Ballistic Stalker

The Ballistic Stalker treats the battlefield not as a place to hide, but as a space to control. Thriving in the high-stakes "danger zone" of 5 to 15 feet, they approach every engagement like a calculated hunt, using precision volleys and specialized ordnance to dictate the flow of combat.

To a Ballistic Stalker, "spells" are not mystical incantations, but a carefully developed arsenal of battlefield techniques: from concussive payloads that send enemies crashing to the ground, to tactical smoke screens that cloak their movements, to high-velocity rounds that tear through cover. Driven by the deafening roar of black powder, they transform recoil into momentum, turning every shot into a weapon and every opening into a killing blow. They move through chaos with preternatural awareness, dominate the 10-foot kill zone, and remain impossible to pin down.

Companion Options: The Breacher and Combat Prone feats were designed alongside the Ballistic Stalker as optional companion options for characters who want to further develop their firearm-focused combat style. Neither feat is required to play the subclass; they were created specifically to complement the Ballistic Stalker's mechanics and tactical identity.

Level 3: Close-Quarters Ballistics

You excel in the "dead zone" of combat, the chaotic space where others are overwhelmed. You treat this range as your tactical playground, gaining the following benefits:

• Close-Quarters Expertise: Being within 5 feet of a hostile creature no longer imposes Disadvantage on your ranged attack rolls.

• Tactical Follow-Through: Once per turn, when you make a ranged weapon attack as a Bonus Action against a creature within 15 feet of you, you have Advantage on that attack if you have already hit that creature with a ranged weapon attack this turn.

• Kill Zone: Once on each of your turns, when you hit a creature within 15 feet of you with a ranged weapon attack, you can deal an additional 1d6 Thunder damage if the creature cannot see you or is marked by your Hunter's Mark. This damage increases to 2d6 at 11th level.

Level 3: Combat Protocols

Starting at 3rd level, you learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Combat Protocol Spells table. Each of these spells counts as a Ranger spell for you. You always have these spells prepared. They don't count against the number of spells you can prepare.

Combat Protocols

Ranger Level	Spells
3	Faerie Fire
5	Web
9	Haste
13	Greater Invisibility
17	Scrying

Level 3: Ballistic Munitions

Ordnance Charges

Also at 3rd level, you have developed specialized battlefield techniques using stabilized munitions for use with your ranged weapons. You gain a number of Ordnance Charges equal to your Proficiency Bonus. You regain one expended Ordnance Charge when you finish a Short Rest, and you regain all expended Ordnance Charges when you finish a Long Rest.

You can expend these charges to use the munitions below. If a munition requires a saving throw, the save DC equals 8 + your Proficiency Bonus + your Dexterity modifier.

You learn the following munitions at 3rd level:

• Tactical Smoke: As a Bonus Action, you can expend 1 Ordnance Charge to fire a specialized smoke round from a ranged weapon at a point you can see within the weapon's normal range. The smoke round detonates at that point, creating a 10-foot-radius sphere of smoke.

  The area within the cloud is Heavily Obscured for 1 minute or until dispersed by a strong wind. At the start of each of your turns, the cloud moves 5 feet directly away from you in the direction the smoke round traveled. The cloud can't move through solid objects. If its movement would cause it to enter one, it stops moving instead.

  You can see normally through smoke created by this feature.

• Concussive Round: When you hit a creature within 15 feet of you with a ranged weapon attack, you can expend 1 Ordnance Charge to unleash a concussive blast. The target must succeed on a Strength saving throw against your Munitions DC or be knocked Prone.

  The recoil forces you to immediately choose one of the following effects:

  Blastback Roll. The recoil launches you backward. You move up to 10 feet directly away from the target. This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks.

  Double Down. Rather than allowing the weapon's violent recoil to throw you backward, you drive through it, pushing the full force of the concussive blast toward your target. You move up to 10 feet directly toward the target, stopping early if your movement is prevented or you cannot move closer to the target. If this movement ends within 15 feet of the target, the triggering attack deals an additional 1d6 Thunder damage.

• Shrapnel Burst: You load a munition of shrapnel, turning your weapon into a devastating crowd-control tool. As an Action, you can expend 1 Ordnance Charge to fire in a 20-foot cone. Each creature in the area must make a Dexterity saving throw against your Munitions DC.

