I started this modification to the Ranger base class based on my observations that it was lacking in defensive qualities and mechanically useful exploration qualities while not in favored terrain. My goal was to make minimal, but useful changes so that the kit could be played more equally as either a melee or an archery focused class, unlike the current situation based on the PHB Ranger. I have only included sections of the PHB base Ranger that I have changed, borrowed from the UA Revised Ranger or created from scratch. For ease of review, I have only highlighted changed phrases, levels at which a change from the original takes place and new abilities.
Please assume that other aspects of the base Ranger remain the same.
Important to this is a feat I will introduce in another thread.
Beginning at 1st level, you have significant experience studying, tracking, hunting and even talking to a certain type of enemy.
Every time you pick a type of favored enemy, you learn to speak and understand a language commonly spoken by that type of foe, if they speak one. You do not learn any written languages through this ability. In addition, you have advantage on Survival checks to track your favored enemies, as well as on Intelligence checks to recall information about them.
At 1st level choose a type of favored enemy from: beasts, fey, shapechangers , monstrosities, plants, or undead. Alternatively, you can choose two races of humanoids.
Once you reach your 6th Ranger level, choose a new type of favored enemy from: giants, shapechangers, monstrosities, celestials, fiends, or undead. Alternatively, you can choose two races of humanoids.
Once you reach 10th level, choose a third type of favored enemy from: dragons, giants, celestials, fiends, oozes, elementals, undead, aberration.
Once you reach 14thand 18th level, choose a fourth and fifth favored enemy from: dragons, elementals, celestials, fiends, constructs, or aberration.
Natural Explorer
You are particularly familiar with a type of natural environment. Choose one type of favored terrain: arctic, coastal, desert, forest, grassland, mountain, swamp or Underdark. When you make an Intelligence or Wisdom check related to your favored terrain, your proficiency bonus is doubled if you are using a skills that you are proficient in.
While traveling in your favored terrain for at least 1 hour, you gain the following benefits:
* You gain a +2 bonus to a Strength, Dexterity or Wisdom ability check or saving throw once per combat.
* Difficult terrain doesn’t slow your group’s travel.
* Your group can’t become lost except by magical means.
* Even when you are engaged in another activity while traveling (such as foraging or tracking), you remain alert to possible dangers.
* If you are traveling alone, you can move stealthily at normal pace.
* When you forage for food, you find twice as much as you normally would.
* While tracking other creatures, you also learn their approximate numbers, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area.
Once you reach 3rd level, you also have advantage on initiative rolls and receive a +5 to passive perception while traveling in a Favored Terrain unless you are suffering from a negative status condition (such as Poisoned, Frightened, or Deafened).
You choose additional favored terrain types at 6th, 11th level, 14th and 17th level.
Beginning at 3 level, you can use your action to focus your awareness on the region around you. By spending 1 uninterrupted minute concentrating on the smells, sounds, and visual details around you, you can discern whether the following types of creatures are present within 1 mile of you (or within 5 miles if you are in your favored terrain): aberrations, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, giants and undead. You can also predict weather conditions to occur over the next 8 hours if you are in your Favored Terrain.
Moreover, you can estimate the number, distance (in miles), and direction of your favored enemies within the range given above. You can also tell if such enemies are traveling encumbered or are injured.
Heightened Preparation
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Beginning at 4th level, you are able to think fast and improvise solutions while in dire circumstances. On a round that you prepare a Readied action, you can also Dodge or Disengage as a bonus action provided that you are not restrained or incapacitated. You can use this ability once per combat, equal to your Wisdom modifier per long rest.
You also gain the ability to add +4 to one skill check that involves Animal Handling, Investigation, Perception, Stealth, Nature or Survival while out of combat. You can use this ability once per short or long rest.
Improved Favored Enemy
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Starting at 7th level, your combat experience and familiarity with confronting particular foes provides you the following benefits. These benefits only apply while directly engaging yourfavored enemies.
