Level 1: Armor, weapons, skills, hit die, Spellcasting, Weapon mastery- all stay as is (2024 rules). Speed increases by 10ft, if wearing anything except heavy armor.
Level 2: Fighting Style Feat AND two Druid Cantrips. New Feature: "Skirmisher"- Opportunity Attacks against you have Disadvantage as long as you are not wearing heavy armor.
Level 3: Subclass. Plus: New Feature: Wild Awareness: As a Bonus Action, for one minute, you become aware of any Beasts, Fey, or Monstrosities within 60 feet. You know their location, type, and numbers, even if they would be otherwise Hidden, Obscured, or Invisible. Creatures detected in this way cannot surprise you, nor can they gain advantage on attacks against you from being Hidden. Your attacks against them also do not suffer Disadvantage. However, spells that require you to "see" a creature will not work. You can use this feature twice per short rest. This feature improves at levels 11 and 18.
Level 4: Feat
Level 5: Extra Attack. Roving: gain swim & climb speeds equal to your movement, which improves by another 10 ft. Non-magical difficult terrain does not affect your movement.
Level 6: New Feature: Frontier Knowledge. You and any allies within 15 feet of you gain a bonus to skill checks equal to your Wisdom modifier, if it is a skill you are proficient in.
Level 7: Subclass feature
Level 8: Feat
Level 9: Improved Skirmisher. If you make a melee attack against an enemy, you can Disengage as a free action. If an enemy makes aranged attack against you or a spell attack that targets only you, you may use your reaction to make a single ranged attack against them.
Level 10: Tireless, but change the Temp hp to a Bonus Action. Additionally another 10ft to your movement speed.
Level 11: Subclass feature. And Improved Wild Awareness. You can now also sense Dragons, Giants, and Elementals, and you can use this feature 3 times per short rest.
Level 12: Feat
Level 13: New Feature: Elemental Hunter. Your attacks now have the power of the elements. After any short or long rest, choose from Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Poison, or Thunder and add 1d8 of the chosen type to your damage rolls with weapon attacks or unarmed attacks. You also gain resistance to the chosen damage type.
Level 14. Nature's Veil.
Level 15: subclass feature
Level 16: Feat
Level 17: Improved Frontier Knowledge. You can now share your knowledge with allies up to 30 feet away. Also, you gain another 10 feet of movement speed.
Level 18: Feral Awareness. Your Wild Awareness now has 4 uses per short rest, and it can detect all creature types.
Level 19: Feat or Epic Boon
Level 20: Epic Skirmisher. Gain another 10 feet of movement. Wisdom modifier times per Long Rest, you can use your Action to make an Attack every time you move 10ft.
This Ranger is based on the ideas of skirmisher combat, skills knowledge that can be shared, and awareness of creatures. Their defense and offense are tied to movement and avoiding or countering attacks. I wanted to give the Rsnger an Expertise for skills that was not just a copy of the Rogue's or Bard's Expertise. This version will ultimately have a smaller bonus (maxing out at +5, unless your Wisdom goes higher than 20, whereas Expertise maxes out at +6). Yet it is arguably much more powerful, because it applies to ALL skills the Ranger is proficient in, and it can be shared. I tried to balance the features and when the Ranger gets them against the paradigm established by the Paladin base class. But most of all, I wanted to show people a Ranger not tied to using Hunter's Mark (or any one spell). HM is still a spell you can use. But it's just a choice, not an obligation.
I think this gives the Ranger unique mechanical abilities that also give it a clear identity, while also being broad enough to allow people to play it how they want to. But what do you think?
Improved Skirmisher needs a reword because "free actions" aren't a thing in 5e. Make it "once per turn, when you hit a creature with a melee attack, you can gain the benefits of the Disengage action against them until the start of your next turn.
Elemental Hunter is too strong, especially combined with Epic Skirmisher.
Epic Skirmisher is overpowered. With 60 feet of movement speed, you could make 6 attacks against an enemy in a single turn 5 times per long rest, plus Nick, plus Dual wielder, for 8 attacks that all deal 1d6 + 5 (+3 if it's a good magic weapon), + 1d6 from hunter's mark, plus 1d8 from elemental hunter. That is an average of 156 damage, FIVE times a day. If you were affected by Longstrider, that's one more attack, and if you were under the effects of Haste too, that is 28 attacks, which is 500+ damage a turn.
Lol. I suppose you're right about Epic Skirmisher. I was going for something different than the other classes' capstones, but also still powerful and interesting. Perhaps I way overshot. Maybe once per Long rest, and i hadn't considered Haste, Lingstrider, etc. That should be curtailed somehow, though tbh nothing comes to mind right now. In my mind, I see an archer strafing and firing off multiple shots. Or a melee Ranger bouncing from enemy to enemy, or dancing around a single enemy, attacking and moving.
Lol. I suppose you're right about Epic Skirmisher. I was going for something different than the other classes' capstones, but also still powerful and interesting. Perhaps I way overshot. Maybe once per Long rest, and i hadn't considered Haste, Lingstrider, etc. That should be curtailed somehow, though tbh nothing comes to mind right now. In my mind, I see an archer strafing and firing off multiple shots. Or a melee Ranger bouncing from enemy to enemy, or dancing around a single enemy, attacking and moving.