  A creature takes 2d6 Piercing damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. This damage increases to 3d6 at 7th level and 4d6 at 11th level.

You learn additional munitions when you reach higher levels in this subclass.

Level 7: Apex Awareness

You have mastered the ability to track threats through smoke, shadows, and chaos. You gain Blindsight with a range of 10 feet.

Level 7: Recoil Counter

You have developed a refined sense of battlefield agility, using your weapon's explosive recoil to turn a miss into an opportunity. When a creature you can see makes a melee attack against you and misses, you can use your Reaction and expend 1 Ordnance Charge to perform the following sequence:

• Point-Blank Counter: You immediately make one ranged weapon attack against the triggering creature. This attack does not suffer disadvantage from being within 5 feet of a hostile creature.

• Recoil & Flash: The kinetic recoil of your weapon kicks you 5 feet backward. Your movement doesn't provoke opportunity attacks. You move only as far as the space allows; if the space behind you is blocked, you do not move.

Level 7: Specialized Munitions

You learn the following ordnance munitions. These munitions become available to you as part of your Ballistic Munitions feature.

Piercing Round

You load a high-velocity, hardened round. When you hit a creature that is within 25 feet of you with a ranged weapon attack, you can expend 1 Ordnance Charge to fire a Piercing Round.

The attack ignores half and three-quarters cover. If you hit, the target takes an extra 1d8 Piercing damage. The round then continues in a straight line for 15 feet beyond the target. Each creature in a 5-foot-wide line extending 15 feet beyond the target must make a Dexterity saving throw against your Munitions DC or take 1d8 Piercing damage.

Disabling Shot

When you hit a creature within 15 feet of you with a ranged weapon attack, you can expend 1 Ordnance Charge to force the target to make a Constitution saving throw against your Munitions DC.

Failure: The target's speed is reduced by 20 feet until the end of its next turn, and it can't take Reactions until the start of its next turn.

Success: The target's speed is reduced by 10 feet until the end of its next turn.

This speed reduction doesn't stack with other effects that reduce a creature's speed.

Level 11: Battlefield Analysis

Your ballistic training has evolved beyond simple observation. You instinctively anticipate how cover and terrain affect your line of sight.

Terrain Mastery: Difficult Terrain created by nonmagical objects doesn't cost you extra movement.

Target Acquisition: You have mastered the art of angles. You ignore the AC bonus granted by half-cover. Creatures behind three-quarters cover gain only a +3 bonus to their Armor Class against your ranged weapon attacks.

Level 11: Target Correction

Once per turn, when you miss with a ranged weapon attack, you gain Advantage on the next ranged weapon attack you make before the end of your next turn.

Level 11: Advanced Munitions

You learn the following ordnance munitions. These munitions become available to you as part of your Ballistic Munitions feature.

Disrupting Blast

You have mastered the controlled detonation of your Ordnance Munitions, using a powerful concussive blast to disrupt the incoming force before it can fully connect.

Once per round, when you or a creature you can see within 10 feet of you takes damage from an attack, spell, trap, or environmental hazard, you can use your Reaction and expend 1 Ordnance Charge to reduce the damage taken by 2d8 + Wisdom modifier + Proficiency Bonus.

Suppressive Shot

When you hit a creature within 15 feet of you with a ranged weapon attack, you can expend 1 Ordnance Charge to pin it down. Until the start of your next turn, the first time that creature willingly moves more than 5 feet, you may use your Reaction to make one ranged weapon attack against it. Once this attack is made, this effect ends.

Level 15: Combat Momentum

Your movements are so fluid, and your reflexes so honed, that you can tap into reserves of adrenaline beyond what others can access.

When you roll initiative, you can regain all expended Ordnance Charges. Once you use this benefit, you can't do so again until you finish a Long Rest.

Level 15: Ordnance Mastery

You learn the following ordnance munition. It becomes available to you as part of your Ballistic Munitions feature.

Kinetic Shot

You have mastered the art of using your momentum to maintain pressure on the battlefield.

Once per turn, when you hit a creature with a ranged weapon attack, you can expend 1 Ordnance Charge to immediately make an additional ranged weapon attack against a different creature within 10 feet of the first. The additional attack can't benefit from Kill Zone or any other feature that adds extra damage once per turn. The target must be within the weapon's normal range and within your line of sight.