Adapted Reflexes While wielding a shield or non-light melee weapon in one or both hands, you receive a +2 boost to your AC so long as you are not restrained or incapacitated.
Second Cut is Deeper When you hurt a favored enemy with a weapon attack after it has already been injured this round or roll a critical hit, you can impose one and only one of the following conditions, either of which lasts until the end of that foe’s next turn.
* Movement speed is reduced to zero. Note that flying foes which must move to stay aloft fall or float down, depending on wind conditions.
* Unable to use reactions.
You cannot use Second Cut is Deeper if you are poisoned or frightened. You can utilize this ability a number of times equal to half your level (rounded down) between short rests.
Hide in Plain Sight
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Starting at 10th level, you can expend an action to call upon nature’s blessing to subtly alter the color and texture of your clothing, armor and weaponry. You must have access to naturally occurring materials (such as leaves, snow, soot, or mud) immediately around you to create this effect.
Once camouflaged in this way, you can attempt to hide by pressing yourself against a surface that is at least 2/3 as tall and just as wide as you are (such as a tree or rock). If you avoid moving, you gain a +10 bonus to Stealth checks as long as you remain silent and do not take actions or reactions. You can attempt to remain hidden while moving at a speed of 5’ per round provided that any hostile creatures nearby are somehow distracted from your exact location. If you move at 5’ per round or slower, your Stealth bonus is only +4. Once you take an action or a reaction, your location is immediately evident. A Detect Magic spell would reveal a magical effect in a 10' radius around you, but not your exact location.
To utilize Hide in Plain Sight, you must not have been fighting or casting spells that deal damage during the previous minute. You can use Hide in Plain Sight once per short rest.
Foe Slayer
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At 20th level, you become an unparalleled hunter. Once per turn, you can add your Wisdom modifier to the attack roll and the damage roll of an attack you make. You can choose to use this feature before or after the roll, but before any effects of the roll are applied.
Also, either your ranged or melee weapon attacks (choose only one) now score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.
I started this modification to the Ranger base class based on my observations that it was lacking in defensive qualities and mechanically useful exploration qualities while not in favored terrain. My goal was to make minimal, but useful changes so that the kit could be played more equally as either a melee or an archery focused class, unlike the current situation based on the PHB Ranger. I have only included sections of the PHB base Ranger that I have changed, borrowed from the UA Revised Ranger or created from scratch. For ease of review, I have only highlighted changed phrases, levels at which a change from the original takes place and new abilities.
Please assume that other aspects of the base Ranger remain the same.
Important to this is a feat I will introduce in another thread.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Favored Enemy
Beginning at 1st level, you have significant experience studying, tracking, hunting and even talking to a certain type of enemy.
Every time you pick a type of favored enemy, you learn to speak and understand a language commonly spoken by that type of foe, if they speak one. You do not learn any written languages through this ability. In addition, you have advantage on Survival checks to track your favored enemies, as well as on Intelligence checks to recall information about them.
At 1st level choose a type of favored enemy from: beasts, fey, shapechangers , monstrosities, plants, or undead. Alternatively, you can choose two races of humanoids.
Once you reach your 6th Ranger level, choose a new type of favored enemy from: giants, shapechangers, monstrosities, celestials, fiends, or undead. Alternatively, you can choose two races of humanoids.
Once you reach 10th level, choose a third type of favored enemy from: dragons, giants, celestials, fiends, oozes, elementals, undead, aberration.
Once you reach 14th and 18th level, choose a fourth and fifth favored enemy from: dragons, elementals, celestials, fiends, constructs, or aberration.
Natural Explorer
You are particularly familiar with a type of natural environment. Choose one type of favored terrain: arctic, coastal, desert, forest, grassland, mountain, swamp or Underdark. When you make an Intelligence or Wisdom check related to your favored terrain, your proficiency bonus is doubled if you are using a skills that you are proficient in.
While traveling in your favored terrain for at least 1 hour, you gain the following benefits:
* You gain a +2 bonus to a Strength, Dexterity or Wisdom ability check or saving throw once per combat.
