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Ranger Variant (Animal Companion Focused)

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This is a variant on both the Ranger class in the Player's Handbook and the Unearthed Arcana's Revised Ranger. It removes Favored Enemy as the class specific mechanic and replace is with Animal Companion. It also removes spellcasting as a class mechanic, instead moving it to an archetype in the vein of Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster. Finally, we moved the Ranger away from being a secondary fighter by removing a bunch of mechanics we think should be reserved for the Fighter class. Instead, we pushed the Ranger closer to a Striker role with the addtion of the Mark Quarry ability, which is modeled on the Rogue's Sneak Attack.

You can read our blog post for a full breakdown of our thinking in revising the Ranger: dicedelvers.com/ranger-problem

Includes full color PDF and printer friendly black and white PDF.

By Sean Landis, William Klemt
A DiceDelvers Production

Checkout the DiceDelver's Blog at www.dicedelvers.com

Reviews and comments welcomed and greatly appreciated!

Check out our Class Variants:
Avowed Warrior - A Martial Archetype for Fighters (Paladin Variant)

Check out our other Class Archetype Options:
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Domain of Travel - A Divine Domain for Clerics
Avowed Warrior - A Martial Archetype for Fighters (Paladin Variant)
Way of the Drunken Fist - A Monastic Tradition for Monks
Oath of Secrecy - A Sacred Oath for Paladins
Eldritch Vortex - A Sorcerous Origin for Sorcerers
The Apparition - An Otherworldly Patron for Warlocks
The Reaper - An Otherworldly Patron for Warlocks

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Reviews (0)
Discussions (3)
Customer avatar
Matt F March 05, 2019 1:59 am UTC
PURCHASER
I know I’m a little late here.... I just started playing this variant in my new D&D group. Is there any chance of you making a file of this variant for the “Fight Club 5” app?
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Customer avatar
March 06, 2019 2:34 am UTC
CREATOR
Wow, I'm really happy that someone is actually using our variant, especially this long after the initial post! Thanks so much for giving it a try, you have made my week!

As for your question, I'm not actually sure what the Fight Club 5 app is. But I can look into porting it over.
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Customer avatar
Matt F March 06, 2019 5:14 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Check it out if you can. Or better yet, see if you can get the guys over at D&D Beyond to add it to their site. All of my party members use D&D Beyond and I can’t because this is the Ranger version I am using.
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Customer avatar
Matt F March 10, 2019 2:12 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Also I have a question about the build.
“The beast loses any multiattack action it has, but does benefit from your Adaptable Explorer feature while it is with you.”

What is the Adaptable Explorer feature? I don’t see it listed anywhere in the file.
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Customer avatar
March 10, 2019 7:46 pm UTC
CREATOR
Nice catch! That is a mistake. It should say Trailblazer: “The beast loses any multiattack action it has, but does benefit from your Trailblazer feature while it is with you.”

Trailblazer was called Adaptable Explorer in an earlier draft, looks like we missed that reference (need to Find & Replace better next time).
Customer avatar
G C D August 27, 2018 10:43 am UTC
PURCHASER
I like it a lot. Re: Jonathan E's comment below, I'm not sure I agree. As I read it, both the Ranger and the Companion have 'a turn' but it is on same initiative count. For Coordinated Attack to work properly though, it might be more appropriate to specify that the the advantage is granted as long as it makes the attack before the *END* of your next turn.
Also, I struggle a bit with reducing the ranger skill proficiencies from three to two. IMO, skills that are non-negotiable for all rangers are: 1) Perception, 2) Stealth, 3)Survival, 4) Animal Handling and 5)Nature. Furthermore, Investigation is highly desirable, followed by Insight and Acrobatics if possible. Your reduction from 3 to 2 proficiencies granted by the class puts a lot of pressure on the pathway to getting at least my core five, and makes any of the others very problematic. This could be easily solved by granting the Ranger proficiency in Animal Handling as part of the 'Call Beast Companion' feature. Otherwise to get all five plus investigation...See more
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Customer avatar
March 06, 2019 2:40 am UTC
CREATOR
I know this is a late reply, but thanks so much for trying out our variant! I think you are right that reduction from 3 to 2 skill proficiencies might have been too much, though I do like your solution of just giving Animal Handling automatically. It makes sense with the class feature.

I have not made a character sheet with this abilities, but if it's still something you (or anyone else) is interested in, I can give it a shot!
Customer avatar
Jonathan E May 26, 2017 1:45 am UTC
PURCHASER
The companion must have its own initiative to make Coordinated Attack work; as written, you share initiative and therefore only one of you can attack per round, the same problem of the old Beastmaster. Beast Conclave from the UA fixed this by giving your beast its own initiative.
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File Last Updated:
April 04, 2017
This title was added to our catalog on April 03, 2017.