near. i.e. A ranger who is native to the material plane and spent a lot of time in a forest would likely be inclined to train a beast. Where instead a Satyr ranger who is native to the Feywild might instead be inclined to train a fey, etc. Only creatures of the chosen type can be bonded with by the ranger.
When this feature is gained, the ranger gains the ability to innately know if an encountered creature is of the chosen type. The ranger also gains proficiency in Animal Handling if they don't already have it.
A creature of the chosen type can be bonded with in two ways but only if the challenge rating of the creature is 1/4 the ranger level rounded down or less (minimum CR 1). The first way is through persuasion. The ranger can attempt to converse with the creature through the use of a speak with animals spell or tongues spell etc. trying to convince the creature to join the ranger as a companion in a symbiotic relationship. To do so, the ranger must succeed on an animal handling check or persuasion check, rangers choice, DC 8 + the intelligence of the target creature. At the DMs discretion, the DC may be increased further in certain circumstances. i.e. the target creature has a mate or offspring and would be more difficult to convince to leave them. The second way to bond with a creature is more forcefully. If a creature of the chosen type is knocked unconscious, the ranger can attempt to capture it forcefully into one of their creature capsules. To do this the ranger must target an unconscious creature of the chosen type and make a straight Wisdom check against the target creatures passive constitution DC (10 + Constitution modifier). If successful in either circumstance, the creature becomes bonded with the ranger and its disposition becomes neutral if it was worse before.
The capsules are imbued with powerful magic. The magic binds the creature to the ranger, however, the capsules magic will become undone if the ranger mistreats the creature held within. If a bonded creature's disposition ever drops to hostile, the magic is broken and the creature is free. The creature cannot be returned to the capsule until its disposition becomes neutral again and until then, the creature does not obey orders from the ranger in anyway. The creature will act of its own accord at the DMs discretion and will likely abandon the ranger due to mistreatment.
Inside each capsule is a small demi-plane roughly 1 mile square which magically changes to a natural environment of which the creature prefers.
Whenever a creature is outside of a capsule, the Monster Trainer can only take the Dodge, Disengage, or Dash actions and cast spells which require a bonus action. The only exception is the Cure Wounds spell which can be cast. Furthermore if the Cure Wounds spell is cast on a bonded creature, it has a range of 30'.
Creature Capsules
At level three when this archetype is chosen, the ranger receives three magical capsules, which can contain a single creature each, that has bonded to the ranger. How they are received should be discussed with the DM. Maybe the ranger had been tinkering on them themselves for awhile and they are completed at this time, or perhaps they were gifted to them by an NPC. The three capsules are small and easily attach to a belt like a bandolier.
As an action, the ranger can use a single capsule to expel a bonded creature contained inside, to an unoccupied space, the ranger can see, within 30' of the ranger. Conversely, as a bonus action a bonded creature can be teleported back into a capsule if the ranger is within 30' of the bonded creature and can see it. Either way, the ranger must have a free hand available and must hold the capsule being used out in front of them in the direction of the bonded creature.
When a bonded creature, who is not in a capsule, is reduced to 0 hit points, and did not die outright by a powerful attack (reduced to negative hit points equal to its total hit points from a single source of damage), It falls unconscious and automatically teleports into an empty capsule the monster trainer possesses. That bonded creature remains unconscious for 1d4 hours and then regains 1 hit point. Yes this means bonded creatures can potentially die just as characters can, although it is rare. At the DMs discretion, resurrection magic may be used to revive killed bonded creatures.
Whenever a bonded creature is released from a capsule in a battle, roll a separate initiative for the bonded creature. The ranger can communicate telepathically with any bonded creature that is outside a capsule and so can give commands to them freely.
Only a single creature can be outside of a capsule at a time when this feature is gained. If the ranger attempts to release more bonded creatures, the action simply fails. The telepathic connection between the ranger and the bonded creature is taxing. In time the ranger learns to give commands telepathically to more bonded creatures at once. At level 6 the ranger can effectively control two bonded creatures simultaneously, and at level 11 all three bonded creatures can be controlled at once.
Monster Training
Your bonded creatures grow over time and with experience gained in battle. Track XP for each bonded creature that took to the battlefield in every combat encounter. This will require a log kept by the Monster Trainer player. If multiple bonded creatures took part in a battle then those creatures split the XP evenly. The XP gained is equal to the amount of XP the Monster Trainer would receive in that combat. For example, if a party of four adventurers at level 6, including the Monster Trainer, encountered and defeated two CR 4 monsters and a CR 5 monster, the total XP gained would be 4000 XP. Split amongst the four party members would be 1000 XP each. If the Monster Trainer had two bonded creatures partake in the combat, then each one would receive 500 XP.
Use the standard character advancement table found in the players handbook to level up your bonded creatures except it takes half as much XP to gain a level i.e. for a creature to reach level 5 it would need 3250 XP total. When the bonded creatures level up, they advance as follows:
Level Advancement Level Advancement
2 + 5' of movement 12 + 1 hit dice of hit points (rolled) and add constitution modifier
3 + 1 hit dice of hit points (rolled) and add constitution modifier 13 + 5 ' of movement
4 + 1 ability point 14 + 1 ability point
5 + 1 damage dice on melee or ranged attacks 15 + 1 hit dice of hit points (rolled) and add constitution modifier
6 + 1 hit dice of hit points (rolled) and add constitution modifier 16 + 1 damage dice on melee or ranged attacks
7 + 5' of movement 17 + 1 ability point
8 + 1 ability point 18 + 1 hit dice of hit points (rolled) and add constitution modifier
9 + 1 hit dice of hit points (rolled) and add constitution modifier 19 +15 hit points, + 1 ability point
10 + 1 damage dice on melee or ranged attacks 20 Eternal Bond - The creature has become an eternally bonded companion of the Monster Trainer and is always outside of its capsule. The creature does not count 11 + 1 ability point towards one of the creatures the Monster Trainer can control in battle.
Creature Bank
At level 7 you have come into possession of a magical bank to hold bonded creatures. The item can look however you wish but is no more then 1' cube in size and weighs 1 pound. The Monster Trainer can store up to 10 bonded creatures inside the bank at any one time. It functions the same as the capsules in the sense that inside is a demi-plane. This one is 10 miles square and the Monster Trainer can shape it as they please. If the Monster Trainer spends 1 minute channeling, they can enter the demi-plane inside the bank, or leave it. The bank can magically produce food for the bonded creatures and for the Monster Trainer as well, although this food is real and does nourish like normal, it disappears if removed from the demi-plane. Any other structure or resource collected inside the demi-plane also disappears if removed from the demi-plane. To remove a bonded creature from the bank, the Monster Trainer must enter the bank and then use their capsules as normal.
Coordinated Efforts
At 11th level, once per long rest, as an action, allow all of your bonded creatures on the battlefield to take a turn immediately. This extra turn is in addition to the bonded creatures normal turn in the initiative order.
Call to Arms
Once per long rest, as an action, the Monster Trainer can choose two bonded creatures which are inside their creature bank, and immediately summon them into unoccupied spaces within 30' of the Monster Trainer. These two bonded creatures do not count toward the total number of bonded creatures allowed on the battlefield for this Monster Trainer. They stay on the battlefield for 6 turns or until they are reduced to 0 hit points, at which point they immediately teleport back into the creature bank.
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