As the title states I am brand new to Dungeon and Dragons. I am trying to create my first character and know what I want to make but I am not sure how or if it is even possible in the DnD world. My character is a Wood Elf. I want to use the ranger/rogue classes to make a type of Beastmaster assassin with the ability to use bows or dual wield swords. My companion would be a Panther for their stealth and acrobatics abilities as well as the ability to climb and get a better vantage point on the battle field. I want to be able to use the bow to support the party from a longer range or use the stealth of the Woodelf and panther to get in close and assassinate an enemy when possible. Being new to the game I am not sure how or if its even possible to create a class like this.
Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the read and I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend.
I would usually avoid multiclass at least for now. You could build a similar concept around a full Ranger Gloomstalker (super sneaky and “assassin” vibes) and get your stylish Panther companion by level 5 casting Summon Beast spell!
Thank you for the response and advice. Can the Gloomstalker still use bows as well as swords/daggers? Or is it just a melee class? Im guessing thats a subclass thats already built in a book somewhere? Do you happen to know which book by chance?
As the title states I am brand new to Dungeon and Dragons. I am trying to create my first character and know what I want to make but I am not sure how or if it is even possible in the DnD world. My character is a Wood Elf. I want to use the ranger/rogue classes to make a type of Beastmaster assassin with the ability to use bows or dual wield swords. My companion would be a Panther for their stealth and acrobatics abilities as well as the ability to climb and get a better vantage point on the battle field. I want to be able to use the bow to support the party from a longer range or use the stealth of the Woodelf and panther to get in close and assassinate an enemy when possible. Being new to the game I am not sure how or if its even possible to create a class like this.
Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the read and I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend.
Hi!
If you are new to the game you should be told a few things.
1. The player's Handbook has a beast master ranger subclass and an assassin rogue subclass. 2. The Xanathar's Guide to Everything book has the gloomstalker ranger subclass. 3. The Tasha's Cauldron of Everything book has a variant for the beast master ranger subclass and a ranger spell that allows you to summon a magical beast for a time. 4. The Player's Handbook has an optional rule (although it seems as the majority of tables use it) to multiclass, meaning you can take some levels in one class and some levels from another class(es) as well.
So start with what you have available. Just the Player's Handbook? Go with a ranger beast master with a panther and multiclass in a level or two of the rogue class, likely eventually looking at the assassin rogue subclass. If you only have the Player's Handbook and Xanathar's Guide to Everything, you might want to do the same as that's the only way you'll get something like a panther, the gloomstalker ranger subclass doesn't have anything animal related (more like a solo ninja). If you have Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, you should look at the variant beast master ranger subclass as it's beast is a little tougher but more generic (look at the beast of the land), and definitely the summon beast ranger spell. If you have both additional books available, than the gloomstalker would be a great choice for the ranger subclass because you can use the summon beast spell instead of the beast master ranger subclass.
As the title states I am brand new to Dungeon and Dragons. I am trying to create my first character and know what I want to make but I am not sure how or if it is even possible in the DnD world. My character is a Wood Elf. I want to use the ranger/rogue classes to make a type of Beastmaster assassin with the ability to use bows or dual wield swords. My companion would be a Panther for their stealth and acrobatics abilities as well as the ability to climb and get a better vantage point on the battle field. I want to be able to use the bow to support the party from a longer range or use the stealth of the Woodelf and panther to get in close and assassinate an enemy when possible. Being new to the game I am not sure how or if its even possible to create a class like this.
Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the read and I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend.
So, conceptually, you will never be truly stealthy this way, because anyone noticing your companion or you has generally noticed the threat, which means you need to succeed at two Stealth checks to manage this, not one. This is intrinsically much more difficult. You can mitigate the problem with Pass Without Trace, but your panther will never have your wood elf racial, so if your wood elf ability to hide is helping you, your panther will still need to find something to hide behind.
The second conceptual issue you will run into is that, like in any rpg ever made, you'll have an easier time specialising in being good at something than trying to master multiple things at once. Ranged vs melee is one such example - as you make your character, you will find yourself making choices that make you better at one of these than the other, and if you try to be good at both, you'll be worse at murder than had you just picked one to commit to.
