Ranger

# Ranger Class Details

Rough and wild looking, a human stalks alone through the shadows of
trees, hunting the orcs he knows are planning a raid on a nearby farm.
Clutching a shortsword in each hand, he becomes a whirlwind of steel,
cutting down one enemy after another.

After tumbling away from a cone of freezing air, an elf finds her
feet and draws back her bow to loose an arrow at the white dragon.
Shrugging off the wave of fear that emanates from the dragon like the
cold of its breath, she sends one arrow after another to find the gaps
between the dragon’s thick scales.

Holding his hand high, a half-elf whistles to the hawk that circles
high above him, calling the bird back to his side. Whispering
instructions in Elvish, he points to the owlbear he’s been tracking and
sends the hawk to distract the creature while he readies his bow.

Far from the bustle of cities and towns, past the hedges that shelter
 the most distant farms from the terrors of the wild, amid the
dense-packed trees of trackless forests and across wide and empty
plains, rangers keep their unending watch.

## Deadly Hunters

Warriors of the wilderness, rangers specialize in hunting the
monsters that threaten the edges of civilization—humanoid raiders,
rampaging beasts and monstrosities, terrible giants, and deadly dragons.
 They learn to track their quarry as a predator does, moving stealthily
through the wilds and hiding themselves in brush and rubble. Rangers
focus their combat training on techniques that are particularly useful
against their specific favored foes.

Thanks to their familiarity with the wilds, rangers acquire the
ability to cast spells that harness nature’s power, much as a druid
does. Their spells, like their combat abilities, emphasize speed,
stealth, and the hunt. A ranger’s talents and abilities are honed with
deadly focus on the grim task of protecting the borderlands.

## Independent Adventurers

Though a ranger might make a living as a hunter, a guide, or a
tracker, a ranger’s true calling is to defend the outskirts of
civilization from the ravages of monsters and humanoid hordes that press
 in from the wild. In some places, rangers gather in secretive orders or
 join forces with druidic circles. Many rangers, though, are independent
 almost to a fault, knowing that, when a dragon or a band of orcs
attacks, a ranger might be the first—and possibly the last—line of
defense.

This fierce independence makes rangers well suited to adventuring,
since they are accustomed to life far from the comforts of a dry bed and
 a hot bath. Faced with city-bred adventurers who grouse and whine about
 the hardships of the wild, rangers respond with some mixture of
amusement, frustration, and compassion. But they quickly learn that
other adventurers who can carry their own weight in a fight against
civilization’s foes are worth any extra burden. Coddled city folk might
not know how to feed themselves or find fresh water in the wild, but
they make up for it in other ways.

As you create your ranger character, consider the nature of the
training that gave you your particular capabilities. Did you train with a
 single mentor, wandering the wilds together until you mastered the
ranger’s ways? Did you leave your apprenticeship, or was your mentor
slain—perhaps by the same kind of monster that became your favored
enemy? Or perhaps you learned your skills as part of a band of rangers
affiliated with a druidic circle, trained in mystic paths as well as
wilderness lore. You might be self-taught, a recluse who learned combat
skills, tracking, and even a magical connection to nature through the
necessity of surviving in the wilds.

What’s the source of your particular hatred of a certain kind of
enemy? Did a monster kill someone you loved or destroy your home
village? Or did you see too much of the destruction these monsters cause
 and commit yourself to reining in their depredations? Is your
adventuring career a continuation of your work in protecting the
borderlands, or a significant change? What made you join up with a band
of adventurers? Do you find it challenging to teach new allies the ways
of the wild, or do you welcome the relief from solitude that they offer?

As a ranger, you gain the following class features.

**Hit Points at Higher Levels:** 1d10 (or 6) + your Constitution modifier per ranger level after 1st

### Proficiencies

**Armor:** Light armor, medium armor, shields
**Weapons:** Simple weapons, martial weapons
**Tools:** None
**Saving Throws:** Strength, Dexterity
**Skills:** Choose three from Animal Handling, Athletics, Insight, Investigation, Nature, Perception, Stealth, and Survival

### Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

* (a) scale mail or (b) leather armor
* (a) two shortswords or (b) two simple melee weapons
* (a) a dungeoneer’s pack or (b) an explorer’s pack
* A longbow and a quiver of 20 arrows

### Favored Enemy

Beginning at 1st level, you
 have significant experience studying, tracking, hunting, and even
talking to a certain type of enemy.
Choose a type of favored enemy:
aberrations, beasts, celestials, constructs, dragons, elementals, fey,
fiends, giants, monstrosities, oozes, plants, or undead. Alternatively,
you can select two races of humanoid (such as gnolls and orcs) as
favored enemies.

You have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track your favored enemies, as well as on Intelligence checks to recall information about them.

When you gain this feature, you also
learn one language of your choice that is spoken by your favored
enemies, if they speak one at all.

You choose one additional favored
enemy, as well as an associated language, at 6th and 14th level. As you
gain levels, your choices should reflect the types of monsters you have
encountered on your adventures.

### Natural Explorer

You are particularly
familiar with one type of natural environment and are adept at traveling
 and surviving in such regions. Choose one type of favored terrain:
arctic, coast, desert, forest, grassland, mountain, swamp, or the
Underdark. When you make an Intelligence or Wisdom check related to your
 favored terrain, your proficiency bonus is doubled if you are using a
skill that you’re proficient in.
While traveling for an hour or more in your favored terrain, you gain the following benefits:

* Difficult terrain doesn’t slow your group’s travel.
* Your group can’t become lost except by magical means.
* Even when you are engaged in

another activity while traveling (such as foraging, navigating, or
tracking), you remain alert to danger.