* Difficult terrain doesn’t slow your group’s travel.
* Your group can’t become lost except by magical means.
* Even when you are engaged in another activity while traveling (such as foraging or tracking), you remain alert to possible dangers.
* If you are traveling alone, you can move stealthily at normal pace.
* When you forage for food, you find twice as much as you normally would.
* While tracking other creatures, you also learn their approximate numbers, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area.
Once you reach 3rd level, you also have advantage on initiative rolls and receive a +5 to passive perception while traveling in a Favored Terrain unless you are suffering from a negative status condition (such as Poisoned, Frightened, or Deafened).
You choose additional favored terrain types at 6th, 11th level, 14th and 17th level.
Primeval Awareness
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Beginning at 3 level, you can use your action to focus your awareness on the region around you. By spending 1 uninterrupted minute concentrating on the smells, sounds, and visual details around you, you can discern whether the following types of creatures are present within 1 mile of you (or within 5 miles if you are in your favored terrain): aberrations, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, giants and undead. You can also predict weather conditions to occur over the next 8 hours if you are in your Favored Terrain.
Moreover, you can estimate the number, distance (in miles), and direction of your favored enemies within the range given above. You can also tell if such enemies are traveling encumbered or are injured.
Heightened Preparation
________________________
Beginning at 4th level, you are able to think fast and improvise solutions while in dire circumstances. On a round that you prepare a Readied action, you can also Dodge or Disengage as a bonus action provided that you are not restrained or incapacitated. You can use this ability once per combat, equal to your Wisdom modifier per long rest.
You also gain the ability to add +4 to one skill check that involves Animal Handling, Investigation, Perception, Stealth, Nature or Survival while out of combat. You can use this ability once per short or long rest.
Improved Favored Enemy
__________________________
Starting at 7th level, your combat experience and familiarity with confronting particular foes provides you the following benefits. These benefits only apply while directly engaging your favored enemies.
Adapted Reflexes While wielding a shield or non-light melee weapon in one or both hands, you receive a +2 boost to your AC so long as you are not restrained or incapacitated.
Second Cut is Deeper When you hurt a favored enemy with a weapon attack after it has already been injured this round or roll a critical hit, you can impose one and only one of the following conditions, either of which lasts until the end of that foe’s next turn.
* Movement speed is reduced to zero. Note that flying foes which must move to stay aloft fall or float down, depending on wind conditions.
* Unable to use reactions.
You cannot use Second Cut is Deeper if you are poisoned or frightened. You can utilize this ability a number of times equal to half your level (rounded down) between short rests.
Hide in Plain Sight
_________________________
Starting at 10th level, you can expend an action to call upon nature’s blessing to subtly alter the color and texture of your clothing, armor and weaponry. You must have access to naturally occurring materials (such as leaves, snow, soot, or mud) immediately around you to create this effect.
Once camouflaged in this way, you can attempt to hide by pressing yourself against a surface that is at least 2/3 as tall and just as wide as you are (such as a tree or rock). If you avoid moving, you gain a +10 bonus to Stealth checks as long as you remain silent and do not take actions or reactions. You can attempt to remain hidden while moving at a speed of 5’ per round provided that any hostile creatures nearby are somehow distracted from your exact location. If you move at 5’ per round or slower, your Stealth bonus is only +4. Once you take an action or a reaction, your location is immediately evident. A Detect Magic spell would reveal a magical effect in a 10' radius around you, but not your exact location.
To utilize Hide in Plain Sight, you must not have been fighting or casting spells that deal damage during the previous minute. You can use Hide in Plain Sight once per short rest.
Foe Slayer
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At 20th level, you become an unparalleled hunter. Once per turn, you can add your Wisdom modifier to the attack roll and the damage roll of an attack you make. You can choose to use this feature before or after the roll, but before any effects of the roll are applied.
Also, either your ranged or melee weapon attacks (choose only one) now score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.