Leader of The Pack

Leaders of the Pack are fierce rangers who have given up on the idea of picking off their targets from afar and facing their foes up close and personal.  By working with your animal companion and those that you have conjured, you work with the pack to defeat your enemies. At higher levels, the understanding between you and your companion is so strong that you are able to transform yourself into a true pack leader.

Most Leaders of the Pack tend to be far more wild and savage then even the most extreme of rangers.  They embrace the animal inside of themselves in order to eliminate the threat with extreme ruthlessness, even if it means giving up some of the benefits of their humanity.

Beast over Man

Upon choosing to become a Leader of the Pack, you make certain sacrifices that are unique to sentient beings and part of what makes you a ranger.  You now lose all proficiency with ranged weapons.

Summon the Pack

Upon choosing this class, you gain access to a modified version of the spell Conjure Beast.  You will still be able to cast the standard version of the spell later on.

Summon the Pack allows you to summon two fey spirits that take the from of a beast of your choice with a CR 1/4 or lower, or of a beast commonly associated with a ranger's animal companion.  These summoned beasts behave as those conjured with the Conjure Beast spell and follows the same rules.

You may use this feat once per level and regain all spent uses after a long rest.

Animal Companion

 

At 7th 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 your companion from among the following animals: ape, black bear, boar, giant badger, giant weasel, mule, panther, and 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 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.

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.

Companion’s Bond

Your animal companion gains a variety of benefits while it is linked to you.

• The animal companion loses its Multi-attack action, if it has one. It's essentially replaced by "Coordinated Attack" and "Storm of Claws and Fangs".
• 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 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.”

  • Your companion uses your proficiency bonus rather than its own for attacks and skills which it is proficient in.
  • 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 7th, 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 animal companion gains the benefits of your Favored Enemy feature, and of your Greater Favored Enemy feature when you gain that feature at 6th level. It uses the favored enemies you selected for those features

Storm of Claws and Fangs

 At 11th level, your companion can use its action to make a melee attack against each creature of its choice within 5 feet of it, with a separate attack roll for each target.

Coordinated Attack

 Beginning at 11th level, you and your animal companion form a more potent fighting team. When you use the Attack action on your turn, if your companion can see you, it can use its reaction to make a melee attack.

Unleash the Beast

Upon reaching 15th level, you have become the ultimate pack leader.  The bond between you and your companion has become so strong that you have learned to unleash the beast within you, allowing you to assume the shape of your animal companion.  This is modified version of the druid's Wild Shape feat.

Starting at 15th level, you can use your action to magically assume the shape of your animal companion. You can use this feature once. You regain expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.

You can stay in a beast shape for a number of hours equal to half your ranger level (rounded down). You then revert to your normal form. You can revert to your normal form earlier by using a bonus action on your turn. You automatically revert if you fall unconscious, drop to 0 hit points, or die.

While you are transformed, the following rules apply:

• Your game statistics are replaced by the statistics of the beast, but you retain your alignment, personality, and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. You also retain all of your skill and saving throw proficiencies, in addition to gaining those of the creature. If the creature has the same proficiency as you and the bonus in its stat block is higher than yours, use the creature’s bonus instead of yours. If the creature has any legendary or lair actions, you can’t use them.
• When you transform, you assume the beast’s hit points and Hit Dice. When you revert to your normal form, you return to the number of hit points you had before you transformed. However, if you revert as a result of dropping to 0 hit points, any excess damage carries over to your normal form. For example, if you take 10 damage in animal form and have only 1 hit point left, you revert and take 9 damage. As long as the excess damage doesn’t reduce your normal form to 0 hit points, you aren’t knocked unconscious.
• You can’t cast spells, and your ability to speak or take any action that requires hands is limited to the capabilities of your beast form. Transforming doesn’t break your concentration on a spell you’ve already cast, however, or prevent you from taking actions that are part of a spell, such as call lightning, that you’ve already cast.
• You retain the benefit of any features from your class, race, or other source and can use them if the new form is physically capable of doing so. However, you can’t use any of your special senses, such as darkvision, unless your new form also has that sense.
• You choose whether your equipment falls to the ground in your space, merges into your new form, or is worn by it. Worn equipment functions as normal, but the DM decides whether it is practical for the new form to wear a piece of equipment, based on the creature’s shape and size. Your equipment doesn’t change size or shape to match the new form, and any equipment that the new form can’t wear must either fall to the ground or merge with it. Equipment that merges with the form has no effect until you leave the form.