* If you are traveling alone, you can move stealthily at a normal pace.
* When you forage, you find twice as much food as you normally would.
* While tracking other creatures, you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area.

You choose additional favored terrain types at 6th and 10th level.

### Fighting Style

At 2nd level, you adopt a particular style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options.
You can’t take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again.

##### Archery

 You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with ranged weapons.

##### Defense

 While you are wearing armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.

##### Dueling

 When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.

##### Two-Weapon Fighting

 When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.

### Spellcasting

By the time you reach 2nd
level, you have learned to use the magical essence of nature to cast
spells, much as a druid does. See Spells Rules for the general rules of spellcasting and the Spells Listing for the ranger spell list.

##### Spell Slots

The Ranger table shows how many spell
slots you have to cast your ranger spells of 1st level and higher. To
cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or
 higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long
rest.

For example, if you know the 1st-level spell animal friendship and have a 1st-level and a 2nd-level spell slot available, you can cast animal friendship using either slot.

##### Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher

You know two 1st-level spells of your choice from the ranger spell list.

The Spells Known column of the Ranger
table shows when you learn more ranger spells of your choice. Each of
these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. For
instance, when you reach 5th level in this class, you can learn one new
spell of 1st or 2nd level.

Additionally, when you gain a level in
this class, you can choose one of the ranger spells you know and replace
 it with another spell from the ranger spell list, which also must be of
 a level for which you have spell slots.

##### Spellcasting Ability

Wisdom is
your spellcasting ability for your ranger spells, since your magic draws
 on your attunement to nature. You use your Wisdom whenever a spell
refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Wisdom
modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a ranger spell you cast
and when making an attack roll with one.

**Spell save DC** = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier

**Spell attack modifier** = your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier

### Ranger Archetype

At 3rd level, you choose an
 archetype that you strive to emulate: the Hunter that is detailed at
the end of the class description or one from another source. Your choice
 grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 11th, and 15th
level.

### Primeval Awareness

Beginning at 3rd level, you
 can use your action and expend one ranger spell slot to focus your
awareness on the region around you. For 1 minute per level of the spell
slot you expend, you can sense whether the following types of creatures
are present within 1 mile of you (or within up to 6 miles if you are in
your favored terrain): aberrations, celestials, dragons, elementals,
fey, fiends, and undead. This feature doesn’t reveal the creatures’
location or number.

### Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level,
and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one
ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability
scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability
score above 20 using this feature.
Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.

### Extra Attack

Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

### Favored Enemy

At 6th level, you have significant experience studying, tracking, hunting, and even talking to a certain type of enemy.
Choose an additional type of favored
enemy: aberrations, beasts, celestials, constructs, dragons, elementals,
 fey, fiends, giants, monstrosities, oozes, plants, or undead.
Alternatively, you can select two races of humanoid (such as gnolls and
orcs) as favored enemies.

You have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track your favored enemies, as well as on Intelligence checks to recall information about them.

When you gain this feature, you also
learn one language of your choice that is spoken by your favored
enemies, if they speak one at all.

You choose one additional favored
enemy, as well as an associated language, at 14th level. As you gain
levels, your choices should reflect the types of monsters you have
encountered on your adventures.

### Land’s Stride

Starting at 8th level,
moving through nonmagical difficult terrain costs you no extra movement.
 You can also pass through nonmagical plants without being slowed by
them and without taking damage from them if they have thorns, spines, or
 a similar hazard.
In addition, you have advantage on
saving throws against plants that are magically created or manipulated
to impede movement, such those created by the entangle spell.

### Hide in Plain Sight

Starting at 10th
level, you can spend 1 minute creating camouflage for yourself. You must
 have access to fresh mud, dirt, plants, soot, and other naturally
occurring materials with which to create your camouflage.
Once you are camouflaged in this way,
you can try to hide by pressing yourself up against a solid surface,
such as a tree or wall, that is at least as tall and wide as you are.
You gain a +10 bonus to Dexterity (Stealth)
 checks as long as you remain there without moving or taking actions.
Once you move or take an action or a reaction, you must camouflage
yourself again to gain this benefit.

### Vanish

Starting at 14th level, you can use the Hide action as a bonus action on your turn. Also, you can’t be tracked by nonmagical means, unless you choose to leave a trail.

### Favored Enemy

At 14th level, you have significant experience studying, tracking, hunting, and even talking to a certain type of enemy.
Choose an additional type of favored
enemy: aberrations, beasts, celestials, constructs, dragons, elementals,
 fey, fiends, giants, monstrosities, oozes, plants, or undead.
Alternatively, you can select two races of humanoid (such as gnolls and
orcs) as favored enemies.

You have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track your favored enemies, as well as on Intelligence checks to recall information about them.

When you gain this feature, you also
learn one language of your choice that is spoken by your favored
enemies, if they speak one at all.

### Feral Senses

At 18th level, you
gain preternatural senses that help you fight creatures you can’t see.
When you attack a creature you can’t see, your inability to see it
doesn’t impose disadvantage on your attack rolls against it.
You are also aware of the location of any invisible creature within 30 feet of you, provided that the creature isn’t hidden from you and you aren’t blinded or deafened.

### Foe Slayer

At 20th level, you
become an unparalleled hunter of your enemies. Once on each of your
turns, you can add your Wisdom modifier to the attack roll or the damage
 roll of an attack you make against one of your favored enemies. You can
 choose to use this feature before or after the roll, but before any
effects of the roll are applied.