Beast Master (Homebrew)

So this is a homebrew I whipped up after seeing the Artificer Battle Smith subclass and being very impressed with the companion for that class. I wanted to see if I could incorporate aspects of its features into what I've always wanted in a Ranger Beast Master. 

I also took notes from and incorporated aspects of the UA Beast Conclave, the Gloom Stalker, the Monster Slayer, and Pact of the Chain Warlock features.

The goal is to create a companion that doesn't outshine the ranger, nor does it feel superfluous or useless. Tried to approach this subclass as two creatures that fight as a singular seemless force. I tried to do it in a way that also left enough versatility to play the Ranger however you'd like.

Beast Master

The Beast Master archetype embodies a friendship between the civilized races and the beasts of the wild. United in focus, beast and ranger fight the monsters that threaten civilization and the wilderness alike.

Beast Master Magic

Starting at 3rd level, you learn an additional spell when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Beast Master Spells table. The spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn’t count against the number of ranger spells you know.

Beast Master Spells

Animal Companion

At 3rd level, you learn to use your magic to create a powerful bond with a creature of the natural world.

With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 50 gp worth of rare herbs and fine food, you call forth an animal from the wilderness to serve as your faithful companion. You normally select you companion from among the following animals: an ape, a black bear, a boar, a giant badger, a giant weasel, a mule, a panther, or a wolf. However, your DM might pick one of these animals for you, based on the surrounding terrain and on what types of creatures would logically be present in the area.

At the end of the 8 hours, your animal companion appears and gains all the benefits of your Animal Companion ability. You can have only one animal companion at a time. If your animal companion is ever slain, the magical bond you share allows you to return it to life. With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 25 gp worth of rare herbs and fine food, you call forth your companion’s spirit and use your magic to create a new body for it. You can return an animal companion to life in this manner even if you do not possess any part of its body.

If you use this ability to return a former animal companion to life while you have a current animal companion, your current companion leaves you and is replaced by the restored companion.

Your animal companion gains a variety of benefits while it is linked to you. The animal companion loses its Multiattack action, if it has one. The companion obeys your commands as best it can. In combat, your companion shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. You determine its actions, decisions, attitudes, and so on. If you are incapacitated or absent, your companion acts on its own. When using your Natural Explorer feature, you and your animal companion can both move stealthily at a normal pace.

Keeping Track of Proficiency

When you gain your animal companion at 3rd level, its proficiency bonus matches yours at +2. As you gain levels and increase your proficiency bonus, remember that your companion’s proficiency bonus improves as well, and is applied to the following areas: Armor Class, skills, saving throws, attack bonus, and damage rolls.

Your animal companion has abilities and game statistics determined in part by your level. Your companion uses your proficiency bonus rather than its own. In addition to the areas where it normally uses its proficiency bonus, an animal companion also adds its proficiency bonus to its AC and to its damage rolls.

Your animal companion gains proficiency in two skills of your choice. It also becomes proficient with all saving throws.

For each level you gain after 3rd, your animal companion gains an additional hit die and increases its hit points accordingly.

Whenever you gain the Ability Score Improvement class feature, your companion’s abilities also improve. Your companion can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or it can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, your companion can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature unless its description specifies otherwise.

Your companion shares your alignment, and has a personality trait and a flaw that you can roll for or select from the tables below. Your companion shares your ideal, and its bond is always, “The ranger who travels with me is a beloved companion for whom I would gladly give my life.”

Why No Multiattack?

Multiattack is a useful design tool that keeps monsters simple for the DM. It provides a boost in offense, but that boost is meant to make a beast threatening for one battle—a notion that doesn’t mesh well with a beast intended to fight with the party, rather than against it. Project Multiattack across an entire adventure, and an animal companion runs the risk of outclassing the fighters and barbarians in the party.

So in story terms, your animal companion has traded in some of its ferocity (in the form of Multiattack) for better awareness and the ability to fight more effectively in concert with you.

Expanding Companion Options

Depending on the nature of your campaign, the DM might choose to expand the options for your animal companion. As a rule of thumb, a beast can serve as an animal companion if it is Medium or smaller, has 15 or fewer hit points, and cannot deal more than 8 damage with a single attack. In general, that applies to creatures with a challenge rating of 1/4 or less, but there are exceptions.

Your animal companion gains the benefits of your Favored Enemy feature. It uses the favored enemies you selected for those features.

Companion Traits

Feral Training

At 3rd level, you and your companion empower each other as you learn to hunt together in unison. You and your companion gain the following benefits:

• Deflect Attack: As a reaction, your companion lets out a howl or roar to impose disadvantage on the attack roll of one creature it can see that is within 5 feet of it, provided the attack roll is against a creature other than the companion. 
• Beast Speak: You can cast speak with animals at will.

Guardians of the Wild

Beginning at 7th level, you've trained your companion in various ways to become a more potent fighting team together. Your companion gains the following benefits:

• Hunter's Prey: When you and your companion are within 50 feet of each other, the first time each round that you and your companion hit a target with a weapon attack deal an extra 1d6 damage.
• Gift of the Guardian: Whenever you or your companion regain hit points while you're both within 50 feet of each other, treat any dice rolled to determine the hit points regained as having rolled their maximum value for either of you.
• Unnatural Selection: Your companion's attacks now count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

Assault of Steel and Fangs

At 11th level, your companion has become so experienced in fighting alongside you, it can instinctually fill the gaps in your attacks. Once on each of your turns when you miss with a weapon attack, your beast can attack that target (if it is within range) as part of that same action.

A Pack of Two

At 15th level, you and your animal companion attack together as if you are a force of nature. You both gain the following benefits:

• The Bond of Two: The extra damage of your Hunter's Prey increases to 2d6.
• Feral Agility: Your animal companion gains advantage on all saving throws while it is within 100 feet of you.
• Reflect Attack: When your animal companion uses its Deflect Attack, the attacker takes force damage equal to 1d4 + your Wisdom modifier.