In terms of design, you can absolutely make a rogue/ranger with a companion. One thing you need to answer is what you mean by panther - if you're a Beast Master Ranger, you can use the PHB rules to take a literal panther, but someone in this thread already suggested just summoning a fake panther using summon beast (this will be extremely non-stealthy, and noticeably smaller than an actual panther, even if it has panther's body shape), and if you use the Tasha's Cauldron of Everything rules to take a Primal Companion in the shape of a panther instead of a real panther as a Beast Master, that's another approach that will result in a less-stealthy (but much stealthier than the summoned beast!) alternative solution.
Some other advice based on your interpretation of the panther, assuming you take a real one via PHB Beast Master:
You can see in the dark, but the panther can't. No, really. Not making this up. Most 5E cats can't see as well as cats can.
Your panther can climb faster than you can, but not better. Its ability check to climb will never be greater than +2. If you put any effort at all into being able to climb, you will readily become a better climber than it is. The only option presented above that's good at climbing is the Primal Companion.
Your panther isn't particularly good at Acrobatics, either. Acrobatics as a skill generally does not come up during gameplay often, but if you care about this, even the lowest possible effort you could put into Acrobatics - basic proficiency - will make you better at Acrobatics than the panther is.
PHB Beast Master companions are notoriously fragile; while your GM may be willing to be generous with house rules to help fix this, like letting your panther be proficient in barding, fundamentally your panther will not have a tremendous amount of staying power. Both of the other options presented above are more durable as a rule, largely because they're cheap to replace when they die, but the Primal Companion is genuinely durable.
The rules text for the PHB Beast Master means that your panther is not proficient in any saves, but this is based on formal grammar rules; in common parlance grammar, it's unparseable whether it means your panther gets to add your proficiency bonus to all saves, rather than only the ones it's proficient in already. You may be able to convince your GM to let your panther get your proficiency bonus on all saves (including death saves), which will help a lot.
PHB Beast Master Companions have crippling action economy issues if you want them to contribute in combat; in essence, you need to spend one of your Attack action attacks to let the beast do most actions. Starting at Ranger 7, you can use a bonus action to let the beast Dash, Disengage, Dodge, or Help, but not Attack. Without spending any of your action economy, the beast does nothing. Primal Companions are much less challenging - you can use an attack or bonus action to command them to do anything, and their default is to Dodge, not do nothing.
This is much less of an issue at Ranger 5, meaning you can attack once and let your companion attack with your other attack, and you still have your bonus action on tap for two-weapon fighting or a Rogue's Cunning Action. The more you lean into Rogue, the more useful this is, because Rogues are much more about one big attack, so if they have multiple attacks, they mind giving one up less than most classes do.
The darkvision is a silly oversight, no pun intended, and as a DM I give beast master panthers darkvision (remember that the PHB companion is fully customizable with your DM as the rules don't call out a specific beast of any kind). Same thing with skills. Per the DMG extra skill proficiencies don't effect a creature's CR.
What quindraco says about hit points is true (its a difference of 10 hit points at level 5, and 16 hit points at level 11), although I personally read the rules for the PHB beast master and is seems obvious that they are meant to dodge, move, and position for blocking and attacks of opportunity.
One thing I would suggest is the Fey Touchedor Shadow touched feat from Tashas....I know that is kinda wading away from the core PHB material but hear me out:
Fey Touched
You get Misty Step and a 1st level Divination (Bless ftw!) or Enchantment (Charm person) from it and you get each for free once per day (amazing for ranger) and you can cast them with your own spell slots (even more amazing)
Shadow touched
same as above but you get Invisibility spell (perfect for sneaky folks) and a 1st level necromancy (Inflict Wounds!!) or Illusion (Silent Image to fool your target) spell.
As the title states I am brand new to Dungeon and Dragons. I am trying to create my first character and know what I want to make but I am not sure how or if it is even possible in the DnD world. My character is a Wood Elf. I want to use the ranger/rogue classes to make a type of Beastmaster assassin with the ability to use bows or dual wield swords. My companion would be a Panther for their stealth and acrobatics abilities as well as the ability to climb and get a better vantage point on the battle field. I want to be able to use the bow to support the party from a longer range or use the stealth of the Woodelf and panther to get in close and assassinate an enemy when possible. Being new to the game I am not sure how or if its even possible to create a class like this.
Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the read and I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend.
So, conceptually, you will never be truly stealthy this way, because anyone noticing your companion or you has generally noticed the threat, which means you need to succeed at two Stealth checks to manage this, not one. This is intrinsically much more difficult. You can mitigate the problem with Pass Without Trace, but your panther will never have your wood elf racial, so if your wood elf ability to hide is helping you, your panther will still need to find something to hide behind.
