Tamer

Inspired by the 3.5e Beastmaster and 5e Beast Conclave Ranger Subclass, this is a Xenbox original.

A roar of a lion, the frightened screams of a crowd, and the crack of a whip. A man stands atop a chair, blindfolded, facing down a raging lion. With a crack of his whip to the side, the lion stands on his back paws and begins to dance.

An elf stalks quietly through the tall trees of the jungle, dinosaurs roaring below. Beside her is a little Jerboa, scratching its nose and barking occasionally. She takes cover just before the wind and rain of a tropical storm come crashing in through the trees.

An armor-clad dwarf stands proud, hair behind him blown by the wind, clean crisp air, atop his trusted dragon companion. He sits down as they dive towards the ground, pulling up just in time to burn dozens of orc invaders.

Tamers are individuals who feel a stronger bonds to the animal kingdom than that of fellow sapient creatures. Some take this to the extreme by surrounding themselves with animals deep in the wilderness, attacking anyone who comes near their home. Others take more of an interest with a single animal, forming bonds that last years. But all tamers share one thing in common, their love and affinity towards animals.

## **unfinished project**

A tamer is more at home with the animals of nature, rather than their fellow sentient beings. Over time, these wanderers befriend a wide variety of animals, from mighty mammoths to tiny squirrels.

As a tamer, you gain the following class features.

### Hit Points

* **Hit Dice:** 1d10 per tamer level
* **Hit Points at 1st Level:** 10 + your Constitution modifier
* **Hit Points at Higher Levels:** 1d10 + your Constitution modifier per tamer level after 1st

### Proficiencies

* **Armor:** Light armor
* **Weapons:** Simple weapons, Blowguns, Longbows, Nets
* **Tools:**
* **Saving Throws:** Charisma, Wisdom
* **Skills:** Choose three from Animal Handling, Intimidation, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Performance, Persuasion, Stealth, and Survival.

### Equipment

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

* (a) A longbow or (b) a blowgun or (c) a net
* (a) A quarterstaff or (b) two handaxes
* (a) A dungeoneer's pack or (b) an explorer's pack
* Leather armor, any simple weapon, and two daggers

## Class Features

**Animal Companion:** A tamers gains the service of a loyal animal companion. This animal companion must be a beast no higher than CR 1. As a tamer gains class levels, her animal companion gains Hit Dice and other special abilities. You companion gains an ability score bonus equal to your tamer level. Starting at level five your animal companion gains a +1 bonus to its AC, a +2 at level 10, a +3 at level 15, and a +4 at level 20.

**Companion's 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.

**Wild Empathy:** A tamer can improve the attitude of an animal. This ability functions just like a Persuasion check made to improve the attitude of a person. The tamer rolls 1d20 and adds their druid level and their Charisma modifier to determine the wild empathy check result.

The typical domestic animal has a starting attitude of indifferent, while wild animals are usually unfriendly.

To use wild empathy, the tamer and the animal must be able to study each other, which means that they must be within 30 feet of one another under normal conditions. Generally, influencing an animal in this way takes 1 minute but, as with influencing people, it might take more or less time.

A tamer can also use this ability to influence a magical beast with an Intelligence score of 1 or 2, but doing so is made with disadvantage.

**Alert:** A tamer's senses grow keen as she learns some of the tricks of the animal kingdom. Accordingly, she gains Alertness as a bonus feat at 2nd level.

Always on the lookout for danger, you gain the following benefits:

* You can't be surprised while you are conscious.
* You gain a +5 bonus to initiative.
* Other creatures don't gain advantage on attack rolls against you as a result of being unseen by you.

**Speak with Animals:** Starting at 2nd level, a tamer can use *speak with animals* once per day as the spell cast by a caster of her class level. You can use this ability twice per day at 6th level and three times per day at 9th level.

**Tamer Archetype**: At 3rd level, you choose to emulate the ideals and training of a certain Tamer Archetype: Circus Tamer, Dragon Tamer, Soul Tamer, War Tamer, or the Wild Tamer. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 5th, 7th, 11th, and 15th level.

**Dual-Cooperation:** At 6th level, you've learned to fight alongside your animal companion as a single force. Whenever you hit a target with an attack, your animal companion has advantage on attack rolls against that target until the start of your next turn. In addition, whenever your animal companion hits a target with an attack, you deal an extra amount of damage to that target equal to your tamer level with your attacks until the start of your next turn.

**Scent:** At 8th level, a tamer gains the scent ability.

**Beast's Defense:** At 10th level, while your companion can see you, it has advantage on all saving throws.

**Superior Beast's Defense:** At 14th level, whenever an attacker that your companion can see hits it with an attack, it can use its reaction to halve the attack’s damage against it.

**Tamer's Bond:** At 18th level, you have learned to live and die as one single unit with your animal companion. You have a shared health pool with your animal companion. Combine your max HP with your animal companion's max HP and you both share the total. If one of you takes damage, you both essentially take damage.

**A Way with Animals:** Your experience with animals shows every time you encounter one. All beasts start one attitude level friendlier when they can see or hear you. You also have advantage on all Wild Empathy checks.

## Tamer Archetypes

### Circus Tamer

Circus Tamers teach their companions to do all sorts of tricks.

### Soul Tamer

Soul Tamers focus their progression on the progression of their animal companions. As a Soul Tamer, you will gain special bonus and abilities for your animal companion that nobody else can.

### War Tamer

War Tamers fight alongside their animal companions in battle as a single destructive force.

### Wild Tamer

Wild Tamers are tamers that have taken to taming elementals rather than beasts.