I appreciate the feedback.
Maybe just make it a maximum of 6 attacks, 7 or 8 if you want some synergy with more than just the speed increases. You could maybe base the cap off of Strength/Dexterity or Wisdom.
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Level 1: Armor, weapons, skills, hit die, Spellcasting, Weapon mastery- all stay as is (2024 rules). Speed increases by 10ft, if wearing anything except heavy armor.
Level 2: Fighting Style Feat AND two Druid Cantrips. New Feature: "Skirmisher"- Opportunity Attacks against you have Disadvantage as long as you are not wearing heavy armor.
Level 3: Subclass. Plus: New Feature: Wild Awareness: As a Bonus Action, for one minute, you become aware of any Beasts, Fey, or Monstrosities within 60 feet. You know their location, type, and numbers, even if they would be otherwise Hidden, Obscured, or Invisible. Creatures detected in this way cannot surprise you, nor can they gain advantage on attacks against you from being Hidden. Your attacks against them also do not suffer Disadvantage. However, spells that require you to "see" a creature will not work. You can use this feature twice per short rest. This feature improves at levels 11 and 18.
Level 4: Feat
Level 5: Extra Attack. Roving: gain swim & climb speeds equal to your movement, which improves by another 10 ft. Non-magical difficult terrain does not affect your movement.
Level 6: New Feature: Frontier Knowledge. You and any allies within 15 feet of you gain a bonus to skill checks equal to your Wisdom modifier, if it is a skill you are proficient in.
Level 7: Subclass feature
Level 8: Feat
Level 9: Improved Skirmisher. If you make a melee attack against an enemy, you can Disengage as a free action. If an enemy makes aranged attack against you or a spell attack that targets only you, you may use your reaction to make a single ranged attack against them.
Level 10: Tireless, but change the Temp hp to a Bonus Action. Additionally another 10ft to your movement speed.
Level 11: Subclass feature. And Improved Wild Awareness. You can now also sense Dragons, Giants, and Elementals, and you can use this feature 3 times per short rest.
Level 12: Feat
Level 13: New Feature: Elemental Hunter. Your attacks now have the power of the elements. After any short or long rest, choose from Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Poison, or Thunder and add 1d8 of the chosen type to your damage rolls with weapon attacks or unarmed attacks. You also gain resistance to the chosen damage type.
Level 14. Nature's Veil.
Level 15: subclass feature
Level 16: Feat
Level 17: Improved Frontier Knowledge. You can now share your knowledge with allies up to 30 feet away. Also, you gain another 10 feet of movement speed.
Level 18: Feral Awareness. Your Wild Awareness now has 4 uses per short rest, and it can detect all creature types.
Level 19: Feat or Epic Boon
Level 20: Epic Skirmisher. Gain another 10 feet of movement. Wisdom modifier times per Long Rest, you can use your Action to make an Attack every time you move 10ft.
This Ranger is based on the ideas of skirmisher combat, skills knowledge that can be shared, and awareness of creatures. Their defense and offense are tied to movement and avoiding or countering attacks. I wanted to give the Rsnger an Expertise for skills that was not just a copy of the Rogue's or Bard's Expertise. This version will ultimately have a smaller bonus (maxing out at +5, unless your Wisdom goes higher than 20, whereas Expertise maxes out at +6). Yet it is arguably much more powerful, because it applies to ALL skills the Ranger is proficient in, and it can be shared. I tried to balance the features and when the Ranger gets them against the paradigm established by the Paladin base class. But most of all, I wanted to show people a Ranger not tied to using Hunter's Mark (or any one spell). HM is still a spell you can use. But it's just a choice, not an obligation.
I think this gives the Ranger unique mechanical abilities that also give it a clear identity, while also being broad enough to allow people to play it how they want to. But what do you think?
Improved Skirmisher needs a reword because "free actions" aren't a thing in 5e. Make it "once per turn, when you hit a creature with a melee attack, you can gain the benefits of the Disengage action against them until the start of your next turn.
Elemental Hunter is too strong, especially combined with Epic Skirmisher.
Epic Skirmisher is overpowered. With 60 feet of movement speed, you could make 6 attacks against an enemy in a single turn 5 times per long rest, plus Nick, plus Dual wielder, for 8 attacks that all deal 1d6 + 5 (+3 if it's a good magic weapon), + 1d6 from hunter's mark, plus 1d8 from elemental hunter. That is an average of 156 damage, FIVE times a day. If you were affected by Longstrider, that's one more attack, and if you were under the effects of Haste too, that is 28 attacks, which is 500+ damage a turn.
Lol. I suppose you're right about Epic Skirmisher. I was going for something different than the other classes' capstones, but also still powerful and interesting. Perhaps I way overshot. Maybe once per Long rest, and i hadn't considered Haste, Lingstrider, etc. That should be curtailed somehow, though tbh nothing comes to mind right now. In my mind, I see an archer strafing and firing off multiple shots. Or a melee Ranger bouncing from enemy to enemy, or dancing around a single enemy, attacking and moving.
I appreciate the feedback.
Maybe just make it a maximum of 6 attacks, 7 or 8 if you want some synergy with more than just the speed increases. You could maybe base the cap off of Strength/Dexterity or Wisdom.