Rangers of the Ashen Path walk through ruin, trailing smoke and silence behind them. Burned and blackened, these hunters are marked by loss—be it forest, faith, or home—and their vengeance burns slow and suffocating. Through the cursed art of Cremation, they brand their quarry with drifting clouds of ember and ash, clouding the senses, choking spellwork, and searing flesh over time.

To an Ashen Ranger, ash is not just a remnant of fire—it is a living extension of themselves. It moves as they move, sees as they see, and lashes out with their fury. As their power grows, so too does the fire within, allowing them to cloak the battlefield in shifting smog, strike from within the haze, and vanish between clouds like a dying breath on the wind.

They more than just trackers—they are walking funeral pyres whose every step spreads the ashes of what once was.

Ashen Veil (3rd Level)

Cinderborn Resilience: You gain resistance to fire damage.

Ashen Cloak: While you are in dim light or darkness, you have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks. You also leave no tracks unless you choose to.

Burning Mark: When you cast Hunter's Mark, a faint trail of ash curls around the target’s movements, allowing you to follow the trail of ash left behind to gain advantage on tracking down the marked target. In addition, each turn the mark remains on the creature while you are in combat, they take an additional 1d4 necrotic damage (damage upgrades at levels 7: 2d4; 11: 3d4; and 15: 5d4)every turn after being marked while in combat.

Smoldering wake (7th)

Your blackened skin sheds flecks of ash, forming a living, swirling cloud that trails your movements and warps perception.

• Ashwake Cloak (1/Long Rest): As a bonus action, you summon a swirling cloud of ash that moves with you in a 5-foot radius for 3 rounds. While within this ashcloud:

  • You gain +2 AC (stacks with Heat Mirage).

  • Your movement ignores difficult terrain caused by the ash.

  • You automatically gain an additional 10 feet of movement while within the cloud.

• Heat Mirage: The constant flicker of ash on your skin bends light around you, granting you a +1 AC bonus at all times (this bonus stacks with the +2 AC from being inside the ashcloud).

• Trailing Flicker: You can create false ash trails that mislead enemies trying to track you. Enemies must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) check or be fooled for 1 minute.

Smothering Embers (11th)

When you cast Hunter’s Mark on a creature, the mark manifests as a swirling cloud of ash and embers that clings to the target for up to 2 rounds after the mark is placed or refreshed.

• Ashcloud Effects: While the ashcloud lasts, it counts as light obscurement in a 5-foot radius around the marked creature.

• Damage: Enemies that start or end their turn within the ashcloud take 1d6 + your Wisdom modifier fire damage.

• Blindness on Damage: When the marked creature takes Cremation damage, it must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or be blinded until the end of its next turn.

• Choking Ash: Marked creatures must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw when casting spells with verbal components while inside the ashcloud or their spell fails to cast.

• Clouded Sights: Enemies inside the ashcloud suffer the effects of light obscurement, gaining disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.

• Ranger’s Vision: You gain the ability to see clearly through any ashclouds created by Cremation, negating the obscurement effects for you and your allies designated by you.

 

Smoldering Palisades(15th)

Your mastery of cursed ash has transformed you into a warden of the scorched world. The battlefield becomes your pyre, and your enemies suffocate in the cloud of your wrath.

• Expanded Cremation Clouds: When you apply Cremation via Hunter’s Mark, you may now have up to two active ashclouds at once.

  • These clouds increase to a 10-foot radius around each marked creature.

  • The fire damage dealt by starting or ending a turn in the ashcloud increases to 2d6 + your Wisdom modifier.

  • The Dexterity saving throw to resist blindness now becomes DC 15.

  • The Constitution saving throw to cast verbal spells now becomes DC 15, and failure also causes the spell slot to be lost and muteness lasting 2 turns.

• Ashstep: As a bonus action, you may teleport to any space within an ashcloud you created, as long as it’s within 60 feet. You must have line of effect to the cloud. You can do this a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier per long rest.

• Cloudstrike: While you are standing within one of your ashclouds, you may make one additional weapon attack as part of the Attack action once per turn.

• Sovereign of Smoke: You and designated allies now treat all of your ashclouds as transparent and harmless terrain, ignoring obscurement, rough terrain, and any penalties while within them.