Ranger

Identity

The Ranger is the character who walks toward the country no map covers, and comes back. Pre-collapse Earth foresters, Aurelion solar-rangers patrolling the corona, Halcyion frontier wardens, Zyrrak hunt-priests, Black Meridian bounty trackers — every faction has its Rangers, because every faction needs someone who can read a trail no one else sees. They are half-channelers: enough Rift Affinity to call on the land's old technologies — quiet warding, beast speech, true sight at distance — but never enough to forget that the rifle and the knife are the first answer.

Proficiencies

Level Progression

• L1
  Favored Enemy

  Years of pursuit have taught you the habits of one kind of quarry. Choose a creature category from the following list: beasts, humanoids of a single faction (e.g., Halcyion regulars, Aurelion legionnaires, Black Meridian crews, Covenant cultists), constructs, undead, or one specific category of aberration / extraplanar entity the GM approves. You have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track creatures of your favored category and on Intelligence (Investigation, Lore, or Nature) checks to recall information about them. When you hit a creature of your favored category with a weapon attack, you deal an additional 1d4 damage of the weapon's type. The damage bonus increases to 1d6 at 11th level and 1d8 at 17th. You may add a second favored category at 6th level and a third at 14th level.

  Natural Explorer

  Choose one terrain type as your favored terrain: forest, mountain, grassland, urban, coast/aquatic, desert, arctic, subterranean, or void/asteroid-belt. While traveling in your favored terrain alone or with companions who can keep your pace, your group cannot be surprised, ignores difficult terrain caused by natural features, moves at normal speed while tracking or foraging, and notices threats at one range band farther than normal. You may add a second favored terrain at 6th level and a third at 10th level.

• L2
  Fighting Style

  Choose one Fighting Style: **Archery / Marksman** (+2 to ranged weapon attack rolls), **Defense** (+1 AC while wearing armor), **Dueling** (+2 damage when wielding a one-handed melee weapon and no other weapon), **Two-Weapon Fighting** (add ability mod to off-hand damage), or **Skirmisher** (when an enemy ends its turn within Engaged range of you, you may move up to 5 ft as a reaction without provoking opportunity attacks).

  Channels

  You begin to channel as a half-channeler — slot-based, drawn from the Ranger channel list (focus areas: survival, beast-bond, terrain attunement, hunter's mark / quarry effects, quiet warding). Channel save DC and channel attack modifier use your WIS modifier. Slots per long rest follow the half-channeler progression table.

• L3 Subclass feature
  Ranger Archetype

  Choose your Ranger Archetype — Beast-Bonded (animal companion focus), Void Hunter (zero-G / vacuum specialist), Bounty Hunter (corporate / criminal contracts), Trapper (snare and ambush specialist), or Marksman (pure ranged precision). Your Archetype grants features now and at 7th, 11th, 15th, and 18th level.

  Primeval Awareness

  As an action, you can spend one Ranger channel slot to extend your senses through the surrounding terrain. For 1 minute per slot level, you sense the presence, approximate number, and general direction (but not exact location) of creatures from up to two creature categories you choose, within 1 mile of you in normal terrain or 6 miles in your favored terrain. You do not learn species, intent, or identity — only that they are there.

• L4 ASI / Feat
• L5
  Extra Attack

  You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

• L6
  Greater Favored Enemy / Terrain

  Choose a second favored enemy category and a second favored terrain. Your Favored Enemy and Natural Explorer benefits now apply to either chosen category in their lists.

• L7 Subclass feature
• L8 ASI / Feat
  Land's Stride

  Moving through nonmagical difficult terrain costs you no extra movement. You can also pass through nonmagical plants without being slowed and without taking damage from them if they have thorns, spines, or a similar hazard. In addition, you have advantage on saving throws against effects that are created by plants or natural terrain features.

• L9
  Tracker's Resolve

  You have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to follow a trail no more than 24 hours cold. Additionally, when you spend at least 1 hour studying a creature's tracks, scent-residue, or signal-trace, you can establish a **Trail Lock** on that creature — for the next 30 days, while you are within the same star system, you always know the general direction (compass-cardinal) of that creature from your current position. You can have only one Trail Lock at a time.

• L10
  Hide in Plain Sight Capstone

  When you spend 1 minute creating camouflage from your immediate surroundings, you can attempt to hide even while another creature is observing you. You gain advantage on the Stealth check, and the camouflage holds until you move more than 10 ft, attack, or break concealment. In your favored terrain, the duration of the camouflage extends to 1 hour of motion or until you choose to break it. Choose a third favored terrain.

• L11 Subclass feature
• L12 ASI / Feat
• L13
  Quarry Sense

  Once per long rest, you may name a creature you have personally seen or whose biometric/identity trace you possess; for the next 24 hours, you know whether that creature is alive, unconscious, or dead, and you have a vague sense of distance (same room / same building / same district / same world / off-world).

• L14
  Vanish

  You can use the Hide action as a bonus action on your turn. You also cannot be tracked by nonmagical means unless you choose to leave a trail. Choose a third favored enemy category.

• L15 Subclass feature
• L16 ASI / Feat
• L17
  Improved Favored Enemy

  Your Favored Enemy damage bonus increases to 1d8. You have advantage on saving throws against effects, abilities, or attacks originating from a creature of your favored categories.

• L18 Subclass feature
  Feral Senses

  You gain preternatural awareness of any hostile creature within 30 ft of you. You suffer no disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures you cannot see (due to invisibility, total darkness, or magical concealment), and such creatures gain no advantage on attack rolls against you for being unseen. You are still impaired by total cover — you must have a line through air, water, or thin material.

• L19 ASI / Feat
• L20
  Foe Slayer Capstone

  Once on each of your turns, when you make a weapon attack roll or a damage roll against a creature from one of your favored categories, you may add your WIS modifier to the roll (your choice — attack or damage, declared before the roll). Additionally, once per long rest as a bonus action, you can mark a single creature as your **Final Quarry**: until the quarry is reduced to 0 HP, escapes your line of sight for more than 24 hours, or you take a long rest, you ignore resistance to your weapon damage against the quarry and your critical hit range against the quarry expands to 19–20.

Subclasses (5)

• Beast Bonded
• Void Hunter
• Bounty Hunter
• Trapper
• Marksman