Beast Master Variant

Altered version of the Beast Master subclass, using elements of the PHB and revised versions, with some custom content. 

Animal Companion

At 3rd level you gain proficiency in the Animal Handling skill, and 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. Your companion can be any beast that is no larger than medium and has a challenge rating of ¼, however a black bear (cr ½) is a valid option as well. If your companion has the multiattack feature, it keeps it. 

At the end of the 8 hours, your animal companion appears and gains all the benefits of your Companion’s Bond 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.

Companions Bond

Your animal companion gains a variety of benefits while it is linked to you. The companion obeys your commands as best it can. It rolls for initiative like any other creature, but 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.

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 your 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. At level 5, if your companion does not yet have multiattack, it gains the feature. 

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.”

 

 

Die Roll	Trait	Flaw
1	I’m dauntless in the face of adversity	If there’s food left unattended, I’ll eat it.
2	Threaten my friends, threaten me	I growl at strangers, and all people except my ranger are strangers to me.
3	I stay on alert so others can rest	Any time is a good time for a belly rub
4	People see an animal and underestimate me. I use that to my advantage.	I’m deathly afraid of water.
5	I have a knack for showing up in the nick of time.	My idea of hello is a flurry of licks to the face.
6	I put my friends’ needs before my own in all things.	I jump on creatures to tell them how much I love them.

Strengthened Bond

Starting at 7th level, your companions attacks now count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to non magical attacks and damage. 

Additionally, when you cast a spell targeting yourself, you can also affect your beast companion with the spell if the beast is within 30 feet of you.

Awakened Soul

At level 11, you gain the ability to undertake a ritual with your beast companion, similar to that of the Awaken spell. Doing so will raise your companions intelligence score to 10 and allows them to understand and speak one language of your choice. The ritual takes 8 hours to complete, requires a gem worth at least 1000 gp,  and you must remain in physical contact with your beast companion for the duration. 

Perfected Bond

At level 15, your bond with your beast companion strengthens further; while your companion is summoned, you and it gains the following benefits:

• The companion grows to Large size
• When either you or your companion takes damage while you’re within 30 feet of each other, you can use your reaction to give yourself or the companion resistance to that instance of damage
• Your companions attacks each deal an additional die worth of damage