The second conceptual issue you will run into is that, like in any rpg ever made, you'll have an easier time specialising in being good at something than trying to master multiple things at once. Ranged vs melee is one such example - as you make your character, you will find yourself making choices that make you better at one of these than the other, and if you try to be good at both, you'll be worse at murder than had you just picked one to commit to.
In terms of design, you can absolutely make a rogue/ranger with a companion. One thing you need to answer is what you mean by panther - if you're a Beast Master Ranger, you can use the PHB rules to take a literal panther, but someone in this thread already suggested just summoning a fake panther using summon beast (this will be extremely non-stealthy, and noticeably smaller than an actual panther, even if it has panther's body shape), and if you use the Tasha's Cauldron of Everything rules to take a Primal Companion in the shape of a panther instead of a real panther as a Beast Master, that's another approach that will result in a less-stealthy (but much stealthier than the summoned beast!) alternative solution.
Some other advice based on your interpretation of the panther, assuming you take a real one via PHB Beast Master:
You can see in the dark, but the panther can't. No, really. Not making this up. Most 5E cats can't see as well as cats can.
Your panther can climb faster than you can, but not better. Its ability check to climb will never be greater than +2. If you put any effort at all into being able to climb, you will readily become a better climber than it is. The only option presented above that's good at climbing is the Primal Companion.
Your panther isn't particularly good at Acrobatics, either. Acrobatics as a skill generally does not come up during gameplay often, but if you care about this, even the lowest possible effort you could put into Acrobatics - basic proficiency - will make you better at Acrobatics than the panther is.
PHB Beast Master companions are notoriously fragile; while your GM may be willing to be generous with house rules to help fix this, like letting your panther be proficient in barding, fundamentally your panther will not have a tremendous amount of staying power. Both of the other options presented above are more durable as a rule, largely because they're cheap to replace when they die, but the Primal Companion is genuinely durable.
The rules text for the PHB Beast Master means that your panther is not proficient in any saves, but this is based on formal grammar rules; in common parlance grammar, it's unparseable whether it means your panther gets to add your proficiency bonus to all saves, rather than only the ones it's proficient in already. You may be able to convince your GM to let your panther get your proficiency bonus on all saves (including death saves), which will help a lot.
PHB Beast Master Companions have crippling action economy issues if you want them to contribute in combat; in essence, you need to spend one of your Attack action attacks to let the beast do most actions. Starting at Ranger 7, you can use a bonus action to let the beast Dash, Disengage, Dodge, or Help, but not Attack. Without spending any of your action economy, the beast does nothing. Primal Companions are much less challenging - you can use an attack or bonus action to command them to do anything, and their default is to Dodge, not do nothing.
This is much less of an issue at Ranger 5, meaning you can attack once and let your companion attack with your other attack, and you still have your bonus action on tap for two-weapon fighting or a Rogue's Cunning Action. The more you lean into Rogue, the more useful this is, because Rogues are much more about one big attack, so if they have multiple attacks, they mind giving one up less than most classes do.
I was talking about an actual Black Panther. I had built my backstory with hints of a bond with panthers. I had a few questions though.
1. Are there no real ways for the panther to be stealthy besides hiding behind a physical object?
2. From what I read on one of the other comments, he said that the Gloomwalker could flawlessly change between bows and dual wielding without issue, but can you still summon a beast using this class? Just trying to get as close to what I had listed originally or does it have to be one or the other?
3. How would I actually go about building this class through the levels? I’ve read as much as I could find online atm and I bought 4-5 of the handbooks so far....don’t remember which ones, they’ll be here tomorrow. I’m guessing the books will explain it, but how do I go about using multiple books to build a character? Is it seamless between the books or are there special rules?
They're feats published in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. Technically they're available to all classes. But some use them better than others.
So if I built a Gloomwalker for the bow/dual wield proficiency and used the summon beast spell to get a panther that way. Would it be better for to use Fey touched or Shadow Touched? I’m not entirely sure what the bonuses mean or do
Sorry for all the questions, just trying to learn all the options possible for my class. Just impatient I guess not wanting to wait for the books xD
I was talking about an actual Black Panther. I had built my backstory with hints of a bond with panthers. I had a few questions though.
1. Are there no real ways for the panther to be stealthy besides hiding behind a physical object?
2. From what I read on one of the other comments, he said that the Gloomwalker could flawlessly change between bows and dual wielding without issue, but can you still summon a beast using this class? Just trying to get as close to what I had listed originally or does it have to be one or the other?
3. How would I actually go about building this class through the levels? I’ve read as much as I could find online atm and I bought 4-5 of the handbooks so far....don’t remember which ones, they’ll be here tomorrow. I’m guessing the books will explain it, but how do I go about using multiple books to build a character? Is it seamless between the books or are there special rules?
Panthers have +6 to stealth and your companion will add your proficiency bonus to that, so panthers are reasonably stealthy. What I'm saying is that your panther won't have access to your wood elf ability to essentially hide behind things like twilight. That's not fixable per se, but your panther is compatible with many magic items you may be able to find which may be able to help address this. For example, barring DM fiat otherwise, a cloak of elvenkind can be strapped to your panther just fine, which makes your panther harder to see in exactly the same way dim light does. I don't know of a magic item offhand that allows for hide in plain sight, though. You can also cast Pass Without Trace, which also makes your panther stealthier but doesn't provide any ability to hide while observed. There are a variety of options like this you can look into, none of which will give you exactly what you want but many of which may do a good enough job. Other spells to look at include Fog Cloud and Enhance Ability.
Gloomstalkers, like all Rangers, do have to pick a fighting style, as well as feats, so "without issue" is a slight stretch, but it's true they can do both, as most any Ranger can. All Rangers, including Gloomstalkers, get access to the Summon Beast spell at level 5, provided your DM is playing with TCOE (see below). Gloomstalker is particularly popular in combination with Assassin rogues due to some particular synergy there (they both have strong openers that synergistically stack), but you don't need to feel attached to Gloomstalker if you're going this route.
It's mostly seamless unless your DM has banned specific sources, which is common and typical. The rulebooks you've seen referenced here are the Player's Handbook (PHB), Xanathar's Guide to Everything (XGTE), and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (TCOE). You need the PHB for the basic ranger rules, TCOE for both some optional changes to Ranger you'll have to ask your DM for permission to take, the same for optional changes to PHB Beast Masters, and a couple new Ranger subclasses. You need Xanathar's for other subclasses, including Gloomstalker. Regardless, you build your character using the PHB rules as potentially modified by the TCOE rules, and when it comes time to pick a subclass, you pick from any of the three sourcebooks.
As the title states I am brand new to Dungeon and Dragons. I am trying to create my first character and know what I want to make but I am not sure how or if it is even possible in the DnD world. My character is a Wood Elf. I want to use the ranger/rogue classes to make a type of Beastmaster assassin with the ability to use bows or dual wield swords. My companion would be a Panther for their stealth and acrobatics abilities as well as the ability to climb and get a better vantage point on the battle field. I want to be able to use the bow to support the party from a longer range or use the stealth of the Woodelf and panther to get in close and assassinate an enemy when possible. Being new to the game I am not sure how or if its even possible to create a class like this.
Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the read and I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend.
I would usually avoid multiclass at least for now. You could build a similar concept around a full Ranger Gloomstalker (super sneaky and “assassin” vibes) and get your stylish Panther companion by level 5 casting Summon Beast spell!
Thank you for the response and advice. Can the Gloomstalker still use bows as well as swords/daggers? Or is it just a melee class? Im guessing thats a subclass thats already built in a book somewhere? Do you happen to know which book by chance?
Thank you again!!!!
Gloomstalker is a Ranger subclass published in the book Xanathar's Guide to Everything.
All Ranger subclasses can alternate between bows and shortawords/daggers pretty effortlessly, if you build them right. Gloomstalker is no different.
Gloomstalker have flexible features that can be useful both melee and ranged. They have abilities built around sneakiness, mobility and damage.
Hi!
If you are new to the game you should be told a few things.
1. The player's Handbook has a beast master ranger subclass and an assassin rogue subclass. 2. The Xanathar's Guide to Everything book has the gloomstalker ranger subclass. 3. The Tasha's Cauldron of Everything book has a variant for the beast master ranger subclass and a ranger spell that allows you to summon a magical beast for a time. 4. The Player's Handbook has an optional rule (although it seems as the majority of tables use it) to multiclass, meaning you can take some levels in one class and some levels from another class(es) as well.
So start with what you have available. Just the Player's Handbook? Go with a ranger beast master with a panther and multiclass in a level or two of the rogue class, likely eventually looking at the assassin rogue subclass. If you only have the Player's Handbook and Xanathar's Guide to Everything, you might want to do the same as that's the only way you'll get something like a panther, the gloomstalker ranger subclass doesn't have anything animal related (more like a solo ninja). If you have Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, you should look at the variant beast master ranger subclass as it's beast is a little tougher but more generic (look at the beast of the land), and definitely the summon beast ranger spell. If you have both additional books available, than the gloomstalker would be a great choice for the ranger subclass because you can use the summon beast spell instead of the beast master ranger subclass.
So, conceptually, you will never be truly stealthy this way, because anyone noticing your companion or you has generally noticed the threat, which means you need to succeed at two Stealth checks to manage this, not one. This is intrinsically much more difficult. You can mitigate the problem with Pass Without Trace, but your panther will never have your wood elf racial, so if your wood elf ability to hide is helping you, your panther will still need to find something to hide behind.
The second conceptual issue you will run into is that, like in any rpg ever made, you'll have an easier time specialising in being good at something than trying to master multiple things at once. Ranged vs melee is one such example - as you make your character, you will find yourself making choices that make you better at one of these than the other, and if you try to be good at both, you'll be worse at murder than had you just picked one to commit to.
In terms of design, you can absolutely make a rogue/ranger with a companion. One thing you need to answer is what you mean by panther - if you're a Beast Master Ranger, you can use the PHB rules to take a literal panther, but someone in this thread already suggested just summoning a fake panther using summon beast (this will be extremely non-stealthy, and noticeably smaller than an actual panther, even if it has panther's body shape), and if you use the Tasha's Cauldron of Everything rules to take a Primal Companion in the shape of a panther instead of a real panther as a Beast Master, that's another approach that will result in a less-stealthy (but much stealthier than the summoned beast!) alternative solution.
Some other advice based on your interpretation of the panther, assuming you take a real one via PHB Beast Master:
Panthers have a climb speed as well.
The darkvision is a silly oversight, no pun intended, and as a DM I give beast master panthers darkvision (remember that the PHB companion is fully customizable with your DM as the rules don't call out a specific beast of any kind). Same thing with skills. Per the DMG extra skill proficiencies don't effect a creature's CR.
What quindraco says about hit points is true (its a difference of 10 hit points at level 5, and 16 hit points at level 11), although I personally read the rules for the PHB beast master and is seems obvious that they are meant to dodge, move, and position for blocking and attacks of opportunity.
Panther
https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/panther
Primal Beasts
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/tcoe/ranger#PrimalCompanion
One thing I would suggest is the Fey Touchedor Shadow touched feat from Tashas....I know that is kinda wading away from the core PHB material but hear me out:
Tbh, I mostly use Fey Touched to get Hunter's Mark without having to worry about using one of my limited known spells on it.
So is fey touched/ shadow touched a subclass or a type of specialization for a ranger class?
They're feats published in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. Technically they're available to all classes. But some use them better than others.
I was talking about an actual Black Panther. I had built my backstory with hints of a bond with panthers. I had a few questions though.
1. Are there no real ways for the panther to be stealthy besides hiding behind a physical object?
2. From what I read on one of the other comments, he said that the Gloomwalker could flawlessly change between bows and dual wielding without issue, but can you still summon a beast using this class? Just trying to get as close to what I had listed originally or does it have to be one or the other?
3. How would I actually go about building this class through the levels? I’ve read as much as I could find online atm and I bought 4-5 of the handbooks so far....don’t remember which ones, they’ll be here tomorrow. I’m guessing the books will explain it, but how do I go about using multiple books to build a character? Is it seamless between the books or are there special rules?
So if I built a Gloomwalker for the bow/dual wield proficiency and used the summon beast spell to get a panther that way. Would it be better for to use Fey touched or Shadow Touched? I’m not entirely sure what the bonuses mean or do
Sorry for all the questions, just trying to learn all the options possible for my class. Just impatient I guess not wanting to wait for the books xD
thank you for all the help though
Thank you everyone for all the great advice and responses I truly appreciate it and I’m extremely interested in starting D&D!
if your DM allows it, maybe you could have found a spell scroll of summon beast, and choose panther.
then make your class a gloom stalker ranger.
Which books did you order?